HAPPY DAYS! - UPDATE AND PICTURES !!!

Hi my BR buddies!
Sorry it took me so long to update. I am adding a couple of three week pictures but am actually four days away from being a month out of surgery.
I feel as if I am improving daily but am still getting tired faster than normal for me especially afternoon and evening. Not really sure if that is a result of the surgery or the fact that I am still having trouble getting my potassium levels and my blood-pressure stable. (I had issues with this pre-op.)
I am over the moon happy at having this reduction – as I’ve said before the only regret is not having it done sooner. All the back pain and shoulder pain is just a memory and all that remains of the surgery discomfort is the persistent hyper-sensitivity to touch and cold and occasional zingers. I change up the bra type/pressure a couple of times a day and find that helps with this too.

The best advice I can give those coming up is to rest, eat right, avoid salty foods and hydrate-especially those first two weeks. Again, if you take prescription pain medicine, take a stool softener with it and that difficulty “going” and bloating will be avoided or less.
I love the Palmers Cocoa Vitamin E Skin Therapy Oil to massage my incisions. PS told me I could use it or lotion of my choice once the incisions were closed. I try to massage twice a day….but if they are driving me crazy I will massage anywhere and anytime…. So I may wind up on “you tube” as the crazy massaging lady someday…. LOL .
He also said I could use the Arnica Montana after surgery and I think it helped clear up and prevent a lot of my swelling and bruising.
I hope that those in recovery are doing well and improving daily and that those coming up will be encouraged and know that “THEIR BEST BREAST DAYS ARE YET TO BE” … as you will read in so many of these postings, even the ladies with complications do not regret having the surgery…. Prayers and hugs to all!

Hi all!
I have been checking but had not been getting many updates or emails and finally realized that my internet provider had been having a problem and I had over 300 emails in my web-mail junk mail that were not being delivered to me, have no idea if what I sent out actually went. Must have still been having internet problems yesterday because my update was never received and that is why it had not posted.
Not because I broke the site by finally posting my pictures... LOL

What I have been up to: Rest, water, eating smart although I have had no appetite until now, juice, ice pops for the sore throat, protein, fiber, arnica montana, stool softeners (when taking pain pills) and learning to not jump up every time I thought of something I wanted to do or wanted to get (that was the hardest). That “asking for help thingie” I have yet to master... All of these wonderful suggestions from my BR sisters have brought me to Day Eleven feeling really pretty good.
Breast area, chest and ribs still really sore but improving. Sleeping in recliner is getting old...not much longer but I think it really helped me from rolling over since I normally sleep on my side all curled up.
Re-cap:
Right after waking up from anesthesia my pain level (actually burn/sting) level was a 12 . They immediately gave me something in my IV and it was never that bad again. Burning/stinging continued at a lesser degree for two days, pain pills as needed, intermittent ice and sleep was the plan of those days. Day 2 afternoon - drains and pain pump were removed and I changed from the “velcro tourture” bra to the Walmart snap in the front bra that my PS had told me to buy. After the drains and pump were out I was allowed to shower but didn't get my nerve up until the next day. It was heavenly. PS said no soap on strips and dry well after shower. I used the hair dryer at a distance on low and cool setting to dry them and that has worked very well.
I started feeling less burn and more pain/pressure/discomfort after day 3 or 4 but Tylenol in daytime if needed and just one Tylenol PM at night were enough. The zingers and fluid movement feeling also arrived. Nipple sensation was never gone. My PS said no heat but that I could use ice intermittently and that was great for my pain and the increasing pressure and swelling. Abdomen swelling surprised me...I was one big bloat. That is now starting to improve also. Too much salt and not enough fluid didn’t help matters. The increased fluid also helped the irritation from the catheter.
Days 9-10 Breasts were tight, painful and swollen and I really pumped up my fluid and cut back on my salt intake, I had slaked off and I have also been more mobile and they are a little better today day 11.

I go back for my two-week post op on Wed. 10/03 and will post more pictures after that.

It looks like I will be a large B or small C which is exactly what I hoped for but it will be a while before I really know.

The important thing is that I left the shoulder and back pain in the OR and am happy to say that my hand tingling that I thought was carpal tunnel is gone also! Bonus!

I will continue to pray for all of the upcoming ladies and those of us already over this wonderful life-changing rainbow!

Hope all of you healing ladies are doing well...and sending all my prayers and good wishes to those coming up this week! I can still pray when I am half asleep.... and it counts!!!!! The waiting WAS THE WORST PART, THEY WERE TELLING THE WHOLE TRUTH FOR SURE!!!!
As for me, I am very, very happy - drains are out and the girls look great... the pain has found me today (day 3 post).
Not eating "lima beans" but keeping up with my potassium foods intake. No appetite so trying to make whatever I eat count towards healing.

As far as drain removal, my PS was magical taking them out... no pain just felt them leaving the body!

I am keeping up with the wonderful advice from ALL OF YOU WONDERFUL LADIES who went before. Rest, hydrate and keep on top of the pills. Also, thanks for the stool softenener advice when taking pain pills, has made "that" a non-problem... LOL
PS said intermittent ice was ok and that has helped ALOT too.

I have taken pictures and will post as soon as I am up to it. Going back to sleep catch u all soon.... :-)