Back in Love

Today I am falling back in love with the new boobs. I really am, y’all. I am so crazy about them. The nipples will take some getting used to, yes, but the boobs themselves, man did I luck out. I really think I got a very talented plastic surgeon and he didn’t just phone in work on me. He really worked hard to make me happy with the reconstruction.

I say this because it’s not a given that women will be thrilled–or even happy–with their reconstructions. Case in point: my mom. At the time, she loved her plastic surgeon; he was Mr. Personality and connected with her and told her she was his favorite patient (or similiar) and asked her to “mentor” other reconstruction patients after she finished up, all that. But truth be told, she doesn’t love her reconstruction. It’s not a time thing either (she had her reconstruction in 1995), it’s a they just don’t fit her thing. They’re too big and too high and I swear I could see corners on her chest at the top of the implants for a few years. She complains about them, too.

My surgeon told us that his priority for me was to make me look natural, and I think he really hit the mark there. I’m really really proud of my new boobs, and think they look fantastic (especially in shirts!).

I don’t know where I’m going with this. Guess I just wanted to brag a bit on my boobs.

First Update of 2006

Happy 2006

So instead of taking down the Christmas tree now that Epiphany has come and gone, I am posting a quick update instead.

My final cosmetic/reconstructive surgery was nearly two weeks ago, and it went very well. It was the nipple reconstruction. I ended up having to stay overnight in the surgery center due to a number of factors (mainly my surgery being delayed for 8 hours!), so we were VERY lucky that Nancy could stay another night with the boys in Oxford while we were down in Jackson. Thanks again, Nancy!

My plastic surgeon gave me a surprise belated Christmas gift–a near tummy tuck! Normally, nipples are made from skin grafted from the patient’s thigh, but I showed him all the spare twinskin I had left over from my pregnancy (loose, floppy skin) on my belly, and he decided to use that skin instead. He told Tom that he took 3x the skin he normally would use, and that ended up pretty much being a tummy tuck–just not involving the muscle. I was sore for a little longer than I would’ve been if he’d just grafted skin from my thigh, but I am a WHOLE lot happier without the twinskin.

I had a little teeny scare a few days after the surgery, though: I had a weird numb spot on my leg. Tom kept saying he was sure it was nothing, but of course my mind got to working overtime and I spent several days convinced that the cancer was back. The moment I mentioned it to the plastic surgeon, he said “NORMAL!” Apparently sometimes after cosmetic procedures, random numbnesses like this can happen. And the numbness is already going away.

In other news, my hair continues to grow in SILVER. Tom says I look like an elf (the Lord of the Rings kind, not the Keebler kind), but I think it’s more like Anderson Cooper on CNN. I still wear wigs when I leave the house, but the other day I was in a rush and I couldn’t find one, so I just wore a baseball hat and, would you believe no one cared? I mean, no one stopped to laugh and point at me.

Hope y’all are remembering to write 2006 on your checks by now. I have the sneaking suspicion that our mortgage check was mailed out dated 2005. Ack.