57: Phase 2 of Reconstructive Surgery

The much anticipated appointment went well. Last week on January 12th my husband Jack went with me to my appointment at the Plastic Surgeons office. Dr. Eko examined me and was pleased with the progress thus far. Of course my husband being the jokester that he is participated in the examination, however when he pressed on my boob he had his finger on his phone and activated a “squeaky toy” sound! Oh my honey…..got to love that man….we all got a chuckle out of it and proceeded with the exam.

On my previous blog I mentioned how the non cancer breast (the right one) has dropped and the cancer side is standing tall in place. The left side has been irradiated….though the  tissue on the outside looks fine, underneath the shin the tissue is damaged from the radiation treatments. The right side is natural tissue without radiation damage, hence the reason for it dropping, getting nice and cozy in the excess tissue from the skin sparing mastectomy. The excess tissue will be removed along with the tissue expanders and the implants will be placed. Dr. Eko will even the girls out when he puts the implants in.  I remember from previous appointments he would stress that they will be “sisters, not twins”. He will use the same scar, however the scar will be made longer in order for him to remove the excess tissue. I am unclear on whether or not I will have drainage bulbs again, as I for got to ask…….he didn’t mention them during the exam so maybe not! ( we will see)

After Dr. Eko was finished with the examination and questions were answered, Patricia took me into the “photo room”, where she took a series of pictures of me for the surgery. Through this journey called “breast cancer” you definitely lose all modesty. I can not tell you how many times since August 2015, I have been asked to disrobe from the waist up! I must say that with all the medical professionals that have examined me or have just been along side an MD while I was being examined I have never felt uncomfortable, every caregiver has been so compassionate through out this journey….I am very fortunate to have the medical team that I currently have and my team on the island of Hawaii.

Phase 2 of Reconstructive Surgery  will be February 1st !!

Mahalo for reading my blog!