Before watching Therese go through a bilateral mastectomy, all I knew about the surgery  was that it involved breast tissue removal.  I had no idea where the incisions would be, how much tissue would be removed, whether or not the nipple could be spared, what  reconstruction options were available, etc.   The part I knew the least about was the recovery process, despite knowing several people who’ve had mastectomies, such as my grandpa, uncle, aunt, moms of friends, and bestie Angie J.

A week or so before Therese’s surgery, I asked her about the recovery process so I could make her a care package.  Her characteristically detailed, well-informed response described a significantly longer and more painful process than I had previously envisioned.  Surprised and concerned, I immediately forwarded her response to several female friends (#schuester), all of whom had a response similar to mine:  “Holy shit! This is a big deal!”  Male friends were even more in the dark (sorry gentlemen, it’s true).  So, I thought it was a great idea when Therese said she wanted to use her experience to spread awareness and help other mastectomy candidates and/or patients get through this arduous and emotional process.  Just when I didn’t think she could get any braver, Therese informed me that I had the green light to post whatever pictures would be helpful/informative, no matter how unflattering.

One blog post cannot cover all that she is going through physically and mentally, so I thought I’d try to attack what I can in multiple focused segments.  I have to start with the most patently inhibiting and uncomfortable part of her recovery: the “Jackson Pratt” drains (4) sutured into her chest wall for the purpose of removing fluid from the newly-made cavities in her chest.  Each drain consists of a grenade-sized collection bag with a long tube coming out of the top.  The tubes are no joke; each has a diameter roughly that of a colored pencil.  Each tube extends from the inside of the newly-made cavities in her chest through one of the incisions to its respective bag hanging at her side.  A significant portion of the tube is positioned under her skin (see below).  It goes up under her arm and snakes around the chest area where breast tissue was removed. Every 6-8 hours the tubes have to be massaged to move any clots down the tube, away from the wound and into the bags, to maintain patency.  The bags must then be opened, emptied (see video below) into a waste container and measured.  Therese says this process is somewhat painful, but mostly just uncomfortable because she can feel the suction pressure under her skin.

Though Therese insists that “it’s not that bad,” it looks pretty darn disgusting and painful.  Right now she’s wearing a vest specifically made to hold the drain bags.  She was fitted for several of these vests weeks before her surgery. The vest opens from the front and has velcro-fastened, interior elastic pockets to hold the bags. Because the tubes extend through the incisions, she can’t get her chest wet (and thus can’t shower) and she can’t raise her arms.

Asked if this is still worth it, she answers “definitely.”

T and I were able to watch the sun rising this morning from the hospital room. She did great overnight. Her drains have to be emptied every few hours and she had some low blood pressure readings, so they came in to see her every 2 hours and provided her more fluids. As the local anesthetics start to wear off, she is now in more pain. She was able to eat some eggs, oatmeal, and turkey sausage this morning and they are going to try and switch her to the pain pills and see how she handles them.

She’s looking good sitting up though!

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Had to stand up to make the trip to the restroom and it didn’t go well. She got very nauseated and light headed. This is very common, especially post breast surgery, and is typically more common in smaller framed women post op. She’s now resting with a gift from her Uncle Jim, Aunt Cindy, and cousins Carrie and Lane.  Here’s to hoping we can still watch MNF.

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It has been a crazy last 24 hours in Chi Town. I was able to spend all day yesterday with T – we brunched, ran some last minute errands, went for a 5 mile run along the lake, and spent time laughing, drinking, and joking until the wee hours of the night, in large part thanks to Mary. Mary is the one who came up with the idea for this blog, and she also was the brains (and laughs) behind the gift baskets we put together for T.

It’s hard watching your sister go through a surgery like this. I am incredibly proud of her. She has always been a very intelligent, insightful, and strong person. As a fellow BRCA2 carrier, I hope one day to have as much courage and strength to go through with the surgery. Most importantly, I hope that her story educates, comforts, and inspires other young women and men to do the same!! 🙂 Love ya T!

Therese answering (with her eyes closed) “how do you feel?” –> “I’m really glad it’s over.  There have been moments over the last few weeks where it hit me that this surgery was really happening, and happening soon, and I would have these freak out moments about losing a part of my body.  But now that it’s over, at least for now, I’m glad I did it.  I am a little worried for when I can see what it looks like.  I’m not sure I want to see right now.  ”

Therese answering (with her eyes closed) “how does it feel, physically?” –> “My chest feels really tight.  A lot of pressure.  Otherwise I can’t feel it.  If you touched my chest right now, even by my collar bone, I couldn’t feel it.”

Phase two went smoothly and Therese is now in the recovery room and talking. Updates to follow when they let us see her.

Dr. Bethke, the breast surgeon, made a visit to the waiting room about 30 minutes ago and let us know that the first phase of surgery–the breast tissue removal–went smoothly and took a little over 2 hours.  Therese is now with the plastic surgeon, Dr. Fine (a breast reconstruction specialist), for the second phase of surgery.  During the second phase, Dr. Fine will implant the tissue expanders, as well as perform various other reconstructive procedures that went over our heads when he explained them during pre-op.  This portion of the surgery will take a minimum of 2.5 hours.  Thanks to everyone for all the thoughts and prayers!

“Team T” (M made the t shirts) sent T off to surgery at 7:45 AM this morning. She was in good spirits, in large part thanks to M’s comic relief in the waiting room! Surgery should take 5-7 hours, and recovery is another 2, so it will be awhile before we see her next. We will keep everyone posted!