I once listened to an episode of Dr. Laura in which she told a young woman that her engagement wasn’t real until she had a ring and a date. Friday morning I booked my “engagement”.
Of course this was after a long, heartfelt discussion with Dr. Elliott. As you all know I’ve been freaking out. As Ken and I were waiting for the doctor to come in, I broke down and he walked in while Ken was comforting me. So the interview starts with me talking about how terrified I was about complications after this surgery.
He proceeded to tell me that what I was feeling was perfectly natural and that it was completely understandable that I would feel this way. HOWEVER he chose the specific Latissimus Dorsai Flap (http://www.emedicine.com/plastic/topic137.htm) reconstruction because there was a lower risk than the Tram Flap or Tummy Tuck style procedure.
He also explained that with someone my age, that a standard anchor style breast lift was a bad idea because it thinned tissue that was already stretched by breastfeeding and age. Then add to that the pressure of putting an implant in to make an area larger that the lift made smaller, plus the lack of drains in the incisions and it wasn’t surprising that I developed necrosis.
If you follow the link you’ll see that what happens is that sections of muscle, fat and skin are removed from the back and then rotated around to the front and molded into a breast mound. I have always wanted what I refer to as ski slope breasts. They’re the ones that are rounded on the underside and the top slopes down to the nipple. Dr. Elliott said what I requested as far as breast shape is actually the ideal shape for me. Because of the way the V.A.C. machine healed my chest, I have no bottom roundness so that is going to need to be completely constructed.
Of course I’ll have scars but honestly I’ll just be happy to have breasts again.
Then, once that part has healed, I’ll have one more surgery to reconstruct the nipples. After that, all that’s left is the medical tattooing.
After the consultation I spoke with his scheduler and I’ve set a date. The surgery will be May 29 2009.
Why so much time between now and the surgery? I really don’t want to be laid up over the holidays. This is our busy season for our business. Plus I have schoolwork that needs to be completed. My birthday is the end of January, our youngest son’s birthday is in February, our anniversary is in April and Balticon is the end of May. Then I have about 11 weeks to recover before DragonCon. It’s a helluva schedule which doesn’t even include family issues that we’re dealing with OR the move back to Atlanta that we’re planning once we get the house sold down here.
All that aside, my “engagement” is real. I have a Ring and a Date 
