Mastectomy Recovery
Once home from the hospital I got situated in my bed and my husband got my nightstand stocked with everything I might need. The strong medication I was on in the hospital started to wear off by the next morning and I started to feel some pain for the first time. My chest was really sore and it hurt when I moved around so I stayed in bed, only getting up to go to the bathroom. My husband was so essential and helpful the first week of recovery. I couldn’t even bend down to pull my pants up so my husband helped me in that department for the first few days. He would dump my drains and record the fluid output every few hours. I was extra thankful for him doing this for me because it’s gross and I don’t do well with bodily fluids, even my own. I would close my eyes and look away while he opened the valve, dumped its contents into tiny clear cups, stripped the tubes and then put them back in the pockets of my robes. He had a notebook where he would keep track of that as well as what medicine he’s given me, how much and when. I was so groggy the first week there was no way I could remember what I was pills I was supposed to take and when. I had 3 types of pain pills, an antibiotic, and an anti-nausea pill to take. I spent most of my days laying in my bed watching reality t.v. or movies and sleeping. My husband brought my my meals into the bedroom and I ate in bed. He even helped me shower after being home a couple of days and that first shower felt so good even with the bandage over my chest and drains coming out of my sides.
After six days of recovering at home I had a follow up appointment where they took the bandage off my chest and I got to see my breasts, or what was left of them for the first time. The reconstruction process was started at the time of surgery when the expanders were put in with 50cc of saline so I wasn’t completely flat. I was surprised they didn’t look as bad as I imagined they would, although they were a lot flatter and lumpy looking. My nurses told me my stitches looked good and everything was healing well. I was trying to convince them my drains could come out but they laughed at me and told me they had to stay in a little longer. So back home I went with those 2 pesky drains safety pinned to the inside of my nightgown. I continued my recovery at home but now I felt like I couldn’t get comfortable in my bed anymore. My back was starting to ache and even will all the pillows I had to prop me up it was harder to get out of bed so I moved out to the living room and set up in one of our recliners. I had a table to each side of me which was perfect for all the things I needed within arms reach. I always had a cup full of ice water, chap stick, cell phone, my chest pillow and a heating pad. I also had a back scratcher because I couldn’t lift my arms up and the medication I was taking made me feel itchy and we all know how awful it is when you have an itch that you can’t scratch. I was able to get up and walk a little more and more each day and tried to make a few laps around the house a couple times a day. I was in pretty good shape before the surgery and I feel like it helped me recover more swiftly.
Six days later I had my second checkup so back to U.C.S.F we went. This time the nurses took my drains out and gave me my first fill in my expanders. This was such a big moment. I couldn’t wait to get these drains out but I was nervous about how much it was gong to hurt. I was also very anxious about how the fill was gong to feel. My nurse prepped the supplies for the fill and her assistant prepped for removing the drains. They did the fill first and surprisingly I didn’t feel any pain although it felt strange. I lost all feeling in my chest so I couldn’t even tell you when the needle penetrated my skin. The fill took less than 11 minutes and was over before I knew it. The nurses then removed the drains and I was so ready to get these horrible things off me. When the nurse told me to take a deep breath in and then out on their count I knew it was going to hurt. Each nurse took a drain and I gritted my teeth and took in a deep breath. I felt the tubes being yanked out of my sides and it felt like a burning pain. It was very quick and they instantly put cotton bandages over the holes where the tubes were and told me to leave them on for 3 days. I then met with my breast surgeon and she checked my progress and went over the results of my surgery with me. They sent my breast tissue and some skin samples to be tested for cancer and they all came back benign. Yay! This was a huge relief and she then told me that her part was complete and I was now in the hands of the reconstruction department. When I left there without drains, slightly more normal sized breasts and benign test results I felt happy and extremely satisfied. Back home we went where I would continue my recovery with my first solo shower, shaving my legs and being able to lift my hands high enough to put my hair in a ponytail. These were all major milestones and I was getting my strength back little by little each day. I continued my walks around the house but now I moved outside to the backyard and I started doing some stretching, some squats and some very light weight lifting. Rolling my back out on my foam roller wasn’t easy to do like it had been before but when I did it felt amazing. By 5 weeks post-op I was able to drive and do all my normal daily tasks. I started to have visitors over at this point and it felt really good to get the support from my close friends and family.
I think my recovery went very smooth. Having the constant help of my husband for the first week as he took off work to be with me was essential. In the following few weeks the assistance of him and my Dad made things so much easier for me. I really don’t think I could have gone through this without them. I feel lucky that I didn’t have any infections or complications during my recovery. I only had to deal with the expected soreness and random muscle spasms in my chest. The pain medication I took for about the first 4 weeks helped me get through the initial pain. I got to a point where I felt like it wasn’t necessary and stopped taking the pain medications. The other aspect that made my recovery easy and stress free was the fact that I was self employed and had the ability to take off as much time as I needed. I didn’t feel rushed to get back to work and felt that I could truly take the time I needed to fully heal and gain some strength back before returning. I ended up going back to work around 7 weeks post-op and quickly realized I did not want to continue doing what I was doing so I quit my job! That’s right! I had been considering it as an option for some time but after all the extra time I had while recovering from my mastectomy gave me a lot of time to think about life and what I want out of it. This previvor journey has changed my life, and loosing my Mom opened my eyes to realize that life can be cut short at anytime. This made me realize that I want to spend every minute of my time doing exactly what I want to do and being with the ones I love most. I’m so lucky that my husband makes enough to fully support us and our 2 doggies which has allowed me to take this step. My goals are now to focus on getting back into shape before my next surgery so I may have another smooth recovery.
