DIEP 2011

Xmas, I am glad you brought this up.  I am wanting to see if any of you had fat on the upper part of your somach too, what some people call the muffin top.  I do have roundness on the bottom part of my stomach but the most troublesome part is above my belly button as it is the part that hangs over my pants.

Susan

kelchris - I had 6 drains and I needed pain med as scheduled, about every 4 to 6 hours, for the first week or so, then tapered down from there. I am now 7 weeks out from DIEP.

Susan - glad you're asking all the questions!! I'm lurking right now, but I did get my DIEP scheduled for 13-Oct.  Quite a ways out, but I need to finish radiation (prob 1st week of June), and then spend the summer healing.  Can't wait to be all done!!

Sandy

@SAMayoFL Nov. 9th is a GREAT day for a DIEP! It used to be my birthday but I stopped having them when I hit 40...HA HA.

 @XmasDX When you refer to a "new" belly button, do you mean new as in I will not recognize it from the one that I am used to seeing on myself, or new as in moved from the original spot to a whole new location ??? Is there a circular scar that goes all around it...or is the scar hidden within the hole of the button? Does it look weird or does it fit in with it's new environment? Here I am wondering about belly button locations when my real concern is the shape of 2 "new" DIEP-enhanced "breasts". Go figure....

It will be an entirely new belly button!  Actually I think that whatever inside of us that the belly button is attached to (a big mystery to me!) stays in place but the ps cuts a new hole in the skin and forms a new belly button.  It is in the same location as your original one, but the skin around it is all different.

Am I making sense?  

Go to the mirror, look at your belly button.  Now imagine that the area from just above your belly button is going to be sewn to the skin above the pubic bone.   This is what will happen!  You can see how tight this would make your abdomen when you look in the mirror.  This is why it surprises me that pregnancy after DIEP is possible, but obviously that skin can stretch and stretch if done slowly and it is needed! 

The skin right after DIEP felt delicate and thin to me at first, for good reason!  My first few days after DIEP the area around my belly button was the most sore area except for my elbows and my throat.  The elbows from the way the position you (arms straight out) and the throat from the intubation tube for 10 hours in my case...

Hi everyone, XmasDX is right the belly button was a big surprise to me too PS never mentioned this part, but considering my concern over the breast and getting rid of cancer this was the least of my worries.

They pull all of your belly skin down and tight so they have to make a new hole or you would have a fold of skin hanging over your belly button. Mine had stitches (disolveable) all around in a circle, but looks darn good considering havent really seen my bellybutton in years!LOL 

XmasDX funny to hear you say your elbows hurt,  I had an awful throbbing in my one elbow post-op...the only pain I had after surgery....Doc said some nerves were probably compromised during surgery,  Still have some numbness on outer part of upper arm.  Thinking of doing PT for increased range of motion in that arm, havent decided yet though..doing exercises at home and wil see how it goes.

I didn't realize the belly button thing before surgery either.  I explained it to my friend (while a bit high on vicodine) that "they had to stretch the skin down over my belly button after they took out the fat and they had to cut a new hole because my belly button couldn't breath".  Ahhhh, drugs.

I have been feeling really good until last night.  Suddenly I'm in a lot of pain again in both breasts and I spent the day back on vicodine.  I don't know if I over did it, or what.  There is no physical change in appearance or temperature to my breasts.  Maybe all of the nerves finished reconnected and I'm getting feeling again.  It is actually making me a bit depressed.  I was feeling a bit like superwoman there for a while.  Thanks for reminding me I'm 49, body! 

Today will be 3 weeks since my first surgery.  So, in reality, I'm only 3 weeks through an 8 week recovery.   Did everyone else have a steady uphill recovery or did anyone else have "those days"?

Not afraid-I am 7 weeks out and I too was doing pretty much everything at 1 week out of surgery-as long as it didn't involve lifting more than 5 lbs- I do follow some rules!    I had some days that were "wow, I feel like I am totally backsliding".   But,  I wasn't concerned, because at my 2 weeks follow up my PS said that you will have a some days that are like that.  He said it was kind of 2 or 3 steps forward and then 1 step backward.  He said it was totally normal for this to happen in the recovery period.  I also noticed that when I probably over did it, I was really pretty wiped out by the end of the day.

I had double mastectomy and DIEP on Mar 14.  16 hour surgery.  Have one drain left that just seems to be stuck at 50 cc's.  Had little or no pain at incisions BUT something happened either in the operating room or post-op that caused some (hopefully) temporary nerve damage to both of my feet.  A burning, stabbing numbness on the tops and sides of my feet and toes and up the outside of my leg to the knee.  It has been hell to deal with.  Have cried many a tear when the pain has worn me to a frazzle. 

Anyone else experience this?  What is the longest time anyone has had on their last drain?

 Thanks.

I think I may be feeling a bit better today - less breast pain.  But, it's still before noon here, so I can't be sure.  I think one of the sports bras I was wearing was too tight and the elastic was riding up causing pain.  Who knows, but I hope I'm feeling good again today.

SAMayoFL I still have fat on my hips on the side and a bit on my upper tummy.  I was wearing leggings and a tank top yesterday so I could see ALL of my body in clothes.  I don't know where they take the fat for stage 2, but I could certainly suggest some areas that still have plenty!!!

I'm probably a B or C post surgery with all of the tummy fat they took.  I do need some shaping done in Stage 2 and I don't know where they get that fat from.  But, I sure have some preferences!

brigadoonbenson  I didn't experience what your going through, but I know it is one of the risks of anaesthesia.  UCLA required me to watch and entire interactive presentation on anaesthesia.  The longer you are out, the more risk of temporary nerve damage you face. I was only out 7 hours the first time (and 2-3 for the emergency proceedure) so I didn't have that experience.  

samayofl  to answer your question, yes i have a fullness above the belly button, by them pulling the skin down, some of that flattened but not all.  i could still stand to lose some weight all over,but not complaining as it is a huge improvement to my tummy troubles.  I think all the sit ups in the world would not touch that lower fat.

Carberry, thank you.  That's exactly what I wanted to know.  No matter how hard I try I am never able to get below about 150 pounds.  No matter what size I am I have a spare tire that runs all the way around my waist.  It seems to hang over my pants all the time and show in all the shirts I have.  UGH!!!

I wonder if the lipo in Stage 2 will help any spare fat that is left in the tummy area?

Susan 

Kelchris, regarding your question re pain medication. I was on a morphine drip for the first 2 days in the hospital. Then they switched me to percocet which made me queasy then vicodin which was better. I went home on day 5 and my PS suggested soon switching to Extra Strength Tylenol which I did. So to summarize I didn't need anything stronger than Extra Strength Tylenol after day 7 or so..............

Susan... I am pre-DIEP too and its scary so I think we want all the info we can get... I appreciate your questions.