TAKE TWO - 16 October 2025

Gloria took her first shower after the recent surgery and what with the bandages falling off due to the effects of the water, she had a chance to inspect her "new you" a bit more closely. One thing amused her and prompted her to say, "Oh look! I still have a small amount of cleavage."

That seemed strange and I suggested that it may just be the result of the skin bending in toward her sternum.

My assessment seemed to take on some air of validity as she ran her fingers over the area and mentioned it felt unusually firm. That prompted me to do the same.

But as my fingers palpated the area, my assessment changed. It seemed whatever was under the surface felt more like a couple of tubes ... two tubes of about the same diameter as the drains. Could they really run that far from where they exited her body? Surely not. It's a foot or more from the "cleavage" site to the bottom of her rib cage on the sides.

Gloria considered the shower as the "big" event of the day. I asked her whether seeing the "new you" had any emotional impact and, if so, what it was. She repeated what she had said several days before - a bit sad as she had had "them" a long time, but, "They betrayed me!"

The day otherwise was fairly unremarkable. We drained the fluid twice rather than three times as the amount was so low. The total per side was about 22 ml and well below typical drain-pulling level of 30ml.



Gloria points at the location of the bulb holders in one of the shirts