First Day As A New Woman

Today I woke up so hungry that I couldn't wait for the breakfast to come round. It had been 24 hours since my last meal. If you think for one moment that you get a good rest when you go into hospital for something like this, then let me tell you, that you do not. Hospital life is very busy and begins at 5:30am with painkillers as a pre-breakfast appetizer.  Then once you have drifted back off to sleep, you are woken again for a nice jab in the upper thigh with a sharp needle full of anti-blood clotting drugs. Not a pleasant way to start the day I can tell you and each day you get another nice bruise to prove it.

The plastic surgeon's visit was next. He told me that the surgery had gone well but my poor breast skin was so stretched and thin from the skin expander that they were unable to keep it intact and had to use all of my stomach skin to reform the breast. He also said that they had run out  of skin so there was a little bit of a gap on the underside of the breast next to my arm. I'm buggered if I can notice it; it looks pretty good to me. It is still quite swollen so is a little bigger than the finished product but the swelling should subside by the 3rd week. After breakfast, the nurses came in and gave me a bit of a wash and brought me my toothbrush so I could feel a bit more refreshed. Once that was done it was time for exercises with the physio and my first attempt at getting out of bed. This was extremely difficult to do. I had to bring my knees up, roll onto my side and then push up with my arms, at the same time swinging my legs off the bed. Once I had done it, I burst into tears and blew snot bubbles everywhere. I didn't really know why I was crying because it didn't really hurt. The nursing staff said it was the morphine and anaesthetic that causes the tears. They then bought me a walking frame which I grasped for dear life and pulled myself to half-standing with it. I could not stand up straight and was crouched over like an elderly woman. The pain I felt on standing was almost unbearable. It wasn't the operation site that was the problem; I felt like I had been smacked in the lower back with a piece of 4 x 2. I was able to manage one step forward and two to the side (bit like a waltz really) and then I sat back down on the bed exhausted....what an effort! They then left me to sleep and said they would be back for more exercises in the afternoon.  Hmmm...I couldn't wait!