Two and a Bit Post Surgery

It's taken me two and a half weeks to realise that.....

1. I have had two major operations all in one go  

and...

2. It was a double whammy so all of my chest is affected and both arms





I have had advice from ladies who have had one affected or taken surgery one step at a time and I kind of expected to be feeling better than I do right now.


However.... after really over doing things a couple of days ago and spending yesterday feeling very ill indeed I have accepted 1 and 2 as listed above.



So..... surgery......

It's a kind of a new procedure (very interesting).


I have had radiotherapy to both breasts which has (apparently) damaged the blood vessels and muscle in those areas which makes reconstruction quite difficult. The muscles can be squishy (the words of my surgeon) and the blood vessels quite brittle.

So....


What they did is this......


They removed 3lbs of breast tissue within which they found 3mm of cancer. This one was DCIS. 

The remaining lymph nodes in my left arm were removed.

Then for the reconstruction they cut through my pectoral muscles and attached a kind of collagen fibre to create a pocket in which they deposited the implant.





The skin was then folded over in a double layer hence the tiny size of my boobies compared to what they were. The reason for this is kind of like an insurance and protection purpose.



My drains were removed after 14 days (that was a relief I can tell you!). Now, 2 and a half weeks post surgery how does it feel???


Itching!!! The itching is driving me insane

Tight - the dressings and healing skin cause it to feel tight

Deep Muscle pain - sneezing is hell

Muscle Weakness - not allot of strength in the muscle areas

Strange!!!!! - feels as though I have bricks in my chest! That, together with the fact that I have no feeling in the area due to nerve damage makes it feel totally weird.