Another year, another MRI experience

It's now been over 2 full years!  Today I had my annual MRI screening.  This is to check to make sure there is no cancer growth in the little tissue that I have remaining and to make sure my implants are still in good condition with no leaks or tears.  Which by the way, if I ever mention any strange feeling or symptom, Mitch is quick to blame it on possible silicone poisoning even though silicone has been proven completely safe.

I had a chance to use Bellin's new MRI machine.  It's a whole 4 inches bigger, you get to roll in feet first, and is built to have an "ambient experience."  I could choose the color settings and image projected onto the wall.  Despite the fantastic wooded stream setting and calming greens and blues being projected around the room, as soon as I was pushed inside it felt just like all the previous ones.  Including the pukes.  The minute they inject the contrasting dye, I get a horrible taste in my mouth and cannot control my body from trying to get that taste out.  I dry heave for about 20 seconds.  However, this is while pushed into that little tunnel in superman position with my breasts in these little hole things knowing that if I move too much the images won't turn out.  If I press the alarm button asking for the nurses because I cannot take it anymore, we'll have to redo the entire thing another day (I wonder how the expense for that would be coded for insurance?)  So I just stick it out.  I try to push my chest bones against the tray while my stomach lurches.  And then it's passed and I'm left for the last seven minutes of the scan with my eyes watering, wanting to wipe the spit from my mouth without an opportunity to do so.  I've had the same MRI technicians two years in a row though and they're brainstorming with me what we can do to fix this by next year.  This year we tried no food 4 hours prior to MRI combined with major hydration plan with obvious no luck.  Our plan next time is to pre-medicate with some over the counter anti-nausea meds and see if that helps fight the feeling.

 I already got a message today from my doctor which I assume when I call back tomorrow will say the images all look good.  They couldn't say this on the message, but she repeated twice that this is a good new message, no worries, call tomorrow when you have a chance.  I love my doctor's office!  I'll be there next month for the full check up and will post more after that appointment.



  
The new setting
       
The device for me to snuggle into


An older lady assuming the position


Follow this link for an article about the new device:
http://www.jrn.com/tmj4/news/New-medical-device-in-Green-Bay-could-help-injured-Green-Bay-Packers-225908811.html

This article is amazing

This article is amazing:  http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/double-mastectomy-photos-beth-whaanga/

One beautiful, brave women shows what is really hiding under that red dress.  While my reconstruction was with a different method, I still had 31 total incisions and thus 31 scars on my body due to this.  This women shows clearly that "reconstruction is not a boob job" as so many people believe.

DONE!

Everything is done!  Another successful surgery!

I was more nervous for this one than last time.  I had this sense that something was going to go wrong.  I felt like things would be delayed or forgotten or something just because of it being the day after a holiday being kind of relaxed sort of a day.

As we were entering the hospital doors, my phone rang.  It was Dr. J's nurse. My heart skipped a beat.  I was so afraid the next words were going to be that we had to cancel for some reason or another.  But that was not the case at all!  They were running ahead of schedule and wanted to know if I could get there as soon as possible.

From that point on everything went fabulous! I got a fast pass through everything and was in surgery almost an hour ahead of schedule.  No strange recovery room neighbors, no nausea.  The only negative of the whole morning was that the nurse admitting me was feeling rushed and had very shaky hands.

I am still feeling the anesthesia.  I have been up for a few times this afternoon, but then like drop off to sleep immediately.  I am feeling kind of like motion sick as well (just sitting on the couch watching the girls dance and jump around the living room was making me dizzy).

While I am feeling ok right now and the recovery from it is a breeze in comparison to the others, I can say with certainty that this is absolutely the last time.  I do not want to wear a bear paw gown again for a long time!  I am hoping it will be 10+ years before I'm back to the second floor of St. Mary's hospital again.

 Some family fun the night before.

 The will be my last time in these silly Bear Paw inflatable gowns for a long time.

What happens when one little girl is left to her own devices.  

Someone else looks like me!

A typical night in our house after the kids are tucked into bed, usually involves Mitch watching some DVR'ed shows while I work diligently on school work (or crush some candy, online shop, pin things, etc.).  I catch bits and pieces of what he's watching, but rarely pay much attention because he has a habit of getting into shows that are bound for cancellation.  Just the other night, Revolution caught my attention. Half way though, I interrupted him with, "Did you see that! Rewind it!" I'm sure he was thinking I caught something in the crazy storyline, but I continued "Look at her chest! It's just like me!"

Elizabeth Mitchell. Do you see that shadow to the right of her center cleavage?  She has concave areas on her chest! In other scenes you can see the concave spots in plenty of other areas.  So now this leads me to a ton of questions:  Is she like me?  Does she have implants? For reconstruction or regular purposes?  Or are they giving her shadows and a hollowed look because of the storyline? They are living in a worldwide blackout fighting a revolution nearly dying each day, thus not much access to food or fresh clothing. Either way, I kind of like it!  However hopefully after this final step, I won't look like that anymore.

This is the last one!

I forgot to mention, this is my final reconstruction surgery.  This will be my last attempt.  If after this try, they are not perfect (or maybe just normal looking), then I feel like they don't need to be. I want some time away from the hospital.  I do not have plans to do another BRCA related surgery until I am 40.  :)

"Eat more sausage"

Never have I expected to hear those words come from a doctor, but they honestly came out of Dr. J's mouth at my latest appointment.  I knew I picked the right plastic surgeon!  

I had a quick check on my reconstruction looking particularly at the fat grafting that was done this summer.  It appears that I still need a bit more.  The problem is that all of my fat in this area was removed during my mastectomy (because that is a main component of breast tissue).  This leaves just thin skin and implant in some areas, with more muscle in others.  The skin falls into the open space.  I am not particularly fat in this area anyway; hence, Dr. J telling me to eat more sausage. Luckily I have plenty to spare in my post baby belly (am I still allowed to call it that 3 years later?) and don't need to change my diet at all. He said that it's like painting. Two thin coats are better than one thick coat.  The day after Thanksgiving I will be going for my second layer of fat grafting.  It will be the same procedure as last time.  

This is something that I know and feel totally comfortable with. I have even started thinking about if I can beat my time.  Last time it was 4 hours 50 minutes.  This time with it being the day after Thanksgiving, I am hoping not to burden someone with watching my children for too long forcing them to miss the good sales (or taking away their adult nap time from late night/early morning shopping the day before).  Let's see how fast I can get through that recovery room this time!  

The only thing I am not excited about is more incisions.  I counted up what I have.  From shoulder to pelvis, I have had 23 incisions over the past almost six years.  And 3 of those incision sites have been re-used for repeated procedures.  They are just starting to look better, hopefully a few of them will be re-used again this time.  

5 miles later...

I made it 5 miles today without any pain! Whohoo! It's only 27 days until the Fox Cities Marathon and I have a relay team relying on me for a 5 mile leg of the race.  I took it slower and was on the treadmill, but this is a very promising start! Dr. J recommended that wear the adominal compression binder and layer on the bras again for awhile.  It worked like a charm.  No pain (until I hit the shower and realized the binder cause some chaffing, oh well...more body glide).

My brother posted a picture with a good quote about how so many people don't consider themselves "runners" or feel like they have to meet a certain distance or speed requirement before they can officially call themselves a "runner." Well, my moment came before my last surgery.  I had that pre-op EKG that worried the anesthesiologist so I had to see a cardiologist to make sure that my low heart rate wasn't due to any problems.  During my appointment he asked a ton of questions, one of which was "Are you a runner?"  My response wasn't yes.  I said that I like to run, I've do a hand full of 5K or 10k races and the half marathon earlier this year.  Then he asked "How long have you been doing this?" So I did the calculations quickly in my head: 9 years (minus two pregnancy breaks).  The doctor chuckled and said, "You're a runner."  

I am a runner and I am back at it now.

Recovery is going well! Stitches are out. I am thoroughly compressed and no longer need to wear it 24/7.  I have minimal bruising on my stomach which is not nearly as bad as I expected. The incisions are tiny.  I simply look like I had a whole bunch of bug bites across my breasts.  And in some ways the marks from the stitches are worse than the incision themselves.  I am going to attempt running tomorrow.  My original hope was to jump on the treadmill and simply run until it hurts.  However, I took the stairs at a little bit of a jog today could immediately feel pain.  Combined with the sharp pain of sneezing, I am a bit concerned that it will be slower to get back into that I hoped. Still overall, this has been the easiest surgery recovery I have dealt with so far.

Proof: One day after surgery, I was able to go to a friends wedding reception.  In preparation, I took an afternoon nap, a pain pill, and found a dress that would hide the dressings on my breast and abdominal binder. It turns out a maxi dress can hide a lot of stuff!

Sleeping on my side

Still doing well. My favorite part is that I slept on my side last night already!!  I needed pillows for my arms because they put too much pressure on sore areas.  It feels so much better than being stuck on your back unable to move. My abs are quite tender, but I have them wrapped up tight in a binder.  It feels good to be wrapped up tight.  I tried taking it off and switching the spanx instead, but it didn't feel right.  I need the security of the binder for a bit longer.  All of the incisions on my breasts where the fat was grafted are closed with one little stitch.  I have 7 of these little stitches on each for 14 total.  They have to remain covered for another day, then I can shower and clean up better.  Mitch did a very good job washing my hair for me already this morning.  Now I just have to find more clothes that can hide the dressings and binder for awhile.  It would feel so nice to put on a big hooded sweatshirt, but the weather isn't cooperating with me and is back to 80 degrees again.

World record speed

Everything went great this morning.  I am becoming very good at this.  I knew exactly what to do... like take my contacts and Invisalign right at the last minute, put my glass case on the hospital bed with me so I could have some sight during the recovery room, etc.  The nurses were impressed with how prepare I was for everything.

We were back at hospital #1 for today's procedure.  Everything went so much smoother.  I would definitely try to be the first thing in the morning again.  Everyone we came in contact with was kind and prepared and helpful.  They are back on my good list.  After the snafu with nuclear medicine last year, Mitch received several free meal vouchers.  I tried to throw those things out on several occasions, but he insisted on keeping them. He was quite proud to use them today, while I cringed at his purchase (hospital cafeteria biscuits and gravy).    

I had another interesting recovering room neighbor.  The young man next to me decided that he wanted to find a wife, he was embarrassed that his mom was the only person in the waiting room for him.  He was 25, showed the nurse his tattoo and discussed the importance of it.  He happened to be from the same town as me--not that I mentioned it, I was just a silent observer whereas he was a constant talker.  My nurse pulled my curtain but it did nothing to shut him up.

I was quickly able to go back to outpatient area and home with Mitch.  I was home by 10:50 which I think might just be the new world record.  I had a little bout of nausea when I got home, but I was glad it happened here so that they didn't keep me extra long at the hospital.  I just ate like half a loaf of great harvest bread and drank some Sierra mist and felt better.  I would have been stuck with just saltines at the hospital.  Off to bed now for another nap.