Miss Suzette Humour Health House

Humpty dumpty surgery aka TRAM/DIEP reconstruction - Breast Cancer ...

The surgery I just had is more commonly known as a double mastectomy (with axillary node exploration) with TRAM/DIEP reconstruction. However, when I showed up to my pre-surgery check-in, I was asked to describe my surgery in my own words. Having had a lot of experience with this cancer stuff, I repeated the above sentence. So the nurse pressed – NO, in YOUR own words. Well then, I said, I am having the “Humpty Dumpty Surgery!” I think she wrote this in my chart.

I realize that I was not entirely prepared for the extent the surgery would cripple my body if only temporarily. In fact, although I am a thorough, “Type A” personality, (ok, controlling would be a better description), I figured that learning all about the surgery in advance wouldn’t really do that much for me? I was having it. I had made my decision. So when I saw the surgery in 3-D on the Internet and read the first 108 stories of women who have had this surgery and are still miserable after one year, I knew it was time to stop “learning” about this particular aspect. I’d have to place some trust in the professionals I had chosen to guide me.

When I was mentally preparing for surgery, I couldn’t have been farther from the reality of the bus that was about to run me over. My surgeon (who I see more often than my own family) told me I was one of his most entertaining patients (not really what I was going for here). And that I wasn’t a very good listener. I told him I had been working on my listening skills since college when a close male friend told me the same thing in 1986. Apparently I haven’t progressed much since then. I ask a lot of questions and don’t really wait for the full answer because I am afraid he’s going to rush out of the room before I can check off my list.

So today when I was there, there was another woman in for a consultation on the same surgery by the same (truly gifted and brilliant) surgeon. They asked if I would speak to her and show her my results. So when she didn’t want to see my new breasts or my long abdominal scar, I asked her how I could help her. She said she wanted to know if I had any pain during my recovery - ANY PAIN?! I couldn’t move for the first seven days and for the next three weeks, just sitting up was an effort – but I couldn’t quite bring myself to tell her that. I could see how afraid she was of the surgery and so while I could not lie, I told her about my denial system. You are going to have the surgery, right? Yes, she said. So what is the point in focusing all your attention on all the things that can go wrong and how some people take forever to recover? Just get yourself to your best personal place and jump in! Sign up some family and friends for the first few weeks after surgery to help. Steal my line, “This is a marathon, not a sprint!

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