Post mastectomy, day 8

Well here I am, 8 days after my mastectomy. I'm feeling pretty decent. I'm still slow moving, and I still have a lot of physical limitations. I can lift my arms to shoulder height in the front, and nearly that high out to the sides. I'm doing ten reps of exercises three times a day now. I'm able to open the fridge and reach in for something at medium height that doesn't weigh too much. I can brush my hair and put it in low pigtails, which looks ridiculous at my age I'm sure!  I can fold a few articles of clothing before I get tired and I can dress myself. It takes time but I get it done. Today I even managed to pull a very loose tank top over my head and get my arms through!  That's the first time since surgery that I've worn a top without buttons. I still can't shave under my arms, because I can't reach. It's so gross. I also can't wash my own hair. I think that early next week I'll be able to do both of these things though. 

Pain wise, I feel really good. I haven't taken any Tylenol in more than 24 hours and I feel pretty comfortable. My biggest complaint is actually that my back is killing me, right in between my shoulder blades. I'm attributing that to the recliner that I'm still sleeping in every night. I tried to sleep in my bed one night but only made it until 4 am before I was back in the recliner. I feel like I need to be propped up a lot to be comfortable and I just can't get that same angle in the bed. The recliner doesn't have much back support though, so that's not helping things. 

My swelling is going down and my incisions are almost all the way healed. I only still have sutures at the ends of the incisions. My drain incisions are super annoying. They itch and the tubing cuts into my sides where my right sports bra holds them against my skin. I cannot wait until they come out!  I've gotten over the grossness but I'm still not taking care of them myself. My mom went back to Florida last night so my husband has had to take over drain care. 

My other major annoyance is the tissue expanders. They hurt. I can feel the edges of them under my skin and they push against my sternum. It's uncomfortable when I'm trying to sleep and it restricts me from taking deep breaths. I hope they become less noticeable as the get filled!

I guess that's all there is to report right now. I'm trying to document everything as accurately as possible. Before my mastectomy I read a ton of blogs just like this and found all the info extremely helpful, and I want to be able to do the same for others. I've been taking pictures of my chest for before, during and after shots of my journey but I haven't decided whether to share them or not. If anyone is reading this and you're contemplating a mastectomy and you want to see my progress, please feel free to reach out to me. I think I'd be more comfortable sharing on a personal basis.