Exchange City

OMGOSH... I THINK I HAVE SEEN A MIRACLE BEFORE US...................

could it be??? really??? Are my eyes deceiving me??? I don't think so..... is it... could it be......I think it is........................

ANNIE.... IS THIS YOUR FACE? After 3 yrs... Are we seeing your FACE?

Hmmmmmmmmmmm... the face in the picture is a face of a Barbie Doll... and a GORGEOUS specimen of a woman.....

Do we BELIEVE this is our Annie girls??

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Laura, you little silly.  Yup, it's little old lopsided Barbie boob me alright.  Thanks for the compliments, but you are a gorgeous little thing yourself, miss.  All of you are beautiful, inside and out!

(Can you tell I slapped some makeup on real quick for my "upclose" photo? LOL.....)

I took the photo in the dining room, see the chandelier behind me?  It was pretty funny.  And my kid had to upload it for me, too.

How are you? How is the swelling?  Are you feeling better?

MBJ, I love it....BC before BC...girls we have to laugh at this crapola, it takes away it's power.

Good for you, MBJ!  And thank you for the info on the uni fix.  I have to amble on over to the photoforum and see some beauty shots of all of you lovely ladies.

love ya

Barbieboob/aka annie (I already had Ken on here, but the cat is in love with him)

Annie:  Amazing to see your beautiful face....FINALLY!

And Laura - Is THAT your own hair?  Dang girl! 

LOL Deborah... Yes, I have hair now.... but I hit the wrong picture... a lot of ladies have asked me what I looked like during CHEMO and BEFORE I had any mastectomy...

This is the only picture I could find that showed my buzzed head on the first days of chemo and my real boobs... bad bad picture though... too hard to see... OH.. I TRIED...:)

OK, this is going to be a really long post- sorry!  I had my exchange yesterday.  It started out 2 hours late because the surgeon ahead of mine ran over.  Then when they took me back to pre-op my PS had left all my photos face up for all the world to see.  Then after she marked me she opened the curtain before I had a chance to cover up.  She apologized for the photos and opening the curtain but I was upset.  Then I told the anesthesiologist that I wanted to take LE precautions and have the i.v. in my leg but she said she preferred the neck.  I'm sure you can guess how fun that was.

The surgery went great.  Not a hitch.  I woke up in Recovery in a lot of pain and asked the nurse if they could give me something.  Well, she gave me something alright.  She gave me too much which caused me to have an overdose.  I stopped breathing and my heart almost stopped, too.  All of the sudden I had about 5 doctors around me barking out orders.  They gave me something to counteract the opiates.  (Another nurse told us later that in 17 years of nursing she had only seen a patient be given this medication twice.)  Since I had so much pain medication in my system I couldn't keep my eyes open or stay awake, but every time I fell asleep I stopped breathing again.  So anytime I closed my eyes the nurse or one of the doctors would tell me to open my eyes.  This went on for well over an hour and a half.   I asked for my DH but they said he went to get something to eat.  I told them he had his cell phone and could someone please call him.  They said, "No, he really needs to eat something."  Meanwhile, my DH was asking when he could see me.  They told him I was still sleeping.  When he asked again a half hour later they said I was too nauseous.  Then they told him I was asleep again.  I think they didn't want a coherent witness around to their major screw up.  For some reason they kept shoveling ice chips down my throat, too, during all of this.  And one of the doctors stood there for 2 hours until a nursing shift change happened.  I'm thinking he didn't want to leave me alone with that nurse again.  When they finally let my DH come back they told me I had a reaction to the pain meds.  They asked him what pain meds work best for me!  He told them it was my 3rd surgery at this hospital!  Didn't they write that stuff down?  They said they didn't!  I got a new nurse who told my DH they were admitting me for the night but then they kept me in Recovery for another 5 hours.  They wouldn't give me anything for the pain which was getting pretty bad now.  They finally took me to the observation ward and she said I could have one Percocet.  I hadn't eaten since midnight but she wouldn't give me anything but ice chips.  

At 6:00 a.m. I asked for more pain meds and food.  She gave me 2 Percocet but would only give me a small cup of beef broth.  At this point it has been 30 hours since I had eaten!  Finally, at 9:00 when a new nurse came in, she let me order food.  33 hours without food!

Then at 1:00 they told me my PS said I had to stay another night!  I said there was no way and my DH called the PS's office.  Her assistant called me back and said the nurse had completely misunderstood and that I was going home.  If not, I was going to rip out my i.v. and flee!

The more I think about all their screw ups the madder I get.  They could have killed me!  Before I left, I asked them to mail me all of my medical records.  I want to try to find out how this could happen.  The strange thing was I was totally freaking out about the surgery a few days before (right, hurleygirly?) but couldn't figure out why.  The night before my surgery I actually got up in the middle of the night and wrote a letter to my DH and to my son telling them how much I love them.  I felt like such a freak but I just couldn't shake that nagging feeling that something was going to go wrong.

So, how about some good news?  Surgery went awesome.  The "girls" look good.  The pain is tolerable.  And I'm squishee!!!  I am running a fever so I'm going to call and let them know even though my PS already put me on a round of antibiotics.  (She does this routinely.)

I was able to read all of your posts the last few days and I want to thank EVERYONE for thinking about me.  It really meant a lot.  

K. 

Kate... honey... GLAD you are back here with us. SO GLAD...

Your story is just WRONG. I am sorry you had to live this. WOW

You better have wonder foobs after all that.... xxxooo

OMG Kate. What a story. But you lived to tell the tale!! Those records ought to be plenty interesting. Remember, this medical disaster will pass. Your new breasts will stay, so it is VERY, VERY, wonderful that you are already happy with them. BTW, I had a fever post-op also. Not always a sign of post-operative infection, especially if no localized signs.  More often it is an inflammatory response. After what you have been through , better check it out, though. Be well. 

Kate - Yikes! So glad you are okay now. This sounds like something from a horror movie. Yes, you deserve wonder-foobs! I met a woman recently whose job it is to figure out what went wrong in situations like this and then proposed changes to policies and procedures. Can't remember what her title was but I was surprised that this would be a fulltime job.

Kate!!  That's horrible!  Absolutely horrible!  Horrible that it happened, that you had to go thru it, and that they LIED to your DH about what was going on ... horrible!

 Glad you're thru it and HOME!!!!  I agree ... you deserve wonderful foobs after all of that!

Praying that the rest of your recovery is uneventful!

Take care!

Kate,

I am just SO GLAD you are home and out of that madhouse! What incompetence. It sickens me to think that they were so uncaring about getting your husband to you.

If I may be curious, what was the pain med the nurse gave you that caused all this?

What was the Drs.' explanation of what happened after you were finally stabilized? I am so glad you have your medical records. I am really appalled by the numerous oversights.

Glad you are feeling better and big congrats on your new acquisitions. Be well!

{{{KATE}}}

{{{KITTY}}}

And that's all I have to say at the moment.  :-)

........zzzzzzzzzzzooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmm................

HUGS! Jazzy

WOw. Kate, I think you should print your post and send a copy to your attorney! Obviously some malpractice and lying/covering up going on. Write to the hospital administrator and kick up a big stink! Report them to your state's medical board. Not aceptable. Hope you feel better!

Mslrg -- Re: itching ... if the cream isn't doing it (and if I understand this right this is from your allergic reaction to the steri-strips), ask your PS if it's ok to take Benadryl.  If nothing else it will help you sleep at night (it makes me sleepy).  Sorry you're still so uncomfortable... glad to hear the girls are dropping and fluffling a little!

Kate!  That is terrible what they put you through!  What hospital was this at??  I know that when I received chemo, it was UCLA policy to have everyone double check what everyone else was doing so everytime meds were given, a back up double checked to avoid this.  Seems to me, if all hospitals did this, less accidents would happen.  I am really, really happy you already like your new foobs.  I had an experience at Cedars Sinai many years ago after a mayomectomy--I had a pulminary embolism and they had to inject me with something so that I could breath--It's not in my records anywhere according to the dr's at Norris, however, they kept in the hospital an extra day after my MX so they could watch me and they had me on blood thinners just in case.  I am so happy you are home and in one piece!  Cant wait to see your "after" pics!  BTW--I finally did my pics on Timtam's site-the little foob that could.

Laura:  You look like Demi Moore with that buzz cut!  Oh to look as lovely as you do without hair.  Just beautiful.