DIEP 2011

Marxi

 You are in my thoughts and prayers, you have been through so much. Grateful your medical team was able to fix and revise.

May God's healing arms be around you.

That is great that you only have 1 drain left after all you went through. I keep telling myself only 1-2 more weeks until I can get them out hopefully since I am 2 weeks postop today. They are pulling 1 of the abdomen drains on Wednesday. My doc's office will not pull both abdomen drains at the same time. Fine with me. I would rather have them in too long than too short.

hello - i have had a weird couple of weeks ill try to keep it short & sweet

- had last chemo 2/18

- was told a surg date of 3/18 found out in one week i needed a rads consult  im in a gray area because i have micro mets or itc , broke down in my nurse navigators office , found out i was booked for 3/11 nice surprise .

- caught the crud taking forever to quit coughing im sure due to being so close to my end of chemo , surg was postponed at the last minute because of this  

- was told a date of 3/29 , had a weird feeling , my nurse navigator checked for me & surprise im on the surg schedule for 3/31.

im having a bmx w/ diep - or that is the plan , this changing dates & finding out in not the best ways is kinda messing with my head , the ps & bs have theis great idea to put me on tamoxifen to prevent anything sprining up between now & surg date. onc told me i can if want , but is not neccesary . she says im on herceptin & seeing them regularly  so there should be nothing to worry about .

asking for  honest opinion on the tamox & for those who are on the other side of this crazy journey post surg ........ is it really worth all this hubaballo for the recon . i feel like an ass for putting my family through this for boobs .

rmf: Hardly seems worth it to take Tamoxifen for 2 weeks. Anyway -- it is usually recommended that you be off T for several weeks before a surgical procedure as it increases your risk of  clottting  (strokes, pulmonary embolism, etc). I thought this was a precaution most surgeons adhered to -- maybe not.

Hey Sharon, I am getting my tats done next week (22nd) and Stage2 consult not until April 6th. I'll keep you updated!!! I asked if it would hurt (lol right after what we have all been through) and the answer was; "Well how much feeling do you have back"???  Ho Hum.

Thanks, Scubacat.  The worst is over and it's great to be home.  My left flap is still very swollen and there's some fluid and also hardness.  But, I have been told this will change over next few weeks.  I really beat myself up during the most difficult period in the hospital.  I was so exhausted and sick and weak and felt that I had made the worst possible decision.  Now, I am just thinking positively.

I had the DIEP procedure in September 2010.  It was about a 13 hour surgery and it went very well.  It is a long recovery but it wasn't horrible. I spent 4 days in the hospital and my PS came to see me every Just long.  The biggest problem for me was that I had  breast and tummy wounds that basically stopped healing when I started chemotherapy a few months after the surgery.  I have had to wear a wound vaccum since the 2nd chemotherapy and we "guess" I may have to wear it for a while after the chemo ends (my last treatment is this Friday March 18!).  My surgeon was fantastic and I still see her at least twice a month to check the wound healing.  My problem is no one seems to have any experience with this.  It's frustrating.

Best to all of you!

I was told yesterday that my doc's office stops the tamoxifen for 30 days.

Keeping you all up to date:  I went to see my PS today.  I have a fat necrosis on top of the reconstructed breast which he felt would settle down and be absorbed in to my body, but it has gotten much worse.  I looked it up and it does not look like fun.  He is going to have to do surgery on it in a few weeks, so he does not think it is an emergency.  This is the side I had radiation on and the skin involved is the radiated skin, not the flap.  It has swelled up hard and has a widening red spot on it.  He will go in the original incision (I might as well have a zipper - this will be the 4th time in this incision.)  He will remove the fat involved which will make the breast lay better.  At the same time he will adjust the side a little to bring it up and toward the middle a little.  The bottom stitches I have are right at the bottom of the breast where the bra would be and they are still inflamed - again on radiated tissue, so he will try to get that to move up a little.  I have not been able to wear a bra and it's been 3-1/2 months.  If this comes out good, I probably won't have to wear a bra unless I want to until the left breast starts to age and droop.  But, I probably won't have a very good cleavage.  We are trying to match am implant on the right with the tissue reconstruction on the left and that will never be as protruding as an implant.  At the same time as this surgery, he will contour my tummy dogears and said he would get rid of my fatty hip handles too.  I think he feels bad I have healed so slowly and have so many issues.  My tummy bloat is still there but I think it is getting better and PS said it looked slimmer.  He measured me and weighed me so we can compare when I see him before surgery.  Anyone else have fat necrosis problems in their reconstructed breast?

I am not decided on nipple recon yet, still waiting to see what PS says on that one. This is just tats on areola as far as I am aware because right now I have no nipples - not sure I want any at all! Anyone got any info on reconstructed nipples who has done this??? Did you do it at stage2 or later??  It's something I need to think about. I'll update you all after tats on Tues!

dannade, I think I may have some fat necrosis starting... how can I tell?

There is an area above breast on chest that I think maybe getting firm.  I am having an issue in one area on incision of new breast. PS said that it is sloughing  it's not a problem.  Did not say fat necrosis or seroma, but cleaned out and put a few sutrers, said it would get worse before it got better and to put sliverdene and non-stick gauze on the are.  It's oozing more and

it's so upsetting and hope it is not going to an infection or compromise flap. I wish this area was healing nicely as everywhere else,

We have to just hope and pray that any thing can be revised/fixed.

Hi to everyone! I'm jumping onto this thread because my DIEP is scheduled for this coming Tuesday - Mar. 22, 2011. I'm in Seattle and having my surgery at the UW Medical Center. I've been working with my PS since I had a SMX with T/E Oct.27, 2010. I feel like I have asked every question I could think of and read a lot on these forums to make sure I am well informed and know what to expect, as best as I can.



I'm curious about what advice you would have for the day/night before surgery in order to relax and go into the surgery as calm and ready as possible. What did you do that worked well?

Hi Treesprite -

My family happened to be having a b-day party for my niece 2 days before my surgery so that party was a great distraction... the day before I had to go get injected for the SNB so that kept me busy.  I don't know why I was relaxed, but I just was... packing, getting ready, I think I was just relieved the day had finally arrived after so many months of waiting.

One piece of advice, in my experience anyway, if possible have someone stay the nights in the hospital with you.  The nurses are busy, and you may be in the ICU where the nurses are VERY busy.  It's helpful to have someone with you if you need pillows adjusted, water, etc because you really won't be doing anything for yourself that first night at all.  Just my tip...

I'm hope things will go great for you, tomorrow marks 3 weeks out for me (uni-MX and DIEP) and I'm very glad I had it done so far at this point.  

Things I was so glad to have at the hospital:  iPod & headphones, headband to keep hair back (not ponytail holder, won't want to lay on that!), chapstick, mints, DH!

Hi treesprite, all good wishes for this week. We packed ourselves up and went to LA for 5 days and the last day of this trip included a day and night at Disneyland. I just wanted to be a big kid for the day and DH, a very good girlfriend and I had a wonderful day and a great dinner before flying back to Dallas. It was only marred by some issues with my pre-op tests that I had done before I went, but all-in-all it worked well for us because I was able to relax and have some fun. Best wishes and I hope all goes well for your DIEP this week. (I am almost 2 months out now.)

So this is 3 weeks out of surgery for me today... the abdominal incision does not hurt too much anymore, the tape is still on most of the scar.

But my boob!  OUCH!  It is 100% sore and tender, seems a little swollen, has some scar/hard spots especially where the drains were and where the SNB was, and where the main perforators were connected.  What does all this sensation ( i.e. pain) mean?  Did they reconnect nerves?  Will this be a good thing in the long run?  

For the women that are more than a month out or so, how long did you have breast pain?  

I try to not take my prescribed Tramadol much anymore (bedtime only?) and have switched to 2 Aleve in the AM, one in the early evening, then the Tramadol at bedtime.  Am I just not taking enough pain meds?  It seems like some DIEP patients ditch them after a few days/weeks.  I know everyone is different.

The drain hole from the breast is at the inframammary fold and is the biopsy site also, it is a large hole and I know it will take a while to heal.  It does not seem infected, I put neosporin on gauze and tape it with paper tape each day.  I know it will take a while to heal, but it is not really the source of my breast pain.

Just wondering if this tenderness is normal, and since it is not 1% better since surgery how much longer before I won't be terrified of someone bumping into me or hugging me too tightly?  A month?  6 months?  Ever?  I expected to be more numb.  I do NOT feel that I have any seromas or hematomas.  It's been like this since the beginning really.  Ouch!  Any advice / experiences to relay are appreciated!