The Unveiling 11.25.2007

Today was the day. I took the dressings off. Hm. Dam, ow, shoot, that tape hurts. Ow. Oh, yeah, a little skin came off. As the breast comes into view, I see that it is really quite swollen. The nipple/areola (that has been injected with 6 ml of stuff before surgery and also an unknown amount of blue dye) is very swollen, too. It looks funny, tight maybe. There is an incision above the areola from 12 o'clock to 10 o'clock, covered with a steri strip. There is blue staining around the areola and under the steri strip. Another incision at the front side of the armpit, approx. 2 inches long, also covered with a steri strip. The front side of the underarm is numb, like a nerve may have been cut. That's probably why it doesn't hurt under there. Posterier to that, or towards the back, is where it's sore. Below the armpit, midline, is the tube insertion for the Jackson Pratt drain. It is sutured in. There is some bruising around that. Overall, I think it looks real good. Swollen, tender, but ok. I took some pain med--I'll try 1/2 tab of Darvocet, and 1 tylenol es. I emptied the drain of approximately 25 ml pinkish tan fluid.

I showered, (happiness) and was surprised at the "hospital smell" that was there. Got rid of that. I did ok in the shower, and asked Dan to help me with the dressing and bra. We put some triple antibiotic ointment around the insertion site of the drain, a drain sponge around it, and a regular 4 x 4 over it, held in place by my bra. No more tape. When I was done, Dave and Catherine had arrived, and I refilled the icepack and placed it under my arm and across the top of the breast. We had a nice visit, and they went on their way down to Jackson to visit Elaine at the Home. The Darvocet, even though it was only a half a tab, still made me feel a little loopy, so that's enough of that. I'll stay with the t3 or vicodin, or just plain tylenol at this point.

That's it so far. Doing extremely well, I think. I'm most surprised that the immediate post op pain is not what I feel now, not even in that area. Just sore and achy under the arm and across the nipple area.

I'll keep in touch. Thanks for reading.