Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Countdown to JTE

Lots of things have happened since my last blog. First, I did, indeed, have my "consult" with Dr. Eyssen....and immediately determined I did NOT want him doing my work. First off, he's ancient; his hand was actually shaking as he was writing down some notes for me...and you want me to let you hold a scalpel and cut me WHERE? I don't think so...plus, he had the audacity to say something along the lines of "Even in a bikini, you won't be able to see your scars...oh, wait, you're well past your bikini years, aren't you?" What in God's name did you just say to me, I wanted to scream. I do wear two piece bathing suits still...I wouldn't call them bikinis, but I rock 'em out all the same. So, after paying him $90 to insult me not once but twice (he suggested I might want to have a little mini tummy tuck while I was in the hospital - after all, why pay twice for anesthesia and hospital room when I could do it all at once - WTF?), I steamed and stewed all the way back to my office. There, I decided to give his office manager a call, express my concerns, and ask to have a consultation with one of the other surgeons in the group, Dr. Chase. Dr. Chase is reponsible for "the job" one of my sweetest friends had a couple of years ago and she still sings his praises and loves her boobs so...the office manager kindly obliged me with a "free" consultation with Dr. Chase, and I am now scheduled for surgery on Friday, April 16th.

Kind of ironic - the day after tax season....ending the busiest time of year for me. The firm always closes this day and treats it as an extra holiday for the staff, but this year, I'll spend it under the knife, which will give me two good weekend days to recuperate with pain meds...I've taken the following week off - just in case - and I'll wander back downtown to my home-away-from-home where I get paid every two weeks when I feel well enough to do so.

The cost of my JTE...$5,525. Yep, that's it, which is roughly $2,762.50 per boob. Well, technically, the left one will cost a little more because it's a little bigger and he's going to reduce it a bit to make me more symmetrical. I had no idea I even needed to be symmetrical so I'm kind of excited about that little bonus.

I have mixed emotions. When I made the appointment back in January, it seemed like an eternity away. I arranged with my best friend, Kell, to take me (can't explain why but I don't want my husband with me!!!) In the meantime, Kelley has fallen on her own dark days - arrested for DUI (she was not drinking, rather she had taken some anti-anxiety medication prescribed by her doctor and she blacked out while driving, hit a tree, and was arrested. She was fired from her job, also...so I think my back up plan, Kay, will be taking me to the hospital, then toting me home and tucking me safely into bed. I'll owe her lots of cocktails for this one.

So I'm excited and anxious all at the same time. Fortunately, I won't have much free time to think about it - baseball season starts this week, tax season is in full swing, I'm having to pick up some of Kelley's duties here at work...so the time will fly leading up to the procedure. But what if something goes wrong during what is clearly a very vain undertaking on my part? It's funny, but my big ol' boobs have never bothered me like they have in the past few weeks - they just seem in the way and almost untamable these days. So maybe that's nature's way of telling me I'm making the right decision...

This is definitely the most selfish thing I've ever done in my whole life and I hope it's the right decision. Will keep you "abreast" of the situation in the days to come....