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.