Recovering Nicely

I've been settled back at my parents house since Friday night when I was discharged from hospital, and I've been feeling alright for the most part.

I went into Springfield hospital on the Thursday around lunchtime. Spent a few hours hanging around whilst I waited for my turn on the list. As I have medical insurance through work, I was lucky enough to be able to go privately which meant I had my own room to settle into. Given the surgery I was having, the extra privacy was appreciated. I was visited by the nurses, the anethatist and the surgeon.

The anethatist did very well to put me more at ease about going under, and said he'd try to ensure I wasn't sick afterwards (as I have been in the past) and went through the pain that I could expect to have when I came round. It's the first 20 minutes after you wake up that were to be the worst- so if that wasn't too bad, I'd be likely to be OK pain wise, and that the underarm would likely be the worst.

Mr Smith, my surgeon also came in to go through the potential problems so that I could sign the consent form. Nothing unexpected came up, and he also demonstrated where my scars would be- basically a line across the middle of the breast and another line in my armpit, and that I'd be left with a numb patch under and on my right arm.

Simon and Mum came with me to the hospital and stayed until I went down for surgery- about 4.30. They managed to keep me pretty calm all afternoon and although I had a bit of a moment as I was wheeled out of the room I was a lot calmer than I thought I'd be by the time I got to theatre.

Once in, it took a while to find a decent vein, and I remember complaining that the pre-med made me see double, but I don't remember the feeling of going under- I just had some weird dreams and woke up in recovery. As I woke up the surgical team were talking about the "release roger" scene from The Life Of Brian, so the first thing I said was "Roderick" which amused everyone. Apparently it's unusual for patients to quote python as they come round.

My other memories of being in recovery are pretty vague, but I was given some nice strong painkillers and a special drain was put in under my arm to stop me swelling up with lymphatic fluid. I got back to my room about 7.30, by which time Simon had come back to the hospital. There was a drink and some sandwiches that were most appreciated.

I stayed over night and until late on Friday, and had post op visits from the surgery team and a physiotherapist, who has given me some exercises to ensure I recover as much movement as possible in my arm. Apart from having the drain in however, I felt pretty normal- actually less tired than I had in the few days before I went in. I've been able to keep the pain under control with paracetamol and some anti-inflammitories. I did have some Tramadol (rather than morphine) the next morning, but it made me feel very woozy. Which was alright at the time, but I didnt want to take any more, as it seemed unnecessary given that I was in no pain if I was still.

So 3 days on, I'm feeling remarkably well. I'm able to move my arm quite freely, although gently, and the excercises have been helpful. I still have the drain in, which has to be emptied from time to time, but that will be removed tomorrow evening. Once that is gone, I think my movement will improve again. The implant still needs to be inflated to expand the skin, but the shape is nice and I think I'll get a good result in the end.

Overall it seems I've been very lucky- no nerve damage and no other major issues and I'm recovering quickly. I should get the results from the pathology early next week, which will inform the next stage of my treatment. There is even a small chance that I won't require anything else.