DAY 3 POST-OP--OH HAPPY DAY :)

What an emotional day this has been...Wayne and I went to my followup appointment with the plastic surgeon's nurse at 1:15.  The pain pump was taken out and the dressings were taken off and new padding was put in my huge sports bra (that is so attractive I might add!)  We saw everything and it was all good with no signs of infection or swelling.  I was so happy because my right shoulder tends to hurt more and I was worried something might be wrong.  She said it was because the placement of my drain was more anterior than the left.  It's also the side that I had the lymph node biopsy on last Wednesday and I am right handed. I guess there are alot of reasons. Nothing to worry about!  I don't have to wear my anti-embolism stockings anymore...YEA!   We left there and I went to see my nurse navigator, Terri, at the Women's Breast Center at St Elizabeth Medical Center and show her I made it through Monday.  She was not working the day of my surgery.  She has helped me from the first minute I was given my diagnosis--when I was like a "deer caught in the headlights".  She made appointments for me immediately and made herself available to me via email or phonecall throughout the last four months. She emailed me the day after surgery and always greets me with a big smile and a warm hug--I have always felt so comforted by her presence.  She was asking me if I was happy with everything and I was telling her about my doctor visit.  Dr Guenther, my oncological surgeon, came out with my clean pathology report and gave it to me and said "You're clean as a whistle---just what we thought...I want you to have this".  He gave me a big "SIDE HUG" (the only kind of hug I can do these days).   The last time I saw him was in the operating room and I felt like I was putting my life in his hands.  It was an emotional moment for me...and I am getting tearful as I am writing this! Four months of anticipation of getting through the surgery, the recovery and thinking things might not be as they thought!  It was what I have laid in bed at night thinking about when I couldn't distract myself like I could during the day.  THIS IS A HAPPY DAY!  Poor Wayne...we went out to eat at Panera afterwards and I just kept blubbering up!  He said this is how he felt after surgery when the doctors talked to him, my parents and my sister...I guess I wasn't there to hear it and seeing it in black and white holding it in my hands...there just isn't anything like it!  PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW THAT THERE WERE NO SURPRISES...I feel so much better than I thought I would after surgery...I seriously have to make myself lay down and rest...I have been sleeping well at night and the pain meds have been working...speaking of, it is time for more...so I must go!  Next Thursday is the appointment to get my drains out and also a followup with Dr Guenther, my oncological surgeon.  I just love that man but I wouldn't want his job for any amount of money in the world!  Every woman I have come in contact with that have had this surgery have told me that the anticipation of the surgery is much worse than the surgery itself and I would have to agree! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS...