I made it!

Well, I had my surgery on Thursday at 3:30pm--only an hour behind schedule.

It was a long day of waiting and being hungry. The nurses at Fairview were awesome. When we arrived I checked in and then prepared for pre-op. I changed out of all of my clothes and put on a fun purple bear paws gown and socks and removed all valuables. I was given some beginning meds to prep me for the surgery, so when I went into the pre-op room, I had fun watching the nurses and doctors and making up my own Grey's Anatomy show. After about an hour of waiting, the plastic surgeon came in and drew lines on my chest and Brian and I couldn't resist taking pictures of my newly colored chest--I think he used a blue sharpie. We had some good laughs.

Once the OR opened up, I was wheeled up there........right after the nurse gave me something for the pain in my IV. I hate those things. Brian left and I went in to the brightly lit room and that's the last thing I remember from the surgery. I woke up in the recovery room overwhelmed with pain and emotion. I was crying and the poor nurses in there didn't know what to do with me. You'd think they'd be used to it, but they acted so surprised, but sweet and motherly and wished they could make the pain go away. I guess I was in there for almost 2 hours and then was bought up to my room. Now let me tell you, that was the worst ride I've ever had. Not only did I feel like there was an elephant on my chest and I couldn't breath, I was being wheeled around over bumps and turns that HURT my body. I was crying the whole way.

I had an amazing room- a corner room with 2 HUGE windows and nice views. That made up for my crappy ride up there. : ) I felt so much better on Friday, but still had some pains. I only felt nauseous when I got up to walk.....which was kind of painful. I was in bed most of the day and got up for an occasional walk down the hall--which made me so tired! I have a long road ahead of me. Yikes!

I had a few visitors on Friday and it was fun to see people. Lots of flowers and treats and amazing well-wishes. I feel so blessed.

It is Saturday now and I am at home. I was discharged at 1 or so. I was a little nervous to leave, but everyone was happy with my progress and how everything looked. I did get to take a shower at the hospital and felt much better after that. I have a lot to get used to--not only what it looks like, but how it feels. Very different. I am still very happy with my decision and heard from countless nurses that they would have done the same thing. It was nice. The breast surgeon also told me that one of the nurses that accompanied her in surgery was part of the test group with the BRCA testing and she had the surgery done 10 years ago. She said she has no regrets and it has given her such a peace of mind. I thought that was a pretty neat story.

We are trying to keep track of all these meds and make sure I'm not in too much pain. This typing is the most I've done in 3 days and now it is time to nap. Thanks for your prayers and thoughts. I'm on my way to recovering!!!