Any Northern Virginia ladies on this discussion board?

Hi Tatyana~

I had my DIEP with Dr. Nahabedian at Georgetown.

Pros:  Nice guy.  Comfortable to talk with.

Great reconstruction job.  Looks good AND I have feeling in it...

My Cons:  I was in the small percentage who get a hernia after the surgery.

required a second surgery to put mesh in...

I still have a sort of "protruding tummy" under my incision site.

I asked about a "Stage 2 procedure" that the ladies on this thread talk about and he said he does not do that. 

I am hoping with time and exercise I can get back to the flat tummy I had before chemo...

Thinking of you~

Ang,

Dr. Nahabedian is certainly world reknown for DIEP.  However, have you thought about getting a second opinion on the "stage 2"?  If so, I'd really recommend talking with the plastic surgeons at Johns Hopkins.  It really isn't that far away, and I have found them to be wonderful!

I'm scheduled to have UMX and DIEP on March 4.  Dr. Nahabedian is my PS.  I was probably not at my best the day I met with him, but didn't get warm fuzzies.  I'd love to hear more on the stage 2.  He did talk about a follow up in 3 months and I thought that was when we evened up the breasts and tweaked and fixed but maybe I misunderstood?  I know the nipple tattoo is then another 3 months or so after that in the office.  Do I have this right?  I didn't realize until later how much of a toll this is taking on my self image and would love to have a PS who will help me get to a place where I can feel as good as possible about how I look given that I'll be down a breast. 

Sasha

hi everyone, my wife had her DIEP last fall with Dr. Venturi at Fairfax, we couldn't be happier with his work, his staff, or how helpful he has been with her.  His web site is at http://www.venturimd.com/.

She will have stage 2 this spring, he plans on lifting her "good" breast and putting some fat on her DIEP breast that he will get via lipo.  After that he'll do the nipple & tatoo in his office.

Hi Ang7,

thanks for the feedback.  The hernia sounds like a frustrating situation.  I'm glad you were able to get it fixed.  So what is this 'Stage 2' concept that Nahabedian doesn't do?  And did you decide to go second opinion?  If I'm going to need a second opinion I'd better do it quick.  I got a billion second opinions on breast surgeons, but by the time I got to checking out PSs I was just too beaten down I think.  Since I knew that Nahabedian was so well known and respected, I figured that I'd go with him so long as I didn't hate him.  Not sure this is the right way to handle it though. . .

I know insurance is supposed to cover work to match up the existing breast and the 'new' breast.  Does insurance cover if you do the initial work with one PS and then additional with a second?

 Anyhow, any insights would be great.  Also, if you (or anyone) has any useful tidbits on the surgery process at Georgetown, I'd love to hear.  I'm not really familiar with the hospital, itself, or the rooms or anything.  Don't even really know what to pack.  *sigh*  And I'm trying to figure out whether/when it will be ok for my kids to come visit me (they are 6 and 9 so old enough to get freaked out but young enough to need extra guidance/management).

 Sasha

taty - they weren't in our plan either but accepted whatever our insurance company paid for out-of-network (plus deductible), they don't balance bill.

ang - my wife goes for stage 2 this spring, he will add some fat to the diep side via liposuction, and will lift the "good" breast to match.  After that's done and she's recovered, she'll have nipple reconstruction and tattooing done.  She only has one small area of her abdominal scar that requires any modification.  She's about 4 months out now and the scar is still there, but it's smooth.  She still says her abdomen around the scar and breast feel kind of numb, our plastic surgeon said it will take about a year for the nerves to complete regenerate.   Overall she's very happy with the choice of DIEP, especially after talking with friends who have had problems with tissue expanders and TRAM flaps.

Thank you Ang7! Sounds very good for me. My DIEP planing to be in May, plenty of time, but Im already nervous.  

I have heard only good things about him. Good luck, Tatyana!

Hi Ladies I am new to this site I live in NOVA..Woodbridge area... I had a bilateral mx with DIEP flap reconstr in July with Dr Sebastian and Dr Davison.(PS).. getting ready to go back to PS thursday to see about the next revisional surgery!... nice to find this :home " board

Thanks Anna! lol its fun she is my favorite and she has just enough attitude to get through the tough times... like me... pure Tinkertude

Maria

Linda Hi so sorry for what you are going through. I believe there is a counsler at Virginia Hospital center that is where i had my surgeries named Kerstin Perini she is a counselor that specializes in BC.  I do see a therapist for PTSD, I see someone in Woodbridge as that is closer to where i live. Hope that helps, please let me know if i can do anything else. Just PM me .. best wishes

Maria

odie - my wife finished chemo in march and will finish Herceptin at the end of the year, please private message us if we can be of any assistance.  We've been fortunate to get wonderful care from Virgina Cancer Specialists.

Thank you Tinkertude & Matthew for the warm welcome.

Funny thing about the surgery   ... I am having it at Fauquier Hospital (Prince William & Fairoaks were booked too far out )   My BS is Cynthia Dougherty, love her!, and my PS is David Allison. All my treatment will be at the Lake Manassas Cancer Center in Gainesville which is a straight shot for me 8 miles west... Feel blessed to really like both my docs.

Hope you & Ms. Matthew are healing well.

my wife had her surgery at Fairfax with Dr. Edmiston (BS) and Dr. Venturi (PS) and is having her chemo/herceptin treatments at the Lake Manassas center in Gainesville.  We've been very happy with that location, plus it's near a Wegmans so I was able to run over get her lunch while she had her longer treatments (Herceptin takes less than an hour now).  The nurses/staff there have been wonderful.