September 26, 2007 - All went well with the surgery.  I essentially had a skin-sparing left breast mastectomy and one lymph node removed.  I believe the surgery must have taken 2 to 3 hours because I went under a few minutes after 7 am and I became alert around 11 am.  Other than being groggy for a while, I wasn’t in any major pain.  I was ready to GO HOME.  Of course I’d talked to my surgeon a few days before the surgery and told him that they told me the procedure was an outpatient one and he told me that he didn’t require his patients to leave and that I could stay for a day or two and that perhaps I would be ready to leave the same day.  Boy, was he ever right!  I REALLY wanted to leave.  (I'm not advocating that mastecomies be outpatient procedures, but I do understand.  Unless there is immediate reconstruction I can certainly see how one may want to leave - I think the patient should decide)  I did not sleep that night….the nurses were coming in one right after the other and whatever the dosage was on my IV, kept me going to the restroom at least twice an hour all night long!!  I was ready for some sleep.

Although I thought I would be receiving the port-a-cath at the same time as my mastectomy, my surgeon did not insert it.  He prefers to do it the same day or closer to the day that I start my chemo treatments, so I’ll get it soon.

I’ve been home for a week now and I’ve gotten some good rest.  I haven’t had much pain although I do have some discomfort and stiffness at times in my arm.  I have another drain that I’m tugging along.  I would dare say that my drain is the biggest complaint I have about the entire procedure….it’s so in my way!  Hopefully, it will be removed in the coming days.

All is well.  I'm feeling fine and looking forward to getting this all behind me.