Diep 2012

sptmm62

My prayers are with you Ronniekay.

Downey30

RonnieKay,  Thinking of you and sending you hugs and healing thoughts.  We are all here for you.

Cherrie

Thinking of you RonnieKay. Your family will be your best medicine through the holidays. I pray you rest and find peace. You are a class act and only hope to have the class you do when faced with adversity. Ia, sorry you are going through this.



My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Rubybleu

Ronniekay,



Sending you a heavily spiked eggnog

A warm fireplace and a little Tony Bennett Christmas music



Love,



Ruby

bdavis

Ronnie.. so sorry... my thoughts are with you.

Beckers... My husband had his ankle fused... long recovery, but all good many years after.

florafarm

Beckers-I wanted to mention one more thing to the stage 2 ladies-bring any of your leftover prescriptions with you. Dr. M wrote all the same prescriptions as last time and I knew I had several at home, but I had to fill them anyways since I hadn't brought them.

calm

just waiting for my kids to go to bed and Santa to arrive--so thought i would send a post to wish everyone a warm holiday season full of love and laughter with family and friends. Today is my very first day where i could stand upright without feeling at all stretched--around 5 weeks out--so similar to the experience of others--really starting to feel like my old self. I feel so grateful i was able to have 'transformation'--has made a big difference.

MRDRN

Ronnie, I too am sorry to hear of your news.  I was curious (if you don't mind me asking) if you ever had the BRCA gene test?  You are in my prayers as well, as I lurk on here since I had my Deep in 2010.  May god hold you in the palm of his hand as you face a new stage in your journey. 

MRDRN

Beckers

Ronnie,



My heart sunk when I heard this news. I have been away from the boards for a bit with the holidays and all. You have been such a source of encouragement to me with this stage two coming up. It seems like this BC has just been shape shifting on you since the beginning (I was reading your profile). It all started small, grade 1? Heavy sigh. I will pray for you for sure. I am so very sorry. Im like you....Heaven sounds fabulous and I have no fear but enjoy my family and friends. Please keep us posted, hang in there, and PM me any time for prayer request or to talk.



I still néed to rehome the Marena compression garment Ronnie was so nice to send me to try. It says XL, no zipper. Is anyone interested? Please PM me and I will send details.

AnnAlive

RonnieKay - when I read your post last week, I was in NOLA, 3 days out of DIEP stage 2, and ready to head home the next morning. It touched me how you shared with us about your faith in facing the new diagnosis. And you are recently out of stage 2, and I have had this fear that once getting "fixed up" I could have a recurrence, in fact moving into the 2-3 year high risk zone for HER2+ which it looks like you have experienced since your initial diagnosis. It still made sense to me to get reconstructed because we don't know if we have few or many years left on earth, and I'm a believer as well and trust that God directs our steps. I'll be praying for you to stay strong and hope you will continue to update us.

AnnAlive

Beckers - isn't your stage 2 or 2b tomorrow? Thinking of you, praying for smooth-going! I PM'ed you.

Beckers

My stage 2 is tomorrow. Thank you. I'm happy to get it behind me. Hoping I bounce back fast. Got your PM.

Beckers

Bdavis, thank you for encouraging news. My brother had a crush injury 2 years ago. Lost cartilage and now had sub taler fusion. At 6 weeks, he was only partially fused. He's on his way to CO now to see first surgeon who put calcaneous back together. How long did it take your hubby to fuse? is he pain free? (sorry all for getting off topic :-/. )

bdavis

Rebecca... My husband had his fusion in one surgery, and had his leg elevated for about a month... then another couple of months or so on crutches... But in the end he walks better than he did prior to surgery. He had had pain prior (he had an accident about 17 years before fusion) and does not have pain now. The only thing is, when you have something fused, it puts undue pressure on other parts of the foot and so sometimes he has pain in the arch or ball of his foot. Nothing like before though.

Beckers

Thank you bdavis. I will pass this info along to my brother.



Also, I believe I found a home for the compression garment. Yay!

cg1234

Good luck tomorrow Rebecca. Will be thinking of you and hope everyone had a nice holiday.

Anonymous

Thinking of you Beckers!

Happy New Years to all!

Beckers

Thank you girls....starting to feel nervous!

Anonymous

Saw my PS yesterday and FINALLY got cleared to quit the compression garment! LIBERATION!!!! Also got cleared for exercise, not a moment too soon as I've packed on 8+ pounds since the surgery!!!



My PS is suggesting May to plan on stage two. She says it takes about 4-6 months after stage one for all the tissue to "settle" to plan any revisions. I guess I'll just enjoy the next four months or so getting more active and hopefully healthy!



Happy New Year everyone! Hope you are doing well, Beckers!

Linda-Ranching-in-the-mTns

Chachamom - Congrats on being freed from the compression! 

I decided that even though my surgeon said I could have stage-two 3 months post the first surgery -- it makes sense to me to lose the 30 pounds I need to first -- so the new girls can be plumped back up if needed, and any extra/loose torso skin removed during stage 2. Plus -- I am ready to just relax and feel healthy again for a while!

Beckers -- we all are sending you good thoughts!

Do any of you subscribe to inspirational daily messages? I have two that I really like a lot - 'Mary Morrisey' and 'The Daily Om'. Today's "Om' was particularly on-target for me -- so I thought I might share it with all of you... (see below) ... and Mary Morrisey is offering a free online course tomorrow about deciding what you want in your life (specifically for 2013) -- and then how to set-into-motion the mental/emotional path to reach those goals... the link to the Mary Morrisey (free) course is: 

www.marymorrissey.com/event/vi...

Below is from today's 'Daily Om': (you can sign up for your own daily messages if you like -- just google "Daily Om"

When we experience change in our life we can control our response and reaction to the changes that are happening.

Transformation is a universal constant that affects our lives from the moment we are born until we leave earthly existence behind. At the root of all growth, we find change. Occasionally, change and the circumstances leading up to it are a source of extraordinary joy, but more often than not they provoke feelings of discomfort, fear, or pain. Though many changes are unavoidable, we should not believe that we are subject to the whims of an unpredictable universe. It is our response to those circumstances that will dictate the nature of our experiences. At the heart of every transformation, no matter how chaotic, there is substance. When we no longer resist change and instead regard it as an opportunity to grow, we find that we are far from helpless in the face of it.

Our role as masters of our own destinies is cemented when we choose to make change work in our favor. Yet before we can truly internalize this power, we must accept that we cannot hide from the changes taking place all around us. Existence as we know it will come to an end at one or more points in our lives, making way for some new and perhaps unexpected mode of being. This transformation will take place whether or not we want it to, and so it is up to us to decide whether we will open our eyes to the blessings hidden amidst disorder or close ourselves off from opportunities hiding behind obstacles. 

To make change work for you, look constructively at your situation and ask yourself how you can benefit from the transformation that has taken place. As threatening as change can seem, it is often a sign that a new era of your life has begun. If you reevaluate your plans and goals in the days or weeks following a major change, you will discover that you can adapt your ambition to the circumstances before you and even capitalize on these changes. Optimism, enthusiasm, and flexibility will aid you greatly here, as there is nothing to be gained by dwelling on what might have been. Change can hurt in the short term but, if you are willing to embrace it proactively, its lasting impact will nearly always be physically, spiritually, and intellectually transformative.

----------------------

Anyway -- (Linda here again) -- I wish the very best for each of you in the New Year! I find that these 'mind-expanding' ideas really help me to see that I have a daily (actually a minute-to minute) choice in EVERY situation -- do I chose 'joy' or 'despair'? 'Acceptance and enlightenment' or 'anger and frustration'. This ability to see each circumstance as an opportunity to CHOOSE -- brings me peace and a feeling of being more in control of at least my 'inner' world!

Happy New Year to all!

Linda

Galsal

I'm curious, Ladies.  Any one else still have some abdominal swelling/bloating five months after a Diep?  During the day, it swells and by late afternoon is noticeably increased.

Thanks.

Beckers

I made it!! I feel like I've had my butt kicked! Glad it's over. Thank you for the prayers and good thoughts.



Galsal, I had big surgery in August and definitely still swollen in tummy. It felt very firm like pregnant tummy too by end of the day. I ordered the Marena compression garment today and almost wish I'd done that a long time ago because my PS would not lipo the mid part of my abdomen yesterday in stage 2 because he said it may be a bulge or pocket of fluid in there. I think compression would have avoided that. I wore ab binder but maybe because I am overweight?? I dunno. I just want the best outcome. I read last night sometimes we can get fullness up higher after tummy tuck. Still don't understand it fully.

Galsal

I did the compression for quite a while, and even continued with light after that. 

fredntan

No swelling here.



But have scar tissue in radiated breast. Have bee

n massaging like crazy. I heard US can help break this up. Need to find another pt person inmy area. I was supposed to have this with my old pt person, but she didnt seem tobe familiar with.

bdavis

Galsal.. I have the bloat and I am more than a year post stage II... My doc says that some of it is fat in and amongst the organs, which only weight loss can fix. He says to avoid salt. And also after tummy tuck removing the fat from the lower ab is simply going to make the upper ab more noticaeble. I am convinced the only solution is weight loss.

Cherrie

Interesting. My compression came off last Sunday at 6 weeks and my upper abdomen is now bloating. My jeans are tighter now than they were 3 weeks ago with a garment on under them. I am concerned about this. Sure hope this settles. Yoga pants work best after 3:00. 😒

Galsal

Thanks...thought I was losing it about this!

Anonymous

My abdomen gets really tight feeling as the day progresses....but I thought it could be I'm eating too much (evidenced by my weight gain!). .....but hearing the other responses, I may look into getting a Marena as well as getting more exercise (and work on cutting out my snacking!)

Anonymous

Glad you are back Beckers! And doing well!

Beckers

I'm so excited to get my Marena. Should be here this week. I'm sure weight loss will help with the bloat as well.