I had two doctor appointments today. I met with Dr. S in the morning and was very happy with my visit. He said everything looks great and is actually shocked at how well I'm doing. He said that after my initial infection he didn't think I'd be back to normal for 4 months. He said I was an extreme case and attributed my quick recovery to how active I am.
We talked a bit about nipple reconstruction and I mentioned that I was thinking of just going with a tattoo. He pretty much told me no. I am afraid of getting the headlights permanently on look and he assured me that he can make them very subtle and guaranteed that I'd be happy with the results. He's been good to me so far so I'll do as he says.
I still have a significant amount of hardness in both my breasts and my tummy. I have what looks like a golf ball in my lower abdomen that isn't going away. When my breasts soften up a bit more I'll go back in for the stage 2 operation where Dr. S will move things around and make them pretty. He'll also lipo that golf ball so it will be nice and flat. That will probably be in July. Six weeks later I'll go in and he'll create the nipples, followed by the tattoo in another month and a half. My body should be fully re-sculptured and healed by Thanksgiving which will make it one year since the bad mammogram.
It was a fantastic appointment and I am really looking forward to putting it all behind me. I thanked Dr. S a dozen times today. I am so grateful for his genius.
My second appt of the day wasn't quite as successful. I had my annual checkup with my GYN. Ugh! It started off on an awkward note when the nurse was taking my bp and casually asked if I'd had my first mammogram yet, now that I'm 40. I took a breath and had to explain my situation. She got a bit defensive and asked who ordered my mammogram and why the GYN office wasn't informed. I told her my primary doctor ordered it and received all the results.
Then I was placed in the examination room where I was instructed to disrobe. The CRNP came in and asked for more information about the breast cancer so I filled her in on all the details. She wrote it all down in my chart. I was amazed that my chart was at least 4 inches thick. I guess that's what happens after you have 3 pregnancies, 2 losses and a miracle. There was a sticker of a heart with a bandaid on the front of my file. I asked the nurse about it and she said it informed the staff that the patient lost a child and to be sensitive with words and actions. I thought that was kinda sweet.
Anyway, the nurse proceeded to do a breast exam which I thought was silly. She admitted that there was no reason for her to do it but it didn't hurt anything so oh well. I felt a little weird showing my scars to someone new but again, oh well.
She tried to do an internal but felt uncomfortable pushing down on my stomach so she wrote me a script for a pelvic ultrasound. She also informed me that since I am now 40 I'll be getting annual rectal exams. Yippee! The joys of getting older.
On my way home from the GYN I stopped by my primary doctor's office for a quick blood test. Keep your fingers crossed that everything looks fine and my potassium and glucose levels are normal.
I also called to make an appt for the ultrasound and the scheduling person gave me a hard time because the CRNP didn't note a procedure code. The script stated 'unable to assess abdomen due to recent surgery' and there's no official code for that. I called the GYN office looking for the code and they told me to just list 'body habitus' which should be self explanatory. I made the mistake of googling 'body habitus' and winced as all the results mentioned obesity. I'm not obese!
My appt is scheduled for Monday morning. The results better be normal, let me tell you. I know I can handle bad news, I just don't want to.
Tonight I'm picking up Val and heading over to Kel's for a chick bonding session with chili, cosmos and karaoke. The working moms will be there to celebrate Val and Kel's birthdays as well as Carrie's benign biopsy results. Tomorrow morning Cha and I are driving down to DC to spend the weekend with my parents.
It's a good life.
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