Taking The Plunge

Operation C Cup

I woke up at 4:30am (to give myself plenty of time to shave and enjoy my last shower for awhile) and was abnormally calm. I didn't feel nervous or anxious at all (hmm... must have been the Xanax I took the night before). My dad and I left for the hospital at 5:40 am and he was more nervous than I was! Everything was great until we pulled up to the front of the Center for Outpatient Medicine. I got out of the car and froze, I wasn't sure my legs would hold me up. Somehow I managed to make it up to the 2nd floor and get checked in. Both Kelly and my very dear friend LaNaya came to offer their support (to both me and my dad!).

When they called me back my hands started shaking and I felt like I was watching everything from outside my body. They measured my height and weight, took my vitals, and gave me a gown, cap, and slippers to put on. I didn't get to leave my underwear on since my PS uses a catheter. After I had changed, a nurse came to start my IV. She spent a few minutes just looking at my hand trying to locate the vein, which she couldn't find, so I had to pump a rubber ball for a few minutes. When she inserted the IV I felt a small prick, but it wasn't too awful (Did I mention I am TERRIFIED of needles?). Now I was stuck! My dad, Kelly, and LaNaya all came back to talk with me in the prep area, and tried (unsuccessfully) to get me to think about something else. Dr. Austin came to do his markings, so they had to go back to the waiting area. When I saw him in his scrubs, cap and all, the reality of me having this surgery really hit me. I felt jittery. He answered all my last minute questions and made sure I still wanted to be a large B/small C. It was hard for me to sit still while he did the markings because the pen tickled! He left and everyone came back to visit.

My anesthesiologist came back and he sounded just like the surgeon on the Simpsons! I found this very humorous (why, I do not know). I made sure to tell him I get nausous easily and he gave me something for that along with the anesthetic. I freaked at first and though I was going to get a shot, but after seeing the look on my face, Kelly reminded me it would go through the IV - whew! About 5 minutes after he left I was talking and got real woozy. Kelly laughed and asked it the drugs were taking effect. Right after that another nurse came to take me to the OR. I don't think I even said good bye to my friends because I was drugged up and excited. This was it! On the way the nurse ran the bed into the wall. Great start huh? I remember laughing about it. In the OR I had to climb on to a cold narrow table and they brought me a ton of toasty blankets. The last thing I remember was my left arm getting straped down.

The first thing I thought about in the recovery room that I remember was how scratchy my throat was and how thirsty I felt. There were pumps/leg warmers on my legs and they made me very hot. I felt pressure on my chest from the surgical bra and all the guaze, but no real pain, just slight discomfort. I don't know how long I was awake before a nurse came to check on me. It just happend to be my old 4-H leader. She asked me about my pain level and I think I said 6 (which thinking back should have been more like a 4 because I really don't know the scale), so she gave me some painkillers. She also removed most of my blankets since I was so hot and sweaty. I drifted in and out of sleep for a while, the nurse kept asking me questions and my throat hurt when I talked and if I talked I coughed.

They finally took me to my room (but I had to wait in the hall for what seemed like forever because my clothes somehow got misplaced) and I had to try to move myself onto the bed in the room, which was so difficult. I found out then that it was 3pm! I hadn't even really thought about my breast yet, I couldn't get past my sore throat. LaNaya and my dad walked with me beside the bed to my room and stayed to chat a while, and Kelly popped in to make sure I was okay. My dad left, but LaNaya stayed for a little bit and got me some ice to suck on. It felt so wonderful in my throat! I was very groggy, so she kissed my forehead and told me she'd be back tomarrow. I dozed on and off, waking only when the nurses came in every half hour for vitals, to check my drains, and give me more pain meds (I was given Morphine). LaNaya had wrote me a cute little note and drew a picture on the dry erase board in my room. She is just too sweet! The highest my pain leval ever got was a 6, but that was right after I had a coughing spell, so I was more sore than normal. I dozed off again and woke up just as Kelly was about to leave (she had written me a note). So she stayed and talked to me about how I felt and answered some questions I had. My eyelids got very heavy and she left to let me rest.

Dr. Austin came in 5:30ish to check everything and see how I was doing. He looked at my breasts and told me I had no bruising and minimal swelling. I was scared to look, blood and gory stuff makes me sick, so I took his word for it. I found out they removed 500 grams from my left breast and 450 from my right. Before he left he explained what would happen that night and put me on a liquid only diet for the rest of the evening. That was just fine because I had no disire to eat anything then. I dozed off and woke up when my mom came (she couldn't be there that morning) with flowers and a card the said "Welcome to the IBTC!" I still had not had anything but ice and the nurse finally talked me into a popcicle. It took about 45 minutes for them to bring it to my room and right before it was delivered, I got sick and threw up. It was awful! The nurse gave me something for the nausea and some more pain meds, cleaned me up and then my mom had to go. I refused to eat anything for the rest of the night.

At 9pm a nurse made me sit up, scoot to the side of the bed and just dangle my feet above the floor. This was hard with out using my arms to pull me up and the cath tube kept getting in the way. I got dizzy, but managed to get it over with so I could lay back down. I was still catherized, so I didn't have to get up to go to the bathroom. I slept on and off that night, watching re-runs of ER and Caroline in the City, and I don't think I really believed the surgery was over and done with.