There’s an Italian pastry that’s breast-shaped to commemorate St. Agatha, and a Galician cheese called tetilla.
Love it!
It’s a pity that there’s no time to hop out to Wyoming to visit the Grand Teton Mountains…
Oh, and I was thinking of my recent surgery (hysterectomy) not the upcoming one. There are oodles of boob-related things. I’ve got a plush breast from I Heart Guts that I will pull out at an opportune moment.
Pity the Erotic Baker has been closed for years. I could have ordered a few dozen boob cookies to give to the hospital staff.
Pre-op appointment was last Friday. As I texted my niece (BRCA1, 36 years old, and I blame her for all of this because she’s the first one to have found it out), “Tit’s getting real!”.
The main surprise was when I asked roughly how long this surgery would take, and how long the DIEP flap one would take. I had in my mind, for some reason, about an hour for the first one (nipple-sparing lift / reduction) and 8 hours for the second one (mastectomy / reconstruction). Nope - 2.5 hours, and TWELVE hours for the second surgery. These will be the longest surgeries I’ve ever had, so eek on that - though of course I’ll sleep through the whole thing. Biggest worry about the first one is that it’s same-day surgery, and that surgery length will put us on the road home during evening rush hour!!
For the second: I’m trying to convince my husband, and a friend who will likely come along as his Emotional Support Human (since they won’t give HIM any drugs) that for the longer one, they really need to do something other than hang around the hospital. Waiting rooms are NOT a good place for 12-14 hours, I’m quite sure. Maybe I’ll make them check out the main hospital waiting room while I’m under for my first surgery (which will be in a separate building), so they can see of there are at least comfy places to sit. Or I may book them a hotel room to hang out in, if there is one near enough to satisfy their paranoia.
I’d even advocate for a hotel for the short surgery, unless you live within a few miles.
The nearest hotel is a mile or so, and would take time to get to/from the hospital, if my husband wanted to do that, but for such a “short” time, likely not worth it. Of course if things get delayed 4 hours like last time…. but no way am I letting him leave me in pre-op!!
We nearly had to go to one after my hysterectomy - my son messaged my husband during the day and told him our power was out at home. Fortunately it came back on.
A friend suggested we should rent an RV for the day of the big surgery and they could just park it there and sack out right there. I think a hotel would be cheaper!
If we lived a really long way away (I see people posting “can I tolerate 2 hours in the car to get home”), a hotel would absolutely be on my list.
When my late wife had her debulking and hysterectomy for ovarian cancer, I was very stressed during the procedure (it took about 5 hours). But I think it would have been worse to be away from the hospital, wondering if they would have been giving me updates had I been there. I’m not sure that there’s really a way to make the experience less stressful.
I absolutely agree!
With the longer surgery (12 hours), the waiting area will, I think, rapidly become a torture chamber. No place to put your feet up and maybe snooze. With cell phones, my husband could be reached very quickly at least - and he won’t go all that far if he goes anywhere at all.
The upcoming one (next Monday. Eek.) will be about 2.5 hours and in a different building, the outpatient pavilion, which is separate from the main hospital. No clue what the waiting area is like (or even if he‘ll be allowed to be with me in pre-op!!). The longer one will be in the same hospital as my hysterectomy so at least he knows what that area is like - and it won’t be good for 12 hours.
Answering my own question re spouse in pre-op: yes, he will be allowed back with me.
I had the pre-op nurse call yesterday and got that answered. Also the question of what happens if there are complications and I need to be admitted to the hospital - which is part of the same complex, but not physically connected except by a parking garage: they’d call an ambulance!
Hopefully I’ll get answers to the latest set of contraindicatory instructions re meds between now and surgery….
Best wishes, Mama Zappa. Hope everything goes smoothly!
I’m glad you got some answers and that he can be with you in pre-op. Best wishes!
I’m baaaaack.
Surgery went well. Doc came into the pre-op area and Sharpied me up. I was startled at the extent of the lines. Yes, I got a photo, no I will not share!
They actually took me back early - one advantage of the outpatient pavilion versus the main hospital: no emergencies.
I had brought “boob” cookies (bikini design, using a heart-shaped cutter) - got a local baker to make them for me. They said “Tit’s getting real”. Huge hit: my post-op nurse said she hoped she got the donor as her patient (I had not labeled the boxes). And the baker messaged me that her boyfriend knew someone working in the OR, who had posted about them on Instagram - and he said “wait: didn’t you make these??”.
So I’ll definitely need to do this for the bigger surgery in 6+ months. Maybe saying “Baby’s got a brand new boob” or something.
Pain hasn’t been too.bad, except for the one dressing change we’ve done so far. That took 2 people to get the old surgical bra off, and the new one on and fastened. The process frankly SUCKED. I was definitely hollering. Next attempt will likely be tomorrow and while I haven’t needed the narcotics, I took one last night and will premedicate before rhe next attempt.
Oh, and I wound up with drains. At the pre-op, the doc didn’t think I’d need them but said it was possible. At the hospital when he was doing the Sharpie bit, he said it was quite possible. Oh well.
The very brief glimpses I’ve had (I have NOT seen the incisions), they look decent.
I’m glad you’re on the other side of this procedure!
Hurray! Heal fast and easy!
Pathology came back clean - I got the results via the portal Thursday. Some language looked worrisome but on googling, “benign, found in up to 50% of women on autopsy”.
I see the doc Monday and will presumably get the drains out then. That’s supposed to be a treat and a half - not painful but weird as hell. I may take an oxy beforehand just in case. I am planning on attempting a shower today….
Yay! Buying those cookies was inspired.
Check with your doctor before showering with drains through your skin, though?
Hooray for those results! The drains-out thing feels weird but not crazy-weird, and only for an instant. You can ask for the nurse/tech to distract you while the doc/PA does the removal. Then you’ll return to life as an entity without extrusions that catch on the furniture!
Yay! Just had my ovaries out due to what could happen down the line (or would be quite likely to happen), and it’s a great feeling to know that’s no longer possible, because they have left the building!
Good luck with the showering and subsequent drain removal.
Yay good news!
I was told it was okay. I was even told it was okay to shower without the bra on (though I had to put it on immediately after); I just had to stand with the spray at my back.
I compromised by leaving the bra on and changing it right after.
Drains were pulled today. I see conflicting instructions re when I can shower now - 1 to 3 days - so I’ll play that conservatively. I see doc again in 8 weeks at which point we will make the decision re the reconstruction.
In the meantime, I need to keep the compression bra on (except for showering) for 6 weeks.
Next week I’ll be allowed to drive and to sleep on my side - ideally not at the same time, LOL.
Congrats on the ovary removal. Tubes as well? Are you off an age where HRT is an option?