Today is a month post op from mastectomy

[cate94]

It still hurts, but I didn’t need chemo!! No nerve block for me unfortunately but the compression bra was quite helpful at minimizing the initial pain. They took 17 lymph nodes, but all were clear!
On the other hand, they took 17 lymph nodes and that is causing some swelling and discomfort.

Most of my neighbors are aware of my recent surgery so I feel comfortable walking around my block without a prosthesis. It takes at least five weeks for measurements and a few more weeks before the prosthesis arrives, in the meantime what to do? I had to go to Target. I tried to rig something up. Socks, bra insert, it looked okay when I left home. By the time I was back in my car I looked like Quasimodo. Lol.

In the meantime, my wife ordered some temporary silicone replacements from Amazon. The first one she ordered was an A size. Apparently my bust size made an impression on her when we first started dating 30 years ago. I tried it in my sports bra and it didn’t look any different than when I went without. Haha.

She ordered a new size and I decided to try it on my walk. We just started out when our neighbor across the street called us over to look at a planting she did in her backyard, we were cutting through her house when I realized that the silicone slid down and was now sitting on my stomach. Thank god no one saw it, I don’t need enhancement there. Back home, dump the insert. Omg. It’s a hysterical pain in the chest.

This is an awful lot of vanity and silliness for a nearly 67 yr old (semi) broad. So I go to the doctor for my annual, w/o the balancing act. Heading back to my car I pass a younger woman who smiles and nods and then clearly notices my chest. Her expression changes to horrified. Oh well.

So back to trying to look balanced. We had more missteps with with the silicone boob, but it seems a sports bra, double faced tape will keep things somewhat normal looking. The bra itself slides up sometimes but a print shirt helps camouflage it.

We went out to dinner last night for the first time since this whole ordeal started. Met up with friends in Chicago, at a pop up restaurant “The Golden Girls Kitchen”. It was a fun night and I wasn’t self conscious at all.