70 days later.. (Pics)

 

It has been quite a while since my last post.  I think it has taken me so long because the Dr. appointments have ceased and it feels like life is getting back to normal.  I feel normal, or what I remember as normal.  I can do almost everything that I could before, I have even started playing softball again!!!!! (Still need to get used to these big boobs though!) 

There are a few things that I found as troubling, though, and that is finding bras!!!  Thus far I have only worn sports bras, as instructed from my Dr.  She said I needed to wear one for 6 weeks and have padding in them.  I am a 40DD and it was so difficult to find something that felt good.  My Dr. suggested it not be too tight.  From my understanding, sports bras are supposed to be a little tight to keep the girls in but I searched for even bigger bras!  After many department stores and seeing the cost, I flipped out.. I am NOT spending $50 on a sports bra because I need a large one!  I honestly found front zip up sports bras, with padding (also suggested by the Dr.) at Walmart.  Score!!!  Even trying on the expensive ones, they felt so uncomfortable.  I am not a petite person, I am big boned with broad shoulders and I was coming up short.

I think I could start wearing actual bras but it makes me nervous.  It sounds funny but its true.  I wanted to find a sexy bra so I went into Victoria's Secret and was so overwhelmed with it I just went to their lotion section instead. lol 

I have also started working out.  The restriction that my Dr. gave me is do not work out my pectoral muscles ...  no prob, didn't plan on it anyway.  You would be surprised, though, of how many exercises requires your chest muscles to constrict.  Especially ab exercises.  So I have been trying different types of exercises to find which one is going to work for me without working out my chest.  This too makes me nervous.  I am not sure if I am experiencing pain or if it is a weird feeling when those muscles tense but I try not to do it. 

My foobies feel real ... well, they feel like real fake ones.  Someone told me that they wouldn't feel the same because I didn't have any breast tissue, but I've done side by side comparisons and mine feel pretty normal!  AND they're not hard as rocks anymore!!!!!

I feel great!  I am surprised how quick this recovery is from the first surgery.  At this point, I have to get used to everything again.  I was so used to not doing certain things but now it is different.  I am still taking it easy, I am know the pain that I can experience if I don't and I do not want to feel that again!

My next step are my nipples!!!!  Sadly, I have to wait for those.  My skin in so thin, my Dr. doesn't think it is a good idea to get my nipple tattoos for 1 year from the last surgery.  It would be nice to be 100% complete, but I am still on cloud 9 that the surgeries are over and I feel quite normal!!! 

Time for pictures:

 

 

Healing (Pics)

It has been 2 weeks since my surgery.  The staples are still in; the top ones look a little bit red still but I think that is normal.  I am still having pain especially when my son forgets I am healing and jumps on or head butts me.  I don't know if I mentioned this previously but my foobies are a few degrees cooler than the rest of my body.  Left side cooler than the right; so weird! lol 

Even though I have pain, I think that I would have more pain if I wasn't numb where the staples are.  When I reach, even a little, I feel the pulling.  I don't push it because I don't want to tear something because I have a high threshold for pain and don't realize it.  Still no driving, tried but it hurts right away. 

I have been wearing sports bras with the front clasps I can wear a 40D but a 40DD is a bit more comfortable.  I went bra shopping yesterday and it was difficult!  I didn't try anything on, but finding something that I am looking for was hard; finding a front closure sports bra and because of the size.  (1st world problems, huh) 

Now some pics:

You can still see bruising.

 

 

  See the top two staples, a little red.  :(

Looks like the top and bottom ones are red here too. 

 

With this picture, I just noticed how bad the swelling still is.  My left side (right side on picture) is pretty bad .. compared to the other one. 

 

Finally - they're mine! (Pics)

I just had my post op yesterday and the Dr. was very happy with her work!  I am happy with her work too.  I definitely had a blonde moment .. well two. lol First my appointment was Thursday instead of Friday, like I thought.  Second being where my stitches/staples were.  I had sterry strips on the sides and under my foobs so I figured that is where the stitches/staples were.  When I first saw my chest I though, wow, that was a big incision but I didn't second guess my Dr. and went with it.  She took the sterry strips off (ouch) and said that the strips were underneath for support.  lmao I felt so dumb but glad it was a small incision.  My Dr. said she wouldn't have made me look like Frankenstein.  (I thought more than I already look.)  I will show you the pics before my appointment and then after I cleaned up my wounds and finally took a nice warm shower!

I can't get over how different it feels from the expanders to the implants.  These awkwardly, hard shaped things in my chest versus soft, round silicon implants.  They move now!  I can cross my arms across my chest!  It hurt when I did it, but it won't hurt forever!!  I want to touch them but that hurts too so I only touch softly sometimes. lol  I put a sports bra on too!!  The Dr. said that I always need to wear a sports bra for 4-6 weeks.  I must say, I don't miss wearing one but at some level its comfortable too.  For those who are curious - I am wearing a 40DD.  I don't know if I am really that big since I am swollen but I am definitely a D!!  I will try on actual bras when my staples are out and I am fully healed! 

I still have no regrets.


Before the appointment, I took a lot of pictures lol

 

I JUST realized that the makes underneath the strips are marker!  I thought they were stitches. haha I feel so stupid but its really funny too!  Also on both sides there are little bumps where my first incision is.  Those will go away.  Part of the yellow you see is bruising and part is iodine that wasn't washed off, yet. 

 

 One thing I hate about surgery is tape and the tape adhesive.  Sometimes taking that stuff off hurts worse!  And its ugly!  The yellow on my fooby is a bruise; that wouldn't wash off.

More bruising... I had a little more bruises a few days after surgery, but these are taken 1 week after.  So a lot of purple, yellow, and pink/red going on.

My view .. looks like I decided to take these pictures in the midst of my daughters mess. haha.  You can see more bruising on the left side.  The Dr. said that was side needed the most attention putting back together.

After!!!!  You see bruising, of coarse.  My left side (your right) looks larger which the Dr. attributed to the fact that it needed the extra attention.  The red underneath is what happens to my skin when tape is removed, takes a small layer of skin off. :(

 6 staples on the right

 

4 staples on the left.

 

And on a non-related note ... I graduated UNLV on Tuesday, 12/17!!!!  It was a long tiring day since it was only 4 days post surgery but I did it!!!!!  :)

Implant Surgery!

I have been waiting to update my blog with inflation pics before I write about my switch out surgery!  Last Friday the 13th (I met my husband on a Friday the 13th, so it is a lucky day for me/us!) I had my last surgery; removal of my expanders and received my silicon implants. 

Initially I was worried about surgery being so late in the day, 3:30 pm.  I know my Dr was having a lot of surgeries that day before she was going back to her family for Christmas; I didn't want her to be tired.  I know that is a silly though since she is a professional but when you have a lot of waiting time on your hands, stuff like that just pops up!  I was at the hospital at 1:30 for my 3:30 surgery.  I ended up being my Drs last surgery at 6:30p ... 3 HOURS late.  It was a bit annoying but the Dr said that she didn't want to be pressed for time with my surgery so  she decided to do it last.  By the time I was in O.R. holding, I didn't care, I was ready. 

The day before, I was at the hospital for my pre-op.  This includes blood and urine tests and an EKG.  One thing that was new this time is that I got a pretty orange bracelet that I needed to wear until after surgery.  The Dr. ordered blood typing (I think that is what they called it), in case I needed a blood transfusion.  I got nervous because I didn't have that before.  I was thinking - did the Dr. think I was going to lose a lot of blood!?  It was just for a precaution and the nurse said that it wasn't common.  I let it go after that otherwise I would have been a wreck. 

After surgery I felt immediate relief since my expanders were out.  It was great!  I had more movement that I did with the first surgery too.  The most pain that I experienced, initially, were my muscles.  All of my muscles were so sore, even my legs and my abs and neck.  It was really easy to over do it, which of coarse I did. 

My foobs definitely feel different, I was brave enough to poke them. lol they're squishy, like real breasts!!!  I do have bruising and they're cold to the touch.  Its honestly weird since I have had rock hard foobs for a long time, they didn't move.  My new foobs move, jiggle, look and feel like real breasts.  They don't appear to be as big as my expanders, but I think that is because the expanders stuck straight out.  I will post a picture soon to compare.  I also think that the right one is STILL smaller than the left but I am not going to focus on that until I am fully healed.  I am sure it is just in my head lol.

I will be posting soon!

My Last Inflation (Pics)

So here is my last inflation, my overfill.  I don't think my body would have been able to handle more if I wanted to go bigger! I was FULL!

I was inflated 50cc's on the left and another 100 on the right.  This brings the grand total to 950 on my left foob and 1150 on my right foob!  I'm second guessing that number because that seems a lot but its right.  The only thing that I could think, as to the reason my right side was smaller, is that there is more air in my left expander.  Or there could have just been a small leak in my right lol.  You can still see with the pictures that my right side is still a bit smaller.  Not sure if you can notice with the pictures, though, each foob is shaped a little different.  My right sticks more out and narrow while my left side has more width.  This is normal! 

So here they are!  The last of my expanders!!!  I am happy to see them go, they have served there purpose to which I am grateful but .. good riddance!  haha

Getting the CC's straight! (Pics)

So, I am getting more up-to-date now with my posts.  Still kicking myself because I got behind on my public foobie diary!  I have been a little confused/lazy about my saline amount.  My last inflation I received different amounts of saline in my right and left side.  So, if you have already noticed the mistake, thanks for not calling me out on it!  lol

Before the inflation that I am about to blog about, my right foobie has 850 cc's of saline and my left side has 800 cc's.  I received another 50 in my left and a big 100cc's in my right.  The pictures that you see below, my right side is 950 and my left is 850.  Whew, glad I got that figured out!!!  lol  This is what happens when I get behind; playing catch up is a pain!

At this point my right side has been the most painful right after the inflation and a few days afterward.  Ibuprofen and a heating pad help A LOT!  A heating pad is a must for those who are going through this.  Even if you can't put the heating pad on your chest you can lay on it and it can help when the heat is on your back.  My Dr. makes sure I know that I can't use ice, even though sometimes that would seem to help.

I am getting excited.  My journey is almost complete!

 

 

 

 Woah - They are big!  I got really lucky with the shape during the expansion process!

 

Its been a while, but I have pictures! (900)

I feel like such a bad blogger!  Its been a crazy few weeks since school has started for me and I realized that it was much more demanding than it has been previously! 

I think I left off with getting my last inflation!  (I just re-read my last post to make sure I know where I left off.)  My last inflation was to make sure there was just a little extra stretch and I would get the size that I wanted.  So here is 900 cc's!  I have a little more in the right than the left, but that has been the common complaint for a while.

I am slightly embarrassed.  Since time got away from me, I hadn't taken pictures of my inflation up until an hour before my appointment for another!  Therefore, these are taken in the UNLV bathroom!  Classy, right?  In addition, I didn't do a flattering job of getting the best shot, but at least I have the pictures.

As I said previously, this inflation was going to be my last, but I was still really lopsided.  My right side has 50 more cc's here than the left and it was still smaller.  It was really frustrating and I was getting self conscious!

It looks really weird here, but the shadows aren't very nice to me here.

I would like to say that the next pictures are going to be better .. but they're not.  I did the same thing!  Last minute, in the bathroom!  My school load has been a real asshole lately!!!

Inflation - 850cc's!!!! (Pics)

After a 3 week waiting period, I received another inflation.  I was starting to get really self conscious about my right breast so I asked if I could receive more saline on that side.  I was just thinking like an extra 15cc's but the Dr. said that it is usually about a 50 cc difference.  So I received a total of 150 cc's last Thursday!  100 in my right and 50 in my left and it made a big difference, definitely evened them out in the appearance of volume.  The unusual part was how my right side felt during the inflation, like my expander shifted a bit.  I felt that twice.  In addition to that, it seemed like the corner of the expander was sticking out, you can kind of see it in my pictures but it isn't as predominant as the first 2 days. 

The day of the inflation there was dull pain but I felt that at any moment I was going to get a shooting pain but that never came.  It wasn't until the next night that I felt the pain and I couldn't sleep.  I had a heating pad on my chest the whole night and kept my 800 mg Ibuprofen as close as I keep my cell phone.  Today, 6 days later, I feel a lot better, just some pain here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I went in to see my Dr. the following Monday, just to make sure I was feeling ok, didn't need a deflation (I thought that I might for 2 days) and check my expander cause it was really sticking out. (I meant to take a picture but never got around to it.) 

I go back to the Dr. in 2 weeks for a possible inflation.  I am satisfied with my size.  I even tried on bras to see what cup size 850 cc's really was.  I am a 38 D!  I took a picture on my phone, I will have to add that later; I made sure I tried on a pretty bra. lol  I have heard that women go 50 over what they really want so my next inflation will be my last.  Very, very exciting news, I am really reaching the end!!!! 

Before you move on to the pictures, please keep in mind that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Last year  I was determined to get my genetic test done in October, as this has been hanging over my head for around 10 years when my sister found out she had cancer and the BRCA 1 gene mutation.  I urge you to at least get a mammogram, go see your GYN for your annual exam, if you have a family history of breast cancer, get the BRCA test.  Yes, this stuff costs money but payment plans are always available.  Just be aware!  Know your options!  If not for yourself, your family.... Just do it!

 

 My left side still has the appearance of more volume, my right side is higher (the pictures show opposite sides), but overall, these are good results given the fact that they are just for expanding the muscle and skin.  I have seen photos of women where their breasts are ovals on one side, one noticeable higher than the other (just during the expansion, not with implants) so I am happy with how lucky I got with these results.  I can wear a low cut shirt and be proud of my cleavage!!  Even if I was considerably lopsided, I still would consider myself lucky because I don't have cancer! 

Glowing! (Pics)

So I was informed the other day that if you hold a light up to your foobie (I don't know if it works for all expanders and implants placed after a mastectomy) your boob will glow!!!  Of coarse, I had to try it!  Here are my pictures!

 

 I don't know which ones are which since I took a few and these were the best ones.  This wasn't an easy task with a phone flashlight and a camera, by yourself! lol

I am beyond amused!!  I am always trying to find fun or interesting things about my expanders .. foobies and I have certainly found a few!