Surgery, tubes and drains

It has been roughly two and a half weeks since I had surgery.  I'm still in a bit of pain but feeling better each and every day!  I had my first set of drains removed a week after surgery.  I finally got the last two sets removed this past Monday and am feeling free and overall better with the exception of limited mobility to my arms.  My right arm is doing a lot better than my left.  I am able to move about 90 degrees.  The doctors say this should improve as the weeks progress. If not, I may need OT.  Let's hope this isn't the case!  I have more than enough doctor's appointment already.  :)

The drains were very challenging.  They had to be stripped and the fluids had to be measured twice a day. Thanks Mike for being my personal nurse!  The process at time was painful.  In case you don't know what these drains look like...here's a pic.

I had two on both sides. The best way for me to describe them is that they look like little hand grenades with tubes attached to the body.  The fluid is the excess liquid that your body is putting out around the wound.  Once the drains are removed, your body retains this excess fluid so it is important to get the fluid level down before removing them to avoid infections.

I wasn't able to take a shower until the drains were removed.  Dr. Liao told me to remember 3 things during recovery--keep the area dry, take my antibiotics, and protect my chest area with soft things.  To help me remember, I told Dr. Liao I remembered the word SAD (S-Soft, A-Antibiotics, D-Dry) because partially this was how I was feeling during recovery.  He laughed and said in his years of practice no one has said this to him.  Mike said ADS might be a slightly better word.  We had a good laugh.  I have a feeling Dr. Liao will remember me.  :)

Quick recap of my surgery is it went as well as it could.  Dr. Specht removed 14 lymph nodes and performed a double mastectomy.  Everything looked good but we needed to wait for the pathology results.  My skin was healthy enough for Dr. Liao to go direct-to- implant. The good news is I do not have to get a secondary surgery. The negative thing about direct-to-implant route is that the implants that they used is smaller than my actual size prior to surgery.

Here are some pics with the family from my hospital bed.

Dr. Comander happened to see my name on the board and stopped in to check in on me and say hi.  It was a nice surprise.

THANK YOU FAMILY AND FRIENDS FOR ALL YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT!  We are truly touched to be surrounded by so many loving and caring people.  We are beyond blessed!