We did it!

Sunday we spent the day driving to Missoula. We were staying at a friends' house just 30 minutes west of Missoula. My appointment for surgery was at 6:15 in the morning. On the drive down we also stopped to look at a few sailboats. Getting an idea of what we want. That was a nice distraction from what was going on in our heads. We stayed up until about 10 visiting and then hit the sack for the big day.

Morning came in a hurry and I woke up to do the routine. Shower with an anti bacterial soap and wash my hair. No other products are allowed. No lotion, deoderant, perfumes, hair gel, hairspray. Nothing like that. I straightened my hair so that it would be easy for the next couple of days. Can't take a shower for 48 hours.

We got to the surgery center and the nurses checked me in. Mark was with me watching and asking questions. He was nervous I could tell because he was cracking jokes. The nurse asked me address, DOB, that kind of thing. She had me undress except for the underwear and put on a gown. She then put compression socks on my legs to keep away the blood clots. They are like a white pair of spandex knee hi's. The Dr. came in and introduced himself to Mark. Mark wasn't with me this time for pre op so he hadn't met Dr. Hardy. He started putting marks on my breasts with a black marker and wrote on each breast what size implant would be inserted. Any other questions? No, I have none...I am nervous. And I am nervous for Mark. The anasthesiologist came in and asked me a few prescription questions. What am I allergic to, narcotics and 1st generation atahistamines. The nurse set me up with an IV, no numbing stuff please it(it hurts more than the IV) which I had her put in my right arm instead of my hand. It is a lot more comfortable there, as far as IV's go. She took my blood pressure and my pulse. She then put the local anasthesia into my IV and started rolling me away and I was out like a light. I awoke in another room with a nurse by my side. I could feel my chest ached. I have read that it would feel like an elephant sitting on my chest and the pain would be unbearable, but I didn't find it to be that way. I did ask for pain meds, don't get me wrong it did hurt, but I just expected it to be a lot worse. The surgery took about an hour and a half.

Mark returned from Wal Mart. The Dr. had sent him on an errand during surgery to go and fill my prescriptions for after surgery. That is so smart...keep him busy so he is not pacing worried. One of the scrips was not available there so they were having it sent in. It would be there by noon. The doctor discussed with Mark how the procedure went. While they were in there they found no tumors or anything else that looked suspicious to think there was any more signs of cancer. That is so great!! He instructed him that I could not lift my elbows away from my body for a week. Pretend there is a band around my waist holding my arms in. I can only move from the elbows. Any lifting could cause bleeding in the breast. That would be a bad situation.

The nurse gave me some water and meds a few more times in my IV. The med that I used is Fentanyl and it only lasts for 20 minutes. It is a 100x more potent that morphine but it is short lasting. She offered me a granola bar or jello and I declined. She then sat me up slowly and I was fitted into a front fastening sports bra. I was a 36 before I went in and she put a 38 on me. I was put into a wheel chair and wheeled out to the truck and we were on our way to the hotel with the new boobs in tow!