However, come mid January, it got busier, for want of a better word! Mastectomy Time! My prediction in my entry was right; the nearer it got, the more nervous I became. So one Monday Morning, my mum drove myself and my husband to the hospital where I was given my own little room (yay- much more chance of sleeping), some rather attractive DVT socks and a gown. The Surgeon appeared and drew lots of marks on me and not long after that I was taken down. It was very surreal, being wheeled down the corridor to the operating theater with loads of people in pink scrubs looking at me. Then I was given the anesthetic and the next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery feeling like I'd done about 20 rounds with Mike Tyson. The rest of the day was a haze of painkillers and me being barely able to say more than one word at a time (mainly 'Hurts!') and gripping my husband's hand whenever I had a wave of pain. At one point they tried to change my canula as they thought the one I had in wasn't working, but the doctor soon gave up as it was obvious he was really hurting me and my husband was making it clear he was unimpressed with that. I spent that evening watching films before dozing off (one of my Christmas presents was an mp3 player to put some of the Harry Potters on so I could block out hospital noises, this was a godsend). I gradually felt better, though I was still in pain. I was allowed to go home on the Thursday and we went to stay at my Mum's bungalow. The district nurses came in over the weekend to check my drain, which was removed the following Monday. Overall, though, it wasn't as scary as I had thought it was going to be. I haven't looked at it yet, but hopefully soon I'll feel up to doing so!
We're back home now, and have a couple of weeks before Radiotherapy starts. We had a stressful couple of days as due to a few misunderstandings, I was told I wouldn't be having it, although it had always been on the cards and reconstruction was delayed for that reason. My Mum and my (wonderful) Macmillan Nurse both got on the case and it has now been sorted. It does mean I'll have it on my Birthday but never mind. I can have a party later!!
In the mean time, I've been touched by peoples' kindness and generosity. I've had such lovely and thoughtful presents; a Hogwarts letter (I'm off- hehe), a Devon Cream Tea, an amazing picture drawn by my very talented friend, magazines, jewellery, chocolates as well as so many lovely cards! The silver lining of this whole thing is that it's made me realise how many lovely people I have in my life!!
Another positive is that my hair is growing back- not long until it looks like a deliberate short style! I also have eyebrows and lashes, and had to shave my legs last weekend. I never thought I'd be excited about having to do that!!
So that's everything (I think) in a nutshell so far. Hopefully my next entry will be preparing to go back to work!!
