I shared this submission with my GF because she had a double mastectomy. She wanted to say some stuff to you so at this point I hand the keyboard to her. She is not a Redditor.
Hi hun,
I read through all of your posts here and I thought I'd chime in. Most important thing, imo, is that you are not a "fake". Having BRCA gene puts you at a very high risk for breast/ovarian cancer and what you did was a brave and courageous thing. You took a control of your life and you decided to fight the beast before it had a chance to attack you. You should be proud of yourself for that, not ashamed. That had to be such a hard decision to make, but you chose life... you chose wisely.
Your pictures look great. Once you are done with reconstruction, the scars will fade away and your breasts will look just fine. Trust me on this one. I see that you are very worried about the nipple, but it looks to me that it's holding up quite well so far.... and, even if it failed (because, as you know, there is a chance of that after this surgery), your plastic surgeon can reconstruct a nipple and with a 3D tattoo it will look like a natural one (if you don't trust me, google "nipple tattoos Vinnie" and see his work for yourself, the man is magician).
It is great that you were able to stay longer in the hospital and get more support from your team. I was sent home 24 hours after my mastectomy. Now, I had breast cancer and my double mastectomy (DMX) was skin sparing (alas, nipples had to go). Day after the surgery, when they took the dressings off, I already had necrotic tissue on the right side, which later developed a real bad infection... they still sent me home, with nothing but pain pills. Now, you said you will have home care nurses checking on you when you get home. I would also urge you to ask either your fiance, or a family member (mom?) or a friend to stay with you first couple of days. They will not have to do much for you, but it will be good to have someone to make sure you stay on schedule with pain meds and maybe assist you with showering or stripping the drains (for example, I could not strip my drains because of limited arm mobility). Once you get home, take it easy. Sleep, sleep, sleep. Take your meds (stay ahead of the pain, so make sure you take them as prescribed). Eat lots of protein and up your Vitamin C/Zinc intake (that will help with healing).
Now, I am not a redditor, so I don't know the resources here, but there are several groups on Facebook that are only for breast cancer survivors/previvors (previvor is a term used to describe someone doing a prophylactic dmx, like you did). Even if you are not on Facebook, it might be worth creating an account and looking them up (search for groups with titles that include words previvor or BRCA). If you cannot find them, let me know and I will post links here for you. I found a great source of comfort, knowledge, and support in couple of groups I joined. After all, those women were walking the similar path as I did, and they often helped me with advice or simply understood what I was going through. It will also help you put in perspective things.
I am sure that I am forgetting stuff, so if there is anything that you'd like to know about my experience, feel free to ask. Ideletemyaccounts will alert me. He has been an amazing, wonderful support through all this, emotionally and medically as well. I hope that you won't have to deal with any of the wound issues I had and I am glad that your partner seems to be supportive of you. Don't be afraid to lean on him, if he is a good man he will step up to the plate.
Last thing, this is a long journey... a marathon, if you wish. So, just take it one day at the time, one problem at the time... it gets easier each day.
Wishing you a swift recovery. Your pics look amazing, your doctors clearly know what they are doing. You will get through this. <3