Plastic Surgeon Talk...boobs, boobs, boobs!

March 11, 2015

Monday was the day to discuss the options with the cosmetic plastic surgeon, we went into the appointment thinking that it was going to be simple and easy......yeah we were wrong!  Information overload for sure, so many questions and decisions to make.  To give everyone an idea of what this 2 hour consultation was like.....the plastic surgeon had to present all possible options with percentages of what most woman do and the type of surgery that is performed.  Then the detailed questions....where will extra skin come from if needed, how that surgery will be performed; if a muscle is needed to support the implants later, where that would likely come from; what's involved with saving the nipples and how blood flow comes into concern; to use expanders or go straight into implants, success rates.....lots and lots on information.  The nipple conservation issue seemed to the big topic...to save or not to save, tattoo options, can we use Mac's nipples (just kidding not an option)!  After all was said and done it was best to go home and think about it.  Sarah had an opportunity to talk to some woman that have already been through this process to help understand pros and cons to the various scenarios for the reconstructive process.  After much contemplation and discussion a decision was made....we would proceed forward with the recommend 4 phased surgery.  First surgery will consists of double mastectomy with placement of expanders.  Expanders will be filled weekly for about 5/6 weeks.  After chemo and possible radiation the second surgery will be completed where they exchange the expanders with implants.  The third and fourth surgery will be removing fat from other areas of the body (yes she will get liposuction) and injecting the fat into the breast area.  Keep in mind the mastectomy will be removing ALL tissue so Sarah will have nothing left other than outside skin and expanders and then implants.

Sarah attempted to contact the plastic surgeon's scheduling assistant the next day to coordinate the surgery with the general surgeon but no such luck, she was OUT SICK!!  Talk about frustrating when we just want to get moving on this, so we call again today (Wednesday) and she's still out sick....okay can someone else help us get appointed.  This delay in the process was difficult to handle since the cosmetic surgeon was the part that was holding up the surgery date.  They finally they were able to coordinate things and tell Sarah "Well the cosmetic surgeon (who will remain unnamed) is going on vacation for two weeks starting on the 25th so we can get your surgery scheduled for April 11th"....ok what the heck just happened and why wasn't this explained on Monday when we were talking about expediting the surgery because of the importance of the treatment.  Ok, what about his partner....is that an option???...apparently not even worth discussion at this time.  Long story short we have found another highly recommended Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon Dr. Rhee in Castle Rock who made accommodations to get us in tomorrow night for a consultation and pre-surgical procedural consultation.  They have tentatively scheduled the surgery 3/31....not even meeting us and yet they have gone above and beyond to help get Sarah's surgery scheduled sooner and made us feel like a priority!  What a great feeling!

So there you have it people....3/31 the TaTa's will go and Sarah will begin this journey!  Each day will be one step closer to the end of this chapter of our lives.  Sarah can look in the rear view mirror and the image/memory/experience of going through this is further and further away!

We are encouraged by how things are now progressing and falling into place.  We know that the post-surgery process will be difficult but it's great to know that we have such a huge support system with all of our friends and family....we know we will need help when that times comes after surgery!

We want to send a special thank you to all of the parents of Michaels' friends, his buddies have been so supportive of him at school and making sure he is okay and telling him sorry that his mom is sick.  He came home the other day and said that his friends have been supportive of him.  It's great to hear that he also has that support by his friends and they are thinking of him, we appreciate that they are helping him out too.

As far as the donation fund http://www.gofundme.com/nlv6tk goes we are so close to our initial goal of $8,500 so thank you to everyone that has donated to Sarah's upcoming medical expenses, your contributions are greatly appreciated. 

Again thank you so much to everyone for the support, love, and generosity coming our way!  We feel so very blessed to have such wonderful support group and so many wonderful friends that are here supporting us in so many different ways!  Words can't express our deep appreciation to everyone....