I swear Dr. A. just loves seeing me every week....

So I went back this week to get my Herceptin treatment and follow up with Dr. A.  Since I had to come to Dallas today and I was still not clear to drive myself, my cousins and I decided to make a road trip out of it!

Our first stop was at the Collins Street Bakery in Hideaway Lake where I bought some bread.  Our next stop was at the Russell Stover's Outlet, where I loaded up on chocolate and got a new rewards card to start earning points again.  Whoo hoo!  And our final fun stop for the day was at the Cheesecake Factory - which I still cannot believe my cousins have never been to before considering how much they love The Big Bang Theory.  I had a very delicious chicken sandwich and then we all split like 4 different kinds of cheesecake slices.  I was so stuffed and sick by the time we left there!

So then it was on to the hospital, where I signed in for my Herceptin treatment.  This time I didn't have to see Dr S. first, but I will next time when I come back in 3 weeks.  Luckily it went by smoothly and I was in and out of there.

Then I went on to see Dr. A. and show my cousins how good looking he was.  I knew it wasn't just me - ha!  He said my incisions are looking good and my drains sites are healing as planned.  Today he expanded my expanders some more, so I now look like a small B cup.  Most of the lines and creases made during surgery are starting to fill out and I am starting to no longer look like I have Frankenstein boobs!  lol  Dr. A. said he'll expand them 4-5 more times before we get to the size I want, so I have something to look forward to :-P

I left his office feeling better about my outlook.  He keeps telling me not to give up and just be patient with my healing, but I think he senses it's taking a toll on my and my sanity. He is very encouraging and makes me feel like I could be my old self again some day - but it's getting hard to stay on the positive track sometimes.  I go back to see him next week, so I hope we continue to get good news and keep my spirits up before my birthday.

I had another follow up with Dr. A. this week.

So this week I actually stopped in for a follow up from Dr. L. first.  She was quick and didn't say much, but she told me I was healing well, but needed to be using my arms more since I don't have all of my flexibility yet.  Boo...

Then I was off to see Dr. A., who always welcomes me so openly and always makes me feel like more than just a patient.  That sounds corny but I'm glad to have a doctor like that.  So he checks all my wounds - which he still squints his eyebrows at - and says that there is still slow and steady progress.  Again, at this point he is not considering surgery or any other major procedures.  I think he's still hoping for it to heal completely on it's own and not put any more stress on my body. 
Which made me really surprised when he said he wanted to expand them again this week!  So once again he takes that giant expander needle and jams it into each breast and fills them with over 100cc of saline.  Last time it was just uncomfortable, but this time it hurt!  Although they didn't grow real big, I still felt the tight stretch of the muscles and the skin over each breast.  While I was so glad to make this next step, I was in pain all the way home and through most of today.  So of course I have mixed feelings about that process.
But the best part of the visit was that I was able to remove my drains! They've been in for over 4 weeks and have slowly began to stop draining anything.  The drains are practically ripped right out of place, so I was overly anxious about it.  As Dr. A. pulled off the tape and broke the stitches, he kind of laughed and said "Ok tell me when I can pull them" and in my state of panic I kept repeating "Just do it" without looking down at my abdomen.  But before I could even finish a thought and take a deep breath, I looked up to see Dr. A. holding the drains in his hand and looking down at my drain incision smiling away.  Apparently, I didn't even feel a thing.  Good one Dr. A.  Without my drains I feel so free to move and go and not have to wear any form of drain carrier.  My clothes fit more normally - as much as normal can be right now - and I feel like I'm over a really big hurdle in all of this!  I'm so excited!

Saw Dr L and Dr A this week again....

I had another post op follow up this week with my surgeons.  First I saw Dr. A. who checked my incisions and some of the problem areas that have not been healing very well.  The good news is that he said the affected skin area is healing - it's just healing VERY slowly.  So since the progress has been slow but steady, he is pretty sure I won't need any additional surgeries to fix it.  I'll just have to wait a little longer for them to completely heal.  The best and worst part of the visit what that he actually put some saline in my expanders - only like 100 cc- to start the expansion process.  It sucked because this required him to shove a giant needle through my breast tissue into the expander, but it's awesome because the fact that he has begun to expand them means everything is healing great! Yay!
AND he thinks next week I'll get the drains out, so I'm super excited!!

Next I saw Dr. L., who squeezed me in since she was in a hurry.  She checked my incisions too, re-checked my arms for lymphedema and tested my arms by having me stretch and move around.  She thinks everything is looking better and overall I'm healing overall.  Since I'm coming back next week to see Dr. A., she wants me to see her again to see how I'm feeling.  It's almost time for me to go back to work, so she wants to be sure I'm ready.

Score another point for me this week!

Another post op visit that put me through the wringer.

I was lucky (ha ha) enough to squeeze 3 doctor appointments into one trip today, so it's no wonder I feel like poop by the end of the day. 

My first visit was a work in with Dr. L.  I've been having some problems with my left arm after surgery, and Dr. L.'s nurse confirmed I have lymphedema in it.  Boo.  So they gave me a prescription for a compression sleeve and I'm going to look around Tyler to see who offers lymphedema therapy.

My second appointment was in Dr. S.'s office to continue my Herceptin therapy.  Whoo hoo
The office was running behind today and the pharmacy didn't have my medicine ready when I got there, so I spent a lot of time sitting around the office waiting.  But the upside is that, as an aftermath of my breast surgery, the nerve endings just under my port were cut so I didn't feel a thing when they accessed it today!  Hooray for small victories I guess.  Ha ha  So from here on out I'll continue the Herceptin therapy every 3 weeks until next March.  Then I'll be a free woman!

My last visit of the day was to Dr. A., the plastic surgeon, who graciously worked me in after being over an hour late.  Love this man - but he loves to cause me pain!  He worked on the infected incision that seems to be bleeding more and forming some blisters on the skin.  He continued to squeeze the heck out of it, then mash the expanders around so the excess fluid comes out and then compressing my sore muscles on the my sides to ensure their excess fluid is drained out.  I left there feeling 10pounds lighter since he squeezed out so much excessive wound fluid, but I am still sore as I sire here and type.  He says the excess bleeding is a good sign - in an odd way - but overall he's not happy with my skin's healing progress.  I think he'll check it for another week or two and then decide if he's gonna take me back into surgery to cut it out.  THEN maybe we can start expanding them back to normal!  Again, I feel grateful to have a doctor that not only cares about my healing, but is willing to take the time to check my wounds 1-2 times a week and work me in when I'm late.  He hasn't quite opened up to me all the way, but I think I'll crack his shell before this is all over.

I go back to Dr. L. and Dr. A. next week.  I have my fingers crossed for good news!

First post-op appointment!

I had my first post-op follow up appointments with Dr L. and Dr A. yesterday and they both went pretty well.  I saw Dr L. first after she worked me in to be seen.  She said the necrotic skin is looking better, but isn't healed all the way yet.  Other aspects, like the incisions and the muscle groups, are looking good and are only slightly bruised.  Dr L. thinks my diabetes may play a part in my slow healing, but since my numbers are under control, all we can do is wait for things to heal in their own time.  I see Dr L. again in 2 weeks for another follow up.

Next I saw Dr A. - who put me through the wringer!  Not only did he inspect and change my dressings on my incisions, but apparently he worked over the expanders that are in there right now.  Which means painfully mashing on them, pushing them and massaging them into the right space.  I swear I felt the edges of the expanders ripple and my muscles started freaking out around them.  He said one of the expanders looked too full since it was making my skin crack - so he needed to pull some air out of it.  Yes - you can imagine how that is done...  With a giant needle!  With a giant needle - similar to something used to inject flavor into steaks and meat - he pierced the expander in my left breast and 'sucked out' a large amount of air and leveling out the expander.  LUCKILY for my, many of the nerve endings in my breast are dead, so I felt minimal pain - but OMG that's so weird!

By the time I left, I feel like my breasts had been attacked and assaulted! lol So Mom bought me some ice cream and we headed home through the Dallas traffic.  Dr A. said he will see me again on Friday to ensure my incisions are healing ok.  Earlier this week I developed some blisters on the incisions that had popped and some of the skin around the incision is cracking and bleeding, so although I hate making the drive back to Dallas so soon, I'm glad I have a doctor that is taking such great care of me and is keeping a close on my health and healing.  That or he just doesn't want me calling him through the on call service again - ha ha!