Recent South Beach Pics

I took these pictures Saturday afternoon at the beach. Just thought I'd give you guys some idea of how my hair is progressing. Turtle, turtle ... but overall, I'm happy with it. Yes, I got BURNED UP out there despite all the cloud cover. I just really did not think to reapply sunscreen after I came out the water ... the clouds were deceiving, but I should know better how UV rays work. Yikes!

Further updates. I had my first "expansion" of the tissue expanders on June 27th. It was very, very tolerable ... not bad at all really. It's still too early to say how the remaining fills will go and whether they will be pain free. However, during this first expansion, I only felt a small amount of pressure building against my pectoral muscles as the saline was injected. At first, the nurse only wanted to do 30 cc's of saline since it was my first one. I INSISTED that she put in the 60 cc's I had been promised. My attitude was "fill 'er up!" So I now have 120 cc's of saline with approximately 180 more cc's to go (my tissue expanders hold 300 cc's). I am going to ask for 80 cc's at my next appointment (this Wednesday) since 60 cc's was so manageable. I still experience some tightness in my chest wall area, but I seem to notice it much more when I first wake up in the morning. Once I get up and get going, it's not so bad. Either the skin is loosening up a bit, or I've simply grown accustomed to the ever-present tight feeling and have learned to ignore it.

You can see from my beach photos above that I have some projection now ... I'm looking less like a flat chested penguin. The downside is that the "ports" through which the saline is injected sits right on top of my breasts. If you look carefully, you can see the port on my right side which makes me look like I have a big ole bump in my chest. The one on the left side is not as obvious for some reason. My plastic surgeon told me she prefers to have the ports positioned there, as opposed to on the sides (where it would be better camouflaged by clothes), because it seems to cause some people discomfort. But how many times have I crammed my toes (and my bunion) into a tight ass Charles David shoe simply because it was hot shoe?? I am willing to sacrifice comfort for style sometimes! No, but seriously ... my concern is that as I get more and more saline in the expanders, I am fearful these ports will protrude further and/or even possibly come through my skin. The nurse says it won't happen, but I can see it projecting so prominently, right under my skin. Hmm?

Also, I got back in the gym last week and attended a few spinning classes. I am determined to get this weight off! Plus, I just need to make exercise a standard part of my life now. If I could just give up my coca-cola addiction though! Damn, it's HARD. I'm not a coffee drinker, but it would be tantamount to asking someone who is to forego the caffeine. I'm not sure if it's the caffeine to which I'm actually addicted ... I just LOVE the TASTE! And the stronger the burn in the back of my throat, the better! It's a sick addiction I have to overcome, I know.