Healing

art by Jenia Maslova, http://jeniamaslova.prosite.com/

For the most part my healing has been going really well -- better than I expected, actually. My pain level is pretty low, and gets better every day. The first couple of days were the worst, of course, but even then the pain was manageable by icing frequently during the day. I had been warned that I could have some numbness along the underside of my arm as a result of nerves being stretched or cut during the surgery. I didn't experience any numbness, but I did have a weird neuralgia along the underside of both arms down to the wrist (along the median nerve) that I would call "creepy" or "itchy".  Not painful, but unpleasant. That only lasted a couple of days, though.

I do find I tire easily, and need to rest for an hour or two in the afternoon. My energy is going toward healing.

And then there's my poor left breast.

As instructed by the home-care instructions, three days after the surgery, I -- with my husband's help -- gingerly removed the bandages covering the incisions. Everything looked fine. The incisions remained covered by steri-strips that should fall off by themselves in a week or so. I took a very awkward shower that avoided either lifting my arms over my head or letting the shower spray hit the incisions directly. Very thankful for my husband as a shower buddy!

After the shower I switched to a different bra because I didn't want to put a dirty one back on after showering. I picked a new bra that I'd bought just before the surgery but had never worn. Then I accompanied my husband grocery shopping -- I swear I didn't pick up anything, just pointed out what I wanted -- because my mind was foggy and pointing seemed easier than making a list.

The bra must not have been supportive enough, because when I took it off the side of my breast was an ugly dark purple-red. It didn't hurt internally, but it was tender to the touch, probably because it was so swollen.

I had no any signs of infection that I could tell, and I had no fever or much pain, so I wasn't too worried about it. However, I did notice during the next couple of days that the bruising seemed to get worse after I took a walk or went shopping. I decided to call the nurse practitioner just to be sure it wasn't anything to worry about. She says it is normal to have bruising at one incision site and not the others, depending on whether the cut was made near a blood vessel. So it doesn't sound like anything to be too concerned about. (Though I do wish I had been given some warning ahead of time that I might have some bruising).

Since walking made it worse, I decided it was prudent to stay off my feet for a couple of days.  The bruise definitely began fading and healing.  This photo is from three days after the bruise appeared. You can see the steri-strips over the incision site.

I am getting to know which bras* provide the best fit and support. And I found it is vitally important to wear my most cushioning, supportive shoes. The yellow is still there today, but the red has all but faded now.

*I have been instructed to wear a high-impact sports bra, with a front or back closure, for the first couple of weeks after surgery, 24/7. I bought two to wear as I recovered from the biopsies, and three more prior to surgery, in different brands and sizes (I lost weight in the months after the biopsies and the lumpectomy).