7 Years Today I Had My Second Mastectomy with Double Breast Reconstruction...

...I awoke to a super heated room following a 9 hour surgery feeling pretty battered but relieved to open my eyes. Confined to bed with leg pressure pumps on both legs; four drains (two front and back); a catheter; 'lying' on my back but feeling sticky and sore from the skin removal. The room heated to help the skin to heel without having too much pressure from dressings. 

That first night was okay I think drifting back and forth in consciousness with the morphine I had at my finger tip. By the next day I was feeling very sick... but with so much restriction it was very hard to be physically be sick.

I was told the morphine was making me feel sick so I immediately stopped using it and from day 1 was only using paracetamol to ease the pain and discomfort. I had minimal pain which surprised me and the surgery had gone well. 

I'd had a second risk-reducing mastectomy and then had part muscle removed from both sides of my back and carried around to the front to be used as a flap to hold implants. I was lucky my skin was good enough to have normal breast implants and not expanders. Even on the radiated side. Then skin removed from my back to use over my new breasts. 

Despite the fact my left arm was being treated like a pin cushion, some days the nurse would even take blood whilst I was receiving a blood transfusion, which kind of messed with my head, the next few days were okay. But then I started to feel very sick again, seriously vomiting non stop, and by the Friday evening I was convinced I was going to die. I decided to stick up for myself and demanded to see the doctor and waited all night to see one... no one came... so by 7am I asked my surgeon to come and see me. She was there by 8am and after reading my chart I was told the combination of drugs I had been receiving was basically poisoning my stomach. A low point indeed. 

The turning point that morning came when a wonderful nurse gave me a hug (you can imagine how gross I felt after a week in bed like this)... she told me she wouldn't leave until I was starting to feel better. Of course my memory is terrible and after all this time I've forgotten her name, but I was am still am grateful to her. 

The up-side to being in the hospital for longer than most is that I got to leave after 9 days without my drains in, so for that also I am very grateful. A miserable time for many other reasons also but I'm still happy with my decision to go ahead with my surgery... I love my boobs... they give me shape and make me feel better about my body.