It's Saturday now. I'm thinking more clearly. And since I'm thinking clearly I'd thought I'd take this opportunity to whine a little. I know, I know, so unlike me.
The drain site is raw and it hurts! But Luke puts Neosporin with pain relief around the opening and it helps. Wanna hear about the drain? Come on, you know you do! The drain is tubing, like IV tubing, that sticks out of a hole in the side of my breast under my arm. At the other end of the tubing is a bulb sort of like what's used to pump up a blood pressure cuff - only clear. It has a plug on it that you open to empty the fluid. Then you squeeze the bulb and plug it again creating a vacuum that pulls the fluid out (of my breast). The tubing is anchored in my breast by wire stitches. When I move my arm around the skin around my breast is pulled. Look in the mirror and move your arm around and you'll see what I mean. Can't see it? Are you naked from the waist up? Take off your shirt and bra, ninny, and you'll get it. Anyway, this movement pulls the tubing in and out (of me) and the stitches rub and that's what causes the rawness. Also, sometimes it leaks and gets the skin wet, which adds to the soreness. Disgusted yet?
My right breast appears to be a little smaller than the left, but not a bunch. Actually it always has been, but now it seems more obvious. I doubt it will be noticeable at all with a bra on, though. And speaking of that, I can't say I ever thought I'd miss wearing a bra (especially since I'm one of those women that sheds hers the minute she walks in the door of her house after work), but, because I can't wear one (the drain comes out at the exact spot the elastic from a bra should be) I really miss it!
Then there’s my arm trouble. The underside of my right arm alternates between sharp pain and sore numbness. The stand-in surgeon who released me from the hospital said this surgery can damage the nerves there and the numbness can be permanent, but I'm thinking the sharp pains are signals that the nerves are waking up. We didn't get any instructions on how much or little I should use that arm except one nurse said I would probably be happier if I used it as much as possible. Luckily, I can use it a lot more than I expected and don't have to do EVERYTHING with my left arm.
Yesterday was our 10th wedding anniversary. Luke’s and mine! That makes today the beginning of decade number two. Nice of me to do the math for ya and state the obvious, eh?
I heard a great line on a TV program the other day. "My father always used to say, it'll all be okay in the end. So if it's not okay, it's not the end!" There you go, it's not the end.
2 comments:
Don't think the sharp pain means their isn't damage. I hope everything returns to normal, but nerve damage tends to be permanent and the sharp pains are part of the damage.
Well, now, that's encouraging! I do believe I'm getting more feeling in the back of my arm, though. When I rub it now I can feel it. It still feels somewhat numb and sore, but I'm definitely feeling now. Like if you lay on your arm too long and it "goes to sleep" then it feels sore as it slowly comes back to life. It'll all be okay in the end.
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