Saturday, January 06, 2007

Moles and Panties

To make sense out of this post you need to know what exactly my surgery entailed. Most of you probably already know, but I'm going to explain it one more time, just in case.

In May of 2005 I had a left modified radical mastectomy which left me with an 8-inch scar running from the center of my chest to half way under my arm. Because of my fairly young age at diagnosis and the further risk factors, I elected to have a prophylactic right mastectomy along with what they call DEIP reconstruction.

Last Friday a surgical oncologist removed my right breast by simple, skin sparing mastectomy. When she was finished the plastic/vascular surgeon removed the tissue from my belly, including an artery from each side, and did a transfer.

First, he basically "stuffed" the right breast with belly tissue and connected an artery so it will have an actual blood supply. But for the left breast he used not only the fat, but some of the skin from the belly to create a breast.

So with that little bit of explaination I'll continue...

I didn't actually get to see the "girls" for a few days, but when I did I had to laugh. My left breast now has a mole that used to be on my belly. Kind of weird, that.

And how's this for humiliation? I was told I should have underwear that wouldn't hit the incision or be too tight. So when we got home from the hospital my Father-in-Law ran to the store to buy me some "double wide, extra saggy, granny panties". My Father-in-Law!! How embarrassing! Todd was going to pin a pair to the bulletin board and take a picture so I could post it with the phrase, "Who's panties are on the bulletin board?" (You know, like on Gray's Anatomy) But I decided against it. Tell you about my humongous panties and showing you are two different things.
Mused by Jenster :: 10:37 AM :: 7 People musing:

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