My Mom just sent me this.

[Kitsa]

When my mom got her double mastectomy, it was an outpatient procedure. She came home afterwards and a home health nurse came by for a week or so. As far as recuperation, as long as there aren't any demands on the patient (kids and pets who need attention should be taken care of by someone else), home is probably more comfortable than the hospital in that respect. My big issue with home recovery was infection control. But then again, infection control in hospitals isn't going so well these days either.

She disliked the pandering shit, as in, "Here, write your feelings about your mastectomy down in this pink-ribboned journal" and the usual cancer complaint of people being all over you to be seen doing something for you, then disappearing when it gets boring. My family has gone through that whole process more than most.

She wasn't a big fan of the way they take the drains out, with no anesthesia. Having surgical tubing jerked out of your chest with no preliminaries, after your body has partially healed around it, is so sickeningly not fun the pain almost made her vomit. They could be doing better in that regard, I think.

I'm amazed by how many procedures are outpatient and same-day surgeries now. On one hand, they want to get you out...not just for the insurance to pay out less and get you out of the hospital to get someone else in, but also because hospitals are filled with MRSAs and all that crap now and sometimes it's better to be out than in.

Don't take from any of this that I endorse the system. I don't.

Also, don't get smug, guys, you can get tit cancer too.