DIEP 2013

goldie4040

SSla, that is wonderful news.  Do a little dance now.

FierceBluebird

ssla, that is fantastic! You deserve a medal!

Damiana, love the new look!

Goldie, the wound started right at the 'T' incision at the bottom of my breast. It's completely dehisced now and is about 4"x 2" I forget who referred to their "meat" and mine is all exposed too. (taking more pain pills now than after surgery to cope with this.)

Marty, I am willing to try anything. I'll ask my husband to pick up some liver. I wonder if liverwurst would be the same? Can't stand the thought of liver, but if it helps I'm game.

I'll be taking valium soon to get my wound scrubbed. *shudder*

Going to start packing it with honey also. It's an old farmer trick that we use in large animal vet medicine and sticking to modern medical advice is getting me nowhere. At least it will smell sweeter!   "Honey... ah sugar sugar! You are my candy girl..."   Okay, now I'm dating myself and sounding delirious. No fever I promise.

Jeannie57

Oh, Bluebird, I am pulling for you!!! I can't believe what the docs expect us to do sometimes. I'm looking forward to the day that you can look back at this, not AT it!



SSLA, I am doing a happy dance for you!!! Showering will actually be enjoyable for you now. I just started sleeping on my side and I love it.



Tracy, Hrf and Christina, hang in there. It does get better, it just takes awhile. I am four weeks out already and doing well. Still lots of tummy healing to do and sleep to happen, but it's a process.



Cherrie, it's beautiful country up here! Whistler is gorgeous---your son will love it! I have a daughter here in Seattle, daughter in Ann Arbor, MI while her hubs is in dental school and a daughter in the San Diego area. It's hard, especially as my granddaughter in San Diego is growing up so fast. She is eight. But they will all be here for two days at the end of this week, a rare occurrence.



You ladies are the greatest.

MartyJ

Bluebird - I think it has to be liver as there is not that much liver in liverwurst.  Yes, I prefer the liverwurst, too.  Just hold you nose and dig in.  An old remedy for anemia - I was always anemic as a kid and the doc told my mom to give me liver.  My dh likes the stuff, but can only have it in a restaurant.  Not happening in my house.  Love the idea of the honey.  I mixed it into my coconut oil rub, but got too sticky.

Anonymous

Bluebird...the Archie' s..."I just can't believe the loveliness of loving you....ahhhh, sugar, sugar ..."!!!!



Ok...Will you get medical grade honey??? Www.themanukashop.com has products with it. I'm completely freaked out for you....but I am not familiar with it's use in wound care, as you are, so I admit I don't know. Just worried about you...I know you are at your wits end. My doctor also suggested I cook in a cast iron pan once a week in addition to iron supplement. I just had blood pulled and I am on the anemic side again (been back and forth throughout CA tx)....So pull out the pan and the pills! How were the chickens this morning?

ironmagnolia

Yes I sure did! I was sent to them by my BS who works primarily with Dr Chyrsopoulo. He is fabulous and I've heard any of the Dr's there are great.

I've been very please with the way the office is run, the nurses and PAs are very attentive, and I couldn't be happier with results. Very easy practice to deal with, they make everything very effortless from scheduling, to seeing the nurse postoperatively, to seeing Dr C when I need or ask to.

One day I did see Dr Pisano when Dr C was in surgery and the nurse thought I should see one of the Drs after she evaulated me for a seroma. He stopped what he was doing, evaluated me and aspirated the serome on the spot. I had to go back for a re-excision due to an unclean margin on the left side one month after my DIEP, and Dr C was in on that surgery with the BS as well.

Goldie, have you had any recon?

Anonymous

Other iron rich foods are clams, pumpkin seeds and spinach. Ladies....low iron can make you feel very fatigued, too, if you are not bouncing back (after several weeks lol....not 5 days!) give it a whirl!

sbelizabeth

"Don't go out into the rain, you're gonna melt, sugar..."  Wow, are we dating ourselves!

Marty, I'm of the age when, as children, we were forced to choke down liver.  Frankly, I'd choose the anemia!  Gosh, I hate that stuff.  Years ago, I used to donate blood every eight weeks, and when my internal medicine doctor heard that, he drew a ferritin level.  It was 3, and normal values are 18-160.  No more blood donations for a while, and oral iron supplements brought my ferritin stores back to normal in a short amount of time.  

I spent the afternoon going through my closet and tossing pants and skirts that are too big now.  The DIEP was 4 months ago, and I've gradually lost 15 pounds since then.  And with the tummy gone, everything fits differently.  Very cool.

Happy healing to those still in hospital, and happy Sunday afternoon to us all!

Jeannie57

Oh, sbel, that is good to know! I am at four weeks so I have a ways to go. I'm already fitting in a smaller size, even with swelly belly. I initially lost nine pounds but my hubs made delicious chocolate chip cookies and I am gaining about a pound a day! Nasty, scrumptious things. Nothing fits quite right. I look forward to the day of purging my closets. But then, I'm not on a bike every day.

goldie4040

Ironmagnoilia,

Right now I have expanders in.  They only started expanding them about 7 weeks ago, and it has been miserable.  It is a very long story, and I won't bore you with every detail, but they thought I wasn't going to be able to expand, so we decided to switch to diep, and then when they saw they could expand me they decided it would give a much nicer outcome if I expanded.  It would almost be like I had immediate diep instead of delayed.  So, I have been trying very hard to get through the expansions, but it's been a very difficult process for me.  

There are quiet a few women on here who had expanders, or implants in before diep, and it just makes it easier for the PS to shape the breast. My expanders are actually turning into a nice shape, and look really good under a bra.  I am surprised, because the pics I have seen horrified me, but mine are anatomical shaped expanders, so they are closer to a natural shape breast then just a big globes on my chest, and they are very even in size, and placement.  So, I am hoping for a good end result, if I can handle the pain of expansion. 

I am really happy you had a good experience at PRMA.  I wondered if they lived up to their hype. They are all over the internet and Facebook, but you can pay for that.  I was just wondering if they were as good as they claim, and their before and after pics seem.  I have been a little upset with my  PS, and have thought about changing to another one in my area that is very good.  I don't know if I would travel all the way to San Antonio unless there was no option for me here, although it has been tempting. 

Enjoy you vacation!!!!

ssla01

I am indeed doing the happy dance!

FierceBluebird

Baily, the Manuka honey is supposed to be superior, but I'm not sure why. Something to do with the flowers the bees use I guess. I'm using raw honey from a friend's apiary. It freaks me out too, but I just know the amazing things honey can do with animal wounds and even organ prolapses. I will order some Manuka honey and see if it speeds things up. As of right now, the eschar is softening so I think that is a good thing. They talked about cutting it off at some point. It's like a turtle shell. Dead, hard, burned skin.   If it softens the eschar, I'm hoping it will help my other wound also.  I'm pretty sure I'm having so many problems since I had almost 6 months of chemo and my body just can't heal itself well.

Yeah, not sure I will be able to stomach liver either!! As a kid I drowned it in ketchup and it was still nasty!

sweetpickle

I hope the honey works for you Bluebird! Sorry that you have to go through all of this.



SSL- Congrats on being drain free!!!



Sbe- I would love to have lost weight but alas I weigh twenty pounds more than I did when diagnosed. I can no loner wear any of my clothes and look like a fat hairless dweeb. :-)

goldie4040

Sweetpickle

I hate to hear you so down on yourself.  You are a beautiful woman who has fought hard to get to where you are now.  Your hair will grow back, the weight will fall off when you are more active, and you will be knocking them dead at bunco. Please, see the beauty you have inside, and out.

sbelizabeth

Sweetpickle, I'm with Goldie.  Surviving what we've been through is a beautiful thing, and you are a beautiful, brave, strong woman.  You can work on the extra pounds whenever, or if ever, you feel like it.  They don't change a thing.

sbelizabeth

Spring 2012.  Where did my eyelashes go?

goldie4040

When I had my son I lost a tremendous amount of blood, and was very anemic even after transfusions.  The secret to absorbing the iron you are eating is to have it with foods that contain vitamin c.  So, my MIL would make chopped liver, stuff it into big beautiful tomatoes and bake it in the oven.  She was a great cook. My iron levels came back up very quickly.  I was young, and stronger than we are now, but I was a very sick girl, and I swear her recipe cured me.  There are ways to make liver palatable. Also, coming from NYC and every corner diner had liver, and onions on the menu it wasn't a food that grossed me out.  I prefer chicken livers, but if you are going to make chopped liver, beef liver works better. 

I wish we could all be closer together.  When there is somebody in need we could rally.  I need somebody to motivate me physcially right now.  I have had a bad back from an injury for about 15 years,   but have been able to control it by keeping strong.  I think these expanders are throwing off my posture, and also keeping me from my exercises.  I am in so much pain with my back and the expanders. I spend a lot of time feeling pitiful.  I would make Bluebird her stuffed tomatoes if somebody would whip me back into shape, and I would go to HRF's house and help her get back on her feet, etc. 

There are so many women on BCO. Why can't a forum be started for people who are in need?  Breast Cancer. Org is a nonprofit orginazation who has the resourses to set up a volunteer program to help people all over the US and Canada.  Like Bailey was saying earlier to HRFs, get in touch with organizations there to help women with bc.  That's what we are.  So many of us go on to be healthy again (thank God), and who would be better at helping and proving to women in need that it can be done? You can get better.  Look at me.  I am better.  I had no hair, and no breasts, and couldn't wash my own hair either, but look at me now. Last I looked there were 135,000 member's on here.  Granted, maybe not all active members, but enough to get something started.  There isn't even a support group to go to in my area.  Thank goodness for you guys!!!!!!  Okay, my rant is over, for now, anyway. 

sbelizabeth

August 2013, just a little more than a year later.  

Jeannie57

Sbe, love it! I remember how shocked I was when my eyelashes and eyebrows thinned drastically. Now they are all grown in. Sweetpickle! You are beautiful to us! Weight and baldness are such transient things. But character, strength and courage are really beautiful and they last. You have tons of that stuff!

goldie4040

Great pic, SBE!!!!!!  I bet the bike helmet doesn't feel quite so hot with no hair under it? Oh, that was a low blow. Sorry. Did you ride right through your chemo?  What do you do when the weather isn't good for riding?  I am trying to figure out a way to ride during this awful Texas heat.  I want one of those indoor bike trainer stands. Have you ever tried one?

goldie4040

Wow, you hair grew back that much in a year? That is awesome.  You look awesome.

See, Sweetpickle.  What a difference a year makes.  It all gets better!!!!  SBE is proof!  She is gorgeous, strong and healthy.

Anonymous

Sbel....you are beautiful in BOTH pictures! So are you Sweetpickle:)



I remember praying to the Lord with all my might to please spare me from losing my eyelashes....it was the only vain thing that has bothered me through all this *uckery. Dealing with hair loss and weight gain(40 lbs!!!) was ok...knew I could take the weight off and grow hair or wear a wig but no eyelashes terrified me. I kept them all through 5 months chemo....and lost them all (and eyebrows too) 3 weeks after LAST chemo. They were gone for six months. It was hard for me, but I am here to *itch about it No worries. I use Latisse now and it has done wonders.



And I have hair and lost the 40 lbs. It's slow and you have to work at it but it'll come.



Love y'all! Gnite!

Anonymous

Lol....Goldie..I loved not having hair for sports activities!!! No helmet hair is a good thing!

sbelizabeth

Yeah, Goldie, bike riding with no hair was a breeze, literally!  Yes, I rode all the way through chemo, and it saved my sanity.  Many days I won the prize for slowest rider out there, but the fresh air and sunshine, and moving my body, did wonders.  When it's hot here, it's usually cooler in the early morning or evening, so we ride then.  When it rains (like, almost never) we don't ride, but try to take the woofers for a walk between showers.

When I was bald as an egg and the weather was cold, even by California standards, I would run a full tub of hot water and dive in, with just my nose sticking out, and lie there just soaking in the heat.  I fixed my "hair" by rubbing a towel across my scalp.  

Bailey, I lost my eyebrows and eyelashes just toward the end of the chemo.  Fortunately they didn't stay gone too long, but in the meantime, I got really good with eyeliner and drawing on my eyebrows.  

BC changes us in so many ways, but we must not let it steal the knowledge that we are beautiful in our own unique way.  Even a bald head declares me to be a beautiful and exotic warrior.

goldie4040

Ah, I forgot where you lived when I asked that question, SBE.  Of course, you live where you can ride year round.  I can't imagine you had much body fat for diep with all that riding.  My son is a long distance bike rider, and the heat doesn't bother him.  Has some special hydrating gadget he rides with too.  He also has this GPS thingy, and he posts his miles and his routes on Facebook. It's fun to see where he goes, and how far. 

Bailey, I hate hat hair. If you had to make a list of the pros and cons of chemo, that would be on the short list of pros.

Sweetpickle, have we made you feel any better? You are beautiful now, and will be a different beautiful when this is all over.  It's all in your hands. Whatever you decide you want, you can do it.

Today I took off my shirt and looked in the mirror. This expanders are making me look like I have breasts again.  I was trying really hard to make my mind choose the look of breast over the pain of the expanders.  I want to get through this!  All the way. 

liefie

Bluebird, I am not a fan of liver. The only liver that I can stomach is chicken liver, and then it has to be in the form of chicken liver pate. There are many easy recipes on the Internet, it is really quick and easy to make, and tastes very good on crackers or bread. After my hysterectomy I had to get 3 units of blood, and my hemoglobin was very low. When I came home, my family fed me chicken liver pate, spinach and iron supplements. Within a few weeks my hemoglobin was back to normal. If you like clams, mussels and oysters, you will get lots of iron - they contain more iron than any other food. Make sure you get Vit. C with it, because it is necessary for the absorpsion of iron. A little OJ or a squeeze of lemon juice on the seafood will do the trick.

sherry35

Ssla-CONGRATULATIONS on being drain free!

You are all beautiful women!



I came home from hospital today. Fever is gone but I still have 2 weeks worth of heavy duty antibiotics, 4 times a day.

My wound vac sponge is to be changed Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That is all fine but they wanted the same home health care nurse to come and do it. Uh, no! I was told I would see a wound specialist but not until the 24th. So needless to say I'm awake at 3:23 am because I'm too scared to sleep. I'm afraid of getting another incompetent nurse who doesn't know what they are doing or having extreme pain when they change it. Ughh! I wish I wasn't such a worrier! Maybe I will just pop some Ativan before procedure!

Cheers,

Sherry

sweetpickle

Awww, thanks guys! SBE, you look beautiful, thank you for posting before and after pictures! I do have some hair now, people dont look at me like Im a bc patient, just question my fashion sense...lol



I have been unpacking all my cute skinny clothes that I can no longer wear so I got down on myself for a bit. I have bounced out of it now and will be fine. I plan to rock my makeup today, one thing I can still do well :-)



I appreciate the support and I know that things will keep getting better. I feel somewhat pety worrying about y looks when I have just beat bc. Maybe its a good thing that I even have energy to worry about the small stuff now. lol

sweetpickle

Goldie- I have thought the same thing, it would be nice if we were closer to each other and could lend a hand. I am thinking about volunteering at my local bc support center for this very reason. I can give someone a ride or bring food to someone who lives alone.



Hrf- Is there a support center close to you? I hope you have found some help, thinking of you!

MAPBB

Hi All,

I'm heading to NOLA on Labor Day for DIEP I on the 4th and was hoping someone might be able to answer a few questions for me.  Where did you stay and would you recommend it?  Has anyone stayed at the Hope Lodge?  Also, did anyone drive home?  I would really like to drive myself down, have DH fly in and then have son come and drive me back.  I will, of course, not do any driving, just be a passenger.  It's a two day drive back to Chicago.  I know it is somewhat individual but did anyone feel well enough after 10 days to handle a two day drive?  I'm afraid of the flight and driving sounds so much better.  Would love your opinions.  Thanks.