Re: surgical recovery and RA

August 14, 2005

Hi Kerri,

I'm happy for you that this is all behind you now. It's great that it

was such a success and you're so happy with the results.

I hope the healing process is quick and without any complications. No,

the big boobs may not have any bearing on the RA, but hopefully it will

help your back, neck and shoulders. I have a friend that had this

surgery, and it was very helpful.

Have a speedy recovery.

a

On Aug 13, 2005, at 3:47 PM, kerri wrote:

> hello everyone. Its been awhile since I've posted, I've been

> preparing myself for my surgery (breast reduction) and I finally had

> it done on tuesday. The doctor expected surgery to last 4-6 hours,

> but finished in 3 1/2, he said nothing could have gone more perfect.

> He removed 2,380g from my right breast and 2,323g from the left. My

> blood loss was minimal and the grafting of the nipples seemed to go

> well also. I am currently getting a buzzing feeling in the nipple

> areas now, so hopefully that means I will get some sensation after

> I've done most of my healing. I ended up being in recovery for almost

> 5 hours, I came out of surgery with a migraine and extremely

> nauseated, at one point I actually through up on my PS, he hung

> around because I didn't come out of it well and he wanted to make

> sure everything came out ok. After throwing up a couple times and

> receiving 160mg of demerol the headache started to break and around

> 9pm or 9 hours after surgery started I was moved to a " high risk

> floor " because of my other health problems. My catheter and pressure

> cuffs on my legs were kept on the entire first night, but I was

> allowed to get up and walk around with assistance from time to time.

> by 5am the following morning I was feeling more like myself and the

> catheter and pressure cuffs were removed. My PS came to the hospital

> twice that day to check on me and informed me of most of the surgery

> and how it went. On thursday morning the PS removed my drains and

> signed my paperwork to let me go home. He was more than willing to

> let me stay in the hospital longer, if needed, but I really just

> wanted to get back home. I am now 4 days post op, and I think muscle

> fatigue and swelling are my biggest problems. I'm still retaining

> fluids from the IV that I had and moving my arms around is quite

> difficult. There is no bruising on either breast and I am amazed at

> how " normal " they look. Both nipples are attached to the breasts with

> gauze sewn on to them, because they were grafted, that gauze will

> most likely be removed in 3-4 days, the rest of the stiches (200 on

> each side) will be given a longer time to heal. My outside stiches

> are not disolvable so he said he would remove them in about 3 weeks.

> On some sites where women have had this done they are up and about

> and feeling great. That so much makes me feel like a loser. I'm so

> far behind in the recovery aspect. The more I lay around because of

> the pain, the harder it is to get my hips working when I need to

> walk. I couldn't be happier with the results, but I'm so tired

> getting through this. I've been taking the Plaquenil now for almost a

> month, and I'm not sure when I'm supposed to be feeling the effects,

> but I'm not at all. Not sure what else they do when starting off on

> that doesn't help. Another thing thats bothering me is that now that

> I've had the surgery so many people are like, there, now you are all

> better, you won't have any more problems. I can't get them to see

> that big boobs and rheumatoid arthritis and not related. Sometimes I

> feel like I'm in a sound proof box that no one can see into. and I'm

> screaming and yelling as people walk by but nobody pays any heed to

> me. I know its a sorry way to think of things but its how I feel

> sometimes and a lot of times lately. I hope you all are doing well

> and that you are having a pain free day as much as possible. blessing

> and prayers to all of you.

> kerri sue

>

August 14, 2005