Fill 'er Up!

June 7 – Fill ‘er Up!

Yesterday was my first saline injection into my expanders. I have been having dreams of huge needles and laughing mad scientist types for about a week, so I was a little apprehensive to say the least.

First – a little bit of complaining, then I’m done, I promise. I don’t know who thinks 10 minutes is long enough to see a doctor for any reason, but they should be severally reprimanded. Appointment times are dictated for 10 minute intervals, hence there are back-ups, hence we had to wait for an hour past our scheduled time to be able to see the doctor. It will happen again and again, so I have to just know that and move on. Done complaining.

We saw the doctor who was all smiles. He looked at my boob area and asked how I was doing. I told him where my pain was concentrated and he explained that the cause of the stabbing like pain was most likely due to the internal stitches. The stitches will dissolve and that pain will go away. Next question – How many cc’s are in a cup size? Answer – There is no tried and true method for that. He said, “Don’t think cup size. Let’s just throw that out the window. I want you to look at yourself after every fill up and when you look like you want to look, we’ll stop.” It’s all up to me. I have a 450 cc expander which can be doubled in capacity, so I have a lot of room. I asked, “When can I go into the pool/spa?” He said to wait another week, but don’t stay in so long that you get all “pruney”. His last comment was that he didn’t want me to lift or vacuum. I heard a choir of angels singing overhead and I smiled.

Then he explained what was going to happen. First the PA would come in with a bag of saline, a magnet, and a 50 cc plunger. She will find the ports with the magnet and insert a needle into the port and then add the saline. I was to let her know if it hurt or if I wanted to stop before the full 100 cc’s was inserted. No more questions.

Next, his nurse came in with all the necessary equipment. I asked her if she was going to do the procedure and she replied, “I can, but today I’m just following the doctor around.” She left.

Then his PA came in, Carolyn. She is so dang cute. Love her attitude, her smile is contagious, and she is so helpful and careful. She laid me back on the table, but I had to sit up. When I lay flat, my breasts feel like they are touching my spine and it hurts. Then she got out this cute little magnet thingie. She ran it across the top of my breasts until she found the port and then she took a marker and put an “X” on my skin. When she went to the left side, the marker stopped working, so she put the “X” on with a pen. Next she cleaned the area with some alcohol. The marker “X” stayed while the pen ”X” disappeared. She excused herself to find another marker, returned and started the process again.

Now I’m all marked up and ready to go. Now she repeats the biggest lie you will ever hear in any doctor’s office, operating room, or hospital “You’re going to feel a little prick.” Not so much. Much more like a small nail being hammered into my person. “Ow!” She apologized and started sucking the saline from the bag into the 50 cc plunger and then plunging the saline into my expander. The first 50 cc’s, I didn’t feel a thing. She repeated the process for the same side and I started to feel my breast expanding right when she got to 100 cc’s. Needle out, cotton on hole, move to the other side, and repeat.

It all took about 20 minutes. I asked her if I should wear the tight sports bra or the cami and she said that we are trying to make these things bigger, so let them expand. Don’t wear a bra. If you are more comfortable with a cami, wear it, but it’s not necessary. That choir of angels sang again. She left and I got dressed.

On our way out, we stopped and made the next 4 appointments. Each one is scheduled for 10 minutes each, so we’ll be waiting a long time to see the doc each time. No worries.

After all this filling up is completed, I’ll wait a month to let everything settle. Then I’ll have the surgery to take out the expanders and insert the silicone implants. Next we’ll see how I like them or if any adjustments have to be made and, barring the addition of nipples, I’ll be done.

Hopefully there are no complications. I feel good today, no real pain. I do plan on taking it easy today and taking a half a valium after breakfast and another half of one later in the day. I don’t want to mess this up, so I need to just chill out today.

I’m learning that I can’t do everything right now and that I need to ask for help. It’s hard because I believe I am Wonder Woman, but I’m not. I’m just a woman who is going through a process that requires rest and help. See, you can teach an old dog new tricks!