Friday, 24-Oct-2008
Went to see Dr. Kuisle. We had several questions for him and asked him to refill Kris pain medication prescriptions.

Kris has a dark spot on the reconstructed breast... downright black. It pretty much follows the line of the scar for about an inch and a half and has not seemed to fade like the rest of the bruising in the area. Dr. Kuisle looked at it and said that it might be that the tissue there is not getting enough blood. However, the overall breast looked to be doing fine. His expectation is that he might have to remove some dead tissue and that he thinks the tissue is just topical/skin, but, that we should watch it closely and just wait for now.

Kris mentioned pain up under her left arm where the surgery has occurred. Dr. Kuisles thought is that it's just that area finally waking up. Again, watch closely but generally don't worry about it.

We asked if and when she could stop using the binding around her waist. He admitted that at this point, the binding was really just a matter of comfort and specifically giving some extra back support while she healed. Essentially, it's optional at this point. Kris' back is sore enough that she's going with it for now, but, we are exploring alternatives.

Saturday, 25-Oct-2008
Went to Nordstroms to explore support clothes. The Spanx brand is nice, but, unfortunately, Kris wasn't really comfortable in any of them. Either they ride too high, or they ride too low. There are two basic styles, one which is like a very tall pantie that reaches up to the rib cage, and for Kris a wee bit higher. Kris has a fairly short trunk and long legs. She's not comfortable with something tight up around the area of the breast reconstruction so that's out... she tried folding the top down, but, that's too tight. Finally, it seems that they build these garments assuming you have a large... um... fundament (rump!) and she doesn't like that part being saggy (the cloth!). So, she tried the other style which go down about halfway on the thigh, and up above the belly button. She doesn't like the way they go down her legs, so, a miss there too!

We did find out that you can get custom made bras or prosthetics. Insurance covers two prosthetics a year. We'll visit again when we are ready for more comfortable bras.

I went to bed that afternoon (I'm on graveyards) and Kris woke me up as she'd noticed the wound for the reconstructed breast was weeping brown or reddish fluid. It's not seeping with any real flow, it's more a presence of fluid. We called the Dr. and his advice was to not panic, and to make an appointment to see him Monday.

Sunday, 26-Oct-2008
I convinced Kris to put some Neosporin on the breast wound. Figured it can't hurt and it should help keep the wound from getting infected. Later in the day, Kris noticed that the wound was... goopy! We are concerned but, there is no evidence of infection and we are going to see the Dr. this morning.