It's been almost 2 years since we talked about drains. If you were around for the first one you can skip this explanation. If you're new to my world, you are getting ready to learn something. This post might not be for everyone. The drain tube doesn't hurt but it's not easy to look at. As a courtesy, I won't show you my actual drain, I will use my trusty old illustration. Again, my setup varies a bit from the drawing but you get the idea. My tube exits on my side and it's several inches below my surgical site. I have to empty the bulb, which I refer to as my bulbicle, at least twice per day. For now, I have to do it more than that because I can fill the bulb. Nice, right?

I'm not sure how long I will have to keep this one. After my mastectomy, I only kept my drains in for a week. My PS said that the back drain would stay in the longest after the "big" surgery. She estimated 3 weeks. (Oh please, NOOOOOOO). So it could be as long as 3 weeks. It won't be any more than that because I have surgery again in 3 weeks. When I come out of that I'll have a newly placed drain for my back and two more in the front. Can you feel my excitement? I'm sure that you can.  

In other news, I've developed my "rash caused by whatever that stuff is they put on your skin before surgery to keep the cooties away."