DIEP 2013

Morningsun1

Hi Sharon1942, your profile says that you had two DIEP recons, both for the left site. Did you have your tummy open up both times?

nihahi

Go Goldie!!!! Positive vibes streaming out to you.

cherrie....thinking of you...hope the shoulder is improving, hope the "final stage" is small and easy for you.

Janet...good luck at work today. Like sbe said..you aren't going to catch up before coffee time...pace yourself.

jeannie....sorry, I missed the happy dance re: being "scab free"....good for you!!!! Anymore bike rides lately???

sweetpickle...are you already planning your stage 2???

hrf...waiting to hear good news from you

sharon and cstrong.....keep healing ladies....it's a new week, last week is now in the rearview mirror!

kathyb1....I have sent you a pm. I hope you didn't just "vent" and disappear, but are staying around to benefit from the compassion and support of these ladies. You have much healing to do....we are here to help.

Have great days, everyone!

Anonymous

Janet I hope you have a great first week back.



Goldie (((hugs)))) praying for you, sister.



Happy Monday to the rest!

Janet_M

Thanks you everyone, for the back-to-work encouragment. (Obviously I'm not working too hard at the moment).  I am really touched by the support, and words of wisdom. Thank you so much - I'm just so grateful for all the thoughtfulness and understanding..

Curllocks - Hooray for you ! I hope that your chills have gone away and that you can just enjoy your fantastic acomplishment. 

Sharon1942

TammyT, my unilateral left DIEP was 9/18/12. The surgery on 4/5/13 was stage 2 to reposition flap & to reduce/lift natural righty. The surgery 9/13/13 was stage 2b to reduce flap by lipo, remove dog ear from lifted righty, & abdominal scar revision. When entering your surgeries on this site you are not given the option to say it is a stage after original DIEP. I just went back & removed DIEP from my last 2 surgeries to make it more clear, even though they were DIEP stages. Does that make sense? By the way, my PS does not refer to them as stages. I think that is a thing ladies on BC.org do to explain their procedures, so I followed suit.

Morningsun1

Thanks Sharon! I was just wondering when will be the right time for the revision of the big ugly smile I have on my tummy . A year seems right. Have good ones, gloobers!

Janet, welcome back to the working women's league! You will tire easily, so go slow.

Morningsun1

kathyb1, I am also from PGH and I am very happy with my PS. We do have good ones here locally, so if you need any information, please feel free to PM me.

goldie4040

Back from docs.  Bronchoscopy on Friday.  He said it takes all of five minutes, and I will not be totally knocked out. Just something in a IV to totally relax me, but I will need somebody to drive me home. He doesn't seem to concerned with the nodules on the trachea, but we will see on Friday.  

My poor DH has to spend another day off at a hospital, or docs office.  I feel so badly for him. Our lives are turned upside down. 

Sharon, you sound like you are doing super.

Janet, I bet everybody at work was happy to see you.

sbelizabeth

Goldie, welcome home from the appt.  I hope it left you feeling encouraged.  When I verbalized regret to my DH about all the time he's spent driving me here and there, sitting in waiting rooms, holding my hand in doctor's offices, he reminded me of the vows we took 36 years ago.  "In sickness and in health." 

Yes, BC has turned our regular and smoothly-scheduled days upside down.  That's just part of the rodeo.  But for my DH and me, it's brought us closer, and I would do the same for him in a heartbeat.  I bet your DH feels the same way.

Sharon1942

TammyT, PS pulled my FUPA up with my abdominal scar revision for a little more bonus with the tummy tuck. 😃

Sharon1942

Goldie, so glad you get the bronchoscopy over with on Friday & that the doc thinks it is nothing. It's all starting to work out for the best!

goldie4040

SBE, my DH has never once complained about going with me all the time, and he has always been by advocate. The first night after my bmx was a nightmare, and he spent the whole night right there with me.  The next night I made him go home, but before he left he gave the nurse a list of does and don'ts.  LOL.  They were not allowed to wake me up for anything!!!!  I was allowed to ask them for assitance, or pain meds but they better let me sleep.  They left me alone all night.  It was great.  

I know he doesn't mind, but I am half Italian and half Jewish, we carry a lot of guilt by nature...lol. There are parts of this that have brought us closer, but then there are stresses that have caused a few bumps in the road.  Mostly it's me stressing over things that have to run their course, and take time, and I want everything done NOW.....

goldie4040

Thanks, Sharon.  I hope that's the case!!!!   I will let you know. How are you today?

Anonymous

LMAO...I do not have a "smile" scar lol...mine looks dismayed.....goes straight across lol _________________

Sharon1942

Goldie, no pain today, just tired, so I'm taking lots of naps. Incisions are healing well, too. Got to go call make appointment to see Dr. T this Thursday to remove the nipple dressing.

Morningsun1

bailey, strickly speaking, neither do I. Mine is more like yours, but since everyone else calls it a "smile," I had to comply. Oh, for bonus, I got eyes too. under my defective gloobs.

FierceBluebird

I'm way behind, but happy birthday movie and happy to hear you are home Goldie.

Manuka Honey is a specail honey used for wound treatment. All honey has beneficial wound healing properties, but Manuka honey from New Zealand has medicinal recognition becauset the bees harvest pollen from Manuka plants/tea tree blossoms.

Don't confuse raw Manuka honey with products that "contain" Manuka honey. Many products are beneficial as skin creams, but have many other ingredients such as aloe vera or oils.  These products are not meant to heal wounds.

UMF and MGO ratings are both used to indicate the antibacterial strength of Manuka Honey. The Manuka honey I use is rated 400+, the same one Bailey ordered I believe.  (Manuka Health in New Zealand)

I had very good response to regular raw honey from a friend's beehive, but my healing was even quicker with the Manuka honey. You can eat Manuka honey, but I can't imagine anyone would! You can actually smell the antiseptic properties and it's really thick. It is sticky and gooey, but I bought a bag of popsicle sticks and use a fresh clean stick to scoop some out onto a wound dressing pad. The teflon pads work the best since the honey will not absorb into the pad, but will absorb into your wound and skin.  Within 2 days of starting Manuka honey, my black scab receded and just lifted away. My PS was able to cut it off in his office. Fresh new tissue was underneath. It's still a healing process, but I've been really pleased with it so far.

Buzz, buzz, buzz!!!! Time for some tea and honey! (regular of course!)

(I should warn that if you tell medical people you are using honey, you will get the frowny face!)

Jeannie57

Goldie, so relieved that you get to have your test Friday. Hoping for the BEST news so you can move forward.



Sharon, I hope my stage II is like yours! You sound like you are doing great and I like what your PS did for you.



I have a goofy "smile." It goes up in the center kind of like an upper lip would. Wonder what my PS will say about that!



Janet, hope your day at work is good and you can kick off your shoes once in awhile, if that's appropriate!I really enjoy your blog, by the way.



Nihahi, I haven't been on a bike ride this past week but I just did the elliptical for the first time since surgery. That felt good! I'm going to learn fly fishing in a couple weeks so that lit a fire under my butt!

Morningsun1

Great information, Bluebird. Does that honey also work on scars?

Morningsun1

I am not surprised, Jeannie. I think Wilbur put that goofy smile on your tummy as a reminder...

Jeannie57

Haha, Tammy! I hadn't thought of that!

FierceBluebird

I haven't used it on scars, only my wound that wasn't healing. I would think creams and softeners might be better for scars. Manuka honey is more of an antiseptic type ointment that debrides and allows tissue to fill in. I used it on my eschar wound that was about 4-5" wide and around.

I saw this video on Youtube and it really struck a chord with me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkXpllE2baU Confession of a Uniboober.  If you substitute "flap" for "implant" my story is almost the same as hers. When she gets emotional talking about having her implant removed in the doctor's office, it really got to me. My doctor who I also trusted- opened me up and cut out part of my flap in between seeing patients. I will never forget it.  

When I later was scheduled for "debriding" and expected to wake up from anesthesia feeling "clean and fresh" and instead woke up with a missing breast a month out from my original surgery, I was devastated.  I'm not sure if I'll ever trust doctors again.  But all you can do is continue moving forward and put your trust in a higher power.

hrf

Janet, hope your first day at work is going well.



Gentle hugs to all who are healing.



Saw PS this morning and she feels that there has been some progress with the AquacelAg so wants to continue that. The area in the middle is still problematic and has opened slightly so now the nurse will have to start packing the wound every day. The saga continues but at least some of it was positive. Thanks for all your support.

goldie4040

Hrf, that is great news, and not so great news about a new area opening up.  I am so sorry.  How are your foobs?  Are they at least great?

Bluebird, video made me cry, of course.  I can't imagine losing my breasts (well, I can), and then losing the replacement one too.  You are a strong woman, and you are going to get through this. 

Thanks, Jeannie. Hope it all goes smoothly, and I have no more surprises.  

Sharon, take lots of naps, and heal.  That anesthesia can sneak up on you.  You will be good as new in a few days.

la2shea

Since wounds seem to be such a hot topic I have something to add. I had my ab incisions sewn up again last Thursday for the THIRD time. My tummy that had started to flatten is now swollen again. My PS discharged me to return to work 9/30. The right side has opened up again as of today. I just feel so defeated. I can't deal with this anymore

Anonymous

Ok....Manuka honey arrived today. Yes, Bluebird, it is the one by Manuka Health New Zealand, MGO 400+ Manuka Honey. I bought it from Amazon.com. It does smell more "medicinal" than regular honey....although it makes me want to eat the honey in the cupboard. I love honey. Anyway, I have some tiny sterile brushes and I used one of those to spread it on. Then I covered with a bit of gauze and a piece of tegaderm to keep it from oozing on my clothes.



Now I am sitting here debating whether or not to try it on the rope burn I got on my hand while the kids were rock climbing this weekend.....why not!

christina0001

curlylocks - your fundraising total is amazing!!! You are incredible!!! Hope you get your surgery date soon.

Tracy you do not suck, this is such a hard surgery to get over. Hopefully the turning point for you is just around the corner.

sbel, I can't believe you can't get the LTC policy until you are done with recon. What if you had decided to delay and get it 5 years from now? That's just crazy.

goldie - hope your test went well today! With totally normal results!

movie - happy birthday!

Janet - I hope your first day back at work went well. I think going back to work did more for me mentally than anything else. Hope it was the same for you.

FierceBluebird

Janet, hope things went well today at work. Today was supposed to be my return to work day also. Oh well. I'm in no rush at this point.

la2shea, hang in there. I've given up at this point worrying about healing issues.  I also reopened this past weekend, and I'm now calling myself Mrs. Butterworth since I'm spouting lots of buttery liquid. The Manuka honey worked well on my burned necrotic skin, but my failed flap side has holes leaking butter. I've cried so many tears over this whole surgery mess, that I can't afford to lose both tears and liquid butter or I'll dehydrate and crumble. lol...  I will heal in my own good time.

Meeting with two different radiologists this week for opinions.  My opinion is, "I'm getting a puppy!"  I need something positive to focus on, and I can't rely on my own healing anymore! Setback after setback has a way of doing that.

sbelizabeth

La2shea, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this nastiness.  A closed incision should just stay closed.  Did your PS have any suggestions for improving your chances of holding together?  More protein in your diet?  Less stress on the incision?  This must be so disheartening for you! 

Bailey, I'll be anticipating your report on how the manuka honey does for your open spots.  I finally made an appt with my PS for him to see mine on Wednesday.  Initially his assistant panicked--she thought I was calling to report more cellulitis--but I told her it's not infected, it just looks like the underside of one of my noobs doesn't want to stay stitched down to my chest.  It's not painful, or wide open, just a little open along the incision line in the inframmary fold. 

Are we comparing measurements of abdominal incisions?  I'm afraid if the length of mine were applied to some of you petite things it would meet in the back.  It's 25" and goes all the way around, starting from behind the the sticky-outey hip bones.  I'm not a small woman...never was, and never will be, no matter how far or how fast I ride a bike.

Christina, I was hoping to get my LTC insurance all buttoned up before my birthday in October, to take advantage of lower rates, but no luck.  And really...who cares?  It's not like I would just skip my recon so I could get an early start on long-term care insurance.  I'll try to drive carefully between now and next year, when I can get a policy underwritten.

Out for a ride.  Nihahi, I'll take pictures so you can admire our crispy landscape.  I'm afraid to ride too fast in case a spark from my wheels sets off a brushfire!  (I'm kidding...)

sbelizabeth

Ah, Bluebird, God bless you, dear sister.  Your resolute strength and humor in the face of disappointment is awe-inspiring. 

Now...HEAL!  (not referring to the puppy!)