Part Two of a Series
By Marlene Roessler
Hello everyone who is reading this!
This is technically part three of my surgery journey as originally documented and skips over my accounts of the two consultations I had with surgeons. If you fancy reading up about that and getting a bit more information on the procedure itself, please check out my blog on Medium @marlenerssler!
Fast forward to 12 hours before THE BIG DAY. I couldn’t believe it was actually happening after about a year of surgery planning and about 8 years of horrible back pain. Although I was over the moon excited and happy, I want to also talk about the hurdles I had to take since my last update.
The first of these was getting a breast tissue ultrasound (which my German surgeon required me to get to make sure I don’t have breast cancer before cutting me open). Organising this turned out to be a process which took several months and cost a total of £650 by the way… fun times. I had to first talk to my GP in Scotland, convince her to refer me to a breast specialist in a private hospital and then convey/translate to them what it is that I needed exactly. Somehow along the lines things got lost in translation about 3 times and the process was very frustrating overall, so if you’re on your own BRS journey right now, consider yourself warned.
The second hurdle I encountered was a big one. Arriving in Germany on the 4th of June 2022, I was in high spirits, feeling happy, healthy and excited. My surgery date was set for the 14th and my birthday was on the 10th so I was looking forward to smooth sailing, a bit of partying and comforting family time. Until Covid-19 came along. I was feeling great so the only reason I got a PCR test done was because the hospital required this for all patients who were going to stay overnight (or several nights in my case). I wasn’t worried about this at all, took the test in the morning and invited my closest childhood friends over for the evening. Of course, just as we were all sitting, chatting comfortably in the garden with drinks in hand, I got the email with my test result. And it was positive. Through some amazing higher power, the party was NOT completely ruined (even though I did go to my room to cry for a while before mingling with my girls again) and we compromised by me sitting a few metres away from everyone else at a special little table (my throne, as one of my friends called it).
It was a nice evening but I was devastated, thinking about what this test result could mean for my surgery. But I had a gut feeling and three negative lateral flow tests later I decided to get a second PCR test done the next morning. I knew the results of this test would not be in before 9am the next morning, which was the time of my pre-OP appointment at the hospital. My brave mum and I got into the car at 7.30am to drive there, knowing that I could only enter the hospital if I got an email in the meantime saying I wasn’t infected with the plague. And what do you know! Just as we parked the car, I received the most beautiful email of my life! My previous test had been a false positive, the new one proved my gut feeling right: I did not have the dreaded virus.
After a bit more crying (good crying this time) and hugging my mum in the car I headed into the hospital for what turned out to be a total of four and a half hours of registration, paperwork, blood samples being taken, talks with the plastic surgeon and the anaesthetist and most importantly, lots and lots of waiting.
I could complain about that but in truth I was just so over the moon to know my plans had not been messed with! I’m way too German to be cool with that sort of stuff.
Anyways! I was writing my third blog entry in between packing my hospital bag and having a nice big dinner so you know, good things were happening again. The next and final chapter of my surgery journey will appear in the Gaudie in just a few weeks so keep reading!
Thank you so much for keeping up with me!
-Marlene
