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I am home today. I got home around 1pm. It feels good to be home - mainly because I am tired of being stuck by people with attempts to draw my blood to check my red cell counts.

My red cell counts are still low - even after the additional 2 bags of blood they gave me. They are 27 - under 30 is considered anemic. When I was halfway through chemotherapy, my counts dropped to 28 and I felt fine. But I am definitely tired now. I am sure this is due to a combo of things - pain killers, low red cell counts, and just having had major surgery!

My chest area is definitely sore - especially after moving around. As well, my left hand is very sore where my IV needle was.

Right now - I am just focusing on resting and drinking a lot of water. It is hard for the kids and dogs to understand that they cannot jump on me - but we are working through this.

I also have to empty my drains (I have 2 drains on each side). These are designed to pull extra blood and bodily fluid from the operation site to alleviate any swelling, internal bleeding etc. They are not painful to have in, but are awkward as they drain into 4 tangerine size bulbs that just are pinned to my clothes. I will have these until Christmas Eve, per my plastic surgeon.

Lastly - my plastic surgeon - Dr. Frankel, was able to put more saline into my expander's yesterday. So, I am already about a B cup. She did this to add pressure inside to alleviate some of the excessive bleeding I was experiencing. It seems to have helped, because I am now draining normal amounts of fluid. And this also means that I am more then halfway done with the expansion process! Too cool!

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes!

Christy