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The New Year & Another Infection
The New Year normally brings hope. Hope for good health, less struggles, financial freedom, and for me, that Dr. Z could rebuild the problematic left breast without any additional complications; and secondly, to finalize the Shower Shirt in hopes of bringing the product to the US market. I really didn’t feel this was too much to ask for. However, in an overall pessimistic world, one should be wary of being too positive for too long.
While waiting for the Shower Shirt changes to be updated with our manufacturer, I was still working part-time, and anxiously awaiting my next surgery. This third surgery would be the second attempt at implanting a tissue expander in the left breast. It was hard to believe it had been seven months since my mastectomy, and exactly six months from when the Staph corroded left breast tissue expander had been extracted from my chest wall. Before this surgery, my primary care physician gave me a strong dose of prophylactic antibiotics in hopes of preventing another infection.
Right before surgery, I had a short consultation with Dr. Z. He repeated that if this surgery resulted in another infection, he WOULD NOT try rebuild my breast again. Again, I felt his verbiage was of a scolding nature. Interestingly enough, I was actually learning to better deal with him; my strategy was to stare with no emotion, flare my nostrils, and act as if I had no idea as to what he was saying.
So to make a long story short, the surgery went fine. However, with much redundancy, exactly two weeks after surgery, I began feeling fatigued, cold and nauseous. I phoned Dr. Z to say I did not feel well. With his arrogant, and painfully disgruntled voice, he said, “Come into the office if you feel you should.” Phil came home from work early, picked me up and we went straight to Dr. Z’s. Similar to his comments six months earlier, he stated, “There is no reason for me to believe you have an infection, but if it will make you feel better, go to the emergency department.”
Within minutes of the emergency department staff testing my blood, they stated, I did, in fact, have another infection, but this time, my white blood count was 12,000 (versus 18,000 as it was with the previous infection). Essentially, the clinicians had all of my medical records so knew my history and said we had made the right decision in coming directly to the hospital.
Luckily, Dr. Catena, the infectious disease doctor, was in the emergency department. He commented, “This is exactly how hospital bugs react. Once introduced into the body, they lie dormant and don’t normally rear their heads until cut into again.” Not a comforting statement in the least. I was surprised he was so forthcoming about the hospital acquired infection, seeing I was the media strategist/ spokesperson for the hospital system, and my significant other was sitting next to me, and an attorney.
At this point, I was so fearful and disheartened I could not even cry. The thought of being in the hospital again with a second infection was overwhelming. I believe my subconscious took over to protect my emotions, and as a result, my brain shut down. So much for hoping the worst of my battles with infections were over. I had essentially given up.
Stay Tuned,
Lisa F. Crites
The Shower Shirt Co., Founder/Inventor
Health/Medical Print Journalist & Guest Columnist
Testing the New Prototype &
I proceeded to the shower with the first re-created prototype, which worked surprisingly well. Though I realized quickly, even by tightening the neck region to the point of suffocation, we still needed to add additional water-resistant safety features. Plus, I wanted to see the neck fit more as a snug turtle-neck, versus a basic collar. Even though the re-creation included a water-proof zipper, we worked to add extra flaps on both the inside and outside of the front opening. We also added microfiber to the inside of the collar, and lengthened the cinch strap to wrap around the collar circumference.
Somewhat comical now, I was trying to design the product which would be ‘one size fits most,’ for the neck. It was amazing. Through my measuring many, many female necks (essentially anyone who would let me), all were outrageously different in size. You had large women with small necks, and then tiny women with large necks, the whole experience was rather eye opening and could have been a Seinfeld episode. In hindsight, I should have been more worried about the size of the female torso, versus the neck, as that’s really where female body variations come into play. We decided to add a neck drawstring for the ‘one size fits most’ goal, and an additional strap above the mastectomy drain pockets to support the four feet drain tubes.
We sent our requested changes and updates to the manufacturer, while also requesting a heavier, more quality fabric. We didn’t expect to receive the next prototype for another few months, so waited patiently.
It was Christmas 2009. With an extremely busy year behind me, I began reflecting. I found the past year quite disheartening in many ways, but also a challenging year with much personal and spiritual growth. I had multiple surgeries to undergo in the very near future, but was able to keep a positive outlook. With that said, I knew something was changing for me psychologically. I could not necessarily explain the changes, but knew something had given my soul life again. I felt after eight years of grieving over my mom, I had finally come to terms with her unexpected death. I knew I had not mentally dealt with my divorce four years earlier, and until that timeframe, hadn’t understood the cause of the initial breakdown of my marriage. This was the first time since 2001 where I actually felt content. I had a great boyfriend, I was alive, healthy (though physically lopsided), without that sad, underlying depression related to everything which had transpired over the past eight years. More importantly, I was looking forward to building The SHOWER SHIRT Co. to help other women better acclimate to the post-mastectomy care process. In looking back, maybe I was mentally inspired by trying to help others, thus, not having the mental capacity to focus on what I no longer had, versus what I had attained.
Lisa & Phil: Christmas Photo – 2009
Minutes before this Christmas photo was taken, my significant other proceeded to tell me I looked lopsided in this jacket. It went like this, “Lisa, you look lopsided. You can tell you only have one breast.” I won’t go into great detail my exact response back to him, however, it was loud and quite succinct; unsurprisingly, he never broached that topic again :). So for any male Blog readers – what’s the moral of this story? Do not tell your significant other she looks physically lopsided. Having one breast is not a topic any female need be reminded of.
Stay Tuned,
Lisa F. Crites
The SHOWER SHIRT Co., Founder/Inventor
Health/Medical Print Journalist & Guest Columnist
LLC, Trademarking, & Recreated Prototype
It was December 2009, and I felt great. Though my chest was visually (and extremely) lopsided, I was exercising again, eating healthy, attaining plenty of sleep and had a consistently positive outlook on life. My significant other, Phil, and I discussed the need to set up an LLC for the new Shower Shirt company, even though we didn’t have a final product as of yet. The registering of the new entity (The SHOWER SHIRT Co., LLC) was an easy process with Phil (an attorney) being the registered agent. Since I now had a name for the company, I not only needed a product, but a company logo.
I reached out to my friend and colleague, Shawn Johnson, who is an extremely creative and talented designer. He of course asked what my vision was, I said, “I don’t know,” but said, “Just create something which has a female, breast cancer-related branded design.” He looked at me and said, with that ongoing friendly smile, “Well that gives me a major amount of direction to go on.”
Shawn Johnson and I
Within two days, he had come up with a design. To this day, every time I look at The SHOWER SHIRT logo, I smile and think of my good friend, Shawn, who has been a solid, consistent and extremely supportive friend for many years. Our next step was to have the logo legally trademarked; I had already begun working with my patent attorney undergoing research for the future Shower Shirt patent application, so I requested he go ahead and apply for the logo trademark. A pretty simplistic process and I was awarded the trademark designation within ten months.
My Chinese liaison, Mike, received our first prototype within the next few days. Unfortunately, it was manufactured out of an inexpensive vinyl type material, nothing like the Mossimo® designer brand quality we had shipped to China. However, they had done an extremely great job in recreating an identical design. Mike agreed we would need to work to evolve the quality of the product, while also adding the necessary accessories for water-resistant safety.
So what was my next step? I proceeded to the shower with the first recreated Shower Shirt prototype to test the product. Though the idea behind the invention was good, would the product actually keep me dry?
Stay Tuned,
Lisa F. Crites
The SHOWER SHIRT Co., Founder/Inventor
Health/Medical Print Journalist & Guest Columnist
The Halfway Mark
After the unexpected session in the Emergency Department for pre-surgery blood work, all became distinctly calm. The pain and swelling from the hematoma subsided within a week, just in time to check into the hospital for my third surgery to exchange the tissue expander with a permanent breast implant. Scheduled as an outpatient procedure, I was calm, cool and atypically collected.
It was November 2009. I had scheduled three days off from work for surgery and a short period for convalescing. My understanding was Dr. Z would open the right breast socket, remove the tissue expander, insert the implant, and suture the incision back up.
Luckily, this surgery went off without a hitch. I was in and out of the hospital within four hours including pre-surgery preparation, surgery and recovery time. It was very odd. I was not the least bit anxious going into surgery. I psychologically believed I would undergo this procedure without any complications, thus, be halfway completed with the entire process. With that, I’ve always favored the halfway mark. For me, halfway means nearing completion. Whether I’m halfway finished cleaning my home, halfway completed with Christmas shopping or even halfway through taking a survey. Another reason I’ve always loved Wednesdays, to be halfway through the work week. Of course Wednesday Happy Hour specials aren’t bad either :).
As you can see, this blog is quite short compared to my previous blogs. Its actually been comforting to write a blog where I have no recollection of drama, no yelling at Dr. Z, no depression, fear, or even anxiety. An unfamiliar, but inviting concept in the evolution of my breast cancer/mastectomy saga. Since being diagnosed with breast cancer five months before, this chapter of my story is the first, in a long series, where the events actually happened as planned; no unexpected emotional breakdowns, infections, haphazard surgeries or Xanax needed.
I was happy to be halfway through my surgeries to become physically whole again, a good feeling and for the first time in several months, I felt extremely positive!
Now, with no surgeries planned for another few months, back to my day job and the Shower Shirt project.
Stay Tuned,
Lisa F. Crites
The Shower Shirt Co., Founder/Inventor
Health/Medical Print Journalist & Guest Columnist
Back to Work Part-Time
I had only been back to work for a few weeks (part-time), and was still settling back into my role as a media strategist at Wuesthoff Health System Corporate offices. Luckily, my energy levels had resumed and I was truly content being back at work; all in all, I simply missed being productive. I realized the hiatus from work had actually been a test in terms of my wanting, or psychologically needing to work, versus not working. It was the first time since I was 22 years old (post-college) I had been out of work for five months. I would take a few sabbaticals here and there from journalism (in my 20’s and 30’s) but never for an extended period of time.
One week before my third surgery (to replace the right tissue expander with an implant), I was required to have pre-surgery blood tests. With the magnitude of needles which had been stuck in me and the myriad of blood and drainage infection I had witnessed, having pre-surgery lab work was a piece of cake.
I made an appointment to have my blood drawn during lunch. I remember the phlebotomist looking at my chart and asking which side I had my mastectomy on. I told her it was bi-lateral and didn’t have lymph nodes removed so either arm would be fine to draw blood from. I remember sitting down for her to place the tourniquet on my arm; she inserted the needle and subsequently heard her say, “I’m sorry, I haven’t done this in 12 years,” and then pulled the needle back out. With that, it felt like a sharp pain with an extremely strong vacuum cleaner hose stuck to my arm sucking cold air, I became dizzy and passed out.
I vaguely remember being slung over a wheelchair and wheeled to the Emergency Room (ER), while passing confused familiar faces along the way. I heard a nurse say, “she has a massive hematoma on her right arm.” By definition, I didn’t understand what a hematoma was, but it didn’t sound good. I do remember asking the nurse who was tasked with pushing me to the ER, “Am I going to need to be admitted to the hospital again?”
Since it was November and our ‘snowbirds,’ otherwise known as individuals who spend the winter in Florida, were already here, the ER was packed. I was left in the hallway, on a stretcher, with the Wuesthoff Rockledge administrator, Chantal Leconte, holding my hand. There were so many people in the ER due to an early flu season. I had to wait for a room.
Once in the room, our CFO, George Fayer, came in and said, “What happened?” I told him I was not exactly sure but I was not paying for this ER visit. I proceeded to tell him it was the phlebotomists fault and she needed to either be fired, or sent to a continuing education course on drawing blood. He laughed and said all costs would be written off.
By the way, I now know what causes a hematoma. Essentially, it’s a collection of blood outside the blood vessel and occurs when the blood vessel wall has been damaged. Apparently, the sloppy phlebotomist who hadn’t drawn blood in 12 years had pricked my vein. The slang term would be “she blew a vein.” My blown vein caused a massive bruise and swollen arm which finally subsided in about 7 days. Just in time to be admitted into the hospital for my next surgery.
Stay Tuned,
Lisa F. Crites
The Shower Shirt Co., Founder/Inventor
Health/Medical Print Journalist & Guest Columnist
Securing a Manufacturer & Preparing for Surgery #3
With my new friend, Mike, by my side (otherwise known as my Chinese liaison), we were in communication with the manufacturers. With a few phone calls back and forth, the group ultimately stated they could recreate and manufacture the Shower Shirt product. However, manufacturing and shipping their version back to the US would take a few weeks. I was still not thrilled about having the product manufactured in China, however, my desire to keep women out of trash bags in the shower post-mastectomy was far greater than my reluctance to work with an overseas company, therefore, I felt good about our progress.
Mike Wilson (my Chinese liaison) & I
While working with Mike on the logistics of importing and exporting, I was also able to go back to work (part-time). Though, at the same time, I was preparing for my next surgery; the third in five months. The timeframe (November 2009), was exactly five months after my mastectomy, and four months after the devastating infection which resulted in removal of the ‘left’ breast tissue expander. This upcoming surgery was needed to exchange the ‘right’ breast tissue expander with a permanent breast implant.
From a clinical standpoint, tissue expanders are sutured into the chest wall deep into the pectoral muscle to keep the breast socket open after mastectomy surgery. Expanders are quite lumpy with no give to the skin, thus, painful with movement. Conceptually, expanders are used to help create a more refined breast shape, once the permanent implant is placed.
In my case, the tissue expander was placed after the breast tissue was removed and filled partially with saline. Within a few weeks I was having expansion procedures. My expander had a port and was accessed with a needle through the skin. Each expansion took only a few minutes, and the amount of fluid inserted depends on the requested breast size. For me, I only wanted small, Perky B Breasts, so I chose minimal procedures, even though Dr. Z tried to talk me into larger implants!
As you may remember, my right breast, otherwise known as the breast with cancer, had remained uninfected through the post-mastectomy process. It was my left breast, otherwise known as the breast without cancer which had succumbed to the staff infection. At the present, my so-called left breast had nothing more than an elongated rib with an inverted breast socket which needed additional healing before the surgeons would apprehensively attempt its reconstruction. Therefore, this interim surgery was required to stay on course with the reconstruction process for the breast which initially had the cancer.
Surprisingly, I was not stressed by this upcoming surgery. I felt I had already gone through the worst, and since we had no issues with the right tissue expander all would go well. The down side was I still had to deal with Dr. Z. Whether I liked him or not, he was my reconstructive surgeon. I obviously had no faith in his bedside manner, but still had faith in his clinical skills. Plus, I expected no other sane doctor would take my case since I was such a high-risk, complicated case. With that said, I don’t want anyone to be mistaken, I am not a high-risk, complicated person 🙂
Stay Tuned,
Lisa F. Crites
The Shower Shirt Co., Founder/Inventor
Health/Medical Print Journalist & Guest Columnist