Post-op

Well, it's a week and a half and I'm finally starting to feel a little more normal.

THANK YOU to all our friends and family who have called, texted, stopped by and sent food/flowers and love. It's really made the last week and a half so much more manageable.

I'm told the surgery went well. There were no complications with the surgery itself and both the surgical oncologist (Dr. Tuttle) and the plastic surgeon (Dr. Cunningham) we're pleased with how everything went. The day after the surgery, I noticed a sharp pain on my right side (surgical side), but thought nothing of it. Later, I thought I could feel some wetness on that side, but once again, because I was completely numb on the right side of my torso I assumed it was nothing. At midnight, my nurse was examining my surgical site and found a very large blister that had burst on my right torso (about where my elbow would hit). She dressed it and by 6am I had developed another 4 blisters all up my side--about 6 inches worth. The docs were baffled (because once again, I'm a medical oddity). The pain was immense and I was unable to move my arm at all without pulling either a blister or wounded skin--and insult to injury, I'm a righty! But, we saw a wound care specialist(!) and we're still allowed to go home.

While I was hospitalized, J came down with the flu. I was hopeful that I would miss it having spent 3 days in the hospital and Neil sanitizing all the things before my discharge (those of you familiar with Neil's cleaning know how thorough he can be!!). Alas, when it rains it pours...instead of spending the last 10 days only recovering from a mastectomy, I've also been recovering from the flu and the above noted blisters. The flu and blisters have actually been more difficult than the surgery itself in terms of pain and discomfort.

I'm finally starting to feel a little better today. Neil says that my blisters are starting to heal. I can't see them as I'm not allowed to lift. My right arm due to surgery AND because lifting that arm has meant it pulled on the sensitive skin where the blisters have been healing. Because of the pain, it's been incredibly hard for me to text or to talk on the phone. I hope to be able to catch up with you all over the next week as the pain goes down and the healing continues.

Thank you again for all you kindness and care during this time!