DIEP 2013

Jeannie57

GwennyMD, sorry!



Yay for you, Mammalou! Glad to hear you even feel like taking a walk! Three miles!



Greetings to everybody else. I read everything but I know you understand how hard it is to respond to everyone!

faith729

Hi ladies so busy here ! Sorry I haven't stopped in for a while. Both of my boys just started 5th and 7th grade and I also started my classes ! Despite the recent cancer diagnosis I'm moving forward. I refuse to let it stop me from getting closer to completing my goals.



My surgery is set for sept 24th and I hope that my voice will be OK for school and that I will be able to get to school during recovery. I've been told by my surgeon that my voice will be either gone or weak for many weeks after mostly in the afternoon. They won't know if any further treatment will be needed for a while after surgery. There is a new trial with chemo for thyroid cancer but I'm not sure if I will be advised to do that. The problem is that it looks like the cancer has spread to my lymph nodes and even if the Thyroid is removed cpmpletely the cancer can still come back.



Anyway you ladies make me smile so I keep reading when I can. The goat pic made me laugh thanks Nihahi ! Happy healing to all

nihahi

Borrowed from a wonderful friend on another thread....

Start  every day with a new hope, leave bad memories behind, and have faith for a better tomorrow

(but I also am totally onboard for standing beneath the stars and screaming at the universe sometimes.....never hurts to have a backup plan!)

Anonymous

Beautiful picture and thoughts, Nihahi. Made me remember how very, very angry I was with God when my BIL passed away...on Christmas Day...leaving my sister and 7 year old nephew on their own. My DH was angry with me for being angry at God. I can remember telling him that being angry with God was ok....because even if I am kicking and screaming and shaking my fist at His will I still believe in Him...I still have faith and am looking for grace...just taking the long way to get there.



Sometimes our hearts do need to take the long way around, I think.

sbelizabeth

Mrtw, I second what Jeannie said.  You're right where you need to be, activity wise.  You're doing great.  We're all so different, with different recovery challenges!  If I had attempted to hike at altitude with Nihahi and Movie, I'd have been green and gasping in no time.  But I live at sea level where the oxygen is more available, and I ride my bike almost every day, so it's easier than walking. 

Bailey...Sometimes our hearts do need to take the long way around, I think.  Yes, indeed.  Well said, sister.

sherry35

Bluebird, i feel your anger, i too am in an angry phase. I know it wasnt meant to be funny but damn girl, Suck Wilbur's balls? That shit made me laugh, out loud, for the first time in a long time!

My nurse said I had to make the vac my friend, maybe give it a name. I said ok how about little fu$&er!?! Does anyone else who has or had open abdominal wounds feel like something is being stuffed into where your uterus would be? Last few days that's been driving me crazy!

Not only has my heart taken the long way around, I have gotten lost on some backwoods shortcut and I'm having a lot of trouble finding my way back!

I love hearing about what all of you vets are doing in terms of activity and somedays it pisses me off and other days it inspires me!

I will get to the other side, this too shall pass- I'm just not real patient and want it done now!

Faith- best of luck in all that you do. I think of you often!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Moviemaniac

Sherry-damn girl, you ARE a trooper......I laughed when I read what you were calling your wound vac.....lol......yeah, I remember feeling like I was packing clear back to my spine, but in reality it was to my muscles. I don't want to get too gross here, but I had a friend who had uterine surgery of some sort....long story short, her sutures ruptured exposing everything right down into her abdominal cavity......and she had to pack it for weeks....Dr. Would not re-suture.......THAT was scary! At least we have muscles covering the cavity, and no loose organs rolling around! You WILL get through it.....patience my grasshopper..........sending you a big dehiscence (((hug))))......,,,someday, it will ALL come together......(terrible joke, I know...... :P. )

liefie

I've been rolling around in bed for an hour trying to fall asleep, then got up. No use staying there, so came here.

Bailey, your last post rings so true for many of us. When diagnosed with bc I was still reeling from the shock weeks afterwards, shaking my fist at God, struggling to come to terms with this bomb that's been dropped on me. Then I received a profound e-mail from a wonderful friend. What it came down to was that these things do not make sense to us, but it does make sense to God. It is not in our hands. That really hit home for me, and I could made peace with my circumstances.

Sherry, your wonderful sense of humour is intact, and that is a sign that you will prevail for sure. Nihahi said here a while ago that she sometimes has 'survivor's guilt' when she reads about all of you who are going through such struggles after this surgery. I feel the same, not having had a single complication or any noteworthy pain, and I am truly grateful for that. Just know that you, Bluebird and the others are always in my thoughts, and I wish you all speedy progress in your recovery. This too shall pass - my mantra during chemo, but appropriate here too. It will be slower, but you WILL get there too.

Bluebird, you are too funny about what you will do re: poor Wilbur - LOL! That's the spirit!

(((((((((((FAITH)))))))))) Hang in there!

Katita182514

Hi ladies,

I had a bilateral mastectomy with DIEP reconstruction on August 29th, 2013 ( just 10 days ago).

Can't sleep...

Surgery was about 11.5 hours. I stay in the hospital for 4 days. Everything was going as planed until my doctor removed 3 out of 4 drains on day 7th. I still have one left on my right abdomen,because its still about 50cc coming out of that side.

Now for over 24 hours I have this extreme discomfort in my rib cage on the left side. I'm not sure if drainages to blame ... But I had to the point when my husband took me to emergency last night, because I want to make sure is no blood clots in the lung.

They run some tests ( X-ray, CT scan and blood work) and said to me it is some fluid in the lung but thank God no blood clots. I was sent home.

Here I'm in the middle of the night hopping if someone had similar condition and tell me what should I do. I contacted my surgeon, she is not concern about this .

This is what I have: every breath I take give me extreme pain in the rib on my left side. I can't fully breath. Pain meds won't do anything .

Please, if someone had the same thing tell me what should I do.

Thank you all for your time,

Kat

Tracy516

Sorry you feel bad KATiTA!! I didn't have but the nurses had me blow in that thingy every hour 10x. They says it was so my lungs stayed clear! I hope they can fix for you.



Ok up again til 3am last night then up 8! I'm really tired too.:(

mrtw43

Kat, I had the same surgery aug 5th I was in the hospital for 5 days and on the 5th day about 2 hours before I left, my PS removed all 3 of my drains. I got home Friday evening and by Sat I had swollen up like a balloon and wow did it hurt. My chest was extremely uncomfortable and my thighs were huge and tight. I had gained 11 lbs from all the swelling. When I saw my PS on Mon, they did an ultrasound and I was told it was just swollen almost no fluid, however that didnt help with the pain. But, within a few days the swelling went down and I felt so much better. Good luck to you.

Katita182514

Thank you for quick reply,

I don't see any unusual swelling . Just feels like broken rib( I never had them broken before).

You know the feeling when you afraid to breath in fully... It's just this sharp pain in the ribs.

Thank you,

And good luck to you with your recovery as well,

Kat

Katita182514

Hi Tracy ,

I'm not alone not sleeping:-)

Do you think the breathing exesice can help? Should I keep breath deeply even if its painful?

I had almost the same condition first 2 days after surgery,but then start coughing out and it was fine.

Strength to you with your recovery,

Kat

christina0001

Funny posts today! @ Tracy, Jeannie and nihahi. Thanks for putting a smile on my face to start off Sunday with!

faith, good for you for continuing to push forward. I was in school when I was diagnosed and I managed to push through it all and graduate on time. I think it was actually a good distraction many days, a nice mental break from the big C. I don't have kids though, I can't imagine how much more challenging it would have been with little ones to care for. I bet you'll do great though. 

sherry, love your name for the wound vac! LOL Everyone is so sassy today, I love it!

Kat I am so sorry you are hurting so bad.  10 days out I certainly had pain although I'm sure it's scary to have it so specific to a particularly spot. All I can suggest is to keep taking your pain pills as often as prescribed, and perhaps tomorrow if it's still there, call your PS's office and ask them to give you a script for something stronger as your pain is not under control. It could be so many different things and unfortunately I think most of us have suffered through pain that was not well controlled for at least part of the recovery process. I had 24-48 hours of a stabbing, intermittent pain that my PS thought was probably a nerve trying to regrow. It felt like I was being stabbed with an ice pick. Some of us have found relief for some pain with ice packs or heat packs; just be careful if you try that as you have reduced or no skin sensitivity on your new breasts. Breathing exercises: if I were in your shoes I would try it, but if it causes too much discomfort I would stop. You can always try again later. I do hope you feel better. This surgery is brutal. 

Woke up this morning and actually worked out a little bit. I think you are all inspiring me because I normally hate to exercise. Tuesday I will be six weeks out from DIEP. I was able to do 10 sit-ups this morning (I normally can only do 15 LOL)! So i was quite pleased and proud of myself. My tummy incision felt a little stretchy but nothing of significant discomfort. I did a buttock-targeting workout because now that I have a flat tummy, I feel like my butt looks huge.   LOL

Anonymous

mrtw43

I came home with little peices of tape along my smile and around the foob incisions (I have the lollipop incisions). The Ps told me that as the tape begins to peel up to just go ahead and remove it. I am down to only a few peices on my smile but I have yet to take one off on my breasts. They are not beginning to peel off and I am 4 weeks out.



Did anyone else have this issue? I am afraid if I start taking them off something bad will happen, but now I am starting to think if I don't get them off something bad will happen. I don't go back to my PS for 2 more weeks.

nihahi

9/9/13       ssla01 (Stage 2) Dr. Massey
9/10/13     Cstrong (BMX with immediate Diep)
9/10/13     Zoemom  (Diep)
9/10/13     mtpeteacher (unimx and implant removal, Bilateral Diep) NOLA
9/12/13     Katita (Bilateral Diep) Vancouver General, Vancouver, BC OOps, sorry, katita, looks like I made an error on your date....congrats on the surgery and now being on the other side!!!!!!
9/13/13     Sharon1942 (Stage 2B) UTSW

This weeks group of ladies.....safe surgeries, gentle healing to you all. Wilbur...STEP IT UP MAN, STOP SCREWING AROUND WITH OUR SISTERS!!!!!!

Katita...I second the "keep up with the deep breathing" theory. Rarely is deep breathing contraindicated for anything, and after such long anesthesia, flexed position, sore tummies and inactivity...well, it's a perfect scenario for compromised lungs. I truly HATED the inspirometer thingy (didn't we all?) but so important. Don't push yourself to intense pain, but can you take yourself to the point where you "start" to feel the discomfort and go a teensy, tiny bit more??? If you're at home, maybe watching tv to pass some time.....do your deep breathing at every commercial (really...who needs to watch those anyway!!), if you're reading...put a bookmark every couple pages, and use that as your marker....hopefully things get better...if not...let your doc know.

mrt....when I mentioned I had run the other day, I also said I am almost 5 MONTHS post, you are 4 WEEKS!!!! In "Wilbur-Speak" that is a HUGE difference!!!! I'm just saying......at 4 weeks, I was measuring my walks by which bench I was aiming for that day!!!

hmm...exactly who won that football game???? My brother and sister both graduated from Univ of Michigan, so I guess I'd be a "blue" fan too. Sorry Bailey.....I do love green also!!!!!

Busy day here again....thinking of you all....hugs flying out of and around Canada to everyone!!!!! Have good days.

nihahi

Bailey.....crossing posts....just saw yours.....does this mean you're speechless today???? 

nihahi

mrt...I think it was liefie who had the "stuck like glue" steristrips, and I've had that for other unrelated incisions too. Try putting polysporin on top of the steristrip....it should loosen things up fairly quickly, and they will peel off without trauma to the incision underneath. 

OK NOW I'M OUTTA HERE!!!!!

Katita182514

Hi Nihahi,

You are amazing!!! How you noticed the date of my surgery changed? :-) I didn't want to bother you with that. Yes, they get me 2 weeks earlier ( less time to think about it). And here I'm now on this side...

I will try deep breathing theory,hopefully will get better.

I have a beautiful Russian Blue cat name Dasha, she never left my side,I think she is trying to heel me.

My dear husband also doing such a good job taking care of me and our 4 year old daughter . Poor thing she doesn't get it why mommy is sick.

Strength and hope to all of us!

Kat

Jeannie57

Hi, Kat,I had pleural effusion like you describe after surgery, too. It sent me to emergency, had all the tests, sent home. I continued to blow in the breathing thing as much as I could. The pain was gone a week later, no other treatment. I'm sorry you are going through this. It does get better!

Katita182514

Hi Jeannie ,

Thank you so much for your help. I will start counting down and hope it would go away on it own. My PS suggesting pain killers for now. But when I taking something stronger for pain I almost afraid I can stop breathing . Do you know what I mean?

Kat

mammalou

Ok, have to inject another packing horror story. My baby boy ( who is now 20) had open heart surgery at birth and then again at 11 months. At 11 months he got a staff infection in the sternal wound. He had an inch of pus built up underneath before I held his little arms down and they cut open the incision. For about two weeks it was packed several times a day.

Every time the packing came out, his chest would open and close with every breath he took. It was so creepy but being the mom, I had to suck it up.

Sharing done.

liefie

Katita, hi and welcome from Vancouver Island! Happy to hear you are past DIEP, but sorry to hear about the breathing problems. I did not have that, but on this board here will always be somebody who can relate like our Jeannie who suffered through the same thing. I had some discomfort the first few weeks whenever I took a deep breath, but it was because PS had removed an inch of a rib to get to the mammary vessels. Don't feel it anymore almost 4 months past DIEP. Dasha sounds lovely! I have a beautiful Siamese, Suki, who is my little shadow. Animals are the best.

Mammalou, I hear you about holding down your little one while a procedure is done on him. Had to do that once when my 4-year old son cut open his forehead on the corner of the coffee table. It was a long cut, and every time it opened, you could see the bone. Had to hold him down while he was sutured up - not good, and that's why I'm not a nurse. LOL.

Katita182514

Hi Liefie,

You live so close:-) Who was your doctors?

I'm so fortunate to find this forum, I had a concern in the middle of the sleepless night and get some answers .

Strength and hope to all of us

Kat

marieann1020

Hi ladies,

I'm done  Diep went well, just a little sore

I'm home, thank you for your good wishes, and prayers.

Anne

Tracy516

Marieann102!!!! May Wilbur be with you.

marieann1020

H Tracy,.

Wilbur was sure with me -- so glad its over

feeling soooo week ...and shakey

Anne

Jeannie57

Kat,I'm sorry for your fear of not breathing on meds. You will keep breathing. If that were an issue, I'm sure you would still be in the hospital. Try to rest and relax!



Anne, welcome to flapper-world! I hope you have a steady, uneventful recovery! It does require lots of patience.



Happy Sunday, sisters! C'mon Seahawks. And 49ers. I'm a northern CA girl, too.

sbelizabeth

Mrtw, feel free to gently peel of the remaining steri-strips on your incisions.  They've done their job.  Like Nihahi said, a little ointment on the stuck strips will get them to release gently. 

Hi, Marieann, and welcome to the other side of DIEP!  I hope your recovery is steady and uneventful.

Mammalou, your story of needing to hold your son still while his sternal incision was opened is truly horrifying.  Bless you for having the grit to hang in there!  My son crashed his mountain bike and needed stitches in his elbow and was so needle phobic I wondered how we would get the job done.  He was fifteen and weighed 170 lbs!  I finally just said, the doctor and I can't hold you down, honey, you're just going to have to get a grip on yourself.  And bless his scared heart, he did.  The same kid is now a doctor!

For those who are interested, Michigan beat Notre Dame last night.  It was a great game.  I made chili, guacamole, and molasses cookies, and we invited my DIL's mom and dad too.  Not doing that again.  They SO hog the baby. LOL...