I'm back

Six days ago on Jan. 16th, 2007, I had breast reduction surgery. Here's the play by play..

Mon. Jan 15th - I'm freaked out and a little worried that my surgery is going to have complications. I'm a bit of a hypocondriac, so I had anyone and everyone praying for me. I busied myself with getting 'everything' ready for my recovery period - clean room, put all clothes away, get reading material ready for days of sleepy boredom in bed, etc. I can't sleep so I'm up til 2:30 am when I finally fall asleep.

Tues. Jan 16th - I wake up for no reason at 5:30 am (found out later my mom woke up at 5:30 too). Got up and got showered, dressed and hair in ponytail. I was ready by 6:15. I got online and surfed the 'net til 7:15 or so when my mom arrived to take me to the Modesto Surgery Center - about 20 minutes away. I got to the surgery center at 7:45 am then waited almost a half hour to be taken back to pre-op. I had to put on the lovely colorless hospital gown and lay down and rest. My friend K's mom Jan was my nurse, so it was nice to have a friendly face there. My mom and I talked and joked a bit about random stuff. I could hear the surgeons talking to the old guy and his wife in the bed next to me about the 'possible cancer growth' on his ear. He asked if he could go bowling that afternoon. Silly old guy...

Jan started my IV drip of 'water' around 8:30 to prep me for my surgery scheduled for 9:00. It was chilly going into my veins! About 10 minutes later, she started the antibiotics into the IV. I was a bit scared when one of the two hit my heart because I felt it jump a bit. Jan watched me for a minute and asked me if I felt okay. I did. I did feel okay.

About 9:00, Jan told me that my surgery was going to be delayed until 10:00. I told her I was starting to get more anxious. She gave me something to 'relax' me. I joked with my mom at that point since that's the most drug action my body has ever seen! I never really take medication unless I'm really in pain or congested, so my body reacts quickly to drugs. That part makes me happy. At 9:45 my surgeon, Dr. Wu, comes in to see me in her full surgery ensemble and pulls the curtains to mark me for surgery. I sit up and face her, dropping the gown and exposing the chest that I am so embarrassed by. I thought my mom would turn away but no, she watched the measuring and marking. Curiousity I suppose. I was getting the vertical incision, 'lollipop' surgery so I suppose I was a bit curious to see how she was going to do it too. Dr. Wu finished the marking and had the crew wheel me in to the surgery room. Suddenly it was becoming surreal. This was it!

We enter the surgery room and immediately there are 5 or 6 people all bustling about prepping me. Someone's putting something on my legs to 'massage' them, someone else is putting on my puffy hat, someone else directing me to put my arms out to my sides and place them on two arm rests. Above my head I see the anesthesiologist putting the mask over my face. I close my eyes immediately and hear them say, "breathe deeply Krista, deeply. There you go".....And I was out.

I wake up moving my head back and forth and hearing someone say, "hold your head still Krista, you're waking up". My mom heard me mumble 'Sweet'. They start giving me ice chips and asking if I'm thirsty. I feel a bit nauseated and it starts to hit me that my chest feels really really tight. I ask for 7-up and water. They offer me a Vicodin but say I need to eat a few crackers. I start the first cracker which becomes paste in my mouth and hard to swallow. My mom refills my water and I finally eat the second cracker so that I can take the Vicodin. Meanwhile, they give me something in my IV for the nausea. My mom immediately starts to tell me that the surgery went very well and Dr. Wu took out about 4 lbs total and I was now a very full D cup. I thought 'oh my God, they were that huge?' I looked down and saw the newly wrapped up 'girls' and smiled. They looked so little and perky! I haven't seen them look like that in almost 20 years!

My dad walks in. That touched me. Dad hasn't been super involved in my life ever. So, to know that he drove up to see me was amazing. If I had tears, I know I would have cried. About another half hour goes by while mom and dad sit and talk with me. The recovery nurse asks me if I'd like to go home and I tell her I would love to. My dad steps out to let me get dressed and mom helps me put on my jacket and shoes. I sit down into the wheelchair and get wheeled out to the car. Nurse and dad help me in and dad thanks them for taking such good care of me. Dad tells mom he'll see her at home and mom and I head to my house.

I arrive home with mom at about 2:30 pm. Sis is there waiting for us. I still feel pretty nauseated so I'm not hungry. I start to make my own phone calls to people who wanted to know how everything went. All were surprised to hear my voice. I sat and watched tv for a while with ice packs on my chest. My sis made dinner around 6ish and I ate a little. The phone rang so I answered it. It was Dr. Wu checking in to see how I was feeling. I told her I felt good. Just the tight chest and a little sore. She was surprised I answered too. I went to bed that night around 10 pm but couldn't really get comfortable. I had to sleep in an upright position, which is impossible for me. I slept about 4 hours. Looking back I should have taken a painkiller...

Wednesday - Jan. 17th - I wake up feeling sore in my chest still. I took a painkiller and felt a bit hungry. Most of Wednesday was spent with more ice packs, eating little bites of food and regular painkillers. Sis and I left the house around 2 pm to go to my post-op in Modesto. We stopped first at the gas station. I got out and ran my credit card in the machine while she pumped the gas. Got back into the car and drove to MJC where she turned in my homework that was due. We then drove to Dr. Wu's office. She took off the bandages and there they were, standing at attention. My sis watched the whole process, again curiousity. She told me I could shower on Thursday. I asked about stitches and she said that I had three layers of dissolvable stitches. Hallelujah. I was curious to know exactly what she removed. Was it fat? Was it breast tissue? Glandular? She said it was mostly glandular, about 2 1/2 lbs or 1200 grams from one and 1 1/2 or 550 grams from the other. She said fat wouldn't have weighed that much or caused such a droop. She also told me that one cup size equals 200 grams. Woah. Wow. Hallelujah! So I did the math. Looks like I was a G cup on one side and a J cup on the other. And I was trying to shove them into an F cup for the last few years.

Thursday, Jan. 18th - Everything else hurts but my chest. Must be from trying to move around without using the ol' pecs. My friend calls and wants to visit and bring ice cream. Oh yes please! I go to the shower and get in cautiously. It feels great but I still can't raise my hands to my head well so my shampoo and conditioning is done sideways. No worries. I start to wean myself from painkillers and cabin fever sets in. Friends stop by and bring me goodies to eat.

Friday, Jan 19th - I slept 8 hours last night!! First time in weeks! Today I realized that I really need sleep and rest. I take a final round of painkillers and realize they aren't really necessary. Went on my first outing to Starbucks. Still don't have an appetite and stomach is sensitive. I had a friend stop me and say..."Have you lost weight?" I smile and say "Yes, 4 lbs."

I'm pretty much back to normal now except I tire out easily. I think I finally have my appetite back. Today I drove to the store and back. That took alot of effort. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I go back to see Dr. Wu for my one week post op appt on Wednesday morning. Hopefully, I'll get the okay to go back to work.

Today is the day

Today I have my surgery. I leave for the hospital in one hour. My mom is picking me up, staying through the surgery and then driving me home. My sis is staying with me for the next few days. I couldn't sleep very well last night being so nervous and excited and scared at the same time. I've been looking forward to this for three years and today is the day! Such a major event!

My friends are being so supportive and work is dealing without me for a week. So many people have asked if I need anything. The hardest part of this is giving up my freedom and independence for a week. I'm fairly self-sufficient and independent, so this will be a change.

A nurse friend last night told me that she was excited for me and wants to talk to me afterward because she's thinking of having a reduction too. She gave me a bit of advice too saying 'be prepared for what you see when the bandages come off. Meaning - my chest is going to be very bruised and they will not look like breasts for a little while. I'm okay with that, as long as they do at some point. :)

Now, I'm off to lala land of anesthesia. I'll see you in a few days.

Some things I didn't know about myself

It's funny. I've seen countless doctors in my life, but only recently did I find out I have two medical issues that I never knew about. It's interesting that, for some reason, these tidbits of info never quite got communicated to me. These aren't major issues per se, just...interesting.

1. I have a heart murmur. It's a little one, but it's there. At first it freaked me out 'cause I'm what you call a freaker-outer at times. You know who found it? A physician's assistant. But, at 34 years old you'd think that someone would have told me before now. So today I saw another doctor (my plastic surgeon - more about that next time) and she needed to listen to my heart. I asked her if she heard it. She said yes, it's little, no worries. I'm not freaked out about it anymore.

2. I'm allergic to penicillin. About 15 years ago I had a sinus infection. The only time I ever needed antibiotics in my life. I was prescribed a penicillin generic (I think) and developed a rash almost immediately. I called the doctor who called the pharmacy and got a different prescription. Well, 15 years later, every time I go to the doctor they ask me if I'm allergic to any medications. I always would say, I think I'm allergic to an antibiotic, but I don't know which one. You can imagine the looks and scoldings I get when they tell me I should find that out. So I called my old doctor and my old pharmacy. The pharmacy couldn't help me since their records didn't go back that far. My doctor's office never called me back and well...I kind of forgot about it. FF to yesterday. My surgeon asked me to find out so she could prescribe an antibiotic for after my surgery. So, today I went to my new doctor's office. I told them the situation and they went to the file room. Five minutes later (so fast!), the nurse came out and handed me a slip of paper that said 'positive for Penicillin'. I couldn't believe how easy that was!

So, what's this about surgery? I'm having breast reduction surgery in four days. I'm going from DDD+ to hopefully close to a D. I've been large chested all my life, starting at age 10 I was a B cup. By 7th grade I was a C and by 9th or 10th I was a D. They've been growing fairly steadily since then. I have all of the 'symptoms' of large breasts. Indents in my shoulders from the straps, frequent headaches, recurring back pain, that irritating rash underneath, difficulty finding clothes that fit, poor self image, etc. You get the idea. For the past five years, every day I look in the mirror and think I look absolutely horrible. I had a boyfriend once that said that he liked them but they were huge. He's the only man that I've been that close with and the only one who has experienced the massive creatures. I felt sooo insecure the entire time we went out because of them. My chest has been the topic of many jokes and comments. I feel like everyone is staring at them. So, I'm excited and scared at the same time. I'll update a few days after to journal my experiences.

O N E A N O T H E R

Be at peace with one another – Mark 9:50

Love one another – John 13:34

Be devoted to one another – Romans 12:10

Honor one another – Romans 12:10

Live in harmony with one another – Romans 12:16

Stop passing judgment on one another – Romans 14:13

Accept one another – Romans 15:7

Instruct one another – Romans 15:14

Greet one another – Romans 16:16

Serve one another – Galatians 5:13

Carry each other's burden – Galatians 6:2

Be patient, bearing with one another in love – Ephesians 4:2

Be kind and compassionate to one another – Ephesians 4:32

Forgive each other – Ephesians 4:32

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs – Ephesians 5:19

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ – Ephesians 5:21

In humility, consider others better than yourselves – Philippians 2:3

Teach one another – Colossians 3:16

Admonish one another – Colossians 3:16

Encourage one another – 1 Thessalonians 4:18

Build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Spur one another on toward love and good deeds – Hebrews 10:24

Do not slander one another – James 4:11

Don't grumble against each other – James 5:9

Confess your sins to each other – James 5:16

Pray for one another – James 5:16

Introduction

Hi. I'm Krista. I'm also called brownkrista, #1, tall person, krista j, but really - I'm just plain ole' Krista. I started this blog to be able to chronicle my thoughts and photos. My friend A has one and always shows me her cool posts and I keep thinking, I gotta get me one of those things. So here I am, I did it. I have another one but I don't like it as much. All my friends know about that one. We'll see how long it takes for them to find this one.

The title of my blog is It's Always Something. You might ask what I mean. I'll tell you I don't know but there's always something going on in my life, something I'm stressing about, something I'm wishing for, some kind of drama, something that I learned about myself or others...you know some...thing....

don't ask if you don't have a plan
So, here we go. I'll start with the obvious thing. Yes I'm 34, yes I'm single, yes I want to marry, yes I'm cool, no I don't know why no one has snatched me up yet, no I don't have kids, yes I think I may want one, no I will not lower my standards. whew...You may think I'm being too hard on myself but really I've had to answer all of those questions plenty of times. I know it's just curiousity of people, but seriously if you're going to ask me, at least have an idea in mind. Like my friend V. Here's our conversation:

V: What kind of man do you like?
Me: A Christian, employed, breathing, intelligent, baby-faced, funny and built like a football player.
V: I know a guy that would be perfect for you. My friend M.
Me: Thanks V, but I hear that all the time.
V: No, he's great. You should meet him. Come to my church and I'll introduce you.
Me: Okay, but won't that be a little awkward? You know, when people ask me why I attended, I say, well there's this guy....
V: Ah, we'll tell them that you are just visiting and leave it at that.
Me: Cool, sure why not. Let's plan on it.

Now, I love V as a person. I love her for being the reason I know M today. But her follow thru at matchmaker - that stunk. Yes, I attended and yes I got to meet him. That was two or three years ago. In that time, I attended when I could - maybe 5 times. She never really helped after that. Never invited me over when he was coming over. Wanted to get me involved but then never followed thru. argh. So, being the wonderfully beautiful girl I am I pursued him you might say. In fact, he and I are good friends now. I think we're a bit on the verge really. But, it all came about by me actually jumping ship at my old church (there were other factors we won't talk about now) and I've started to attend her church every week.

Something I learned - friends may know what to do but sometimes they don't know how to do it.