Good news & bad news...

Well, I drove to Louisville today by myself to see the plastic surgeon. I had a few questions that I figured I already knew the answers to, but I was also waiting to get cleared for my exchange surgery (when they take out the tissue expanders & replace them w/ real implants). I got the answer I thought I was going to get about a few of the issues I've had - the expanders are just terribly uncomfortable & that's just how it is... I also got clearance to have my exchange surgery anytime now.

The bad news is that I had planned on having my ovaries & uterus (and any other female internal equipment) taken out while I was under anesthesia for the exchange. That would save me from having 2 6-week recovery periods (ie times when I'm not working). However, the doctor in Louisville said it wasn't possible to do it that way. He indicated that there was too much risk of infection during the hysterectomy/etc & that puts a lot of risk for the implants. The problem with implants is that once bacteria get on the implants there's nothing the body can do to resolve the issue. The only answer is removing the implant, letting it heal for 6 months, and then replacing the implant. There could even be another step of putting a new expander in between the healing & new implant. Definitely NOT what I wanted to hear.

Since this plastic surgeon isn't the one that I actually plan to do the surgery, on my drive home I called Houston to get their opinion. The nurse I spoke to indicated that, like the Louisville doctor said, it was not likely that I'd be able to have it done my way. However, when I spoke to Andrew, we both remembered the gynecology oncologist checking w/ the plastic surgeon & saying it was ok. I'm in the process of checking my secure messaging from MD Anderson where I asked a bunch of questions back in February (right after my surgery). I'm also waiting for a call-back from the plastic surgeon (or his nurse) in Houston with final confirmation/denial of the dual surgery.