24 November 2025

Here's something I did not give enough consideration to while uber-excited about getting a mastectomy: if you have a tummy of any distended size, when your boobs are gone it will be MUCH more noticeable. Like, you go from looking a bit overweight to OH WOW WHEN ARE YOU DUE, ELDERLY MOM???

lol I actually own this one

I am so glad that it's hoodie season. 

There have been some concerns post-surgery, but nothing of the healing sort. No, now I have to worry about who's looking at what when I enter a public restroom. I've only had one sideways glance, but I think that was owed mostly to the super short hair I have right now, or maybe my stellar post-menopausal goatee. I wouldn't even think about it if not for a previous encounter with a tiny Asian woman who bopped me a few times with her purse in a McD's restroom several years ago.

We're joining a gym next week (pointless this week as we are busy as hell) and the locker room is another worry-point, but only marginally. Spouse Thingy thinks that if someone confronts me I should just yank my shirt up, show them the scars, and growl "I had a mastectomy, bitch." That is not outside the realm of possible for me, but...you know. It's not gonna happen, but if it does, who knows what I'll say. For someone with social anxiety that's only gotten worse over the years, I have one hell of a mouth sometimes.

The healing process was pretty uneventful. When I wrote before I was getting my drains out, that did not happen. On that day, I still had a not-insignificant amount of drainage, so the doc declared they were staying in place for 5 days more. I was disappointed, sure, because the drains are the worst part of the whole ordeal and I wanted them out. Going home with the tubes still jammed into my sides was not what I'd planned for.

Apparently, no one told the right drain. That night, the bulb would not decompress, so there was no suction. The next morning, I sat up in bed, and the tube was just flapping around by my waist.

Not a problem, the doc said when Spouse Thing called. I might get some fluid build up, but that's it.

Five days later, it was Last Drain Day. I got up and headed to the kitchen to hand out kitty snacks, and realized there was a tube flapping around at my waist again. 

Freedom.

How'd they come out? I dunno...could be the 16,000 times I sat on the tubes, slowly pulling them out. Could have been my body saying, nah, we're done. Could have been the cats. Who knows?

But honestly, those drains were the worst part, and they were never painful. Just annoying to have. 

I never really got to a point of OUCHY; I had (and still have) some tenderness, but the pain was so minimal that making myself not do things was difficult. I have to admit to picking up a cat now and then, and eventually Amelia because how could I not??? (I promise, I was careful and Mike as right there if something felt off.) 

At not quite 4 weeks, 2 weeks ahead of schedule, I was cleared to slowly resume regular activities.

That meant I could get on my bike.

I'm now, what, a few days short of 6 weeks out, and am pretty well healed up. The incisions are completely closed, which frees us to join the gym and hit the pool, and I can start with very light weights until I'm sure it feels ok under my skin. 

I have a couple of dog ears that might been to be addressed later, and still have a dent in my left pec, but I likely won't do anything about that. This was never about aesthetics and if I have a dent, I have a dent. The dog ears, though, get irritated when my arms rub on them, so I might want those clipped off.

Someday I might post a pic...but I want to get rid of the Elderly Mom Flabby Gut first...

HOWEVER...if you REALLY want an idea and to see my torso on an OR table, there's a video out there. I'm not linking to it yet, but if you have Instagram and a strong stomach, look for Folsom Plastic Surgery and hunt through their videos. It was posted on October 28. And fair warning, not only will you see a BEFORE image of my nekkid torso (lol tattoos blurred out but you can totally tell it's me) you will also see a shot of my bloody removed breasts on a surgical tray. 

So, have at it. No one is allowed to poke fun of the tummy, tho. I actually am self-conscious about it, especially now. You seeing my old boobs, not at all. They're not mine anymore, anyway.

This is probably the last post on the surgery I'll make, unless there are questions. My life is no longer revolving around it; instead it's revolving around Amelia and getting to babysit and that is so much more fun.