In my previous post, I promised a TMI report of my breast expansion appointment today. Well I hate to disappoint; but it was pretty uneventful. It was basically the same as last time, except without the part about removing stitches and a drain. Dr. FixIt numbed the skin, and then injected some saline into the expander. It doesn’t hurt so much as feel really tight.

Dr. FixIt was not in a rush like last time, so I had a bit more chat time with him. We talked about some of the lingering irritation I’m having. As I had sort of figured out, the irritated skin sensations I’m having are due to nerve damage from the lymph node biopsy, and that will improve over time (as it has been doing).  And the discomfort in Stumpy herself is due to the shifting around of the breast expander. It’s something I’m just going to have to live with until it can be removed – which will have to wait until chemotherapy is done.

The one interesting part of the appointment was when Dr. FixIt asked me, “So, how big do you want it to be?” I’d been wondering about that myself; I have in my head that I’m aiming for a C-cup, and we’d discussed this on our first visit. But now it’s time to get specific. In a nutshell, he basically said that I should let him know once I’m happy with the size. He’ll go a bit bigger than that – he’ll need a bit of extra room to work with – and then the expansion will be done.

When I got home, I tried on a top with a shelf bra (I’m so excited about the prospect of wearing just a shelf bra!!). Quite honestly, I feel like Stumpy is already the right size. This is a tough one to figure out, since the boob itself is not shaped like it will ultimately be shaped (yes, it’s still a bit football-shaped), and it is very, very firm. My next appointment is scheduled for two weeks from now, so I have some time to give this more thought. If anyone out there have any suggestions for how to figure this out, be sure to let me know!

In medical, non-cancer news today, I also had one of my plantar wart eradication sessions – having all my torture sessions in one day, I guess. I have been seeing this laser dermatologist monthly for over a year and a half now, and I feel like I’m getting to know him. He’s a classic boy with his toys, wandering around in his blue scrubs with one of those magnifying glass headbands on his head. He’s been nagging me about a discoloration on the side of my face for a few months now and today I think I made his day by letting him aim one of his fancy lasers on that. He assures me it will look ugly for a few days, then disappear.  As Tad said, when all you own is a laser, everything looks like a nail…

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