DIEP 2011

SAMayoFL

Go Charlottesmama!!!  How are you feeling?  Are you in pain?

Susan

charlottesmama

Hi ladies. Very little pain! Just some achy back muscles and occassional shooting twinges in breast area (normal PS says). Just taking Tylenol as needed. Off everything else but Keflex. I am amazed at how well this has gone. I have an amazing team. :-)

IowaSue45

I have been ticked off at my ps office since yesterday. Mon. I was to be in Rochester Mayo clinics for 4 appointments before my DIEP on Tue. They call me yesterday asking me to come of Fri. to do the cat scan and for the ps to check my skin to make sure it is healed from rad. I think ....seriously you wait til this close to my surgery to change half of my appointments, this is a 3 1/2 hr drive mind you. Now instead of just going Sun. night and staying all week I have to go Fri. there and back. ERRR very annoying. OOO then they call this morning to tell me my cat scan is at 8:30 am so this means leaving at 4:30 am after a night out at a Tim McGraw concert. Yes we are going to Tim McGraw tomorrow night yeah fun!!! Sorry for my frustration on this upcoming DIEP, i just don't understand this not being planned out ahead better.

mscal02

charlottesmama: You are a great inspiration!

bdavis

Oh Sue... bummer

c8ndygr1

Newbie here ~ finally, I can join this thread now that I just finalized the surgery plan with my BS & PS. BMX with immediate DIEP on June 21st. I will be soaking up all the posts from your surgeries. Any words of advice for me will be appreciated. Hope everything goes smoothly for you and wish you all a speedy recovery with no complications.

SAMayoFL

Awwww man, I wonder if it would make a difference if you explained how far you are from them?  Charleston has made a lot of arrangements for me because I am out of town.  Dr. Kline called and we had almost an hour phone consultation with him rather than me having to go there.  They have been great.  Maybe the clinic doesn't realize how far you are traveling?  I need to go back and look it up.  Is your surgery on Tuesday?  Are you nervous yet?  Talking to everyone who is doing so great right after surgery is so encouraging!!  We are going to rock this too!

Susan

IowaSue45

They know how far it is....I should have just told them ...no I want to keep it like it is, but iIwas afraid they'd tell me they couldn't do it then. It sure messes me up at work, I had a lot to do on Fri. my last day before being off for a few weeks.

ladym13

I'm so happy to hear how well everyone is getting on after surgery.

I'm going out this weekend to stock up on some things I think I may need, yoga pants, hoodies ect. I don't have a recliner, I've heard that body wedge thing is good, anyone else find it useful?

Charlottesmama- which drain do you still have in? and I'm sorry I cant remember, was this delayed recon? it's so encouraging to hear how well you are doing.

I'm getting so nervous, but so excited too, won't be long now.

SAMayoFL

Hey Marxi and Mspradley, how are you ladies doing?  I hope you are both healing better and better every day!

Susan

IowaSue45

lady when is your surgery?

alexanjb

c8ndygr1-Welcome!  Now I am not the Newbie!  I have picked up a lot of good info on here, not to mention encouragement and comraderie.  You may want to read the back threads a bit, that's what I did and I found a lot of helpful hints.

IowaSue-it's a bummer that you have to travel so much for this.  My commute is about 1 hour and I thought that was inconvenient!  Who knows though maybe being ticked off is taking your mind off of the surgery somewhat.  The dr office staff doesn't always take that extra step of trying to coordinate things for you.  I have to say my Oncology Center is terrific that way, but the general surgeon ofc and the PS office maybe not so much.

carberry

charlottesmam...so glad you are doing so well, those drains sure are pesky, once my last one was out I was outta this house and going, so much easier to get around.  Were you able to take care of your daughter after surgery?

Iowasue    it is so  frustrating dealing with the medical world,  I know a lot of my physicians ( their schedulers) just assumed I wasnt working.  I say "no" to alot of things they want me to do because of the 1hr commute. The hosp I went to wanted me to come up and have pre-op testing, X-ray, EKG and such and I refused and had it done at my hometown and sent it to them.  My surgeon scheduled me to come and talk with NP about lymphedema and I cancellled and told them if I had problems I will call.  Dont need any more co-pays and travel expenses!!   Anyway....I am sitting here dead in the water wasting time cause they cancelled my rads this week and re-scheduled to next week, just lost 5 days of treatment, but thats ok cause i am rich and dont have to get back to work!  NOT!

mscal02

iowasue: I am going to try and see something positive in your situation. All things work together for the good for those who love him and are called for his purpose. Maybe there will be someone there on the day that you go that needs encouragement.

mscal02

c8ndygr1: Welcome. There is a wealth of information on this board. You will find out more here than you will find out from your doctor. They only do the work and do not go through the aftermath.

ladym13

iowasue44- my surgery is June 14th

nowords

iowasue44,

Did you try asking if they could add those appointments to your Tuesday schedule?

I had some treatment there and live 2 hours away, and they tried to help out when they could... 

SAMayoFL

Carberry, your post cracked me up!  I thought I was the only one who had to worry about money, copays, actually having time to go to work around my doctor appointments, etc.!

I sooooo want to get beyond BC and go back to my normal life!

Susan

mscal02

I had a friend to say to me that you are rich! You are going to have this type of surgery done. That is surgery for the rich and famous.She only heard the removing of the belly fat and lipo part. She had forgotten all about the breast cancer, mastectomy,chemo.and radiation. I quess because I was blessed to never let any of it get me down. Always had a smile on my face when people came around.I used to ask myself why am I trying to be strong for everybody else? What about me? My faith has kept me strong. I had a former boss call me long distance yesterday, and said you had no choice except to live or die, and you chose to live. I am so glad that May 20th seems to be fast approaching. I go for my pre-hospital admittance work up and probably pay co-pay tomorrow.

mscal02

Hi Ladies: While in the process of getting things in order for my surgery, bags packed, meals prepared,and so forth, I decided to go ahead and download insurance forms and fill out my part so that all my DH would have to do is drop the Dr.'s part off to his office and I can have him pick it up when it is ready or have them mail back to me.

bdavis

mscal.. I feel the same way about people saying how strong I am... except when I'm not.. in the privacy of my home, as I am laying in bed thinking and worrying... No one is in my head when I am down... they see a smiling person who seems to handling it all ok... But for sure I DO NOT want to be here again... thankfully, my employers have been wonderful and I take the time I need, and my friends have been awesome, always offering help and escorting me to the doctor... My family thinks I'm a rockstar, but even my DH thinks I am handling it all ok... and I look at him like he has 3 heads... I guess we show a brave face to others.

alexanjb

Yes, people can be so weird.  I had someone say I do these things to get the summer off.  My employers have been awesome as well, but that's all the more reason we don't want to take advantage and be off more time than we need to.  Co-Pays, co-insurance, the price of gas for travelling to all these appointments, the missed work...not to even mention the special bras, the meds (OTC and rx).  Of course, we do save on haircuts for a while, don't we?  And my physical therapist is after me to get an extra compression sleeve and gauntlet because they lose the elasticity.  Well...knock on wood, I haven't HAD Lymphedema and haven't needed the ones I have and they were over $100 out of pocket, b/c the PT recommends the custom fitted ones.  I hate to ignore their advice and then go in with my tale between my legs when I end up with the condition but geez.  I can sure find better things to spend my money on.  I don't even see why I have to keep going in to get measured.

IowaSue45

Thank you ladies you are all great woman. I am getting over the frustration, of the bumping up 2 of my appointments. I will have to go to th 2 on Mon. because the one ps is in surgery Fri. So I am sucking it up and doing what they want and learn to ride in my can for the next few week going back and forth, i think I have to go back the following wk for follow up and the the next week too. this is what you get when you live in the middle of nowhere.  my surgery will hopefully be Tue. May 17th hope and pray nothing stands in the way!!

SAMayoFL

Sue, OMG, that is soooooooo close!!!!  Will someone in your family be able to let us know how you are doing?  Perhaps by phone or text if not on this board?  I will be so anxious to hear from you.

Susan

mscal02

Appointments! Appointments! Appointments! One day all we will have to worry about is our annual check-up.

SAMayoFL

Awwwwwww Mscal, I dream of that day!!!!  I so want to get this surgery behind me.  I have 11 weeks and 6 days to go.  I feel like I obsess about it every single day.  I would love to have a day that has nothing to do with BC or recovery!

Treesprite, I haven't heard from you a a day or two.  How are you feeling?

Susan

treesprite

I wrestled with the issue of reconstruction and the magnitude of DIEP, costs/recovery/etc, but I realized how much I want to get on with my life and put BC behind me; post-poning reconstruction would mean dragging it out even longer. I realized I could just as easily spend my insurance co-pay on implants, have complications AND have to deal with ongoing implant issues. I do get an occasional weird reaction but everyone that is 'in the know' about BC and recon is very enthusiastic and supportive.

I get a bit tired of being told how great I'm handling this . . .really? What choice do I have? Every so often, I just have to have a good cry and let out some sadness and anger; my DH and BFF's are the only ones that I feel safe expressing that side to.

I had another PT session today for scar massage; I've developed a couple of small keloids on my belly button - weird! My PT said to massage them along with everything else. I got my husband to do scar massage for me every night at bedtime; a great arrangement and he enjoys doing it!

charlottesmama

Good afternoon! Just to answer a few questions: I had right mx w/ immediate recon on May 3. 9 1/2 hour surgery. 5 days in ICU (could have moved to regular floor, but no beds). Home on Sunday, May 8. I've been staying at my mom's and she's been helping out with my daughter. Daughter keeps saying "Home. Home", but doesn't understand that I can't lifther/ wrestle her into her clothes, etc. Not yet anyway.

Having a very achy day today. I woke up feeling a little like I did on day 2. I'm starting to regain feeling around incisions. I know this is all the nerve/muscle/tissue healing. It's gonna ache for a while. Tylenol does the trick, plus some benadryl for the itchy stuff and to help sleep. The only remaining drain is in belly incision. 

sticec

Hello Ladies!

I am so glad I found this thread!  I had my DIEP Monday May2nd. I am doing very good and have my post op tomorrow, I hopefully will get these drain tubes removed! I am four years out from diagnosis TODAY :}. I have had two failed implant attempts so DIEP was my only other option. I am loving the results so far. I am still pretty sore but it is getting better everyday. I think the worst thing is boredom! The best thing I have found for clothing once at home has been these robes/house coats that a friend recommended. I know they are not the best fashion wise, but really who cares. They are short sleeved, light terrycloath and zip all the way up the font. They are so comfy. I wear them with the compression bra and the binder. I safety pin the drain tubes to the bottom of the compression bra (has a very thick elastic band) or the sides of the binder. I have not been able to wear unerwear because the drain tubes to the lower incision are so low it bugs me. I tried wearing a pair the second day ( I came home Friday afternoon, surgery was on Monday) home but they hit right below the incision and just got in the way. My Dr. does not want me standing upright for two weeks so she issues a walker to get around with. I only use on long walks, other then that no, it just gets in the way. My lower back killing me, but come Monday when I can stand straight, I hope it will go away. Like I said, the worst has been boredom!! My daughter is at school during the day and husband at work. I am actually getting sick of TV!

treesprite

sticec: welcome! chat away with us and search around on the other threads for what interests you and that will help. I rented a favorite television series from netflix (library also has them); I could watch a tv show while a movie was too long and I chatted on line with all these wonderful women and emailed and texted with friends. Regular TV got old real fast  . . .I could only watch so many cooking shows before I wanted to throw something at the television!

Do you care to share what happened with your implants? 

Susan - sent you a PM. Anyone hear from Marxi? 

I too dream of a day with no upcoming appointments! I had a car accident 9 months before my  BC dx, so physical therapy three times a week for quite a while and still going when BC hit and also had my son in treatment; for several of months, I was driving to 9 appointments every week! I felt like I lived in my car. No choice but to buck up and carry on like everyone else. Don't know what I would have done if I had been working at the time. I admire those of you who continued to work AND handle everything.