I am going to be rebuilt in the Spring of 2019 – provisional dates are 20th or 27th of March. The rebuild will involve taking skin and fat from my lower abdomen, removing the cannonball and inserting tummy into boob area. I have requested the Elle McPherson look (it is not one they are familiar with).
To get ready for the rebuild I had to have a CT/Angiogram scan where dye is injected into your blood vessels and they are assessed to see if they are suitable for plumbing in. A couple of weeks after the scan I received a letter inviting me to attend a consultation with Mr X. As usual I did my research and found an article about CT/Angiograms for DIEP flap reconstruction so had a list of questions.
I had noticed that the arteries looked remarkably like river drainage patterns
I hoped mine were dentritic and not deranged. I took my article and diagrams to the consultation, asked which mine were like and Mr X drew a diagram for me. All I needed to know was that I had 2 promising looking blood vessels near my tummy button. We discussed dates and whilst he favoured before Christmas I explained that if we could wait until Easter then my exam classes would be on the downhill slope for public exams.
Almost immediately I was invited for a pre op assessment, I phoned the breast care nurses to see if this was a mistake but not so as plastics like to book in early. So another trip to Derriford. As a frequent flyer I thought an hour would be enough to drive up from school and park, but no as when I arrived the roads were gridlocked and the impossible car park was full. After driving for 30 minutes or so I eventually found a space in the pay and display car park on what looks like a bomb site. I had to empty my bag to find some change, quickly got a ticket and ran to Erme Ward…. past the Fag Ash Lil’s in their PJs, through the concourse, down the stairs to floor 4 and check in – breathing hard. I was on time…. just!
I was asked to fill in a long questionnaire which I did, handed it in and was called through by a jolly Health Care Assistant who took my blood pressure… it was slightly raised as I’d run from the car park to the ward, took my pulse and then I was asked to step on the scales. BMI: 24.1 yipee! The HCA told me about a previous patient who had a BMI of 55 and how the operating tables had to be extended to accommodate them. Next it was to have bloods taken, then a very kind nurse went through my medical history and presented me with a bag which contained Hibicrub and Bactriban and instructions to wash with it 3 days before the surgery. Final stop was to have an ECG – to check my heart trace, electrodes were attached to my chest, ankles, wrists and one over the cannonball. Much to my surprise I wasn’t heartless… I would be able to share this news with my students when I got back to school, as I fairly sure they think I don’t own a heart!
My parking time had run out and I had to sprint back to the car – then drive to school – I was running late and phoned in, I think my blood pressure was up again by the time I got in.
The next task: get blood pressure down, get students to make progress, get super fit and strong for the surgery…book into barre, spin and Pilates.
The Impatient Geography Patient 