Today—Day 4 of recovering from my breast reconstruction surgery—was a better day than yesterday.

I got better sleep overnight, achieving a sleep score of 83, compared to yesterday's 71 and previous post-surgery scores in the 60s. While sleeping brings its own pain challenges (largely because I'm not distracted by other activities and I'm limited to sleeping on my back), I felt more comfortable as the day wore on. In addition to sleeping better last night, I took a nap this morning and nodded off a few times this afternoon while watching Season 14 of The Great British Baking Show.

Because I was experiencing less pain during the day, I could start spacing out the timing of my pain medications. On the first few days after surgery, I could tell whenever it had been two hours since my last dose of analgesic. The dull ache would start to climb. Today, it was taking three hours or more before I started feeling uncomfortable again.

Best of all, I was able to have one of two drains removed today. I contacted CBI Health just after lunch to see whether my appointment for tomorrow could be moved up to today, as the level of discharge in my left drain had been below the required threshold from the very beginning. They not only accommodated that request, by adding today's visit, but also moved tomorrow's appointment at the clinic to Wednesday. This gives my right drain an extra day to reach the required milestone (less than 30 mL of discharge per day for two consecutive days).

I can now take a deep breath without feeling a pain in my chest muscles. I have a decent range of motion in my upper body, and my shoulders feel comfortable. And, for the first time in a year, when I put my hands on my chest, I'm met with two equal-sized round shapes that look and feel—under clothes—like matching breasts.

It all bodes well for the future.