First Post-Op Appointment: Drains

In all honesty this is not a fun appointment. The drains -- or surgical tubing -- attached to the sides of where my breasts used to be are stitched in on each end. I have four drains -- so two drains are stitched in on the right side of my body; two on the other. On the opposite end of each drain there is a bulb-like plastic container (which a now friend and cancer-survivor calls the grenade) ends up holding all the breast and lymph fluids. Blood and water mix. These are cleaned -- or 'drained' -- three times a day and measured for the doctors. Each time these are drained it feels like salt and water being thrown into the stitches. This particular appointment (in which the gauze is replaced and the stitches are checked) doesn't add much to the fun of it. But despite all the aches and pain that go along with cleaning drains and regausing them, it does go quickly. Really it does. The doctor mentioned these stay on between 2-4 weeks which I'm sure will also fly.

When I changed into my client clinical wear, I started to get too serious. Here, my husband snapped a picture of me in deep thought. As soon as he said I looked presidential I laughed and smiled in the next shot. Humor helps me get through these moments.