Today was my FINAL fill! Yay! I had hoped that this would be the last one, but I wasn't sure until I consulted with the doctor. In his words, my expanders are "filled to the max" to stretch my skin as much as possible for the implants. In my words, "I'm at maximum discomfort and my clown boobs are even bigger." Awesome. For my medical friends, I'm at 550cc's per boob. That sounds ginormous to me since my friends with implants have around 300-350cc's (along with their own breast tissue), but I have to keep in mind that I started from scratch and that I'm currently stretched bigger than my final implants will be.
I'm a little sore, which I anticipate to get worse over the next few days, but so far I'm on par to feel like my last fill which was much easier than the first one. The worst of the soreness comes at night when I'm laying on my back, and when I get up in the morning. Right now, my skin is shiny from the stretching, and my boobs look like they're about to pop, but I will focus on the positive. No more fills!
What now?
- I have to continue to apply lotion to both breasts multiple times a day over the next 4-6 weeks to prepare for my final surgery. The lotion will help the skin stretch and it will help to soften up my scars.
- My next appointment is in 4 weeks. At that time, my doctor will check the skin stretching progress and we'll go from there. I've set a tentative final surgery date in early November, but that date is contingent upon my progress at the next appointment.
- I have a stretchy band that I'm suppose to wear 2-4 hours a day to push my expanders down and help stretch the skin. My doctor said that if my skin starts to stretch well, then I can stop wearing the band because he doesn't want my boobs below my ribcage. He's a funny guy!
- The final surgery will be a lot like my first one with 1-2 drains after surgery that I'll have for 7-10 days and a healing time of 4-6 weeks. I'm not looking forward to starting the process over, but I know that I'll be encouraged by being in the final stages of this process.
AWESOME GOD MOMENT ALERT!!!
This was my first appointment that I went to alone. When we scheduled it two weeks ago, I had to take whatever was available or wait an extra week. I wanted to get this over with so I took the 2:15pm time slot even though I knew that meant that I would go alone because most of my friends would be picking up their kids from school at that time or soon after. My parents offered to take Parker for the day and to pick up Lou from Pre-school at 2:20pm. So, I went alone.
While sitting in the waiting room, a woman checked in and started looking through her notes and a book similar to the one that I received on my first visit with this doctor. I felt compelled to talk to her, but I hesitated. Then I clearly heard God say, "don't let this moment pass you by." So, I reached out. I asked, from across the waiting room (we were the only ones in there), if she was there for breast reconstruction. Talk about a shot in the dark. She could have been there for any number of procedures, but I've learned to obey when God talks. She replied that she was considering a prophylactic double mastectomy with breast reconstruction because of a history of breast cancer in her family. I told her that I just went through that, and we became instant friends. I moved to the seat next to her and we talked. I gave her all of my contact info and answered her questions. These were the same questions that I had in the beginning so I was blessed to be able to share my experience with her. I then asked if she would like to join me during my appointment and see my fill. So, we checked with the doctor, he agreed, and my new friend got to see a first hand procedure that might be in her near future. God is good!
This divine appointment time that didn't work great in my everyday routine worked perfectly for His plan. The fact that I was alone in the waiting room and not busy talking to a friend worked perfectly for His plan. This entire process that I've gone through since January, that hasn't always been easy, worked perfectly for His plan. My BRCA gene. My life. It's bigger than me. I'm blessed that He chose me to be His servant through this journey. I'm still in awe of Him. I'm thankful.
I Thessalonians 5:16-18 - "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
