Recon phase II

Had a few anxious dreams last night about today.  The idea of taking a syringe to my surgical area to fill up the expander with saline was not sitting well with me the last couple of days.  The memory of muscle pain from the surgery is still pretty prominent in my mind, even though much of the pain and swelling has subsided over this past week. Thank goodness for anxiety meds to take before procedure.

The moment of truth has arrived.  The nurse started laying out tools and materials they were going to use on me.  I could feel the nervousness kicking in.  There was the syringe (large and long), the bag with fluid, and a few other things. The doctor and nurse are very aware of my anxiousness and did everything they could to keep me calm and have me relax.  They both have wonderful bedside manners.  The doctor explained once again what she was going to do and reiterated that she would take it slow.  She explained each step as she was doing, constantly checking to see if I was okay, pain and nervous levels were monitored well.  I felt the prick where the syringe went in.  I could barely feel the fluid being injected at first.  As more fluid poured in, I could feel a little pressure, but it was tolerable.  Again, she reiterated that they were going to go easy today to keep my comfort level good.  When she was finished, it felt more like bruising than stretching, probably because they only put a minimal level of fluid in today.  There was soreness as she cleaned up the area where they entered to fill.  The slightest touch of her blotting away fluids hurt, again more like a fresh bruise.  It will be interesting to see how I feel later on when the meds have worn off

Time to go home and nap.