monical - one of the reasons I like this site is how many different experiences we all have to share. You have my curiosity up though on something (anyone else want to share as well?). When I had my surgery (and previous surgeries for benign lumps as well) they were all done under a local anesthetic...no breathing tubes or any other intervention with the exception of some Xanax for my nerves. My surgeries were much easier, outpatient, less than an hour......your experience sounds so much more involved. I suppose it could be location, size, that sort of thing? If anesthesia with breathing tubes, etc is the norm for this type of surgery and mine is outside of the norm, then I would want to qualify my comments above for jzcareformom because follow up might be a lot less wear and tear for her.
Hugs