DIEP 2011

IowaSue45

You really don't need much to were home after surgery unless your getting out of hospital and staying in a hotel til you follow up. Are you flying? I wear the wife beaters in place of a bra plus you can wear them under anything. Right now I am wearing one and I strap the binder on over the wb to keep from rubbing.I wore a athletic zip jacket with wife beater under,my fight like a girl stretchy pants, undie and flip flops home. I will say they almost didn't fit because of the 20lb of water weight I put on in the hospital, seriously they were tight.

SAMayoFL

Hey Sue, if all oes as planned, we are renting a car and driving up the weekend before my Wednesday surgery.  We figured we would take our time and have a little mini-vacation before surgery.  Surgery on Wednesday so I should be out of the hospital on Sunday.  My post-op isn't until Friday at noon so we are flying home on Friday evening after the post op appt.  Being away from home for so long is stressing me out!!  What exactly is the binder?  Does it go on your tummy?  Doesn't that hurt over your incision?

Susan

IowaSue45

Yes the binder goes around the waist it is about 7 in wide they told me it keeps my guts in also helps to keep fluid from accumulating  in the middle. The binder is comfortable. I worn jeans yesterday and the binder fit right in and protects the incision from rubbing on my pants.You will want comfy clothes for those days after surgery. Maybe 2 pks of the wife beaters because you won't be doing laundry while your away. Where you able to get my tx pic?

SAMayoFL

NO!!!!  I sent you a text back.  I was hoping you would send it to me again.  I am really anxous to see it!!

Susan

zogo

Susan, I have a binder now after stage 2 surgery, but not for the diep flap.  I'm sure some Drs are different, but all I wore home was a velcro front cami that had pockets for drains and a sweat suit with a wide waist band. That's it. No binder no bra. Low cut undies would be good to not get near the incision or drains. I just didn't wear any for a while and spent the first few weeks in jammies.  My favorite tip to bring was a pack of premoistened facial washclothes or wipes.  Ones that don't leave you sticky. Before I could shower, it was a nice way to freshen up.  

SAMayoFL

Zogo, thanks for the tip.  I will add that to my list.  So far I know I need chapstick, my Ipod with healing music and a laxative.  LOL!!!

If you think of anything else, please let me know!

Susan

bdavis

Lori... I may have missed some posts, but read one of yours on the last page... I feel the same way. I had lumpectomy and chemo... was supposed to have rads... had 4 docs tell me to do rads, and I am doing DIEP... even though I only NEED radiation, my odds of recurrance and new cancer is about 22%... with MX, 2%.. with my history of ADH and BC, I just feel my odds of something in my future are too high... I know the DIEP is a huge surgery, especially since I need a stacked DIEP (using hips too)... but I am (I think) menatlly prepared for a long recovery, in the hopes that I can for the most part put this BC crap behind me!!!

treesprite

My hospital provided nice thick wipes for freshening up. I brought olay facial cleansing wipes to keep my face clean, dry shampoo, thick comfy socks (make sure they have good gripper bottoms), the hospital socks were whimpy & kept falling off, ipod, and my mini Acer notebook so I could email. Someone suggested wisps (disposable teeth brush things), can't remember if I used them or not. The less you have to keep track of, the better. I wasn't in the mood to read or watch TV, mainly slept - with some communication with friends & family and visits with my DH.



I took metamucil every day for two weeks ahead of surgery and ate progressively lighter the closer it got to surgery. Have vitamin C on hand for after - emergen-C packets are great and drink lots of fluids after to help flush everything out. I kept a bottle of hand sanitizer handy at home.



write out all your contact numbers and have them handy; also good to have your pharmacy numbers and hours written down. We had to track down our closest 24 hour pharmacy when my nausea got bad.



Most of the hard stuff goes by quickly!

alexanjb

I was resisting the wife beater purchase until I saw the post on putting the binder over it,  I guess I better get some.  I thought just regular tank tops and camisoles would work ok.  How much too big should I get them?  How long do you wear binder?  I will be coming straight home.  It is hot and humid and that really bothers me since chemo.  Yes, even here in Central NY!

Snobird

The wife beater is great to pin your drains to. And if they leak on it, who cares. I thought I would just toss them after I healed up but now I wear them as pj tops. They are really comfortable in hot weather or with hot flashes. All my other tops just made me sweat. DH thinks they're sexy!

mscal02

Hi All: I am feeling stronger today. I think I took too much ,but I had my surgery locally. I wore hospital gowns until the day to come home ,and that was a good thing because twice the nurses emptying my drains spilled them. I kept my cool though. I sent my phone and my eyeglasses back home. I just wanted to sleep.This nurse came into the room to do her 2am check and said oh your oxogen is low . She gave me this thing that you inhale into, mind you I am very sore in my chest area and can hardly take deep breaths, when she came back at 4am she asked if I had been using it? Nope, i was trying to sleep before you came back in. My doctor said no bra or binder. I ended up wearing a house coat home because the yoga pants although low cut,sat right on my incision. If I had to travel by plane I probably would have taken a wrap dress and jacket to hide the drains.

mscal02

I bought my wife beaters 2 sizes too large because I did not want it to press too hard on my breast. Last night was the first time wearing it and I could have gotten it 1 size too large. It is pretty stretchy.

SAMayoFL

OK, I hate to ask a stupid question but what exactly is a wife beater?  My husband calls this motorcycle thing he has with no arms a wife beater.  What are yall referring to as a wife beater?

Mscal, that was what I was thinking about.  Trying to find a couple of dresses that would be loose and wrap around.  I know when I am released from the hospital I will have two doctor visits and a plane trip that I will have to dress for.

Susan

bdavis

Susan... glad you asked because I want to know also.

treesprite

I call wife beater shirts grandpa undershirts -  men's undershirts, white, sleeveless, ribbed, scooped neck, very stretchy and cheap, a guy's tank top.

My yoga pants are 'Moving control" and they were super comfy. I found mine almost brand new at a thrift store, a big stretchy tank top from target, a walmart  $10 zip up hoodie with inside & outside pockets, and slip on sandles - that became my 'go to' outfit going back and forth to hospital and anything else for a couple of weeks. I have no extra money these days, so thrift shops, walmart, target & my sister's closet are my 'mall'. 

Decide whatever you have will be exactly right . . . that way, you will always be right! It will go by so quickly.

After my MX, an aid squirted me all over my face & chest when changing my drains, he was squeezing the bulb when he pulled the cap.

Getting ready to check out after my diep, the nurse pulled my IV, stuck some gauze & tape on and then put the blood pressure machine on the same arm. As it was pumping away, I felt something warm & wet on my leg!  Ooopsie!! There was blood on the table, my leg, my foot & the floor. I calmly told the nurse, "Um, I think we have a problem." She slaps one hand to stop the blood and pulls the plug with the other hand. In the overall scheme of things, it was nothing. She wanted to take my blood pressure before giving me a pain pill for the drive home 'cause my blood pressure had been low that morning . . . .might have been a tiny bit lower after losing some blood!

SAMayoFL

Kathy, EEEWWWWW!!!!  I have such a weak stomach.  I might have fainted right there.  I do not do blood well at all.  After my mastectomy my Mom changed my drains for the first four or five days until I got used to the sight and scent of them and then I could change them myself.  The first two times we had to do it I vomitted.  I havs such a weak stomach for blood!!

Mscal, I am glad to hear you are doing well today!

Susan

treesprite

I normally faint at the sight of blood. The drains are pretty nasty, but I got used to them out of necessity after DH went back to work. 

It seemed best to stay calm! I felt sorry for the nurse- I knew she was upset.

mscal02

We have to continually pray for ourselves and the health care industry. I am making a pot of chicken noodle soup and will have a side salad.My DH emptied my drains when I had my mastecomy, but I am changing them and recording the results myself this time.I ended up not needing my hoodie,but I will  use it this fall i am sure.

Jerusha

My experience at NOLA was that you needed almost nothing during your hospital stay. You wake up from surgery tucked into your bed with NOTHING but a nice, soft, (black!) surgical bra on, and stay like that until you get out of bed the next day. From then on you can just wear the hospital gown, robe ( a really nice one) , and slippers. If you wanted to wear your own jammie bottoms you could. All the toiletries were there. Chapstick if you are a chapstick addict, and feminine wipes for the time after cath is out but before you shower ( about a day). A regular laptop will probably be too heavy to use in bed-- an iPad was perfect! A small flashlight to get around at night if you like to keep the room dark. NOLA will send you home with a good supply of bras, binders, iodine wipes and ABD pads -- thick gauze pads to put over ab incision. They also give you drain pouches. For those going other places, drain pouches can be found online. I preferred the pouches to pinning to my clothes . I also preferred stringing my drains on a drain pouch belt (I had a few, so "washed" this one in shower and then had other dry ones waiting) while in shower . Hanging them around your neck where they brush against your breast incisions seems icky and non-hygienic to me! At NOLA, the car that taes you from the hospital to your hotel stops at Walgreens to pick up your meds and anything else you need. For others, having your meds and any supplies they'll want you to have would be good to assemble ahead of time. For clothes I found that most drawstring or elastic waist pants were fine. The fold over waist sweats/ yoga pants were good. Low cut bikini panties were perfect. I had the kind with strings on the hips. Longish tops to cover the drain pouch were best. Button down were good at first, but you will be able to lift your arms for loose pullovers. The NOLA bra is kind of hi-cut and will show with any low-cut top. I slept in a big T and panties. At NOLA they give you disposable stretchy panties. I cut mine to turn them into a stretchy band that went around my hips and tummy and kept the pads in place (I'm still doing that now, 2+1/2 weeks out). When I looked thru my wardrobe, it turned out I really had plenty on hand. (Thanks to my previously poofy tummy I had lots of comfy pants and shorts already. Haha).

Slip on sandals or clogs would be good. Hope this helps . I saw some of you were wondering about what to buy, bring, etc., so thought I'd chime in!

TSB1

My BMx and DIEP is on June 7th. I have IDC in the left breast but I'm opting for BMx. It looks like a bunch of us are scheduled for June.



Good luck ladies!

alexanjb

Thanks once again Jerusha.  I am not going to NOLA but I bet most of your hints will be applicable.  My PS didn't say anything about bras just that I would be given a binder.  The PA for the PS said to use shirts with shelf bras.  Of course, I got rid of those last year after the MX.............I went looking for simple knit dresses and actually had the best luck at Walmart!

c8ndygr1

Thanks Jerusha for your helpful information ~ I'm taking notes and getting ready. 3 weeks and counting.

Jerusha

Not trying to be a NOLA snob...really, really. I figured that the info would be applicable anywhere:)

JustLaura

Thank you Jerusha - I'm now working on my packing list for my Stage 1 in 2 weeks and your post is perfectly timed for me. I needed to know so many of those things! I'm glad to hear the iPad works as I was loading mine up with stuff to do and then had second thoughts on if I could use it or not, I don't want to get bored and then start thinking. It is just good to keep the mind occupied!

I'm wondering about my plane trip home on the 8th day post-op. I don't have a clue what to wear. I'm thinking now my yoga pants (rolled down) and a very light zip-up sweatshirt might work (I ordered one from Gap online but don't have it yet, I hope it is as perfect when I get it as it is in my mind). Did you have to wear compression socks on day 8? I have seen varying comments on that and I'm not sure. It would be nice if I could wear shorts to somewhat offset the long sleeve sweatshirt I'll be wearing.

Any other suggestions that could come in handy? 

Should I bring a small pillow to under the seat belt on the plane?

Funny thing - we reserved seats in the exit row thinking it would be perfect for us and then realized, of course, that the last person that should be sitting there is someone that is 8 days out of a major surgery! 

misszed

Thank you Zoga for the tip, l will probaby get one of those this weekend.  What a wealth of info, lm making my list of questions for the hospital coordinator to l know what they provide and what l really need to bring.  Not looking forward to the drains...sigh....

Sending positive vibes and smooth healing wishes to those that had surgery. And for those of us with upcoming surgery, comfort and strength. 

Hugs to all!

Jerusha

Just Laura, Yes, you will have knee -hi white TED( compression ) stockings so shorts might not be the look you want to go for!! Haha. The TEDs were fine inside my clogs - would be fine in sneakers also. Yoga pants would be good. A short sleeve or tank top -- just long enuf to cover your drains might be good, then on the plane where it's often freezing you can use your hoodie. A tip for getting the TEDs on: use the little plastic bag they come in to put over your toes to slide the stockings on! Also .. Just remembered.. I bought a few pairs of MATERNITY leggings at Target. I don't know what possessed me...I was passing by and noticed them. They have a flat band at the top and are very stretchy. I have found them very comfy for this after -surgery phase, perfect, actually.

I had considered upgrading to first class to come home cause I was worried about being squooshed up against someone.( I never travel first class...).We were able to get aisle and middle seat so my husband folded his 6'2" self into the middle and I had the aisle. Be sure to request a wheelchair and they will get you at the curb and at any connections and at your destination. You can take care of that the night before coming home, though--don't add it to your list now. The iPad is just right for holding in bed. I wasn't up for reading and movies but used it a ton for communication! Was planning to Skype or FaceTime with my teenagers but they were too busy having fun with Mom and Pop away. Don't forget your chargers... I didn't need a pillow for my tummy on the plane. The belt seemed well above my incision. I did have an inflatable neck pillow which was useful. I was pretty drugged up and slept most of the way -- except for getting up and walking the aisle every hour.

Oh, Oh, and another thing... At the airport look for the "family bathrooms", usually located near the regular. They are one- person, have the sink accessible so you can wash your hands and deal with your dressings or drains if you need to, and generally much cleaner.

I'll probably think of some more stuff, later....

daisy4ever

I am scheduled for a bi-lateral DIEP in June. I thought I found a good PS, but I just found out he is not board certified. Is this a red flag? How do I really know if a surgeon is qualified?

daisy4ever

Does anyone know a great PS who does the DIEP surgery in the Orange County area of CA? My breast surgeon, Dr. Helen Mabry, is fabulous and board certified. I was hoping to go through Saint Joseph's or Hoag hospital.

zogo

Daisy,

Try a website called DIEPsisters.com You will have to do some research from there.  My goal was to find a doctor that was qualified and had performed hundreds of diep procedures.  I did find one, did do my research and I adore my doctor.  

I can just imagine how nerve wracking this must be for you. Best of luck, honey! 

ladym13

Thanks Jerusha...you always have the best tips.

My surgery is 2 weeks today....OMG!!!