Feeling Better

  Tuesday I had my follow up post-op appointment with the Plastic Surgeon.  He said everything looked good and he was happy with the results.  To my surprise he said I wouldn't need to see him again for 3-6 months!  I told him about the pain under my right breast, and he said "I told you it was going to hurt there."  Yes, he did!  And I'm thankful he told me that in pre-op before I was all looped up on meds, so that I would remember.  Otherwise I would have been concerned about why it hurt so bad, which is what happened after my mastectomy.  I was in so much pain and I didn't know why.  I didn't know if it was normal pain or something to be worried about.  No one prepared me for that!
  He said that he added some extra dissolvable stitches under my right breast to lift it up, and because of that I'm not to stretch, reach, or lift with my right arm for another month.  Because of my job, that means I can't return to work for another month.  I anticipated being off for a month anyway, so hopefully my return date will remain the same (Jan 4th).  It will be nice being off during the holidays.
  Today, (12/14) I am pretty much pain free, and not taking any pain meds.  Usually by the evening I will start to hurt some, but overall I'm feeling pretty good...8 days post-op.  I can now put my seat belt on for myself, shower myself, dress myself, and sit up in bed by myself (still hurts a little).  I'm still not driving and need help putting on my coat.
  The great thing about my mastectomy is that they were able to do nipple-sparing.  Which means that they didn't have to remove my nipples (which is done in a lot of cases).  This is great because now that I have the implants, my breasts look completely normal.  The incisions were made under my breasts along my chest/rib area.  Once the scars are healed, you won't even be able to tell I had cancer/mastectomy/implants.  This is also why I'm not posing pictures LOL!
  I've come to realize recently that I'm actually a very lucky woman.  Sure, I got breast cancer at the age of 31...that sucks!  I had to go through chemotherapy, got really sick and lost my hair....that sucked!  BUT, through hearing other women's stories, I realize that it could have been MUCH worse.  I could have been stage 4, I could have been triple negative, they could have removed my nipples, I could have needed radiation, I could have gotten an infection and had my implant(s) removed, I could have had a much more rigorous chemo regiment, there could have been complications anywhere along the way....and NONE of this happened to me!  With God on my side, all things are possible!  I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and although I haven't discovered the reason for this yet, I know it's a big important one :)