Fat Grafting Complete!

I had my fat grafting surgery on 12/20. It went wonderfully and the pain was very minimal.
I took pain pills the first night and was able to get by on just Tylenol after that.
I received a super sexy compression garment that I have to wear around the clock for two weeks.
It goes to my knees and up to my boobs. It's Spanx x50 and is NOT comfortable.
Because I haven't blogged in so long, tomorrow is actually the end of my two weeks..I won't miss my grandma girdle one bit.

Here is a picture of me getting ready for surgery. My husband and dad were at my surgery. My mom, thankfully, stayed with our kids.
Dr. Migliori prepped me for *hopefully* the last time.
I love that man but if I never see him again, that's okay with me.

Here is me soon after surgery. Groggy, bruised and swollen is never pretty....and yet I still post it.
I have no shame. :)
The bandages show where the fat from my thighs and stomach were injected. I have eight little puncture wounds total, four on my boobs, two on my hips and two on my stomach. Each hole has two sutures.

I'm rocking some pretty rad bruises on my thighs also. They got much worse a few days after this; however, it's not too painful.

For the record, liposuction obviously doesn't remove cellulite. Again, I can't believe I'm posting this.

I really like my new boobs. I'm extremely happy with Dr. Migs work, as usual, and I'm glad I decided to do the grafting.

So, I'm done with everything for now.
I'm relieved, but still feel uneasy.
More than anything, I'm thankful.
2013 is going to be my year.

Here they are!

It's already 45 days past reconstructive surgery and I'm finally getting around to posting pics. Sorry!
I have had virtually no problems since surgery.

My ribs are still a little sore. I thought the pain was from the expanders; now I'm not really sure what is causing the pain. It's minimal.

I'm extremely happy with my new boobs. Are they perfect? No. have they EVER been perfect? Hell, no.
I didn't just have a boob job. I had my breasts completely removed from my body. I had Aladerm added to where I no longer had tissue and had breast expanders placed to make mounds where there were none. Every day, I am more in awe of the entire process.
With a shirt on, I look normal...better than normal, actually.

Here they are:

This pic shows my right side when I bend down. Rippling happens with reconstruction and can be fixed. I need more volume. Dr. Migliori is a perfectionist and recommended I do skin grafting to round out both sides and make them more symmetrical and full.
Unfortunately, he will have to do liposuction on my thighs and tummy to harvest the fat to inject in my boobs.
I'm totally kidding about the unfortunately part. My response to Migs, "AYFKM? Free lipo on my tummy AND thighs and even BIGGER boobs? Sign my ass up!"
I now have a surgery date of 12/20. :) I love that man.

One more day!

It's 5 a.m. the day before my final surgery and I can't sleep. Honestly, I'm just sitting here drinking coffee and flexing my boobs. It's a fun party trick I realized I could do shortly after my expander surgery. Because my tissue expanders are in a nice little pocket inside of my chest wall, when I move my arms or chest muscles, my boobs move. It's obnoxious and hilarious. I, of course, hope my newly acquired trick sticks with me after surgery tomorrow. How fun would that be at the gym?

 Just in case I lose my "gift", I had Eric take a short video of me flexing last night. I'm trying to post it but haven't figured out how to do that yet. Youtube is a little too sophisticated for me. I also had Eric take a picture of my port-a-cath. This little button has allowed me to not feel any of my sticks during the last year. I have received all of my chemotherapy and herceptin infusions through my "little friend." My port is the main reason I am so excited for surgery. Although extremely helpful, I hate this thing. There are cords under my skin that lead to my artery. They're gross and feel strange. It's a bitch trying to find shirts that don't show my "button." Occasionally, I just slap a band-aid on it and call it good.

The bruising has been pretty bad for the past few months. My body just wants it out.

 On to surgery stuff, I have to check in at Abbott at 6 am for my 8 am surgery. Dr. Bretzke will do surgery on my umbilical hernia first...a special shout out to my 7 lb 1 oz and 6 lb 5 oz twins! :) Next, Dr. Migliori will do my expander/implant swap. The complete time should be under around 2-3 hours. They are estimating that I will be discharged around noon if all goes well. My bag is packed and I'm ready to put this whole cancer saga behind me.

When I read posts from the beginning of this journey, I talked a lot about the fantastic new boobs I would have at the end. I have since learned, boobs aren't that big of a deal....shocking, I know. Even with my new boobs, grand as they may be....and they WILL be grand! I will still have no feeling in them. I could plop them right on a stove burner and wouldn't feel a thing. I still have no nipples, which oddly doesn't seem odd to me anymore. I still have an arm that feels like raw chicken. I have very little feeling there and it still isn't completely weight bearing. My fingers still tingly and go numb.

As normal as I look now from the outside, breast cancer has still taken it's toll.
I'm still adapting, but I'm thankful.

Thanks for all of your support and prayers!

My Odd Tissue Expanders

I sometimes check my blog traffic to see what exactly people google to end up on my blog.
I see a ton of "tissue expanders"and "what will I look like after my mastectomy?" traffic.
I'm not surprised. That's exactly what I googled when I was first diagnosed. I found very little.

To make this blog work to it's fullest potential, I will show you what I look like. I hope it helps you to see that they're odd little buggers....but temporary.
It doesn't mean this is what you will look like, but it's a good starting point.

I have a serious love/hate relationships with my expanders.
I like them because they make me appear to have boobs....really large boobs, actually.
For someone like me, who had virtually NO boobs prior, I kind of enjoy them.

In the middle of the night when I can't get comfortable because they're poking me- and I feel like my ribs are breaking, I'm not such a fan.
It all evens out. Temporary, temporary!

Here's the good part to my story.....Dr. Migliori said that since my skin responded insanely well after radiation, I don't have to wait the full six months to have my exchange surgery.
I will be getting my new boobs on August 30th. Woo hoo!

This is pretty fabulous news.
Here are some pics of my crazy boobs now. The whole process of boobs, cancerous boob, no boobs, small boobs to big boobs is truly amazing.

Since my mastectomy on January 3rd, I have been inflated 500 ccs on the left and 540 ccs on the right.
The expanders were put in wide because of my need for radiation through the middle of my chest.
I have not worn a bra since January 3rd. I can run with these bad boys and they don't move an inch.
I should run more. :)

The last picture shows a dot in the middle of my ribs. That's one of my radiation tattoos. I have (I think) four of them. They're permanent.

Plastics Guy

I love meeting with my plastic surgeon. He's adorable and considered a genius in his field.
I like to people watch in his office more than anything.
I feel like I'm on a Midwestern version of 'Nip/Tuck'.
Tomorrow marks one month before my 'ticking time bombs' will be removed.

Everything is on schedule for my surgery as long as my Echo and physical results come back ok.

The doctor thinks I will only have to stay in the hospital for two nights. He also reassured me numerous times that he's liberal with the pain meds, so I shouldn't worry.
The fact that pain meds make me puke is the ONLY thing I'm currently worried about.

I will be in surgery for 3-4 hours between the mastectomies and first stage of reconstruction.
There will be drains placed on both sides that will drain excess fluids from the surgical sites. They will be gross and uncomfortable, but necessary. I will have them for about a week.

Here's a pic of a complete stranger with a drain. I love the internet! :)

Another fun fact, Dr. Migliori will be using AlloDerm when he puts my expanders in.
AlloDerm is derived from tissue of postmortem human cadaver donors that have been donated to the US tissue banks.

My final surgery where my expanders will be exchanged with implants will depend on how much radiation I will need. Right now, we are planning on 35 treatments. We won't know for sure though until my first surgery.
I will either have it six months from the date of my mastectomy, or six months from the start of radiation. That puts it at either July or August 2012.
It also seems like an eternity from now.
Cancer-free in 2012, yo!

Are you curious how big I will be at the end?
Of course you are. ;)
Well, I won't be anywhere near Dolly Parton. We are just hoping to almost double my original ones and put them back where they used to be pre-kids.
We are shooting for at least 450-500 ccs.
I would like to go bigger but it's not in the cards.
Dr. Mig is a genius, but not a magician. It all depends on how my skin does with the radiation and tissue expanders.

I have an appointment on Monday with my primary care physician to have my pre-op physical.
I haven't seen her since she missed my initial lump.
I have no idea why I'm going to her again.

Actually, I have thought about changing doctors, but I don't want her to forget me or my story.
I don't want her to dismiss another patient that is concerned about a lump. I don't want her to tell another person that she has "lumpy bumpies" and send her on her way.
I want this doctor to see that *LUCKILY* I was persistent and gave her another chance to order a mammogram for me.

I hope I was a "teaching moment" for her.
I hope she now errs on the side of caution and orders mammograms every damn time she feels something she questions, no matter what the age or family background is of the patient. I hope I will be her last "lumpy bumpy" patient that has to go home and worry, without answers, as to why the bump in her breast is growing.

Besides the tumor biz, she was a pretty good doctor. As long as I don't get cancer again, I'm probably ok sticking with her. :)

I hope you all have an awesome weekend!