Titty Titty Gone Gone!

Hey everyone, it's me and I'm back in Blogland.
Not really sure where to start...probably best to continue on from where Nicole left off, with my side of the story!

Tuesday afternoon, December 1st.
What a small world we live in.  As I was wheeled into theatre I was greeted by a nurse who knew me.  My youngest and her eldest daughter used to be friends when they were at primary school.  I shuffled myself off of my bed and onto the operating table, the surgeon held my hand and asked me if I felt woozy.  I nodded yes and that was the last I knew.  My biggest fear had been waking up halfway through the surgery (well you do hear of it happening!!). Next thing I was in recovery and it was just gone 4 pm.  Crikey, that didn't take em long! Good, I hadn't missed dinner!  I put my hand up and checked that they had taken the right boobie and then noticed my legs were tingling.  The nurse explained that I had special things wrapped around my legs that were massaging to prevent blood clots. I was then wheeled back to my room where apparently I greeted everybody with  a 'hello' and a lovely smile. I took my first look at my wound and it wasn't as bad as what I thought it was going to be.  I could see and feel the skin expander that they had put in placed. By 6 pm I was sitting up having a cup of tea and some sandwiches.  I didn't really like being attached to all the drips etc.  I had oxygen tubes up my nose, a saline drip in my arm, the massaging socks plugged in at the bottom on the bed and two drains from the surgery sites which meant that I had to get a nurse in to get me a potty when I wanted a wee.  Never thought I'd have trouble going....stage fright is a funny thing when you know your visitors are all waiting outside the door for you to pee!  The evening nurse tried to get me out of bed for the first time to use the loo.  My legs were very wobbly and as I soon as I took a step I felt like throwing up.  I felt like a right nuisance having to ring the bell every hour for a nurse to get me a potty.  Turns out the fluids that they were pumping into me were going in one end and out the other, so they disconnected the saline which was a relief and also the oxygen.

Wednesday 2nd December
The night nurse came into empty my drains at 2pm and I managed to get out of bed for the first time and was able to sit on the loo. Today was a good day...I had lots of visitors and was spoilt rotten with cards and flowers.  I was surprised at how little pain I was in.   I had been shown how to use the morphine pump before I was wheeled into surgery but so far had only needed panadol and voltarin, much to Darren's annoyance.  He was hoping I would get off my face on morphine and provide some entertainment.  I was pleased to be able to get rid of the massaging socks today.  They are the most annoying things.  They fill up alternatively with air (a bit like a blood pressure guage) and then when the air goes out of them, it sounds like somebody breathing.  Very weird.  I had my first visit from the physio this morning.  She ran through some exercises to get me to start stretching my arm, which by the way, is numb in the armpit. I was encouraged to get up and have a shower today which was really nice and also to get into my own pjs. I went for my first walk down the corridor today and started to feel a bit more human.

Thursday 3rd December
Another good day today.  Am in good spirits. The nurse has taken the needle out of my hand where they were injecting  antibiotics (just as a safeguard against infection).  Now all I had to contend with was the drains.  Had another couple of walks today and even put on a bit of mascara. Tidied up my room a bit and packed up a few things for Darren to take home with him tonight.  I was looking forward to going home tomorrow.  I must have been excited about that because I just could not get to sleep.  I usually sleep on my side or my tummy but have had to sleep on my back for obvious reasons.  The bed seemed to be more uncomfortable narrow and I felt like I had bruises on my bum. I put the bed up, I put the bed the down. I took all the pillows off, I put them all back on.....arrrrgh!  I finally rang the bell at 10.30 and asked for a sleeping pill.


Friday 4th December
Seven o'clock and the sun is up.  What a great day to be going home.  The plastic surgeon and nurse came in at 7.30 and gave me a check over and wrote me a script for painkillers.  I ate breakfast, showered, got dressed and packed up my stuff.  By 10.00am (checkout time) I was at reception with Darren waiting to go.  I couldn't find my script so Darren went and found my nurse who wanted to know what I thought I was doing out of my room.  I was swiftly sent back with my tail between my legs. The nurses told me they had never had anyone try to break out as fast as I had.   And what a beautiful day it was!!  The sun was shining, the sea was a beautiful blue as we came down Pukerua Bay hill.

First day home with all the lovely flowers that people sent.

Shiya is pleased to have her mum home