The purpose of this surgery is to remove an area of skin necrosis on my right side and to "clean" the scabbing on the left side. Out-patient, no general anesthesia, just local.
We get to Charlotte, I complete the paperwork, and I head back to get ready. This place is different because they wouldn't let my husband come back with me. He is the only person who helps me dress, so I was a bit nervous about that. The nurses did a good job, though. I didn't even have to have an IV! After they got me ready, they brought Ward back, and we waited.
At 7:30am, my plastic surgeon came in and drew around the massive scab that had formed since he did the whole scraping thing on my right side. Then, he drew around the left....it was more like a line since he was just doing minimal cleaning on that side.
Finally, at 8am, I went to the OR. This was different than ANYTHING I have ever experienced before. I was awake when I got on the table, when the surgical techs tied my arms down. I was awake when they raised the table and rotated it on its side. I was awake when they draped me and doused me with Betadine from my chin to my hips. It was FREEZING! I was awake when they made the little drape thing, like in C-sections, so I couldn't see what was happening.
I never felt pain, but boy did I ever feel intense pulling, tugging, and pressure. I could literally feel the tension in the stitches as he pulled them through and I will never forget the sound that it made. Dr. Appel put extra stitches in my right side for extra support. In fact, there's 3 different kinds of stitches on that side, 2 kinds on the left- I learned some things in the OR that morning. He decided to take my left drain out, which was more nerve-wracking in thought than it was in reality. It didn't hurt but too bad. I never had local anesthesia for any of it.
Yep. I went through surgery with nothing. Nada. Zip.ZERO drugs. The surgical techs were awesome. We picked on my surgeon and it was funny. I threatened to wax his chest hair if he hurt me! (I love that I can pick on him) The techs really tried to take my mind off of what was happening and they were awesome. Maybe because I'm a mom, I can multi-task very well. Even though they kept me in conversation, I knew all too well what was happening on the other side of that sheet.
The surgery itself took about an hour, although it felt like three. After all was done, I went to recovery. I couldn't believe how shaky I was right after the procedure. I was in recovery about 30 minutes and I walked myself out.
Dr. Appel had put plenty of steri-strips, gauze, and clear tape over each wound and the bandages would stay on for 3 days. So that meant no shower or unveiling until Thanksgiving Day. Ward got a little vacation from changing dressings and tending to drains around the clock.
Thanksgiving Evening, while everyone was preparing for Black Friday, I took a shower and Ward removed my dressings. I was so scared for them to come off. I was scared of what I would see. I knew that if necrosis was a big problem, I risked losing the expander on the right side. I was so scared that I would have one expander on one side and nothing on the other for 3 or 4 months.
When Ward told me to look down, the tears came. They came hard. I think I scared him because I started crying so hard in the shower. I finally told him why- that I was relieved the incisions looked so good, that I was so scared of the expander failing. I had something new to be thankful for.
So we're taking care of them with dressings & bacitracin again. My left side is still sore where the drain was, and although it wasn't really draining a lot when Dr. A took it out, my side is swollen from extra fluid.
I go back to see him on Monday to remove the stitches in my right side, as well as the drain. YAY! I can't wait to be drain-free. I'm hoping this is what was needed to get over this hurdle. Maybe in a couple weeks I can get a fill in the expanders. I'm not going to rush it-slow and steady for this race.
The picture below was taken after my shower on Thanksgiving. I think it looks great and I hope Dr. A does, too.
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