Stuck in Human Form

Doesn't reconstruction seem like an amazing process? It is! But it also can really fucking suck. At first, my chest looked like two craters. I didn't want to look at myself, with that shape and an obvious lack of nipples. For several weeks after the surgery, I did not have skin sensation, like when your gums are numb after  a dentist injects novocaine, except it was my entire chest. The only thing I could feel was if there pressure the expanders/my chest. Pro: can't feel pain. Con: can't feel anything else. The weekly fills were coming along well, and I returned to work 6 weeks after my surgery. It would take just over 2 months of fills to get to the size I wanted, so I had to learn to live with the expanders back in my normal life. The lack of sensation hindered my ability to hold animals as part of my job (I'm a veterinarian), because I couldn't easily tell how hard I was holding them. I can't explain how weird it is to have a Great Dane jump and place i...

Since I wasn't going to need chemotherapy after my mastectomy, my doctors allowed me to have my breast reconstruction started during the same surgery as my mastectomy. This means that immediately after my general surgeon removed my breast tissue, my plastic surgeon scrubbed in and placed expanders in my chest. By pairing these surgeries, it meant one less surgery/anesthesia overall, so I was glad to have the option.  I should state that you don't need to have breast reconstruction after a mastectomy. There are a lot of women out there who decide that they might as well live their life without breasts. Once everything is healed up, it leaves a flat chest. A lot of women are proud of their flat chest and all the shit they've gone through. There is no good or bad option, you decide what is best for your comfort and confidence. You can always go back and change your mind later, just speak to a plastic surgeon about what the best way to go about it is. Reco...