Post op update

My sister in law passes her clothes on to me and right before surgery she had given me some clothes. I kept this dress, little did I know it would be perfect for post op. It was perfect with pockets because I turned the pockets inside out and put my drains in there. 

I went to see the plastic surgeon on Thursday. I saw one of his nurse practitioners. She said everything is looking good. No sign of infection. Typically they see infection week 3-4 post op so I'm not out of the woods as far as that goes. I didn't get my drains out. I was really, really hoping but no, there's still too much coming out. 

Do I have to sleep reclined, on my back? No. I can sleep however is comfortable. Which is such a blessing because I have not been sleeping very well trying to sleep reclined and on my back. I have all the pillows propping me up every which way. I've slept in a recliner and in a tempur pedic remote controlled bed but none of it was quite like my bed. She said she had one patient tell her that sleeping with one of those squishmallows was helpful because it was so soft and just kind of conformed to your body. One of my friends had given me one when I had my last chemo treatment. I decided to try it out. Thursday night I slept in my own bed and slept so comfortably. I should also preface that I took an Ambien to help me sleep as well, so that probably contributed to the restful night. 

The NP told me that they created a shelf/bra for me in surgery. They put this mesh lining in to hold the expanders in place. She said that with regular implants they go under the muscle and that muscle holds it in place. With me, they scraped out all the tissue and they just put the expander/implant right under the skin. There's nothing there to hold it in place, so they put a mesh lining which grows into my skin. She said when they go in to exchange the expanders for the implants they don't even see the mesh anymore because it's grown into my body. 

I’m feeling a little down tonight. Just wishing I felt better. I just have such a tight feeling in my chest. My chest is sore at my ribs under my arms. I think it’s where the tube from my drain is going up but I don’t know. I still have too much output so I won’t be getting my drains out on Tuesday. 😭😭😭 I really want them out to get my wounds healing and be able to do some fun summer things- like swimming. 

Patience, Lindsey. Just be patient. It’s soooo hard. 

Drain picture the Sunday after surgery