All about Surgery

So here I sit on a this regular Monday night reflecting on what happened last week. Last Wednesday I had my big day of surgery, finally getting that annoying boob tissue removed from my armpit! The weeks working up to surgery were nerve wrecking. I kept going back and fourth with myself whether or not it was worth it, would I regret it, would I be in too much pain afterwards? All that crap. But I knew this was something I had to go through to get to a better quality of life. 

That day arrived whether I liked it or not, but once I got all checked in and started seeing a few smiling faces at the hospital my nerves started to calm. It was the fear of the unknown, not knowing what to expect afterwards, or how surgery would even go, but the hospital staff was amazing in helping me feel comfortable and not to have a care in the world. I also had great company of having my sister, Levi, Mom, Dad and little Roni there. That meant the world to me. 

The good things about having surgery come in forms of heated nightgowns, and excellent concoctions from the anesthesiologists. Boy, oh boy. 

Once I was all hopped up on a few calming meds, I was read to head to surgery! I never felt so ready. The drugs certainly helped that, but I actually ended up knowing two girls that were working in the OR that day. Talk about being in good hands! I can't tell you what happened shortly after I was rolled into the OR, I'm sure I said a number of embarrassing things. But hey, what happens in the OR stays in the OR, right?

What felt like minutes later, I woke up in recovery. Alone. I remember thinking: "Shit, did my family leave me? Did they get sick of waiting? Why does my throat hurt so bad? What is that god damn beeping noise?". Not to worry, everything came together slowly but surely. My family had a lot of really good laughs while I was coming out of it. I drank some sprite, ate some toast (which btw was the most amazing toast on the face of the earth), and talked about Monopoly apparently. 

Once I was more alert and awake, I started to ask questions. I noticed a drain hanging from my armpit and was freaked out. Long story short, once the surgeon got into my armpit he realized the mass was much larger than he ever thought. Once it was all said and done it ended up being the size of a softball! After seeing it removed he's 99% sure it is in fact breast tissue but just to be sure he went ahead and sent it off for testing. 

Now comes the part where you can see this "mass" for yourself. But first, you must know a few things about this photo you're about to view:

1) If you are hungry and need to eat, don't look at this photo. Take my word for it and wait. 

2) This is a judgement free zone. I wasn't allowed to shave my pit the week prior to surgery, so never mind the Sasquatch attached. 

Okay, are you ready?

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Are you sure?

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Alright, I tried warning you!

....SICK! I've looked at this photo so many times it doesn't gross me out anymore. I'm actually starting to see shapes. Can anyone see the dog's head?

Post recovery has been rough and I cannot lie. It's much more painful than I thought. This drain is making it nearly impossible to 'get better' or even get comfortable. I took 3 days off work and had the weekend to rest but I tried returning to work today and it just wasn't happening. I'm really looking forward to this Friday to get this drain removed. Everyone that's had a drain before tells me how much better I'm going to feel and how much faster the recovery road will look. 

Even though right now, I might not agree that surgery was a great thing to do, you might ask me in the next few weeks and I might answer different.