I got home from Brussels yesterday morning. What a week.
Monday 29th October Lorraine and I were dropped at the airport at 3pm and we soon checked in and made our way to the restaurant for some soup. I am pleased we had this because it was the last bit of sustainance before my op ! The plane took off on time, 6.20 and arrived 15 mins early. The chap from the Eurovolley centre was waiting on us and the journey took about 45 mins. I was trying my best to remain calm, it would not have helped anyone, least of all me, to have hit the panic button. I was missing Al and the kids already though, and the distance between us felt like a zillion miles. I kept thinking -what on earth am I doing? - why am I here again when I said NO MORE OPERATIONS !! Ugh.... I know why I am here, it's because this tummy of mine is not only unhygienic, it's flappy, it's ugly, it's hanging skin, it's keeping me in size 12 jeans when I could and should be in less, and my boobs are non existant, ugly, saggy, and I feel asexual because of them. So I gave my self a swift kick up the ass, packed my overnight bag for the hospital, and went to bed !
The Eurovolley centre hotel - it's very very very basic. The rooms are heated like sauna's, with underfloor heating that is just relentless ! There is a TV with BBC1 and 2 on it which was handy enough. There's a shower which has the might of a thousand power showers about it ! Be careful in there or you could come out black and blue !! There is a restaurant that serves breakfast as part of the price of the room. Don't expect too much here though. It's self service from a choice of bread ( toaster available) cereal ( if there's any left in the dispensers) Coffee ( not recommended, it's not the nicest stuff) cheese and ham ( ewww - for breakfast ?!) and yoghurts. There is a bar next to the restaurant with reinforced glass overlooking the volleyball courts. There was generally some activity going on down there and balls bouncing on the window - scared the hell out of me !! They do a lunch and dinner menu but you need to be fluent in Flemish to understand what is on offer. Mushrooms on toast, Spag Bol, Lasagne, Soup, Omlettes, these we could just about make out but the rest elluded us ! The hotel is in the sticks and there is nothing around the hotel to walk to, no shops, nothing to see, nothing to look at. In fact, the area looks a bit dodgey to be honest with you so I would not recommend leaving the hotel for a wander anywhere !
Tuesday 30th October. We were taken by the receptionist from the hotel to the hospital for 7am. We checked in and were taken to the ward. A lovely nurse called Annalise saw me and asked the usual questions, and then took me to my bed, room 105 bed 3. I was given a gown and told that Patrick Dedoncker would be there shortly. I unpacked my stuff quickly, really bricking it by this stage. Thank God Lorraine was there to support me. I had warned her that I needed her there for the consultation and as such, she would be party to seeing me in all my glory. Probably mentally scarred for life now ! Patrick arrived shortly after I'd got my gown on, and he introduced himself, and he asked for the blood results, and I handed him his money at the same time. I didn't want to hold on to that a single second longer !! He then asked me to undress and stand butt naked by the curtain while he took before photo's of me. YIKES ! I had only just met the guy and here he was asking me to pimp myself !! lol. How embarassing ! Then I had to stand there while he drew in black marker pen on my tummy. A line down my middle, a circle around the area to be lipo'd on my belly, a line across my abdomen along my section line, a line horizontally with my navel. He pulled and poked at my flap and commented that I had a LOT of skin to remove.... no shit sherlock !!! Then I had to sit down and he pulled up a chair infront of me and it was time for my boobs to get the inking ! He did it very scientifically though, tape measure out and very precise marking. I was amazed he didn't get a set square and protractor out ! I had a line from my neck straight down the middle, and then lines to my nipples, and then he measured the uplift and marked the area underneath to be removed in a sort of inverted V shape. Then a line straight down from the nipple to underneath, and a smile shape under the breast along my natural crease line. Then he marked out where my new nipples would be. He said they were currently at 30cm from my neck, and after they would be at 22cm. So, once he had done his picasso masterpiece on me he said, `we shall start immediately`. Yikes !! I was on the bed and away to theatre leaving a worried looking Lorraine behind me. You can tell that the theatre staff are not used to dealing with conscious patients. They really treat you like a piece of meat, no feelings, no voice, no soothing conversation. They gestured to me to get onto the operating table which was then wheeled into the theatre. No anaesthetic room, this was the site of my flappy bits demise. There was a huge light overhead but not on, and the room was very clean, smelt of disinfectant, and there was a hive of activity as staff busied themselves getting trolleys and instruments prepared. They stuck cardiac stickies on me, the blood pressure cuff on me, I gave my flappy bits one last touch before my arms were stretched out either side and strapped down. There was a lady who brought the laryngoscope and intubation tubes etc and put them on my chest ! Had I not been a nurse I guess I would not have known what this was, but I am a nurse and I got scared seeing the reflection of these things in the light above me. I thought of Al and felt myself welling up because I so wanted him there, but I knew I needed to be calm and composed going under anaesthetic or I would wake up in a right state. I thought of my kids, and then of the change in my body in the last year and then I told myself that this was the last operation, no more. The mask was put to my face, stingy stuff injected in my arm and that was that.
I woke in recovery to the sound of myself vomitting the airway up. The pain was not too bad at this stage as they already had stuff running IV into me for that. I did a body check... ooooh, I have boobs ... further south... where's my tummy ? A little further south still, ouch, 2 tubes sticking out my pubis and what is that... ah... a urinary cathter. Would have been nice to be warned that was going to happen, ah well, at least I won't have to get up to pee tonight ! I tried to focus on my surroundings, who was where, what was what.... there was a clock on the wall saying 1pm. I closed my eyes and tried to rest easy. I wanted to be back to the ward asap so I figured if I behave myself then I would be granted this. 1.30pm though my left breast started getting seriously sore. I mean, off the scale of pain. I was swollen and lopsided and it was hard as a rock. There was a male nurse in the vicinity so I called him and said I was in a lot of pain. He said ` I believe you, but you have already had all your pain medication`. He went off and another one came over and said he was phoning the Dr. The male nurse came back and jagged my leg with a needle of morphine I am guessing. I still have the bruise !! Patrick then arrived and said he had removed 20cm of skin ( width) which was a lot of skin, and that they had put a catheter in for my comfort overnight. I told him that my left breast was seriously sore, and he looked at the drain - nothing in it, and then grabbed the mefix dressing and ripped it off me ! Compared to the pain in the breast at this stage, the sound of my skin being ripped at was peanuts. He poked at my right breast, which was fine, and then my left breast which near had me lift off the bed. He then called everyone over and started talking quickly in their native tongue before turning back to me and saying I had a haematoma ( a collection of blood) behind my left breast, and they were taking me back to theatre to put me back to sleep to drain it. I felt dizzy and sick, my BP had been recording seriously low for the past hour, and boy didn't I know it. They had to put me back onto the operating table so they came and log rolled me onto my side ( PAINNNNNNNNN) while they put a patslide underneath me to get me over to the operating table. It was all a rush from there and I felt myself losing consciousness. I told them that I was not ok.... by the time I was in theatre ( based on my not remembering what happened!) I had passed out. I came to with people slapping my face a little and shaking me, but thereafter I don't remember being knocked out again - must have passed out again.
Back in recovery at about 3.30 I think, and the pain was certainly a lot less, thankfully. Patrick came to see me and told me that they had put in 2 drains on my left breast just to be sure ! He had drained off a 500ml bleed which was significant. My blood count as a result had dropped from 11.5 pre op to 8.2. I now needed a blood transfusion. Again, I rested - did myself the favour of keeping calm and collected and hopefully back to the ward sooner. I slept, I kept being woken though by the alarm on the monitor going off saying I was only beathing 5 or 6 resps a minute. They kept shaking me to get me to breathe more. My Bp was still in my boots too and that was alarming too. Patrick came back to see me to check I was ok, and said that he would go out and tell Lorraine what had happened. She must have been beside herself. 7.15pm finally I was taken back to the ward. Seeing Lorraines face was so good. She came with me to the room on the ward and held my hand. She said how worried she had been about me, and how she'd phoned Al and told him what was going on. She gave me my mobile and I phoned him to let him know I was out and was ok. It was heaven to hear his voice. I would have given anything at that moment for him to have been there in person. So the evening went on with pain relief being given without my having to ask for it - superb- and my drains being checked and BP recording every couple of hours. Low - always low ! Never actually got above 100/50. I slept on and off overnight but there was a patient who was up and down to the loo beside me, and the other one was snoring her head off. I was glad I was only there for one night ! I felt rough though, and it crossed my mind over and over that I didn't think I would be up to leaving the next day at all. I still had another unit of blood to get, and my pain levels were still needing controlled by strong stuff.
Wednesday 31st October They came early and took a blood count. That came back later on as 8.2 still. Humph. I was offered breakfast but a couple of sips of tea and I was sick. I had vomitted water the night before too. Eating was the last thing I wanted to do. I had this tighter than tight band around my tummy which was restricting my breathing let alone my eating !They helped me have a wash, get the pink stuff off me that had been splashed all over me in theatre, and then the blood was started. My right breast then started to swell and feel sore like the left one had before. They said that Patrick was on his way and he wanted me nil by mouth just in case I needed to go back to theatre. Lorraine was there with me and she was as concerned as I was. I called Al and told him what was going on as far as I knew. Poor guy must have grown several more grey hairs that day too. Patrick came and ripped off the dressings and said that my breast was ok. They had evened up too which had been a concern the day before. The left one was looking smaller than the right one, but they sorted themselves out ! He redressed my wounds told me all was ok, but that he wanted to get me a prescription for antibiotics and strong pain relief for back at the hotel. He suggested I might stay another night in the hospital, depending on how I was feeling. I really didn't want to, to be honest, because I wanted to stick to the plan of getting out that day. The blood finished and they removed the drip, got me dressed and out of bed - sweet relief because my back hurt like hell from all that lying about. I had 5 redivac drains in a blue carrier bag to carry about with me. Lorraine walked me up and down the ward to see if I could manage. It was sore and I was dizzy but I was determined. I bled from the pubic drains though so they made me get back on the bed and get them redressed. They didn't stop leaking until yesterday ! Patrick came back and saw me one more time and was happy enough that I could go to the hotel. We shuffled down to the foyer and they called the hotel taxi and about 5 mins later we were on our way. It felt good to be out in the fresh air, out of hospital and on the road to recovery. I was pretty helpless that evening and night though, and Lorraine had to nurse me, help me sit up because I was stuck on my back and could not move, even help me to the toilet. I had to redo my dressings on the pubic drains because they were soaked. I slept on and off that night, stiff and sore through most of it, but pleased to see daylight arriving. Lorraine helped me have a wash and wash my hair in the sink. I was so dizzy I felt faint. She sat me down and put a wet flannel on my face.... it was enough to get me back before I passed out thankfully. She helped me dress and we shuffled along to get some breakfast. I figured that I should get something to eat in case my dizziness was blood glucose related. I managed a yoghurt, slowly, and 3 cups of coffee. I was wiped out though and we returned to the room and I went back to bed and slept. I think Lorraine slept too, but by lunch time a miracle had happened. When I woke up I suddenly felt a new lease of energy. I really felt a vast improvement - no idea why - but walking was easier, the dizziness was less, and I felt up to having some lunch. We went down for lunch and got lasange. It was nice enough and I managed half of it which is about right for me. We had a cup of tea, and then headed back to the room. I am sure it was boring as hell for Lorraine to be stuck in there, but I could not go anywhere, I just wasn't up to it. I rested some more and watched TV, and then we went to get dinner later on. I fancied some soup. We were told that there was no dinner though because it was a holiday. Oh great. I can't go out anywhere, and they are not serving food, what am I supposed to do. I can easily go without eating but Lorraine has a normal stomach and she needs to eat. Thankfully we had eaten well at lunch time, and we had cereal bars and the like in the room.
Friday 1st November I had an ok night, awake at 3 and watched a film on my PPC while Lorraine slept on. I got up at 6ish and took my pain killers and then went and had a wash, did my own hair, and boy was I feeling a whole heap better. We had breakfast and then got sorted ready to go and see Patrick at the hospital and get the drains taken out. The left breast drain had passed 310ml since Wednesday which was quite a bit. The others were fairly minimal. He was in 2 minds whether to remove it or not, but decided the risk of infection leaving it in was higher than the risk of seroma taking it out. He removed the pubic ones - OMG - I needed to remind him that that area is delicate !! Pulling sticky dressings off too fast, yanking on stitches in that area, and then taking the tubes out which stemmed right to the end of my tummy tuck scar line each side. YIKES. He was happy with my belly button, and my nipples, redressed everything and said he was happy with my profile. I was just pleased to be free of the drains and ready for my journey home on saturday. We thanked Patrick, and then went to the hospital canteen for lunch. I had some chips and Lorraine had some soup and then the rest of my chips. I couldn't manage much. We then had a wander round Vilvoorde - there is nothing to see, trust me. I just wanted to prove to myself that I could walk a distance, so that the airport was not going to be too much for me. I was still leaking underneath so I had a pad under there to catch the leakage. I managed ok though, but got quite tired after an hour so we got the taxi back to the hotel.
Saturday 3rd November I was up at 5.30, washed my hair and body ( not allowed to shower darn it, but then again that shower would have blown me apart !) and I got dressed. I was so happy to be coming home at last. We packed our final bits and bobs and left the room about 6.50am and headed to get a cup of tea before leaving. My legs were swollen like tree trunks but my tummy was flat as a pancake. I had taken a look at myself in the mirror without my girdle thing on and it was incredible. What a difference. My belly bulge was away and my flappy bit was gone. My boobs were looking great, high up and rounded. I was worried what Al would think - hoped he would like what he saw.
We got to the airport at 8 and checked in. The plane was 10 mins late but they still landed in Dublin 5 minutes early. We made our way through the long walk from the gate to the baggage reclaim. I was expecting to call Al and tell him that we were waiting for him at the departures set down where we'd arranged to meet. I had to stop off in the toilets on the way though because my girdle was so tight that it was cutting in and hurting me. I was sore along my tummy tuck line - just smarting a little really - but I was doing ok and just looking forward to seeing my darling man. I called him as we made our way to the lift and as I spoke to him he came up behind me and threw his arms around me. It was so good to see him. Darren was there for Lorraine too, and seemed to have a happy reunion, but I was just allowing a few tears of relief and happiness flow at the touch of my husband holding me again.
So there we are. I am home and I am 'done'. My boobs are in a 36DD sports bra and Al is very pleased with them. My tummy is trussed up with this girdle so not very comfy, but I am feeling better all the time. I need to call the GP tomorrow and get some iron tablets and to let her know what happened oer there. Apart from that, things are good.
