Journal entry by shannon grace —
Yesterday was the best day of my new life! The surgical drains finally, FINALLY had low enough volume to remove them! The actual removal was awful but I would take that pain any day over drains, bulbs, tubes, and the rigged up belt/pouch/safety pin/surgical tape method I have been dealing with! Once the drain incisions heal I will be able do so much more living and finally getting some comfortable sleep!!!! Yep, yesterday was a game changer!!!!
Now I am in the expander phase of recovery. I will go every week to get expanders filled until they are between 325-425 mL. They will determine how much to fill each week by how my body can handle the pressure. The first 24-48 hours after a “fill-up” is kind of painful/irritating/uncomfortable but is doable with the muscle relaxers.
Thanks for reading and supporting me on this journey! It’s such an up and down experience and I can never thank y’all enough for helping me through!
Pics are:
-me looking happy to be drain free and able to wear a normal shirt again!!
-one of the evil drains. The red marked section was the 10 inches of drain inside my body! Yikes!!!
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