Never in a million years did I think I would be excited to schedule a surgery, but 3+ months of tissue expanders and the desire to be fully healed from my mastectomy definitely helped ease my nerves!
The day of my exchange surgery (where they take out your expanders and exchange them for permanent implants) was pretty similar to my mastectomy, with the exception of my mood being totally different. This time around I felt like I was gaining something (new boobs, comfort, etc.) instead of something getting taken away. The procedure was out-patient, so instead of running around trying to figure out what to pack in my hospital bag, I just grabbed a pair of sunglasses for the car, threw on some leggings and a button down shirt and we were on our way!
Once we arrived at the hospital, it was business as usual. We were led into a small prep room where the doctors came in one-by-one to introduce themselves, start an IV, and had me sign some paperwork. The last person who came in my surgeon who marked up my boobs with a sharpie, asked if I had any questions and said, “ok, I’ll see you in there!”
We arrived at the hospital around 7:30am and around 10:30am I was being wheeled back into the familiar OR. I moved from the prep bed to the OR table, made a comment about how bright it was in there and then I was out.
I woke up about an hour later in the recovery room. I looked down and saw a mound of gauze piled up on my chest held in place by a compression bra. After about an hour in recovery and a nurse telling me everything went well, I was moved back to my tiny prep room where Ben was waiting!
After another hour or so of resting, getting unhooked from everything and listening to the discharge instructions, we were on our way home! I couldn’t believe how fast the day went and how good I felt just hours later. I’m sure a lot of it was due to the hospital meds, but I felt like myself which I couldn’t say was the case directly after my mastectomy!
The First Week
The first night at home went pretty smooth, but I woke up at 4am the next day with my incisions feeling really sore (almost like that post-fill feeling) and my chest feeling itchy. I knew it was too easy lol but thankfully that didn’t last long. The incisions, which were the same incisions from my mastectomy, heeled up pretty quickly (I would say within a week they seemed pretty closed up) and the itchiness went away within a week as well (I’m assuming that was due to the nerves in the area being messed with again).
In terms of medicine, I had a similar regimen as after my mastectomy. There was a full week of antibiotics + pain killers and I also lived on throat lozenges for the first few days (they put a tube down your throat when you’re under anesthesia that can cause a strep-like feeling for a day or so after).
I was really careful with the pain killers this time around since I had so many stomach issues from the first round. Thankfully I didn’t really need them and was able to switch to Tylenol after the second day! Even though I was super careful, about a week into recovery my stomach was a size of a basketball again (hot). I think the issue may be from the anesthesia and not so much the pain killers. Regardless, I would highly highly recommended taking stool softeners proactively and Miralax if you start to realize you’re having an issue. Beautiful shot of me one week post op is below 😉
Anyways, the first full week after my exchange surgery, I was back to my high protein diet and wearing those Dale hospital bras and gauze. The gauze was mainly to protect my incisions, but I also liked having that extra layer of protection. I feel like going from expanders (which you’re constantly trying to project) to foobs, which don’t really need protection, takes a minute to get used to.
One Week Follow-Up
I had my first follow-up appointment one week post op and was so excited to see how everything was healing. The appointment ended up being super quick – I saw a nurse and she felt around, confirmed everything was looking good and pretty much sent me on my way!
Apparently things were still really swollen (which I didn’t even notice at the time, but can see now that I’ve looked back at pictures) so she recommended I continue to wear a compression bra until the 2 week mark. She also suggested a good scar cream which I could start using at the 3 week mark, so I decided to give that a shot and bought it on the way out. My scars actually aren’t too bad- the big ones are under each breast, so pretty hidden, and then I have two little on each side where my drains were. The scar cream they recommended was Biocorneum – I’ll keep you updated as I use it and let you know if it works!
The next few weeks went by quickly as I waited for my final 6 week follow-up appointment. My chest looked better each day and felt more comfortable each day as well. I still had lifting restrictions in place (no more than 15 pounds) and was told to sleep on my back and not work out until at least the 4 week mark.
At the four week mark, I FINALLLLLYYY switched over to side sleeping (praise). It took a few days for that to not feel like I was doing something wrong, but once I pushed past that fear it felt pretty normal again. At 4 weeks, I was technically allowed to do small workouts, but I was still pretty nervous about messing something up, so I decided to wait until the 6 week mark!
Six Week Follow-Up
At the 6 week mark, I made my way back to my doctors office for one last visit. What!? Just like the previous appointment, this one was super quick. My doctor came in, felt up the girls, looked at their symmetry and told me that things were looking great.
She asked if I was happy with the size and I said yes. If you’ve been following along on Instagram then you know I was a little hesitant on size and a little unsure of if I made the right decision or not. I ended up at 375 cc’s in each implant which equates to a small C on my body. Part of me initially wished I went bigger, but after 6 weeks of trying on different tops, sports bras, going braless, etc. and feeling the weight of the current size (and realizing how cold they are!) made me confident in my decision.
We also talked about rippling – ahhh rippling. I knew this would happen due to my thinner frame and the fact that I went OTM, but it’s still really weird to see and takes a minute to get used to. I would say that I have more rippling than most, even with the silicone implants (apparently it’s worse with OTM and saline). If I’m standing straight up, you don’t really notice it, but if I bend over or to the side the ripples quickly appear. I think there’s things you can do to help with this (fat grafting I’ve heard is a good option), but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really bother me! I decided I would stick with what I have for now and then I can reevaluate options in the future if needed.
The End / The Beginning
If you had told me 7 months ago when I made the decision to do this surgery that this time would go by quickly and I would come out the other side feeling happy and confident, I’m not sure I would have believed you. I was so stressed, so worried and so unsure of if I was doing the right thing…despite the BRCA1 statistics not being in my favor.
I was afraid of everything – of my chest being numb, of how implants would look, of crazy surgical complications, and of not feeling like myself at the end of it all.
I was definitely lucky with my recovery and had two of the best doctors (and most amazing fiancé) looking after me during this process. While it’s still been a difficult few months both physically and emotionally, I know now, more than ever, that I made the right decision. Every time I think about getting married, buying a home, traveling the world, spending quality time with friends, and watching our family grow, I realize how dang lucky I am that I took breast cancer off the table.
