911, What's Your Emergency?

I DREAD Tuesdays! And, at the same time I LOVE them. There's this love/hate, push and pull I have with that day. The reason being is that Tuesdays are the day I see my Plastic Surgeon. During my surgery, they placed "expanders" in each breast. I'm sure you can guess-but just in case you can't, what they do is EXPAND/STRETCH/TORTURE the skin to enable the Plastic Surgeon to "eventually" place implants in, once you've been sufficiently "tortured." To be more specific, what the physician does is inject anywhere from 10 to 60cc's of Normal Saline in the expanders in each breast. Sounds easy, simple...right? Well, picture this...They had to take skin off my back, some muscle, and suture it to my chest, to replace the skin that Radiation had "FRIED!" And, just in case you didn't realize it...I ain't no chicken! That skin is stubborn...doesn't want to stretch. Why just the other day, my skin said to me..." Listen Tonya, I was on your back, and that's where I wanted to stay!" Can you believe it's audacity- to say something like that to me? So, I said, "Skin, just cooperate...Please!" We've had no further discussions since, but it's resolve remains the same...

While my Doctor is injecting the saline in, he's constantly asking me, "Does it feel tight?" I never understood why he was so insistent, until I let him inject a "little" more saline than he should have. I felt a little discomfort, no big deal! Now, by the time I made it home...I was in full Cardiac Arrest! Just imagine...You know how you filled  balloons with water when you were a kid? Come on...this was the 70's! There was NO Cable, NO Video Games, NO Internet. You follow me? Think about how heavy that balloon became, everytime you added more water to it....Now take that same balloon- filled to capacity, with water, and place-no shove that inside your chest! Get the picture? Like I said...Full Cardiac Arrest! I just thought, the "quicker" they expand-the sooner I would have implants....You have to remember,(It's imperative that you keep up!) before surgery I was dealing with that one breast "staring" at me-and I it, in a Showdown for the ages...Yeah...I just didn't want you to forget my point of reference! So, I'm just ready for this to be over...But, as with everything else, since my diagnosis-It's been a process...How, I'm learning to "hate" that word! And, with that process, I MUST have PATIENCE! It's been said, or maybe I've heard... "Patience is a Virtue." Please pray for my becoming virtuous! Otherwise, can you imagine the expression on the face of the Dispatcher When I call 911, and she asks, "What's Your Emergency?" And, I tell her, "My breasts are about to exp---e"! Until next time...