8/24/19: (1 Day Post-DMX) I'm Home

Warning: This post includes a photo of my surgical drains.

I had one overnight visit from the nurse to attend to my IV antibiotics, but otherwise I slept alright.

A doctor checked in with me in the morning. He didn't examine me, just talked to us about what to expect as I recover from surgery.

Both the day and overnight nurses were more forthcoming in recommending the oxycodone, talking about being "free from pain". One of the nurses said that being pain-free would allow me to move around more, and being mobile is important to recovery. But on a scale of 1-10, I feel like I range from 2-4. And it isn't quite so much pain, as it is a kind of achy feeling. It's tolerable, and it isn't keeping me from getting up and walking around. When I got discharged, they gave me a printed prescription for oxycodone to fill as needed, but in the meantime, I think the Tylenol is sufficient.

Before I got discharged, the nurse gave me some cold packs to apply to painful areas as needed over the next couple days.

She also gave us two specimen cups and showed us how to empty and measure my drains. The fluid collected is expected to lessen each day, and at some point the drains will come out.

Prior to my surgery, one of my cousins gave me a wonderfully thoughtful gift, including a couple mastectomy shirts. I changed into a mastectomy shirt to wear home, but it turned out I didn't need the inside drain pockets because the drains are safety pinned to small loops on a compression band that's wrapped around my chest.

Still, the mastectomy shirt is a life saver. I do not own any other short-sleeve, loose-fitting, button-down shirts! Without this mastectomy shirt, I would have resorted to an old oversized long-sleeve button-down shirt, which would not have been nearly as comfortable. The mastectomy shirt has the added bonus of having snap buttons, which is much easier to manage in my current limited capacity. I think it will be a while before I can wear anything besides this mastectomy shirt!

For the drive home, I needed to cushion my chest from the pressure of the seat belt. I had brought a small pillow, but found it was much more fun to use the soft squishy dragon that my friends gave me just prior to surgery.

We were home in time for lunch, and I was happy to enjoy a bowl of Taiwanese beef noodle soup that my dad had made for me in advance. (Protein is supposed to be good for wound healing.)

I'm following advice and drinking lots of water! Which means I'm also peeing a lot.

Mostly I feel fine, just my arms make me feel like a T-Rex. I can move my arms freely from the elbows down, but anything involving the movement of my upper arms causes soreness in my chest.