Imagine that, complications!

Well I should have known I spoke too soon, as we ended up having complications from this last reconstructive surgery on February 3, 2011. The surgeon had intended on inserting the implant into the left side and cutting out some skin that had been radiated, and then we'd be all done except for the nipple reconstruction and tatooing.

I left surgery all happy the procedure was over, but once I got home and took the bandages off on Friday, the result was not what I had expected; not even close. The skin was still in place, the implant had been inserted, but the area did not look round; it looked deformed as it had areas of indentions. It even looked smaller than the right implant. I tried not to freak out, tried not to get upset and wait until my follow up appointment to see what my doctor would say.

When I went for my appointment today, the nurse looked at my left side and said, “It looked so much better on the table,” so even she was surprised to see how odd it looked. The doctor told me that he did not take any skin off as it was a judgment call he made during the surgery. He said the skin was not loose due to the scar tissue from the previous surgery and the effects of radiation, so he did not want to cut the skin off in case the skin did not adhere once the implant was in. He said this was the safest way to go in case complications arose from the implant, so he would have extra skin to work with.

He said he wanted to wait 2-3 months to let everything heal and then we will schedule another surgery to cut some of the extra skin off and make the area more smooth and round. He said it will never be perfect and will never look as good as my right side, but there is room to improve from where we are today.

Needless to say, sobbed when he told me this. I had this expectation that I was going to be done after this last surgery. I had been so excited to be able to use all my vacation days for vacation in 2011 and that will not be the case this year. It has been such a long road and I’ve been waiting to cross that finish line, but now I have to wait some more. This road has been littered with complications and I don’t know why I’m surprised that more unexpected things happened. I just wish my doctor had managed my expectations better.

I wish I sounded more positive right now, but I just got back from the doctor and wanted to write this as I know many of you have called/emailed to check in with me and I just haven’t really wanted to talk to anyone until I got feedback from the doctor.

Thanks again for everyone's kind words and encouragment. It means more than you know.

Love,
Marcy