Home Sweet Home

I made it home yesterday, just 24 hours after my surgery. When I woke up from surgery, I never would have thought I would be heading home that soon! Waking up in the recovery room was awful. I was in so much pain, especially in my arms. I actually think my arms hurt worse than my chest. Plus I didn't have my glasses on, so I couldn't see anything! Once I got admitted into my room, I was able to sit and talk with my family about the surgery. Everything went as planned! Just as we wanted it to! 

In summary, this is how surgery went. First, they did the mastectomy and then removed the sentinel lymph nodes in my left armpit. One of the nodes had a clip in it because they marked it as the one that initially tested positive for cancer. They said that if they couldn't identify the one with the clip in it, that would have had to remove ALL my lymph nodes. The good news they only removed 4, including the one with the clip in it, and sent them into pathology. The pathology showed NO disease, so they did not need to remove additional lymph nodes!! I was very happy to hear that because your lymph nodes are an important part of your immune system, and getting lymphadema did not sound like too much fun. This part of the surgery was the longest part (about 4 hours). Apparently Dr. Sugg came out and talked to my family and she was thrilled with the result. The only downside was that I lost a lot of blood, but I didn't need a transfusion.

The second part of the surgery was the reconstructive part. The plan was to place implants in right away, but they warned me that I may wake up with expanders, and it all depended on how much skin they could save during the surgery. Lucky for me, implants are in!, and I won't need any additional surgeries at this point... Woo Hoo!! My fear was that I was going to wake up with no boobs at all, and I wasn't sure how I would handle that. 

I am so relieved to have this part over with, but I'm currently dealing with some annoying side effects. I'm staying on top of my pain meds, but they make me feel stoned and I pretty much fall asleep immediately when I take them. The drainage balls I have hanging out of me are a pain in the neck, and I have to wear them for a whole week. Oh, and I can't shower until the drain tubes are removed. So no shower for a week!! Gross, right. That's ok, my mom cleaned me up a little this morning, but it's not the same.

I am doing well at home! I can go to the bathroom myself, but changing clothes is a challenge. I am really good at sleeping, and there is nothing good on tv during the day (except for Ellen at 4:00). I got t see the kids last night too, and of course I missed them a ton. That may be why I wanted to come home right away too. My parents are bringing them back to Carroll this weekend so I can rest and relax. Ryan will get to be my nurse :)

Thanks again to everyone's support and encouragement this week! I loved scrolling thru all of the Facebook posts, texts, and pictures cheering me on. That actually made me feel really calm and collected knowing that I have the best support system out there! I have the best family and the best friends, and most importantly, GOD! This is probably one of the first times in my life I just had to trust that the man upstairs is going to take care of me, and believe in His plan. I hope this all makes sense since I am heavily medicated, and I'm not sure if anything I am saying makes sense. But, I wanted to let everyone know I made it home and that the recovery has started. 

Angie