Point of View #1: Alicia

Alicia (a pseudonym I've given her) has bravely and generously allowed me to post information about her One Step surgery and photos she provided of her reconstruction. I wanted to provide you with more than one point of view and more than one outcome to look at, rather than just mine.

To see Alicia's password-protected reconstruction photos, email me at rebecca (at) onestepscoop (dot) com.

To see a list of other women's Points of View, just look at the section of my blog's right hand sidebar entitled Points of View.

The following email was sent out by Alicia to her friends and family 2 weeks post-op. All real names have been replaced with made-up names:

"First of all THANK YOU everyone!!!

Attached are 3 pics, two pre-op (excuse the muscle poses..I wanted motivation for after and I'm showing off), one is from yesterday in my really not pretty champion bra!

Just a little update on how things went:
The actual surgery went great and my girlfriend Lily from Utah surprised me by flying out the night before to keep me calm, her Jim and I had a slumber party and it was wonderful to have my mind taken off the next day! The surgery lasted about 3.25 hrs.

After the surgery things went down hill (forgive these details). Needed 2 units of blood transfused, 3 urine catheters, 5 days in the hospital of wanting to puke and be put out of my misery- no response to nausea meds, multiple migraines, and to top it all off an enema. Oh yeah..the pain from the surgery and having 4 tubes coming out of my breasts was probably the least of my worries, the nausea was by far the hardest part. On day 5 I BEGGED my aunt to break me out of the hospital and she did! It was very tough when Jim left on day 3 but luckily Pamela stayed with me that night.

Things got MUCH better from there and I was feeling pretty good by the time I flew home last Friday with my cousin Pamela. I am just sore and I overdid it yesterday by trying to drive...not ready yet! The hardest part is being at home so if anyone wants to break me out and go to a movie I would love that. Sleeping is also a challenge.

Oh, I'm sure you're waiting for the details you would expect me to share..which I will happily and if you want to take a look, they're all yours...My new boobs:
Same size as before, I tried on my bra and it still fits, I am happy to say however, that it is more filled out now and that my boobs are not in my armpits when I lay down. I was expecting to go larger but I had stressed to the surgeon so many times that I did not want to look like a porn star so I guess he actually listened. They are bruised and a bit high but they will settle.

The surgery experience was so much harder than I anticipated but I'm pretty sure I would be a huge baby going through six months of chemo. I'm so relieved that I have reduced my risk of breast cancer by over 90%!

Thank you to everyone who visited and sent well wishes, I was so amazed by how much all of the emails, texts, phone calls, and visits helped me get through this! Cindy and Cheryl, thank you for the hand and foot rubs. Aunt Marion, I'm sure you know that I COULD NOT have done this without you (and UR)! Jim's mom is here now and aunt Marion is coming when she leaves so I am grateful for that. Also, thank you to Nance "super nanny," The Johnson's and the Lucas Family for taking great care of the kids while we were gone!

THANK YOU TO ALL OF MY AMAZING FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!!!"

The following email was sent to Dr. Thompson (Dr. Salzberg's colleague) and Beth (Dr. Salzberg's staff) 2 weeks after her surgery:

"Hi ladies... Things are going well, I'm very pleased with everything and I love Dr S for taking that one drain out early!!!

A couple of issues:

The 36C Natori bra is killing me and it is making a dent in my right breast that I point to in the picture. I have sent pics of me in a nude champion sports bra in a 34d, please let me know what you think about that.

Is there any bra w/o a wire I can sleep in? My pain is worst at night and I wake up quite a bit, can I sleep on my side, if so what side should I sleep on looking at the pics?

Also, as you can see the left breast is sitting nicely, the right is a bit high and you can see the outline of an implant.

My nipples are pretty discolored..will that eventually fade?

I've been having a lot of spasms especially when I'm cold, I'm sure that's normal.

What stretches should I be doing now? I tried to drive yesterday and could not make sharp turns. Can I lift 5 lb dumbbells soon? I'm going to bike tomorrow at the gym.

Do you know how much tissue from each breast was removed, also what size are my implants?

That's it. Thank you both for everything!!!"

To see the photos she's referring to in this email, just go to the URL listed at the beginning of this post, and type in the password. If you don't have the password, you can get it by emailing me at rebecca (at) onestepscoop (dot) com. The password is the same for all Points of View galleries. Thank you so much Alicia!