Almost There - Seattle, WA

I went to the doctor's office on Tuesday and he took the steristrips off. I was worried it would be painful but it wasn't more than mildly uncomfortable.

It took me a couple days to get used to see them without the tape. They seemed so fragile. But the incisions already look better than they did on Tuesday. These pictures are from Wednesday.

The pain is nearly gone, just the occasional twinge from my nipples, and stuff sort of pulling occasionally when I reach for things. There are some irritated spots around my nipples, apparently as a result of the tape. They look much better now than they did in the pictures.

I'm looking forward to buying new bras soon, but I'm a little concerned that I'm still going to have a hard time finding bras. Right now I'm between a 30D and a 32C, at least based on measuring. I think they might get a bit smaller, since there's still some swelling and I'm on my period. I haven't actually tried on any bras besides sports bras that come in sizes like small or medium, and those seem to fit well, so I'm probably being paranoid.

Clothes, on the other hand, fit great. Trying stuff on is so much easier. I got the most awesome dress the other day.

So, I complained a lot a couple days ago, and then I woke up the next day with much less pain. The swelling under my arms isn't gone, but it has gone down.

The skin on my breasts is peeling some, which is odd. Like after a sunburn. It's been happening on my nipples for a few days, but today I noticed it on the outer side of both breasts.

I feel much better now that the pain has gone down. I'm still kind of easily tired, and they still hurt some, but it's much better.

Also, excitingly, today I went to Target and bought a new sports bra and a sweater. They weren't even on sale and they cost together half of what my last 30G bra cost. And everything I tried on fit, instead of trying on a bunch of stuff to find one that sort of fits. It was really cool.

Everything is going well, as best I can tell. No signs of infection or anything like that. My breasts are starting to feel sturdier. Like, I finally managed to take a shower without worrying that I was somehow going to break them.

Given that everything is going so well, I feel bad complaining, but I'm really frustrated by my pain levels. Starting on Wednesday or so, I've had increased pain and swelling under my arms, at the ends of the incisions and further back. I called my doctor's office and asked about it, and they said it's my lymph nodes and not unexpected. So it's fine, but it's really uncomfortable.

I'm also having what I guess are those zingers people talk about. Stabbing, burning pain that starts at my nipple and goes into my breast. They only last for a couple minutes, which is good.

I stopped taking the Tylenol with codeine on Monday, and then took normal Tylenol for a few days, and then switched to Motrin. I don't like taking Tylenol because the overdose amount is only slightly higher than the maximum daily dose, which makes me anxious. But Motrin gives me acid reflux, so today I switched back to Tylenol. Neither Tylenol or Motrin have been particularly effective, though. I'm kind of thinking about going back to taking the Tylenol with codeine, at least at night. Maybe only half a pill? How long did other people take the narcotic painkillers? I'm just not really sure if I should be trying to treat the pain or just deal with it.

Anyway, sorry to be so whiny. I'm still really happy with them. Everyone who has seen them says they're awesome. I haven't had that much bruising, so other than the tape and stuff, they look surprisingly like normal breasts. And they're so small and perky. I was worried my husband would be disappointed, but he loves them. So life is mostly good, I'm just tired of being in pain and not being able to do stuff.