It's been a week already?

[scgme]

Hello all!

First off I want to apologize for having been so reclusive lately. My mom and I got back home from Phoenix yesterday and it was certainly a whirlwind trip. We loved Scottsdale and neither one of us wanted to leave; it's an absolutely beautiful city and I hope to be back very soon.

So to begin, my mom and I flew into Phoenix on Monday the 12th for my pre-op with Dr. Cohen. We went over again that he was planning to do a BA and mastopexy to basically loosen some of the tightness that was in the bottom portion of my breast in order to center the nipples more on the breast. I made a little collage of pictures for him showing him the general size I was looking to be, but I was so embarrassed to show it to him. I am SO not good at judging sizes and was worried that my consistency in the sizes was off. It turned out to be nothing though. Dr. Cohen said that for after the surgery that I should expect a lot of upper fullness as I already have a very prominent and full chest bone and that in order to get the size I was wanting that he might have to use high profile implants just because there wasn't a lot of room for anything wider. After my appointment with Dr. Cohen my mom and I met with Mary, his wonderful Patient Coordinator, and made my final payment, got my prescriptions to be filled, and was told where to go for surgery the next day. (Dr. Cohen has his own Surgical Suite-- fully equipped and very nice.) Afterwards, we got the prescriptions filled (Percocet, Valium, Phenergan, and Keflex) and it was most certainly the least expensive part-- I think I got them all for like $13 at Walmart!

My surgery was scheduled for 10am and we were supposed to be there by I think 8:45. My mom and I woke up early because of the time difference-- it was 4am in AZ and 6am in TX; the time threw us off the whole trip. I took a good long shower that morning and shaved everything really smooth and washed my hair really well. I wasn't allowed to wear any makeup or lotions or deodorant or anything, but I cheated a little and put on some fragrance free facial moisturizer and some chapstick-- I was so dry! I wore some loose army-type pants, a tank top, and a zip-up short sleeve hoodie to surgery.

We got the office right on time and waited in the waiting room for a little bit. The whole time I was waiting I was just sweating out of nervousness. One lady came rushing in the door just a little bit after us, and she turned out to be my nurse. I guess after she changed into her scrubs, she got me my paperwork to sign and had me go into the back to check my vitals and take a pee test. After I'd finished all that I went back into the waiting room to kiss my mom goodbye and then they took me into this little room with just a chair in it. They turned on some mood music and left me to get completely undressed and put on the backless gown, some ugly nylon panties (which were too small. I'm a hip-py girl and the mediums weren't cuttin' it!), and the compression stockings (which took me FOREVER to get on!). Then Dr. Cohen came in, rehashed everything he was going to do and drew one of his masterpieces on my chest. Once all that was on, my anesthesiologist came in and talked to me a little bit about the anesthesia and that he's give me something to chill me out before I got to the operating room. I have a terrible phobia of needles and it took him a couple of tries to get the IV in. I didn't really feel the needle, but he gave me a stick of Lidocane before he started. While he was working on the IV, the nurses came in and put these air-wrap things over the compression stockings and then put the little paper booties on my feet. Then the IV was in and he'd apparently already given me something to calm me down because I was starting to feel kind of dizzy. They put the hair net on me and then had me walk to the next room and hop up on the operating table. I remember them putting really warm blankets over me and looking up at the lights over me and trying to figure out if they were actually moving or if it was the medication and that's the last thing I remember before waking back up in recovery. I'm guessing that it was the medication...

My memory from waking up is blurry, but I remember the nurses asking me how I was. I know that I kept telling them that it felt like my left nipple was going to explode. I must've said it like three times, and I think they gave me something for the pain, but I was still kind of out of it. The anesthesiologist came over and told me that I did very well in waking up-- I think he said I woke up within like five seconds (for those that don't know, there was a big issue with having a maternal history of having a hard time waking up from anesthesia, but I'd never had it so no one knew how I'd react). Then Dr. Cohen came over and looked at my left nipple because I was apparently still complaining about it, and he said it all looked ok. He said that the surgery went very well and was very pleased with his work. I got high profile silicone implants-- 450 in the left and 425 in the right. I also said something about the oxygen tubes in my nose feeling like boogers, so they took that off for me. I feel bad now for complaining so much! Soon though, they got me unhooked from the leg compressor thingies and the warm blanket and I was getting into a wheelchair. I started to feel a little queasy after I sat down so they gave me something for the nausea and I was soon feeling better. They finally removed the IV and off I was to the hotel to sleep. I think they said that the procedure took just over 3 hours as he had a lot of work to do.

I went back into the office the next day for a check up and I was in a bit of pain and was very swollen. Dr. Cohen looked at lefty and noticed that there was a lot of fullness on the left side. It was very squarish and high. He was concerned that it might have been a hematoma forming and suggested that we go back into surgery to make sure that everything was alright with it. So, within 15 minutes of me getting there, I was getting prepped for surgery again. I still had on the compression stockings, but had to put on all the same garb as the day before, but instead of taking their time, they went ahead and had me get up on the OR table and they were going to start the IV and everything there. This time the anesthesiologist gave me Nitrous Oxide to chill me out and let me tell ya-- THAT'S SOME COOL STUFF!! They've given it to me at the dentist before, but it didn't seem to make any difference. I guess they gave me more of it this time, and it kind of makes everything feel and go in slow motion and get really fuzzy. It's like you're in the middle of being asleep and awake. I had my eyes shut while they were starting the IV and was curious to see if I was still awake so I opened my eyes and the anesthesiologist leans in over my face and looks to me like Mr. Magoo. He said, " Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that the IV's in already." I think I said something to the effect to 'that's cool' or 'ok.' And I don't remember anything after that. Once again I woke up in recovery (no problems w/ the anesthesia, again) and I was in better spirits than the day before. Just as I was coming out of the anesthesia, though, I felt them remove the tube from my throat-- that hurt. Because I was not prepared to go back in for surgery that day, I'd eaten some cereal for breakfast and the anesthesiologist was concerned that I might throw up during surgery, so they had to intubate me the second time around. During surgery, Dr. Cohen removed the implant, looked around for any sign of hematoma, and there was none. So he flushed it all out, put in lots of numbing stuff (I'm not sure what) and closed be back up again. I was glad that we did go back just to check-- better safe than sorry. I laid in recovery for what seemed like forever. They kept feeding me ice chips for my sore throat and checking my vitals-- but I was ready to go! They said that the entire second procedure took less than 15 minutes. It was quick- in and out. Dr. Cohen also gave me more prescriptions to get filled. He said that I was being too conservative with the meds and that I needed to up them. So I got more Percocet to take 2 every 4 hrs, Valium to take 1 every 6 hrs, and Oxycodone for breakthrough pain. I never go into the Oxycodone.

Dr. Cohen said that I was in the 1% of his patients that he's had to go back in on and check for problems when there were none. He also said that I was one of his more difficult cases. After all was said and done, I thanked Dr. Cohen and his staff profusely for everything that they had done for me. They are truly and amazing, caring, dedicated, and talented team. I would recommend him to ANYONE. One of the saddest parts about having to leave for home was that I didn't want to leave them behind. I felt like I was leaving a part of my family.

It's a week later and I am doing pretty well. I've still got some lingering pain-- it's weird-- the pain alternates in boobs each day. But I'm not taking anymore pain medication. I took some Tylenol today and that seemed to help. I go back to work on Thursday, so I'll try to rest up the very best that I can before then. The boobies are looking good already. Lefty is still high and swollen and they're both very tight and the scars have some healing to do, but otherwise I think that everything is going to be just fantastic. I cannot wait for them for drop and soften up! And a great victory today was that I was finally able to take a poo! All those narcotics and all the anesthesia really messed me up!

Anywho, thanks for all those that took the time to read my novel!

With love,

Sarah

[tumyumsoup]

wow ur brave to go back again into surgery. happy all is well. happy recovery.

[SpecialK]

Sarah,
So glad to hear that everything is going well for you.............Send me pictures if you feel up to it.

[kpang78]

Wow, great story! That's crazy you had to go back in again, but I'm glad everything checked out okay! Good luck on your first day back, make sure to take it easy!

[Bella2215]

I am so happy to hear that all went well. I got worried when we didnt hear from you for awhile. It seems like you had a great experience with Dr. Cohen. Please keep us updated as to how everything is going. I have a phone consult with him this afternoon.

Congrats on the new boobies!!

[CAINAZ]

They are truly and amazing, caring, dedicated, and talented team. I would recommend him to ANYONE. One of the saddest parts about having to leave for home was that I didn't want to leave them behind. I felt like I was leaving a part of my family.

EXACTLY! I couldn't have said it better myself! I haven't seen them since 1/28 and I MISS them! Wonderful people, I tell you!

What a great story! I was at you "apparently" still complaining about your left nipple and Dr. Cohen checking on it. Oh, and the oxygen feeling like boogers! LOL! You are too funny!

[Liz186]

Happy to hear that you are doing well and thanks for the story!

[blackviolet]

Glad nothing was wrong and you're feeling better. Why did he say your case was so complicated?

[Calipso]

I am glad that all is well. Was it easy to go back to work? Have a good one, sweetie!

[scgme]

Originally Posted by blackviolet

Glad nothing was wrong and you're feeling better. Why did he say your case was so complicated?

He only said it was more complicated simply because he had more work to do. The area beneath my nipples was very tight and he had to lower the crease on one side and really just had to make more room for the implant and to get it (and my nipples) in the correct positions. Dr. Cohen did a wonderful job though. Everything is looking fantastic and he did a fantastic job!

[scgme]

Originally Posted by Calipso

I am glad that all is well. Was it easy to go back to work? Have a good one, sweetie!

I had to call in one extra day for recovery. My first day back was alright, I was just really tired and had to take it super easy. I returned on a Thursday, and the next day, Friday, was ROUGH. I work at a bank and it was the Friday (aka payday) before Memorial Day. It was just really busy and was a little much for me to handle. I ended up leaving an hour early and had to call my mom to come and pick me up from work because I just wasn't going to be able to drive. My muscles were all cramped up and pretty much any movement just hurt. But I got home and immediately took some pain killers and muscle relaxants, and soon I was out and was feeling much better. Every day gets better and I just have to remember that I am still healing and even though I may not be really hurting, it doesn't take much for me to over do it.

[mamaof4]

That was a great story!!!! You chose a wonderful PS and I am glad that nothing was wrong when he had to go back in the next day!!!!! Happy Healing!!!!

[ArizonaMom1973]

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am so new to this message forum and found your post right away. I am also scheduled with Dr. Cohen and I also feel that the staff is wonderful and Dr. Cohen made me feel so comfortable. Reading your story makes it seem so real for me!