Hello friends!
(WARNING: some of this might be a little gross. If you are squeamish, proceed with caution!)
I know that I have been incredibly delinquent of late, but I can explain! Umm, okay, it is a pretty terrible explanation, honestly. Let us just say that I have been lazy. Between recovery and healing, keeping up with my school work, and a full time job; I have somehow let the blog slip. Mea culpa!
Things in the Katgirl universe are slinking right along, though. I am finally getting back to "full strength" after a longer than expected recovery. I will not go into much detail about the surgery or our experiences traveling to and from Mexico this time around, as I do not think I could fit it all in before I collapse for the evening. I will share more about it though, soon. I also promise, promise, promise to share some pictures soon!
I will share that, unfortunately, while our stay in Guadalajara was quite wonderful; the aftermath brought some rather icky consequences. The surgeries went well, generally, and I am pleased with the results so far. The bad news, though, was that somewhere between entering the O.R. and returning to Texas, I contracted an MRSA in my left breast.
About two weeks after we got home, my lovely wife had to rush me to the ER one fateful Wednesday evening, because the swelling and pain in my left breast had become too much to bear. In truth, I should have had it checked out about a week before I did. The ER was able to do very little for me. They were as helpful as the could possibly be; they performed an ultrasound and determined that there was significant fluid build up in the breast "pocket," and they prescribed some happy pills and referred me to a surgeon for follow up.
The surgeon recommended by the ER was not the right kind of surgeon, so a few days after our late night trip; I found myself on Google searching boob doctors. I was lucky enough to stumble across a surgeon very close by who just happened to have an opening that very day (and who happened to take our insurance!!). He took one look at my boob, noted the angry red colors that had only that morning started decorating my incision site, and announced that I had an infection. He prescribed an antibiotic regimen, said we would probably have to operate once the infection calmed down, and sent me away to let the next round of pills do their work. They had less time to do their job than we hoped, though.
The very next day after my doctor visit, I returned home from work (yes, I went back to work as soon as we got home from Mexico... just 10 days after my 6 hour surgery) feeling like crap and began to change into my pajamas. As I was slipping out of my bra, I noticed that the material was a little wet where it was covering my incision. I next felt an odd "trickle" running down my belly. The fluid that had been building up around my implant was now leaking out of my incision site. I called the surgeon and was back in to see him the very next day, and back in surgery the day after that.
He was able to clean out the pocket and re-insert the implant (he had warned there was a chance I might lose it... YIKES!), and later confirmed that I did have an MRSA, which meant that I spent the following two weeks sporting a drainage system and the following four weeks taking pills that made me sick. Thankfully, though, everything cleared up in the end, and I am finally starting to feel somewhat normal.
So, yes, in my entire adult life, prior to transition, I visited a doctor maybe six times. I had never once had any kind of procedure... operation or otherwise. Since September, I have been in surgery twice and worked on by four different surgeons. It has been such a fun fall season!
Oh, and I am also happy to report that everyone we dealt with throughout this whole infection episode has been completely courteous, respectful and super-duper nice... I could not be more pleased about that.
Okay, next time, actual MTF surgery stuff... I promise!
Bye for now, and many, many hugs.
Kate
Glad your feeling better, you had a rough time there.
ReplyDeleteTake care x
Hi Jenna,
DeleteThank you. Yes, it was a bit of an adventure - one I hope not to repeat!
Regards,
Kate
Kate,
ReplyDeleteVery glad to read that you are doing well. Is the MRSA directly attributable to your breast augmentation surgery or could it have been related to any other surgeries you had in the recent period of time. I have read that a MRSA can lie dormant until a later date (and better opportunity to wreck havoc). Having not had any of the necessary surgeries yet, it is all a bit scary. Hopefully, none of this affected your HRT regime. Going off hormones was very difficult for me when I had to stop.
Hope you are having a good day. : )
Best,
Karin
Hi Karin,
DeleteIt is very hard to say for certain, but the chances are that I picked up the bacteria during surgery. They are the first medical procedures I have had since my early teens, so it is unlikely that another procedure planted them. The trick, though, is that it is really possible to pick up the bacteria about anywhere these days. The one thing I do know is that my left implant was problematic from the start, so that is what leads me to believe I picked it up in surgery.
It is scary, but unfortunately, it is a risk that is just part of having any surgical procedure. The good news is that doctors are very adept at spotting the issue quickly, so my one piece of advice if you do get to the point of surgery is not to hesitate to seek attention if something doesn't feel right. My biggest mistake was taking a "wait and see" approach. Still I was very fortunate that no serious damage was done.
Best of luck to you!
Kate