Our Next Adventure

This week Dion and I went to the plastic surgeon to talk about boobs. We were there for about two and a half hours...there's a lot to talk about, size, accessories, when the fun will happen. Anyway, here's the scoop, the 411, all the dirty information.

I will be having my surgery on April 8th, a Friday. Really, what better way to end the week? It will be at 12:00 PM (I guess that means no lunch) and will take about 6 hours (I guess that means no dinner either. Well crap, you can't eat before, so I in general it means no meals for Sue on Friday. Have something good for me that day.). Now, keep in mind that I am not a doctor and I do not play one on TV either, so I will try to get all the right information out there, but don't quote me on it. Here it goes.

I will be using my own tissue instead of implants. That option went out the door when I did radiation, which is ok, but makes for a harder surgery. There are about 8 muscles we have in our belly. The ones that are called 6-packs are the ones they will be using. I have about a 1-pack, so the size I end up with will be interesting to say the least. They take those two muscles that run up and down, what I call my baby jello (fat), and the attached blood vessels and tunnel all of that up and under my skin in my abdomen to my chest. Then two incisions in my chest are cut and opened, and all of that fun stuff is pulled through to make new boobies. The incision from my tummy will be hip to hip, and you end up with almost like a tummy tuck type of thing. Drainage tubes, there will be plenty....4-6 of them, I think. I point this out because there is nothing I hate more than those dang drainage tubes. Pain, there will be an abundance of, but with the help of good drugs, I am hoping to keep that in control, or at least where I don't want to kill myself. The hospital stay will be anywhere from 4-7 days, recovery will be about 6 weeks. And now, the very sad part. My doctor would prefer that I go to his hospital instead of him coming here for the surgery. I will be about an hour and a half away from home, away from family, away from friends. I understand that it is for the better that I am there, but it is way out of my comfort zone. I know the staff here, I know the hospital, and really what helped me through the other surgeries was having friends and family close by, and now, well poop, I feel like I will be flying solo in the cities and that makes me sad. But, what do you do?

Anyway, I feel quite overwhelmed with all that has to be done before this last big step in my walk with cancer. From getting situated at work, to getting our house ready, to trying to figure out how we will do daycare for the girls, to figure out what Dion will do with work and trying to dealing with all of this. The poor guy leaves home at about 6:00 AM and gets home anywhere from 5:30-6:30 PM. So, does he work all day, drive an hour or so to the hospital to see me, sit with me for a bit, then drive another hour and a half to get home to take care of the girls and then start all over again? Grrrr....I have talked before about how, at least for me, that there is a lot of guilt that goes with having cancer, and this is a perfect example of that. I am frustrated, to say the least. I feel horrible for Dion, and he keeps telling me to not worry about it, but here I am worrying about it. Hmmm...any suggestions would be appreciated.

Ok, my dear dear husband is making us breakfast, so I have to go. I'll write more later. This too shall pass....this too shall pass.....this too shall pass.......