Hello stranger(s). It seems so good to see you back again; how long has it been?
We have been busy! I know I need to get back here more frequently than two week increments and be a responsible, timely blogger. It’s just hard to make that happen these days. Even with Pluto out of the picture and Venus being supremely close to Earth last month, the planets just can’t align well or long enough for me to get my act together and regularly post updates. This is odd, because I have been reading more blogs belonging to women who are either preparing for or in the midst of my same surgery path. So, while I haven’t been a vigilant blogger, I’ve been a vigilant reader. It seems like I can remember so well what each of those stages felt like, but then I look at this body and my progress and healing remind that it wasn’t all just yesterday. I guess for even more accurate time keeping, I could just look at my blog posts (or lack thereof).
Truth be told, it’s nice to be able to be busy and back in the throes of regular, every day life. I had my stitches and surgi tape removed from my newpples on Monday (July 2) with little excitement (but for a small fire alarm in the clinic). When I got home for the big reveal and looked at myself in the mirror, I was pretty shocked. It turns out that steri strips cover up a lot of scary looking shit. My newpples were much more interesting to me when they still looked like ninja stars. Revealed for what they actually were, healing surgical wounds, I was a little deflated. Not that I was hoping to have ninja stars instead of reconstructed nipples, but they just looked a lot more presentable than my healing, slightly startling newpples.
The good news is that they don’t hurt and they’re healing quite well. I was surprised that I was sore the day of and day after I had my stitches removed because of the absence of pain related to the reconstruction. My abdominal scar revision was uncomfortable, particularly with the hassle of wearing pants, but my newpples didn’t and don’t hurt. I had some discomfort along the right side of my chest, I think around the liposuction sight, and underneath each flap. I’m not sure why the area below my flaps were sore, but it was uncomfortable wearing a bra or even a tank top with a built in shelf bra. The discomfort passed after the first two days but certain movements bring about a twinge of “meh”. But, so far so good! I’m feeling a little less like they’re going to turn necrotic and fall off if I bump into a wall, sneeze, take my gauze off too quickly, or all three oddly at the same time. Dr. Louie was kind enough to assure me that this far out, they’re much less fragile. And with that, I’ll leave you with two photo updates.
The first set was taken 3 days prior to having my stitches removed. The second set is what I looked like the day I had the stitches and steri strips removed.
06/29/12 – Abdominal scar
06/29/12 – Abdominal scar, L side
06/29/12 – Abdominal scar, R side
06/29/12 – Safety stacked!
06/29/12 – Newpples
06/29/12 – Left newpple
06/29/12 – Right newpple
07/02/12 – Abdominal scar
07/02/12 – Abdominal scar, R side
07/02/12 – Abdominal scar, L side
Scar revision a la Sally Skellington
07/02/12 – Stitch & surgi-strip free
07/02/12 – L newpple revealed
07/02/12 – R newpple revealed
shutupaboutit 
You look great!
I too was a patient of Dr. Louie starting in 2009, with mastectomy and recon one side, and reduction on the other. Some complications and infections along the way. Had a final revision summer 2011 because things weren’t quite right – a total of 6 surgeries. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Reminds me how fortunate we all are that Dr. Louie is so talented and caring.
Hi Sue! Thanks so much for reading along. I have met a surprising number of other women via blogs like mine and am thrilled to hear from you. Dr. Louie and his staff have been nothing short of amazing during my process. I feel really fortunate to have him as my surgeon. How does your reconstructed breast look? I’m waiting for my newpples to heal and then move on to areolar tattooing.