Healing…. My Breast Reduction Story Part 3

Welp, it is all done and I am home recovering from my breast reduction surgery. I checked in to the hospital (the Rockyview) at 7:45 am on Tuesday. I got there. They took all my information and put a hospital bracelet on my arm. Then I moved to the Day Surgery unit. The Day Surgery Unit is mostly for people who come in and leave the same day. It has about 20 beds separated by curtains. There is just enough room for a little cabinet for your bag, a bed and a chair.

I got settled in and put on my gown. The nurses came by to ask me about my personal information as well as questions about any past surgeries, allergies, etc. They also told me that my nose ring that I couldn’t get out was no big deal (phew!). They didn’t get a chance to put in my IV before they came and got me for pre-op. I got wheeled into a different part of the hospital to wait for my turn in the operating room. While I was waiting, my surgeon and a resident came by to chat with me. They took before pics of my breasts and made marks for them to follow during the surgery. This is when I got to choose the size of my breasts for after surgery. He then made corresponding marks to make that happen. ALL THE SHARPIE marks. I felt like a Picasso by the time he was done. I also got to meet my OR nurse and my anesthesiologist.

Next I was wheeled into the OR. They lowered the operating table and raised the gurney so I could shimmy over onto it. My anesthesiologist put in my IV and we all had a chat before going any further. We went over what we were there for, my name and made sure I wanted to still proceed. After we all agreed, they added a med that would make me feel very heavy. I remember saying “Oh I don’t like this” and then the next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery.

After I spent some time waking up in recovery, I headed back to the Day Surgery Ward. My surgeon keeps his breast reduction patients over night so I got to stay (this is not the same for all surgeons). For the next few hours I fought through the grogginess and pukiness brought upon by low blood pressure and drugs. Even though the ward was super busy, I was none the wiser since I was half asleep anyway. Luckily, all my nurses were AWESOME and took great care of me.

Early the next morning, my surgeon came by to check on me and remove my drains. I was all ready to go home. I was out of the hospital by 11 am and headed home. Since I’ve been home I’ve been resting, napping and trying to not move around too much since I still have lots of stitches. Today (Thursday…surgery was Tuesday), I even got to have a shower and go for a walk around the block.

All in all, I have zero regrets. I still have a ways to go to be back to 100% since I can’t even pull a shirt over my head at this point BUT I know it will be here in no time flat. I don’t even have to take my meds that often (though I am trying to keep up with them so I don’t get behind and start really hurting). The worst part of the whole experience was worrying about it before hand!

Have questions? Just ask! I know I went in to a lot of details but that is because I know that many people (like me) have no idea what is involved. This was my first surgery! I totally built it up in my mind into something much worse than it ended up being. However, nothing in this post should be construed as medical advice…you have doctors for that! Oh and I will post “after” pics after the swelling has gone down more.

Other posts in this series…. why I decided to have breast reduction surgery and dealing with the anxiety before going in for surgery.