First of all, waking up in the hospital with BIGGER BOOBS than when I checked in was nothing short of a moment of glory. Secondly, I found out that because of my cancer & reconstructive surgery I won't have to pay full price for a bra. EVER. AGAIN. And I can buy the pretty ones too, according to the lady at the store, not just the geriatric boulder holders in skin color beige on the front rack.
As you have probably guessed I'm a glass half full kind of gal, always looking for that silver lining. So finding out I could have the nice front porch I've always dreamed of, free bras and also not ever actually needing to wear one again, well that was a trifecta of awesomeness.
My reconstruction process has begun with "tissue expanders" where my new boobs will go eventually. How it works is the plastic surgeon puts these pockets into your chest wall, behind the muscle. There's usually some fluid already included in them (in my case a hell of a lot more than what the doctor carved out and sent to the lab!) and then you go in for regular appointments where they inject (think Pulp Fiction here) more fluid until they reach the "desired" appearance. Is there a t-shirt out there that says "pardon our dust during reconstruction" right over the boob area? I totally want one of those.....
So it's kind of like braces for your boobs. You go in regularly to have your boobs blown up until they look straight. Then the doctor will swap out the "tissue expanders" for the fake booby stuff and you're in and out in a day. I was hoping to have the new girls on display in August when Mark and I head to Hawaii, but I may not be done. It depends on how fast we can pump those babies up.
I've been given several name suggestions, and I certainly welcome more. I'll start a poll here soon and together we'll name the girls. Here's what I have so far:
Thelma & Louise
Laverne & Shirley
Sonny & Cher
Bill & Hillary (how appropriate to name boobs after boobs!)
Shaggy & Scooby
Jack & Jill
Left & Right
Georgia Dickover and Jennie Titus Smith Morris (tribute to my sorority heritage)
So please keep them coming, and they don't have to be pairs either. I can't tell you enough how much your love and support has kept us all going, and heck, it even forced Mark to use Facebook. Miracles do happen.....
6 comments:
How about Nip and Tuck?
Clearly an opportunity for you to embark on a printing enterprise (the t-shirt, not the boobs).
There are some great breast cancer cards, but I think you could write better ones.
Don't worry about Hawaii--you don't want to be too big to fit into the cocoanut shell top.
Matilda and Marlene get my vote. So glad you are doing well and excited for the new boobs! Does this mean no chemo to follow up or just a short series to clean it up? Thinking of you often! Gayle Cunningham
Gayle, I am VERY lucky. No chemo, no radiation, just 5 years of tamoxifen. I caught it at the best possible time and I am thankful for every tamoxifen induced hot flash. Thank you for your support!
So very glad to hear it! Mom caught hers really early too, but they still did a "clean up" chemo just to make sure. We had just moved to NY so could not be there. It was hard! She also did tamoxifen for a couple of years after and the Drs are telling me that a preventative course in a couple of years is a real possibility as well for me. I'm still voting for elective preventative surgery myself, but we'll see how that goes. Did you take before and after pics (covered of course!) in a favorite outfit so you can see the awesome new rack? Figure we all did it for our expanding preggo bellies, why not expanding new boobs!? Glad you are healing well!
Now that's a FAB idea Gayle! I don't have a before, but I took a pic in my pink running outfit with my girl after my last run pre-surgery. I'll take another one with my NEW rack post-op with the new girls, BEFORE I get all sweaty and gross. I'm with you: PREVENTION is the way to go. Glad your mom had a successful outcome as well. XOXO
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