Fat Grafting Ouch
Originally published at bcvsbc.blogspot.com on 11/19/18
My biggest concern about my exchange surgery was that my foobs would be softer. It was selfish but I really wanted the kids to hug me for real and one day not to feel like a science experiment when naked in front of my husband. I should have been asking more questions about fat grafting. For instance how painful is it? How long before the swelling goes down? And holy crap when does the bruising stop???? I am really glad I chose implants and not the DIEP Flap surgery option to recreate my breasts. In that procedure you use your ab muscles and fat to recreate your boobs. Many women are excited and happily pick this option because it means they get a tummy tuck, liposuction and breast job in the name of cancer. I now know it would have been fat grafting on acid. NO WAY!
Below are pictures of the two locations on my sides that were used to harvest fat to recreate my fake boobies. The first picture on the top left is the night I came home from surgery. Bottom left is the next evening and the largest picture in the set of three is four days out of surgery. Below the set of three is a picture from today,six days out of surgery.
Left Side
Right Side
It looks like I was hit by a bus and I can say it feels a lot like it too.
Part of the reason that this is so painful is that I had another reaction to the pain medicine. I know I have chemo brain but I am pretty sure this happened after the mastectomy surgery too. It started off again with my skin beginning to itch uncontrollably. Then I noticed that I couldn't focus my eyes and the light was starting to hurt them. In the mirror I noticed that my pupils were enormous. Scott said I looked like one of our girls beanie boo stuffed animals. Since the doctor called to check on me shortly after I realized my pupils were crazy we decided to stop that particular pain medicine. This is now the third or fourth pain medicine I have tried since getting cancer and none of them seem to like me so I opted to stop all pain medicine and take Tylenol.
My eyes are almost back to normal as of today thankfully. It was impossible to read, type, or write with my eyes dilated but now I am close to being caught up on work and life. Inject a sigh and head shake here. For now I am back to sleeping in the chair and having to wake Scott up to help me get out of it to pee in the middle of the night. Wednesday I am back to the doctor to get checked out from the surgery and hopefully told I can shower. If I get the okay to shower I MIGHT try to sleep in the bed. I don't know though, I have a very real fear that Scott will roll into my side and I will karate chop him in his sleep...I think I will stay in the chair for a bit longer!