Surgery #4 of 2016 - Day 1
Today I had surgery...again. I've been saying it was really 4 procedures but it was more of a list. Lots going on. I will keep the pictures as PG rated and as non-descript as I can but if you don't like the sight of blood, turn back now.
Let's begin....
I posted on Instagram earlier that I felt like a
I know you were thinking "tattoos should be the easy part", well...
The bruising on the the various areas of my torso is starting to show up. If bruises develop, I'll post pictures then. If you're going to go through this you might as well see what it's like....at least in my experience. I'm here for you.
The Change March 2016
I promised pictures showing the change from February 1st to mid-March. I apologize for the delay. The "after" picture is a little out of date now since I've had another fill this week. Just imagine a bit more change. As always the pics are PG rated. You might even notice that I'm wrapped in a compression bandage in the "after" picture.
The point of this is not to show off the chest, it's to help you understand where the pain/discomfort comes from - just from the stretching. This doesn't even take into consideration the muscle cutting, moving and pulling.
For the before picture, you'll notice that's not me - well, it's sort of me. It is a wax mold of me. Anything more than that would be way to disturbing to put on here. And no, I never took any pictures. I though the wax mold (used during radiation) was enough of a reminder.
Picture from late February 2016
This one shows a couple of things. Obviously, it shows my follow up stitches (added 2/23, removed 3/8). You can also see the difference between the radiated skin (the top of the incision, has some dark spots, etc.) and the "good skin" that came forward with the muscle from my back. The good skin is going to do good things for the bad skin but it's going to take a few months. The radiated skin and the non-radiated skin feel very different as well. Wild stuff.
1/25/16
Here are the first pics. As promised, I'm posting in b&w to make them easier. Look at your own risk.
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1/24/16
I won't post anything too graphic but I wanted to give folks the option to view the photos by choice - not by throwing them on the main page. If I'm keeping the blog going to help others and share my experience, I think I have to share all of it. I will minimize the "eww" factor by posting in black and white (in case blood, scars, stitches, etc make you queasy.
Stay tuned!
Today I had surgery...again. I've been saying it was really 4 procedures but it was more of a list. Lots going on. I will keep the pictures as PG rated and as non-descript as I can but if you don't like the sight of blood, turn back now.
Let's begin....
I posted on Instagram earlier that I felt like a
Part of my clean-up is to fill in some very deep scars on my chest. In order to do that we had to do something called fat grafting. I'll post an explanation on the main blog page so the folks that don't want to see pictures don't have to come here.I have several holes (literally) in my various locations on my torso and they are leaking. Nice, right? The picture below is from the inside of the jacket I wore home. My shirt is yucky but it's black (thank goodness) so I didn't look like I'd been assaulted when I left. Don't worry, this is normal and we were warned in advance.
I also got nipples tattooed! I still have Frankenboobs but at least they slowly getting more human looking characteristics. They are still covered so I can't give you feedback on how they look. This is all I can see at the moment...on both sides...
The bruising on the the various areas of my torso is starting to show up. If bruises develop, I'll post pictures then. If you're going to go through this you might as well see what it's like....at least in my experience. I'm here for you.
The Change March 2016
I promised pictures showing the change from February 1st to mid-March. I apologize for the delay. The "after" picture is a little out of date now since I've had another fill this week. Just imagine a bit more change. As always the pics are PG rated. You might even notice that I'm wrapped in a compression bandage in the "after" picture.
The point of this is not to show off the chest, it's to help you understand where the pain/discomfort comes from - just from the stretching. This doesn't even take into consideration the muscle cutting, moving and pulling.
For the before picture, you'll notice that's not me - well, it's sort of me. It is a wax mold of me. Anything more than that would be way to disturbing to put on here. And no, I never took any pictures. I though the wax mold (used during radiation) was enough of a reminder.
Yes, that's my chest (in profile). If you thought I was kidding about the total destruction of that area during mastectomy, now you know! Many women go through reconstruction at the same time as their mastectomy and never have to see themselves like this. My docs recommended a delayed reconstruction. I didn't fully understand why at the beginning but it makes all the sense in the world to me now. My option was probably the more difficult and more painful route but my results should be pretty good once we are done. Everyone's path is different.
Sorry for the cheesy angle. I just couldn't get a profile shot to work. As you can see, I have gone from concave to convex! (did I get that right?). That's a lot of change in a month and a half.
Picture from late February 2016
This one shows a couple of things. Obviously, it shows my follow up stitches (added 2/23, removed 3/8). You can also see the difference between the radiated skin (the top of the incision, has some dark spots, etc.) and the "good skin" that came forward with the muscle from my back. The good skin is going to do good things for the bad skin but it's going to take a few months. The radiated skin and the non-radiated skin feel very different as well. Wild stuff.
1/25/16
Here are the first pics. As promised, I'm posting in b&w to make them easier. Look at your own risk.
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| The surgical site on my back. Photo credit: Mattie Doolin |
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| The drain exit and stitching. |
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Drain bulb (AKA The Bulbicle)
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1/24/16
I won't post anything too graphic but I wanted to give folks the option to view the photos by choice - not by throwing them on the main page. If I'm keeping the blog going to help others and share my experience, I think I have to share all of it. I will minimize the "eww" factor by posting in black and white (in case blood, scars, stitches, etc make you queasy.
Stay tuned!