DIEP 2013

FierceBluebird

Thanks everyone. I'm working hard on keeping the pity party at bay. In the big scheme of things I have a lot to be grateful for. I'm glad to hear others have dealt with similar things and are healing nicely.

My wound nurse referred me to a dietician who put me in a program that provides high protein meals. I get my first delivery Thursday. I hope it doesn't taste like hospital food, but I'll eat anything if it helps me to heal.

Bailey, I also love the birds. I have a hummingbird feeder too and enjoy watching them.  It was a banner year for birds for us.  Michigan is a big flyway, so you should be getting some nice birds.

Hugs to everyone! I always feel better on here!  If that makes any sense. 

Anonymous

Bluebird - if I am lucky every once in a while I get a bluebird! Never at the feeders, but on the fence in the backyard I have a hummingbird feeder for the first time this year. It's not what where I can see it from inside very well, so I haven't seen any there, yet. I do have butterfly bushes right outside my kitchen window and see hummingbirds there often while I cook. I have to mark them in my book whenever I get a "new" type of visitor (I might be turning into a little old lady...Lol)



High protein diet will defo help with healing. I am all about Goldie' s low carb advice for swelling, too. I think carbs lead to all sorts of inflammation for me.



I hope all went well for you, today, Kuka and Tarheel! Marty and Greengirl tomorrow...hope you are feeling some peace tonight. Debdylan is not on the list, but she is scheduled for Wednesday, right? And Lahela is Friday blessings on all.

Moviemaniac

Behind, AGAIN!



Relocated, and Kuka, you should be almost done by now.......have been thinking of you,but neglected to post. Prayers for speedy healing......



Marty, saying special prayers for you and DH that all will go smoothly this week, and that you will both have the help you need to begin healing......

Green girl...you will be in my thoughts, as well. Just think of it as a well-earned long nap! In your pockets!



Jeannie, if I had read the posts earlier, I could have jumped in my car and been up to Seattle in few hours...to keep you company! hope your day has been mostly uneventful.



Bailey-get better, girl! As one of our resident comediennes, your services are highly desired........



Bluebird.....I DID have a 7" wide-open to the muscle abdominal gash from an infection.....every time I looked at it,I could NOT imagine it EVER disappearing......it did, and yours will too.....hang in there....you can do this-after DIEP, this is small potatoes! (((Hugs)))



Nihahi, am starting to plot and plan for meet-up in Glacier.........I am taking you to "my meadow "...... Be sure and bring the bear spray! #Gettingexcited.



Katy.......worried about you! Sending telepathic (((hugs))) and healing your way...please let us know how you are....



I know I have neglected all you newbies.....welcome, and stick around.....you'll learn all kinds of useful info like how if you stick a flashlight on your new foob (in the dark, of course) it will glow...... (This info could be useful to Nihahi and I if we get lost in Glacier......we can use this. K owl edge to help bring in rescue crew! :P)



Adios and love to all.....

Namaste and God Bless -Jackie

christina0001

bailey I hope you feel better soon.

ssla, I can't believe you have had those drains for so long! They are so frustrating to deal with. Surely they will take them out soon I hope? I wonder why you still have so much drainage?

Anonymous

Omg movie... you got a snort out of me...can you imagine the headlines!?!

Jeannie57

Thanks, Movie!

Bailey, I hope you kick that virus to the curb quickly.

I haven't tried the gloob test yet...

jlbloom

Damiana - glad to hear that hole is going to be taken care of.  also good news that hips come back.  Sponge Bob is definitely in my mirror some days.

Jeannie - congrats on the drains!  My first appt with the PS is tomorrow.  I think one will go and one may stay. 

Ssla - you must have the patience of the saints!

Christina - happy to hear you are feeling better now that you are home.  love the Barbie boob comment!

Bailey - hope you get well soon, or at least get to see some interesting birds.  It is great to just sit and watch them isn't it.

Goldie - is the t-shirt thing still a possibility?

Sbe - hoping it isn't too serious and you will be in good shape for the 15th.

Prayers for all of you on this thread. ...Julie

Anonymous

Thanks for the well wishes, ladies, I am still feeling quite BLAH, but no worries. It's definitely made more unpleasant by my still healing abdomen...tummy has been like a rock all day.



Ssla - a drain (or two!) this long is getting disturbing. You may be at a point where you have to push the issue...nicely but firmly. Maybe you have asked questions already, but if it were me, I would want to know why my body wasn't absorbing the fluid or moving it on it's own. Does it need to "learn" to do it itself? I would also want to know if I had a seroma. Once, with my chest seroma, they slowly "backed" the drain out with smaller and smaller drains until it healed from center of chest out. That was when it finally closed and healed for good. Idk. I would want to have a plan at this point. Sounds like you see them this week. That is good. Thinking of you!

ssla01

Thanks everyone. The drains are driving me batty! I did get Stage 2 scheduled today for Sept. 9. Yikes, that seems soon.

damiana9

Ssla-wow, stage 2 is coming up fast! I sure hope your evil drains are out BEFORE that! Ack!

ssla01

Me too!

AnnBR

Ladies, I hope you don't mind that I am jumping in here with a question. I am scheduled to have a delayed DIEP in Oct. (long story). My PS is very particular and said I would have better results if he inserted TEs, just under the skin which he did when I had my second MX in May. My final fill was supposed to be last week, but the PA could not locate the port so I guess I am done with that part of the process. She thought it may be folded under and tried manipulating it back into place (ouch). I knew something had happened because the shape had changed and did not look at all like my other side. I don't think I am near enough to my original C size, which is what I desire, but the PA said there is enough area/skin to work with. I am wondering if this has happened to anyone else and if I should be concerned about my final size? Any advice or reassurance is appreciated! Thank you.

Anonymous

Ann - welcome! We love it when people jump in here! I didn't have your experience, but I bet somebody here has...or similar. I think Goldie has TE' s being filled for DIEP. They will chime in here.



I can tell you that I went from a concave chest with no TE to a DIEP breast that is currently a DD (and awaiting reduction in stage II!!!) (I am uni).



It may depend more on how much tummy tissue you have to spare for your bilateral diep.

kuka21174923

I'm finally home from my stage II. Surgery lasted about two hours and ps said everything went better than expected.

Because of my weight loss he was able to get rid of all the scar tissue from my blisters. Yay!!

He was also able to really lower my ab incision. It is now placed where a regular tummy tuck incision would be placed. I had a butterfly tattoo on the side of my FUPA and I made it clear to ps that I didn't care if he had to cut through it to lower my scar. Well....., when I woke up my tattoo was gone! That's how low he was able to go.

I haven't seen my nipples or my my tummy really, but do I have some cleavage now?! Ps asked me to go see him tomorrow, so maybe I'll get a peek?

My chin got lipoed too but it is very swollen. I woke up with a huge headache, but other than that I'm doing great😄

Relocated, I hope you're doing as good as I am. Yours will take a couple more days, but you'll get there.

Marty, good luck tomorrow. I'll be thinking about you.

MartyJ

Kuka, honey, you sound wonderful!  Glad everything went so well.

Jeannie57

Kuka, you sound great! I can't believe all that work only took 2 hours. I hope the pain is manageable and you heal well. Headache be gone, I say!

goldie4040

Ann, I had expanders put in originally because I was going to do an implant recon.  Then my incision on my left breast kept failing, and I needed to go back in to OR to reclose it.  At that time the PS recommended we go with DIEP, and forget about expanders.  I went for a follow up on the  "reclose" of the incision, and they couldn't believe how well my skin and incisions looked, so he recommended expanding because he felt it would give me a better result for DIEP.  I expanded a while, then had my presurgery CAT scan, and they found some lesions on my liver.  So, I am on hold for diep, but still getting expanded, and waiting for some tests to rule out anything bad going on with my liver.  But, the rule of thumb is recon looks best if done at the time of mastectomy, if it can't be done at time of mx, then having the skin expanded is next best option.  Quite a few of us have expanders in before diep.  I believe Liefie, Jeannie, me have/had expanders, and several other's had implants they changed out for diep.  It's as close as you can get to immediate recon results.  The girls that had rads, or for some reason couldn't have expanders had delayed recon (which we are still considered), but they have bigger flaps, and their breast are a little harder for the PS to shape. But, in the end we all turn out gorgeous!!!!!  Our journey's are just different.

goldie4040

Yeah, Kuka.  I can't wait for final results.  You should great.  Be careful, don't over do.  I know you.  You will be back at the gym next week...lol.  Wow, tattoo gone!  I can't imagine how low he got your incision?  As low as Sylvania? Didn't he give you a compression sling for your chin?

Moviemaniac

Bailey..... Headline would read something like this : " Certifiable crazy women thought lost - found due to unexplainable glow-in-the-dark foobs! We will stay 'abreast' of this developing story.......details at 11"

Moviemaniac

Kuka....now the shoe is on the other foot..... YOU tell ME how it went down! Glad you are out......rest easy, and heal quickly!



((((Hugs))))

Anonymous

Abreast, Movie....indeed! Gnite, ladies, y'all rock.

kuka21174923

Sorry, I wrote two hours instead of four. Two hours is how long I was in recovery. I can blame it in anesthesia, lol

Movie, I don't get the comment about the shoe? Did I say something about shoes?

ssla01

Congrats Kuka. You sound great. Now behave and try to sit still for a day or two. Lol

Gini23

LMAO that I only just heard about vagaziling this weekend on Grey's Anatomy (catching up on season 9!)

Jakig - I asked my PS rxactly what you are thinking about...  if I had only done a uni-Mx, could he fat graft into my natural breast to make them even and fuller.  This is what he said, "You might find some surgeons who will do that, but we do not do that here."  This was the reason...  injected fat can/will show up on a mammo as something suspicious, which could lead to either unneccessary worry & stress and additional testing, or - the opposite - assuming it is nothing and then it turns out to be.... something.  This is just one opinion, but I wanted to let you know.

Funny, I am also 155 at 5'2".... weird!  And was 132 before starting chemo!

Even as far out as I am, I still have pains and pangs here and there.  Maybe not over bumps in the road - but sneezing still hurts!

Ladies - I cannot keep up with you and I am not even back to work yet!  I am so behind and losing track of who is doing what... I've been reading on my phone, but by the time I can respond I forget half of what I wanted to reply to...  but please know that I am sending out healthy healing vibes to all!

goldie4040

Somebody asked, and yes...I still want to do the tshirts.  It's a process.  I had a few responses with slogans, and the one I like the best so far "Where there's a Wilbur, there's a way." But, if there are more ideas I want to hear them. I need something for the back too that is more serious, and brings attention to how important breast cancer awareness is. 

My son, who has the contact for the free graphic work is just waiting of us to give him a slogan to work with, and a few ideas on what we would like.  I personally want a feminine looking tshirt, with vee neck, or scoop neck, and some shape to it.  Not a big square tshirt. Then we would have to agree on a color.  Do we want to do pink for breast cancer awareness? 

We had a family health scare today.  My DiL had terrible stomach aches, and odd looking poop for a while.  Also, looked too thin, and tired.  She is a sonogram tech, and works for a big group of gyno's in our area.  Anyway, they sent her to be scoped top, and bottom today, and they found she had a bleed in her stomach.  She was a very sick girl, and we had no idea.  They were able to cauterize the bleed, and she is on a liquid diet for two days. She should start feeling much better soon.  Also, blood work showed she was anemic...duh!  I swear, there is always something.  But, we are so blessed they can find these things, and fix them so quickly and fairly easily.

Jeannie57

Kuka, I would be blaming Wilbur for any confusion....

Movie, you are too funny!!!

ssla01

Goldie, hope your DIL is much better soon. Scary!

goldie4040

Thanks, SSla.

Gina, I know what you mean.  You want everybody to know you are reading their posts, but when you are finished reading you can't remember who said what.  Sometimes I just write separate posts to each one.  Or, a few on one, and then go back and do another.  Especially in the evening when I take my happy pill.

Jeannie57

Goldie, too scary! Glad she received prompt care and I pray she heals quickly.



I wish I could think of something for the T-shirt.

Moviemaniac

Goldie, so sorry about your DIL......hope she feels better really soon!



Kuka, the "shoe" refers to somebody else having the experience....an old folk saying.....in this case, YOU beat me to Stage 2...... So you will have to advise me since I have yet to experience what happens........ Now, go back to sleep, and don't let Wilbur post any more tonight.......