Then I left the exam room and went to meet with the UCLA interviewer. They are going to mail me a $60 check for letting them interview me, so I'll pretty much answer any question they want. But today's questions were different than usual! I had to play this game on her laptop where I separated negative words and positive words and first person words and 3rd person words. Strange. Then, I had to fill a small petrie dish with saliva, which was awkward. Then, she hooked me up to a machine that tested my heart and breathing rate for 5 minutes and I had to sit perfectly still. It all made the infusion go by fast, but it was still a very weird experience. She still has more questions she is going to call me with, and I have a homework assignment to write, too.
Finally, when all of that was over, they called me back to the surgery area to get a L-Dex done. This is a test they use to check for lymphedema. I had to have stickers put on me like an ekg, and take off my right shoe. What the heck? It was super quick, and then they said "you are testing in the 'normal' range." I was like, that was it? Then, the infusion nurse pops in and says they need me to wait because they need to take more blood for a hormone test (because I haven't had a period since being on Tamoxifen, which isn't normal). Seriously? It was already 5:15 and I'd been there since 2:30!
It ended up working out that I was there for so long, because Dr. West was between surgeries and was able to pop in and see me! I was crossing my fingers that he would say he could fix my asymmetrical issue- but he said there was nothing he could do. It's not punctured, so he said to fill it 25 more cc's to try and even things out (both are now at 475) and that the soonest I can have implants would be the end of March. I was really disappointed because he (and the nurse) kept trying to downplay my feelings about it. I know there isn't anything he can do, but it still looks super awful to me and I am having a hard enough time with my self confidence right now. So to them, having lopsided boobs for 4 months isn't "that long," but to me it's going to be an eternity.
Once he left, his nurse filled me up and now I'm at 475 on both sides. She also drew for the hormone test, and then my vein collapsed. She had to do it two more times before she could get enough blood out. Now I definitely have to wear long sleeves to work tomorrow or else the students will think I'm a junkie. My right arm looks like a vampire got a hold of it. It's awful.
What a long, weird day. I don't have another infusion until December 21st, so hopefully my life will be uneventful (with nothing new to report) until after that.