One drain is out and I'm having a party!

I will go back in two days, maybe the other one will come out then...but this one hurts quite a bit less so I don't mind. I don't know if it was the stitch that kept it in that hurt, or the fact that there is more sensation in that side, but the left side hurt much more. The right side is the cancer side, so I'm sure there will keep being fluid draining out of it. I've gotten so good at bathing and dressing around these things, it's not a big deal.

It was yucky to get it pulled out, because there was about 6 inches of drain tube inside my body and I could feel it moving through, but it was over in just seconds.

They also took off the bandages covering the scars, so I can see the incision lines, etc. but it is also so not a big deal. I don't mind the look at all...it is still me! All the people who had double mastectomies and said it wouldn't be terrible, it would be fine WERE SO RIGHT.

So now I cannot stop smiling at the new level of comfort! SO exciting.

Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act

When a woman has a mastectomy at Beaumont hospital, it is usually an outpatient procedure - the patient would normally go home the same day. I stayed overnight, but that was because I had immediate reconstruction, which makes the whole surgery more complicated, longer, and the recovery more painful.

There is a petition going around to require insurance companies to cover a minimum of a 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy.

I'm not sure how I feel about the petition, but I wanted to put a link to it on this blog in case some readers feel strongly about signing it. Personally, I wanted to get out of the hospital as quickly as possible because I have heard and read that the longer a person stays in the hospital, the more chances that person has to be exposed to harmful, infection-causing bacteria...I learned in microbiology in college that I want to stay as far removed from certain bacteria as I can and I would have walked home if I had to the next day! My doctors felt the same, though I am sure some of the reason I left so early may have also been insurance policies.

So, feel free to think about this and make your own decision...maybe this is something you'd like to support? In any case, the webpage connected to the link seems to be a nice one with lots of features...I was glad to click through only because it reminded me to set up an appointment with an acupuncturist (*I've heard it is useful for people going though chemotherapy, but this website said it would help with recovery from surgery, too...so I'm all over that. Of course, then I called Beaumont and they said they were scheduling new patient appointments for acupuncture in JUNE! I will be halfway through chemo by that time! So, I've got to find someone else...I do have a few leads though.)