Well. This is, um, different...
Jun. 3rd, 2008 10:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperToday's followup visit with Dr. Towbin turned out to not be with Dr. Towbin, but with one of his assistants--I think. I completely spaced on getting her name. I was too distracted by the removal of the dressing and drain from around my chest, not to mention my first look at the chest itself.
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solarbird told me it looked better than she expected. Me, I admit I fruck right out for a bit and couldn't look for more than a moment or two. It was just too damned strange to see a flat area with a long, curving scar where my breast used to be. It's also damned strange to feel the weight difference on right vs. left; it's certainly distinct enough to feel, though I can't tell yet if it's distinct enough to screw around with my balance.
The nurse/assistant did a good solid job anyway taking off all the rigging they had around me, and taking the drain out in particular. I didn't look at that at all. It hurt. Apparently there was a piece of it that was noticeably bigger than the hole it was pulled out of. To wit, ow.
Once it was out, though, as I was advised would be the case, I started feeling significantly less pain. I have a new Vicodin prescription, but I also have one for Naproxen, to try to mix that in with the Vicodin as I wean myself down. The way this'll probably work will be like it's worked for my previous medical adventures--taking the lesser stuff during the day and the harder stuff for sleeping.
I forgot to ask about the Tamoxifen question, partly because I was just generally distracted and a little freaked, and partly because it wasn't actually Dr. Towbin that we saw. But the nurse/assistant did give us a copy of my path report, which was negative, and that was the main question. However, I will be calling them back tomorrow to get a confirmation on that and will check with Dr. Kohn as well before I ditch the Tamoxifen completely.
It helped though that I was able to put on a bra again for the first time since the surgery, even if I had to stuff the right side with cotton to try to balance me out a bit. Better yet, I was able to take a decent bath tonight and wash my hair.
I begin to feel more normal. Still deeply weirded out every time I look at myself in the mirror, but Dara has hugged me a lot, and I am grateful that I'll have a couple more weeks yet to get used to the new state of my chest. It also helps some to know, as Dara has reminded me, that this should be a temporary state of affairs. And that in mid-August or so, we can start looking at launching Operation Boob Stabilization.
solarbird told me it looked better than she expected. Me, I admit I fruck right out for a bit and couldn't look for more than a moment or two. It was just too damned strange to see a flat area with a long, curving scar where my breast used to be. It's also damned strange to feel the weight difference on right vs. left; it's certainly distinct enough to feel, though I can't tell yet if it's distinct enough to screw around with my balance.The nurse/assistant did a good solid job anyway taking off all the rigging they had around me, and taking the drain out in particular. I didn't look at that at all. It hurt. Apparently there was a piece of it that was noticeably bigger than the hole it was pulled out of. To wit, ow.
Once it was out, though, as I was advised would be the case, I started feeling significantly less pain. I have a new Vicodin prescription, but I also have one for Naproxen, to try to mix that in with the Vicodin as I wean myself down. The way this'll probably work will be like it's worked for my previous medical adventures--taking the lesser stuff during the day and the harder stuff for sleeping.
I forgot to ask about the Tamoxifen question, partly because I was just generally distracted and a little freaked, and partly because it wasn't actually Dr. Towbin that we saw. But the nurse/assistant did give us a copy of my path report, which was negative, and that was the main question. However, I will be calling them back tomorrow to get a confirmation on that and will check with Dr. Kohn as well before I ditch the Tamoxifen completely.
It helped though that I was able to put on a bra again for the first time since the surgery, even if I had to stuff the right side with cotton to try to balance me out a bit. Better yet, I was able to take a decent bath tonight and wash my hair.
I begin to feel more normal. Still deeply weirded out every time I look at myself in the mirror, but Dara has hugged me a lot, and I am grateful that I'll have a couple more weeks yet to get used to the new state of my chest. It also helps some to know, as Dara has reminded me, that this should be a temporary state of affairs. And that in mid-August or so, we can start looking at launching Operation Boob Stabilization.
