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Bernadette! Hey, there, Miss PERKY!

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Posted 4/21/2007 6:40 PM (GMT 0)
If you thought hospital food was good, I know you musta been pushing that little morphine button!  So glad you are home and doing so well.  Congrats on the new figure!

Love and hugs...

BEV

Posted 4/22/2007 3:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Bev

Yes the food really is good there, and that is my second stay at that hosital. I had the morphine for just my first day there which included 10 hours of surgery so I really did not get to enjoy it as much as I would have liked. I did not get back to my room until 9 pm the day of surgery and I was out the rest of the time in between all of the nurses visits. My Dr does not like to leave you on the drip which was fine with me because I got up alot faster without all of the drugs.

I really do like my new shape, except my boobs are a lot smaller and Im getting used to that, they were too large to start with so that is okay.

Thanks for the hugs!
Bernadette
Posted 4/22/2007 12:15 PM (GMT 0)
I missed your post about the surgery. I'm glad everything went well. Hope you have a speedy recovery!
Posted 4/23/2007 9:38 PM (GMT 0)

I missed your post about the surgery also. I'm glad it went well. Let us in on the details of how it is versus how you "thought it would be" if you feel up to it. I know that I could only type a little at time at first. Do you have to wear a special girdle and bra 24/7? How long did you have to stay in the hospital? Are you feeling pretty good?

Kim

Posted 4/24/2007 6:06 PM (GMT 0)
Hi All

Im 0ne week post surgery and doing great, I can stand straight and walk totally normal. I have been taking long walks everyday to get my stamina back up. I dont have to wear a girdle or anything, I dont even have bandages on the insision sites. I still am amazed at how many stitches that I have, the tummy part goes from the middle of my hip to the middle of the other hip. I have 2 pretty well matched breasts (smaller) and a very flat tummy. Iam very happy with the results so far. I think Im doing better than I thought that I would, Im able to do just about everything I did before just slower.

I had my surgery Tuesday and got out on Friday, a very short stay. I was up the next morning doing laps around the ward and I think that makes a world of a difference. I slept in the recliner the first night and half of the 2nd but have been sleeping in the bed the rest of the time. Today Im running a temp again which zaps you but I still feel great. I have total feeling in my reduced/lifted breast and minimal feeling in the other. It was never the same after the lumpectomy so I wont miss the sensation.

Life is good and Im well on my way to recovery and being whole again.

L&H
Bernadette
Posted 4/24/2007 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
Honey, it sounds like you are doing GREAT! I'm so happy for you! It was 5 long, difficult months before I was back in my real bed. I kid you not. Of course, I started chemo 3 weeks after surgery, so I'm sure that had an effect on the healing process. And I've never had any sensation in my reconstructed breast. As a matter of fact, when they attached the new areola (I had nipple sharing procedure), they didn't even anesthetize the reconstruction. Just sewed that puppy on and I never felt a thing.

So, three cheers for Bernadette and her perky new breasts and flat tummy!

Take care.

Love and hugs...
BEV
Posted 4/25/2007 4:16 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, you ARE doing amazingly well.  It was a good 3 weeks before I could stand straight and walk much.  That is so wonderful!  Keep up the good healing!
Posted 4/25/2007 5:15 PM (GMT 0)

I'm so happy that you are doing so well. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be either so I'm glad that you're having the same luck. I can't believe that you don't have to wear a girdle! I had to "live" in that uncomfortable thing for a long time. I slept in my bed at home right away but kept a pillow under my knees and had a wedge for my top half. It was actually more comfortable than the hospital bed. My "new" breast was quite a bit swollen. It still isn't really "matched" very good to the other one, but my PS says that the fine tuning will come when we do the nipple and all the swelling is completely gone. My next appt is May 10th. I'm doing really good now except my head tells me that I can do stuff and when I try, my body says, "no way". It's hard but it is really important to go slow. So, don't try to be super-woman and do more than you should, Bernadette. I wish you lots and lots of good luck! You are awesome!!

Kim

Posted 4/28/2007 2:09 AM (GMT 0)
Hi All

I have to admit that I have had a couple of bad days, in fact 3. I started running a temp and they could not figure out why. I had a bunch of test ran and my white blood count was more than twice what it was supposed to be. I also had some problems with my liver enzymes. Last night, well this morning at about 2am my temo finally broke and I feel good again. I was totally knocked out and could hardly sit up. I had an appointment with the PS this afternoon and more tests and he said it looks like I had some infection with one of the drain sights. So to make a long story short Im up and going again and ready to tackle the world. I have lost 15 lbs so far.....I don't know how except the only thing that tastes good is fruit.

Kim
My breast are almost completly the same size and I dont have much if any swelling. I don't have drains in either breast anymore thank goodness. I still don't know about getting a nipple, I may or may not. I feel blessed for the work that my Dr has done he is amazing. I just hope they don't get any smaller!!!

Hugs to all
Bernadette
Posted 4/28/2007 6:44 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with Kim, go slow.  That could be partly why you got an infection.  Your body has been through a lot and it needs time to heal.  Please take it easy, even if you feel good.  I was jealous before about you being able to stand up - now you tell me you lost 15 lbs!  I am over-the-top jealous now!  LOL  tongue    I wish I had lost weight, but I didn't really.  I know I wish I had kept the small stomach from right after the surgery.  I could barely eat a thing and hoped that would continue, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Unfortunately, the stomach and skin are very elastic and stretch much more than we would like.  Oh well, I must get back into control.

 

I am VERY happy for you with your progress.

 

Kim,

 

I'm glad you are having a better time in recovery than you expected.  It's good that you are listening to your body and not doing too much.  It takes time, but it does get better every day.

Posted 5/1/2007 5:37 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Kathy

I have not posted alot because I have not felt well, Iam still running a temp right at 100 at all times. I take tylenol and it still stays at 100, the lowest that it goes is 98.8 and then back up again. I have been on the antibiotics since Friday so I don't understand why they have not brought down the temp. I had my hubby help me with the drains and they are both infected still. I told him I will call the Dr first thing in the am if this is not better. Im sick of feeling sick! I still can get up and move around but I don't have much energy for it. Sorry for all of the complaining but I knew that you would understand what Im going thru. Did you tummy stretch out some after the surgery? Mine is so flat I dont want it to get big again.

L&H
Bernadette
Posted 5/4/2007 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry I didn't reply sooner.  I've been very busy lately.  Yes, unfortunately, the tummy does stretch out a bit.  I'm battling with that right now.  However, I refuse to let it get out of hand.

 

I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well.  I was pretty lucky in that regard.  I didn't get any infections.  The only complication I had was the hole in the abdominal area that took FOREVER to heal.  Dealing with that was very weird, but interesting. 

 

I hope you are much better by the time you read this.

Posted 5/5/2007 11:46 AM (GMT 0)
Just take it easy. Did you call the doctor? Please take care of yourself.

Posted 5/10/2007 9:03 PM (GMT 0)

Oh Bernadette, I so hope that you are doing better. It is really hard when you are sick along with the weakness from the surgery. I haven't seen any posts from you so I hope that just means that you are feeling so good and are so busy that you don't have time to write. Please take extra good care of yourself and let us know how you are and what you found out from the doctor.

L&H  Kim 

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