Recovery

I am home now, resting near the Christmas tree.  Scott is taking excellent care of me!  We both miss Annabel terribly, but I know that she is having a great time with Scott's parents and I think it would be hard for her to be here.  I have 4 drains in my chest that I wear on my waist with the "pain ball" that is also attached to send Novocaine (or something) to my incisions.  The pain ball is in a fanny pack and the drains have tabs that thread through the belt on the fanny pack.  It is unsightly, to say the least.  Scott has to empty the drains twice a day and change my bandages once a day.  I am glad that he doesn't get woozy very easily because I almost passed out when he was changing my bandages.  It didn't really hurt; I mostly felt pressure, but I got the sweats and was glad to sit in my chair when he was finished.  The drains look like hand grenades and when Scott empties them, he has to record the amount of "fluid" that comes out.  I think they are looking pretty good, so hopefully I will be able to have some removed when I see my plastic surgeon on Friday.  I have looked at my chest and it is sort of shocking, but not much different than I expected based on pictures I've seen.  I am definitely under construction!  Lots of stitches and it is lumpy and bumpy.  My surgeon told me to keep in mind that I will be pleased with the final results.  I am sort of surprised that I am not upset about it, but as I have said before, the anticipation is usually worse than the reality. 
When I was at the hospital, a physical therapist came by to teach me some exercises, so I have been doing those as instructed.  This morning, I walked from the back door to the mailbox and back and felt just fine with that.  Last night I was able to sleep sitting up in bed, but I think tonight I will stick to the chair in the den.  I was really stiff and in pain when I woke up in bed and it is too hard to move around in there.  I have been dozing on and off since I've been home.  I'm hoping that I can stay awake to watch a movie with Scott tonight. 
Next week, I'll meet with my oncologist to go over the pathology report from surgery.  She will tell me the results and we will learn what the next step is in my treatment.  My plastic surgeon said that I might even be able to go to Knoxville for Christmas, so I am really looking forward to that.