One month POST OP visit.

I saw Dr. Capizzi today for my One Month post-op visit. So here are some things I have learned so far about having breast reconstruction surgery. Things that aren’t so medical, that you may not hear from your plastic surgeon…

1.) It’s a BIG deal. You need rest. Listen to the advice of your surgeon, he really knows what
he’s talking about.
2.) You won’t lose sensation in your nipples, ALWAYS. I put this surgery off for a long time
because of that. My nipples are super sensitive right now and I think I have a good chance
that they will remain this way.
3.) Your hair lines will move with this surgery. I have armpit hair on the side of my breast. I
hadn’t thought about this even though it WAS mentioned to me prior to surgery. (They do
offer laser hair removal at Stillwater!)
4.) The feelings or lack thereof are weird to deal with in the whole upper body, like shaving
under your arm for instance. I am very scared to shave under my arm because I can’t really
feel under there (that’s how I noticed the few hairs on the side of my breast, not many.) and
also how I noticed how FULL my armpits were. Forgot to ask about that.
5.) There’s a lot of freakin’ fluid! This is how your body heals, and it can be scary! I work in the
medical field and I have had other surgeries and I did not know that it took this much fluid
to heal your body when it had this type of incision.
6.) “arnica montana” is some kind of miracle supplement that Dr. Capizzi’s office offers and it is
a miracle! I have never experienced a bump that I did not bruise from and this was much
more then a bruise and that stuff rocked the house to make it possible for me not to bruise.
7.) I should’ve taken more time off of work to rest. I don’t know if that has anything to do with
my fluid build up, but so far I wish I would have rested more.
8.) Don’t freak out and think that what you see right then or right now is “what you get,”
because my breasts are changing everyday and I am thrilled every single day.

The staff at Stillwater have been amazing and patient with a difficult patient like myself. I am paranoid about ever scrap and odd looking thing I can find and they have been a very easy going staff.

Have a good night y’all.

Steff

One month Anniversary.

It’s been one month with the girls. We all like each other. We get along very well, and think that this will be a lasting relationship. We’ve decided to write our own vows, we think it will mean more. We know that a “man” introduced us and brought us together but in reality it is our love (well and body and skin and all)that will keep us bonded for life.

Hee hee.

Happy Anniversary New Girls!

Steff

Month is coming to an END

Hard to believe JULY is almost over, it feels like I have slept through most of it, I feel like I haven’t had a chance to get much of anything done this month. It has all been a blur.

Surgery, pain meds, seminars and new staff members. Not to mention how tired I have been. August has a lot to look forward to, but a lot to do as well. It’s also VACATION time! I hope to see some of you at the speaking engagements I have lined up this year, those of you that can’t make it I will catch you on the trip side!

I can’t wait to get fitted for new bras, I read that it takes up to a year to get properly fitted for a new bra after a breast lift but my surgeon Dr. Capizzi said 6 months. I can’t even think of a structured bra right no, it hurts to have something other then cotton rubbing against my nipples. So I will stick to the rules (hate those things).

Good night everyone! Here’s to a new month!

Steff

DR. CAPIZZI IS THE BEST!

Ok, can I just say that I totally freaked out this morning, when I woke up and my left armpit was covered in clearish-bloodishy-clearish-stuff and it was Saturday morning?! And anyone that is anyone that has followed me for awhile and or knows me knows that I do NOT deal with stuff like this very well.

I called everyone I knew that could be slightly related to anyone that may know someone that could be slightly related to the medical field.

“Hi, Ms. Johnson? This is Steffney, we arrive at Starbucks at the same time on Tuesday’s and I see that you wear scrubs… are you in the medical field?”

“Oh, you’re a vet tech? Well, see I have a call into my plastic surgeons office, while I wait for that call… what would you do about…”

No seriously, I called the nurses from my office that were literally waiting for me to give them the go ahead to meet me at our office in Charlotte but guess what? Jessica was on the ball and Dr. Capizzi, GOD BLESS HIM, was willing to meet me at his office on a Saturday in Huntersville to look at my incision. It had come open (very small section) from a small build up of fluid which can be very normal. He sewed it up right then and there like it was no big deal at all.

I felt HORRIBLE that he had to come in on a Saturday, but he said something that meant a lot he said “I wouldn’t want anyone else touching it.” I had told him that the nurses at work had offered to put “butterfly stitches” on it until Monday. This would’ve disappointed me, but wouldn’t have made me feel guilty about having a doctor come in on the weekend with his son in tow! When he said this I knew he cared about his work and the outcome of his patients.

Anyways, extra stitches and guilt, but fab doctor!. The extra fluid is super normal, I think I slept on that side on accident.

Steff

THE DRAINS ARE OUT!!!

Can I get a WHOOT WHOOT!! Whew, that was awesome! AND I will say that it DID NOT HURT to get them removed either! The nurses at Stillwater are the BOMB! With that being said, I do have the knowledge that drains that are in for tummy tucks are a bit deeper then the ones that are in for things like breasts reconstructions or lifts (more superficial).

But this is a relief BABY!

I am so excited to have those drains out, it’s like a whole new phase of this journey. I feel like it’s getting out of the “medical” stage of healing. (Yes, I’m weird, you know that already.) I feel like now I’m going into the “forming” phase. I get to experience my breasts settling into the shape that they’re going to be. Getting new bras… pretty bras! Fitting into clothes differently, experiencing bathing suits differently and maybe not even having to wear a bra with a shirt or two… GASP!

But right now I am just happy not having to wear a cami under my shirt to hide the drains.

Small steps- People- Small steps.

Good night!

Cleaning, tape and gauze.

I still have drains, but I think they are coming out on Monday. Thanks goodness, they are getting fluid still but it is gross draining the fluid out. My Dear Hubby is sweet about doing this. I actually have the best support system!

My hubby that has been through my whining, and complaining about the uniboob, stiffness and the tightness and then having to empty the drains. The nurse I work with cleans the incisions and I am telling you this is my guilty little pleasure every day because it feels like a little mini massage/scratch type deal. Plus it makes me feel a little bit better that I have someone checking out what is going on with my incisions. The girls I work with are so encouraging about the changes I will be going through with my body image. I am used to being the “Big Busted Girl,” and having a certain BIG personality that goes along with that. (Jess from Stillwater helped me out with that as well.) And last but not least The staff at Stillwater Plastic Surgery. Jess helped me from the start of the journey, Dr. Capizzi was patient and kind all the way through the surgery and the aftermath of waking up and my post-op appointments, the nurses of been great.

The surgical tape leaves a lot of goo. It’s a bit annoying because you don’t have any feeling to gauge how to get it removed. It’s very hard to explain how it feels, and how it feels not to be able to remove it. I feel embarrassed when I see the little pieces of tape goo.

I can’t wait to see how my new breasts settle in, I will say a new thing I have noticed is that my armpits are full. I had HOLLOW armpits when I went to sleep and now they are filled in and full. Not sure how that happened and when I figure it out I will let you know!

Steff

Office strip tease… and I invited the hospital girls over too.

So today was the unveiling. I had been showing them off to a few people here and there but today was our administrative day at our office and the ladies couldn’t wait to see what had happened underneath my shirt, and I couldn’t wait to show them.

This was really a first for me because I am actually a very confident woman, with that being said… no one really KNEW what my “before” breasts looked like. So armed with the before pictures that I had taken at the Stillwater Office I called everyone into my office, laid out the before pictures SIDE/FRONTAL and unveiled the new breasts and everyone clapped!

I think everyone was in a bit of shock as well. No one really knew what extreme my breasts were before. I wore such great bras before, and my breast always looked really great in clothing.

Someone said, “You have your teenage breasts back!”

I had to laugh, I never had these breasts. These are definitely new to me literally and figuratively. My breasts were always misshapen and long (at least my memory of them), pointing towards the floor. So these perky breasts are all new!

Everyone was so fascinated at how different they look and how they don’t look like they JUST went through surgery it just two weeks today.

I can’t wait to get out of scrubs and into some cute dresses.

Yes, I let whoever wanted to touch them touch them! That’s the first thing I get asked. It’s a weird thing after plastic surgery, they (being breasts) don’t seem that private anymore. But they are still very swollen and “stiff” feeling.

Steff