Today was the day…

The day of my surgery!

I needed to be at Chesterfield’s General Surgery Ward by 7.30am.

Murray came with me. My rock!!

As we came to the ward there were quite a lot of patients waiting. It was going to be a long day…

As the nurse called the names, those waiting went through to the ward. One lady’s name wasn’t on the list, and she was asked to wait. She looked so nervous. Don’t ask me why, but I knew at that time my name would not be on the list either. I was so pleased Murray had come with me.

I was right, my name was not on the list!

The nurse said, you two are in the Women’s Health Ward today. I walked with the lady and Murray up to the ward. Murray wasn’t allowed in, there were still restrictions. It was hard for us both, but he left. We were greeted by the ward Sister, and she took us to a massive airy ward with 6 beds. “Just you two ladies in here today” she said. “We are going to take good care of you both” …

I couldn’t quite believe it. We were upstairs, the windows were open, the ward was lovely and there were just two of us. “Thank you”, I said.

I was told I would be second to go down. There was then a flurry of activity, with nurses, anaesthetists, and then my consultant. For anyone needing breast surgery, be warned. The ruler, tape measure and felt tip pen comes out!

It was at the point that the consultant measured from my underarm across, I asked why?

I was told, “that my dear is where your nipples used to be, and that is where they are going to be again”. She had a sense of humour…I liked her a lot!

THEN, she asked, “what size would you like to be”? Not a question I had given much thought to I have to say…

“36 C”?

“I think we can work with that” she said.

Then I was called to go down to Ultrasound. “You are first on the list”, Sister said. I said another thank you.

The word that kept coming into my head was TRUST! And so, I tried the best I could to trust. I also, thankfully, still had my sense of humour …it was needed! As the radiographer placed two enormous needles into the affected areas, to guide the consultant and THEN, proceeded to tape two plastic cups over the needles. It was at that point I surrendered all dignity… what was the point…I wish I’d had my camera.

I believe I was in surgery for about 3 hours. Post surgery was a bit of a haze. I eventually came round mid afternoon and took in my surroundings. A beautiful sunny day. A light airy ward. A bed by the window. No one else around other than a nurse monitoring me…At that moment I was so grateful!

The next few hours passed quietly. I kept dozing on and off until Murray was able to come and collect me.

It was now time to heal…

At Chesterfield they have the most incredible dressings. I think they are called PICO dressings. They have a battery attached and this creates a negative pressure evenly over the wound, aiding circulation, stimulation and a vacuum to encourage healing and reduce the possibility of infection. I found them a bit tricky to manoeuvre as each has a long wire and battery pack, and the sound took some getting used to, but if they helped it was worth it.

I would like to thanks everyone at Calow Hospital, Chesterfield, for their wisdom, kindness and care during this time. It made such a difference to me;

I am forever grateful.

---

---

---

---