New Boobs Coming My Way!

     Today I drove to the Kaiser West LA Medical Center to meet my plastic surgeon. Dr. Hamid was very nice and I felt comfortable with him. He agreed that a bilateral mastectomy made sense, considering my history. I didn't really have many questions, since I have been doing so much of my own research, but he gave me his speech about my options.
     We are going to do reconstruction with tissue expanders. The nurse brought in a sample tissue expander, and sample implants, so I can see what they feel like. Dr. Hamid said that he recommends the silicone implants. He said that they look the most natural. He explained that I would come to see him weekly, after I've recovered from surgery, and that he will inject saline into the tissue expanders in order to stretch out the skin, as it will need to be stretched after the mastectomy.
     I do find all of this super fascinating. I would be more excited if it weren't happening to me, but that's another matter.
     Dr. Hamid asked what Dr. Leung thought about my nipples. I told him that she said she could keep them, from a medical viewpoint, but that she thought he would find them too droopy and that he would probably want to make new nipples. So he examined my breasts and took some measurements, and agreed that my droopy nipples would be hard to deal with. Now that my new boobs will actually sit perkily on my chest, and not sag to my belly, it would be hard to put the droopy nipples in the right position. I still can't really imagine having boobs that don't hang to my waist! Or that drop to my armpits when I'm lying on my back. And I won't have to wear a bra. Hallelujah!
     So after my chest heals, and after chemo (if I have to have it), and after the breast tissue has been stretched, I will have the tissue expanders removed and the implants put in. This is often done on an outpatient basis. Then a few months after that, Dr. Hamid will build me new nipples, and will tattoo the areolas. I considered not getting tattooed areolas, but now I think that's what I will do. I will probably get some sort of tattoo once everything is done, but I don't know if I want one on my perky new boobs. We shall see.
     I see Dr. Leung to sign all the consent forms and preop paperwork on Thursday. I should know my surgery date after that appointment. It's starting to feel scary, but I'm ready to get this done. This is going to be a shitty year -- may as well get it over with!
     Todd and I are going out for tiki drinks with some friends Saturday night -- looking forward to that!