Day 10: Round 4 Chemo...Appt With the Plastic Surgeon

OMG! I love my plastic surgeon. Dr. Tiffany Grunwald has the nicest bed-side manner and her work is beautiful. I am definately a candidate for tummy tuck (use my leftovers to make breasts), otherwise known as an abdominal DIEP procedure. She recons I have enough belly fat for two size B-C cup breasts. That made me feel good because I was afraid I may have enough gut to fill in my old sized breasts (DDD). I am not a candidate for nipple saving. It's a long story, but it has to do with the fact that the distance between where they are (somewhere near my belly button) and where they will be (high up on my ribcage like a 19 year-old) is too great. Appearantly they are very fragile and the matter of blood flow is an issue. Anyways, I will have reconstructed nipples and tattooed ariolas. How does one reconstruct a nipple? I now know. Imagine if you will a napkin laying flat. Put a small round object in the center and pull up the napkin sides around the object and tie the gathered napkin in a bow. The fringe on top of the bow is formed into a small mound and voila, a nipple. And believe it or not the tattooed ariolas are shaded and colors are mixed to create a 3D effect. It is very creative and looks very natural.

Now, given that I am not at my optimal weight for reconstructive surgery (I would have liked to drop another 20 pounds) I was given the option of a 2 step surgery process. A small breast surgery right away and the tummy tuck whenever I was ready. I have decided to do it all in one surgery. If I lose weight after the surgery I can always touch it up later with a little lipo. The surgery will take about 12 hours. The plastic surgeon begins with the tummy stuff while the oncology surgeon removes my breasts. The oncology sugeon will take about 4 hours an the rest of the time is the plastic surgeon's work. I will stay in ICU for 2 days while they watch me for blood clots in the arteries leading from my chest to the ones that were harvested from by belly to supply my new breast tissue (from my belly) with blood. I will then stay an aditional 2-3 days in the hospital, a atotal of 4-5 days in the hospital. I am then faced with a hardcore 3 month recovery period. But now is the time for it, it's not like I have a job. The funniet part of this surgery is that my tattoo on my bikini line is precisely the strip of skin harvested to cover the hole left by my areola. So my tattoo will be removed from my bikini line and moved to my areola! However, it will be erased in the process of giving me new areolas. I can't wait to meet the oncology surgeon. That appointment is next Tues.

My oncologist left a message that my scan looked good. I meet with him next Wed. to hear how much the tumor has shrunk. Good news. Today was a happy day.:)