Wednesday, May 4, 2016

I had an appointment

Happy Birthday to me!  I had the appointment - the consultation appointment for my Breast Reduction.  So on Monday afternoon, my mother in law (who has had the same procedure) came over to batton down the hatches while I went up to Carmel.

I have never been in such a fancy doctor's office in my life!  I guess there's a lot of $$ in Plastic Surgery.  Queen Anne Chairs, girly flowery fabrics, an entire face Spa, right there!  I felt tremendously out of place in my jeans and croc sandals.  But they put me in a room, in a gown, and a nurse came in to get my story and answer/ask questions.

I should also warn, if this sort of talk bothers you, don't read on.

It's really surprising how to the point these people are, it's all very matter of fact.   I had to watch a rather graphic video that would have made Eric queasy, carefully outlining Exactly what they were going to do to me.  Two things that actually shocked me:  One, she told me that they'll send me home in a sports bra, but then I can pop over to Wal-mart or Meijer for another one, in a day or two.  I laughed out loud!  I've never been able to buy a bra at Wal-mart!   But in theory, that is one of my goals with this. The other thing was she mentioned I'm not allowed to take a bath for 3 weeks, quick showers are ok, as early as the day after surgery, but I can't soak.  I started to get worried, see I take a hot bath for back relief every day.  She smiled at me, and said, well, in theory, you won't have as much back pain.  It took me a second to get that. How crazy would that be?  To not NEED the bath.  I know reduction in back pain is what is hoped for, expected, and what we tell the insurance company in hopes they'll pay for it.  But I guess there was a part of me that didn't seriously expect that I actually would get back pain relief.  I haven't had a pain free day since I was 21, unless you could getting a spinal for a c-section, and I really don't, they don't go high enough on the spine.  But even if it just never got worse.  Well, that just might be worth it.

Then I got to meet the doctor.  Dr. T was very nice, she took one glance at me and could tell that I was uneven and big, and she described Exactly what she wanted to do.  Without getting too graphic, it's a lot more invasive a procedure than I thought, even moreso than the video, to get me down to a D, which is the size I was thinking.  I don't want to go too small, that would make me look - less like me.  But a D, or maybe a heavy C, that could be nice.  I could shop for bras anywhere.   It was a little disconcerting.  There will be consequences, and that was kind of upsetting too.  I don't think they are deal breaker consequences, but there will be nerve damage from the skin graft, and I just was really surprised by that.  They want to do it as an Outpatient Procedure.  That's weird to me. When my mother in law had hers done, she was in overnight. I'd be going home day of, and Eric would have to take care of me.  I can't lift Jacob for a month.    But I have a wonderful supporting husband, who is ok with all this, and a great mother in law who offered to help post-op.  And Luckily, the kids are at an age, they can help themselves.   Jacob can even climb into the car now... he doesn't always choose to do so, but he Can.

They asked when was my last Mammogram?  I'm a slacker.  I'd never had one. I got a script for one last August at my annual, because I'm 40 now, and that's officially old enough.  Yippee.    But then I lost the script. I didn't mean to lose it, my goal was to take back my health, and get all things checked out in 2015 that needed checking.  But I wasn't too worried. It was ok, I figured they'd want one before this procedure anyway.  And so it was.  They gave me the script for it when I went home.  They told me when they get the mammogram results and dr's dictation, they'll send it in to the insurance company, and see if they agree to their recommendations.   So we wait.  They thought that would by the end of May.  I guess if I had my choice, I would wait until August, when the boys go back to school to do the surgery.  It'll be easier if I don't have to juggle all three all day while I'm down.

Yesterday, which  I set a goal to call about the mammogram.  No one told me WHERE to get it done.  Not only did I call about it, but when I talked to the gal, she asked when I could do it.  I joked and said, I'm child free until 12 today, but maybe next Tuesday?   She said they had an opening at 11.   I said SOLD!   So I drove to Northwest Radiology over by St. V's, and they did the mammogram.  The facility was very clean, and the staff super nice.  The gal doing the test walked the perfect line of professionalism and having a good humor.  It could've been so much more uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally, and it wasn't.  I was surprised.  The head on shots were easy, because it's literally easy to throw the girls down on a plate.  But the side shots, they had to grab all the way to the muscle, and that was a little uncomfortable.  It was awkward to hug the machine to get the picture.  I called it hugging my boob buddy.  But you know, it's a helluva lot more uncomfortable to not catch breast cancer early.  It's not that bad.   I think I stresseed out more than I needed to.

Though still, afterwards, I felt like I needed chocolate or sushi, maybe both.  As it just so happened, both was on the docket.  I was on my way to Trader Joes' for yogurt, so I picked myself a chocolate pick-me-up, dark chocolate and roasted pistachio covered toffee.  Wickedness.   So sweet my teeth hurt eating it!  Chocolate did too the trick!

And then for my birthday my mother in law took us out for sushi for my birthday.   All was right with the world.   I took a selfie with my fancy camera phone.  :)



2 comments:

Elizabeth said...

This is great, Cathy! Glad they could fit you in right away so you didn't have more time to stress about it. My fingers and toes are crossed that insurance doesn't give you trouble.

Elizabeth said...

And you know I'm here also if you need help during recovery. I can sling a sweetboy around with the best of them. :)