Introducing...

Two new additions to the family. They are soft, cuddly, and like to be pet.

No, they are not my new boobs, they are my new kitties ;-)

My sister informed me yesterday that if someone was only reading my blog and didn't know me in real life, they wouldn't know that we recently got cats (except for the fact that I wrote about herding kittens yesterday). So, I thought I would post a little introduction and review our pre-op consult with the plastic surgeon. I had to tie the two in together somehow.

Poster Nutbag

Reba

We adopted the two little kitties in January (right after we got back from our New Years' trip to Chicago) from the Worcester Animal Rescue League shelter. They were about 6 months old, and although they aren't related, they were brought to the shelter around the same day. These two little bundles of joy have really made themselves at home in our house and I can no longer imagine our lives without them. I know, it's totally sappy and cheesy, but we don't have children so we have to have some sort of a substitute. :-)

Anyway, I had some basic pre-op testing today and a mini consult with my plastic surgeon. The surgery should be much easier than the last one. It's only expected to last two hours, and I don't have to stay overnight.

We also got to see real silicone implants today, and that was pretty neat. My surgeon explained how the implant works. I didn't realize this, but if you cut it with a knife, it's not liquid inside. It would keep its shape. It was nice and squishy - much better than the "turtle shells" I currently have residing under my pectoral muscles. They come in different profiles - small, mid, and high. We're going with "high" because the implant is going under my muscle and I don't really have much shape right now. When he described the difference, that sounded like it would give me the best-looking result.

He ordered 4 different sizes (anywhere from 400-650 CC's). During the surgery, he'll remove the tissue expanders and replace them with sterile sizers to determine which ones he ultimately wants to place. Then, he'll open the package for the right implant and voila! He will use the same incision as the last surgery to minimize the look of the scars, and since my radiated side is a little more contracted, he has to adjust the pocket a bit. That means cutting so that it more closely matches the other one. Right now my left side is higher than my right side (I'm pretty lopsided if you look closely) and a bit smaller. That should be fixed.

After the surgery, we'll have some followups, but everything should be fine unless we're not happy with the cosmetic result. Some time after that, I can choose to go for "nipple reconstruction." OOOOOH. :-) During a mastectomy they usually take the nipples, too (since it's breast tissue, and cancer can grow there). Most people don't know that or don't think of that. I haven't really decided what I'll do about that, yet, but it's not something that has to happen anytime soon. I'm just excited to be getting real fake boobs.