Boobies

Today is International Nurses Day and I am in hospital, post breast reconstruction surgery. The hospital has put on a food truck for the nurses and it is right outside my room. The sun is shining and there is much joyous chatter as the nurses collect hot dogs and other tasty treats.

Nursing is an amazing profession and I have such admiration for them. They are kind, compassionate, encouraging and empathetic. I have enjoyed my time in hospital mainly because of them. I have been lucky enough to have the same morning and night nurses (Brittany and Claire) all week. They have been so lovely to me and I am going to miss them when I go home tomorrow.

My six hour DIEP flap reconstruction surgery was on Tuesday - fortunately it started at 8am, before the sky fell in and another state of emergency was declared in Auckland. When I switched my phone on post surgery the first thing that happened was the civil defence tone went off, which gave me a bit of a fright in my addled state.

Now this surgery is pretty incredible and I can't quite believe it is possible. It is very sci-fi. For the past 18 months I have worked hard to be fit, strong and grow my tummy fat. My drug induced menopause has helped with the tummy fat and so have the cakes and biscuits and ice creams. I am going to have to rein that in now - but it has been worth it. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it is to have two boobs again. They'll be the best bits of me as the surgeons are very particular.

I now have a scar that runs from hip bone to hip bone but no new scarring on my chest. The surgeon opened up my mastectomy scar. She dissected out a blood supply with tummy fat and skin and moved it on to my chest reattaching the dissected blood supply to blood vessels in my chest. Later, once everything has settled down post surgery the surgeon will perfect it and make a new nipple.

For the first 24 hours I was monitored every hour. As well as the usual checks they Doppler the new boob to check the blood supply. If the blood supply doesn't take they have to rush you back to theatre. It happens in a small percentage of cases. Sometimes the new breast dies. If it is going to occur it usually happens in the first 48 hours. My blood supply has been strong from the beginning and has been picked up almost immediately on every check.

My hospital room is like a sauna. I described it to a colleague as like being on a tropical holiday with an attentive butler (nurse) and enthusiastic masseuse. They keep the room between 24 - 27 degrees (tropical) to assist with blood flow. Today, my last day in the hospital, my obs go down to once every 8 hours after 3pm (they are currently every 4 hours). I was attached to a machine that massaged my legs to prevent blood clots. It did mean that apart from 6 hours unconscious during surgery there was not a lot of rest occurring in the first 24 hours. As soon as I nodded off either my leg massaging machine kicked off or someone was poking my new boob, taking it's temperature and checking its blood supply.

I was enthusiastic to get up and moving because it meant the leg clot massaging machine could be removed. So I have wandered the hallways since Wednesday, chatting in the kitchen, and charming the lovely lady there who makes me special Baileys flavoured coffees and gives me extra biscuits.

I have had minimal pain. The anaesthetist put a lot of local anaesthetic into the surgical sites to keep me nice and comfy. My chest hardly bothers me at all. My tummy is a bit more problematic, but manageable. I had some strange pain yesterday that was not in the area of the incisions. I described it to my surgeon last night and her answer blew my mind "Oh that is where we carefully peel the fat off the fascia between the muscle and the skin. That'll be why it feels sore there".🤯

My surgeon, Michelle Locke, is a rock star. I am in absolute awe of her. She does breast reconstructions privately but she is also head of Plastic Surgery at Middlemore Hospital. She was head of Plastics when White Island erupted. All I can say is New Zealand is lucky to have her. I'd follow her anywhere if she was my leader.

I could not be more delighted with how my surgery went or more relieved to be in the final stages of this journey. It marks the last of the very big stuff. I have felt a bit aimless this year waiting for it. I can move forward now and I'm very excited to heal and to live my best life.

To all the nurses out there, happy International Nurses Day. You are truly special and make such a difference to the recovery of the people you care for. I shed a tear a few minutes ago when I hugged goodbye Brittany, my morning shift nurse for the past 3 days. I'll shed some more when I say goodbye to Claire, my night shift nurse, in the morning. Home tomorrow though - and onwards and upwards.

Thank you for all the messages, visits, cards, flowers, magazines, cupcakes, chocolate and healing vibes. I am very lucky to be so loved.