I went in for my second fill today! For those of you new to the cancer world, a “fill” is what they call it when a nurse injects saline into an expander (pouch) under my chest muscle. I go into the clinic in Columbus once a week and little by little, they fill up the expander, forcing my skin to stretch into the shape of a new breast. When we’ve reached the size of my other breast — or my skin refuses to stretch anymore, I will rest for three months. After that, the plastic surgeon will swap out the expander for a permanent implant and also lift the old breast to match the new one.
I had been told the expansion process is either 1) extremely painful or 2) continually uncomfortable. 
Despite the face I’m making in this picture, I’ve found none of the horror stories to be true. I don’t feel a thing while they are inserting the saline and after a few hours, the tightness in the chest muscles seems to relax. That said, I am VERY conservative about how much we put in each week. I don’t know what the norm is, but last week we put in 30ccs and this week we tried 40.
So… Isn’t that just everything you ever wanted to know about my breasts? Don’t answer that question.
