DIEP 2011

Hi Everyone,

I will be having my DIEP surgery on June 20th (delayed uni).  I have been faithfully reading all your posts and have really appreciated your information.  I have a question for those who have already had their surgery.......did you have any problems with your arm after the surgery?  did you have to do exercises to gain mobility back?  does the surgery contribute to the risk of lymphedema?

thanks so much in advance

p.s.  I'm going to look into those meditation/visualization tapes

Sue, just know you will be in my thoughts all day tomorrow.  I will be chompin' at the bit till I hear from your sister.  GOOD LUCK GIRL!!!!

Susan

Momtomygirls - I actually had mild lymphedema before my bilat DIEP, and am thrilled that my lymphedema has actually improved since the surgery! I am thinking that the shape of my new breast relieves some of the constriction that my mastectomy scar caused by pulling into my armpit.

SAMayoFL ~ I love my results so far ;}... I am two weeks out today so I still have some swelling. After all that has happened with the implant failures I am sooooo happy. Treesprite~ My first set of implants looked and did good for two years. As time went on, the skin along the scar line began to get VERY thin and the front of my breasts started feeling like plastic to me. I was in an ATV accident in July 2009, I do not remember much about it. I was told my ATV went down a 50 FT revene. I woke up three days later in the ICU unit. In the accident my left implant was damage and the pocket was ruined. In December of 2010 I went in for another surgery to have the left one replaced, however when I went in to see the plastic surgeon he explained that the right side was almost coming all the way throuhg the skin. The plastic feeling I was getting was the actual implant. The skin over both sides was so thin that he said it would have only been a matter of time and it would have just created a wound trying to make its way out. So I had both sides replaced. By the end of the following Feb 2011 the right side was infected and the scar line opened right up. It was removed and wa told that the left side was looking like it was going to do the same thing. That is when I met the BEST plastic surgeon EVER and she knew right away what was going on. She said that the skin on bith sides were just stretched so thin after my bi-lat mastectomy and expansion that there was no way that implants would ever work. That is when she suggested DIEP. I had already known about it because my identical twin sister had it done when she was diagnosed a year after I was. I am very happy with the results so far and wish I had done it from the beggining :}

OK, IowaSue, today is your day.  Go Girl!

mscal, I think you are up next....I hope you have great results and easy recovery for you both.

Susan:  Yes I have delayed DIEP on right & normal left.  The concave is just above my DIEP breast at the front armpit area, it had nothing to do with the DIEP that part looks wonderful.  My scar from my MX & lipnod removal was not a normal one it ran up & down instead of across so when they did radiation it has to go beyond the scar, under my armpit & over to the center chest wall.  The area at the front of the armpit concaved after DIEP, doc was hoping it would fill in.  He said he could fill with fat several times but it is so deep he doesn't feel it would make a big difference since there is nothing under there to hold the radiated skin up, so he recommends another surgery. 

XrayestinMa: I with you I am just thankful its correctable.  I hate having another surgery but its a quicker recovery than the DIEP, only a couple weeks and I want everything looking good when I am done.

I uploaded a current picture, 25 lbs heavier than before BC, thanks to chemo...... So I am working to get some off before my surgery July 19th.  I went to my first toning class last night at the gym & still walking my 2 miles a day.  I am 9 weeks out from my DIEP tomorrow.  Whooo Hooooo     

Good Luck today IowaSue!!  Saying a prayer for you!!

thoughts are with those having surgery..

my fears seem to be increasing as i hear of problems after reconstruction.  i realize stuff happens & sometimes can't be avoided.  but of the issues some of you have regarding results, what can those of us preparing discuss with our ps to hopefully avoid disappointment? 

sticec: thank you for sharing your story -  you have been through a lot but it sounds like things are back on track and you must be thrilled to have the implants gone and your own tissue in their place.

grdnslve: There is a thread titled 'not so good surprises in diep surgery and recovery' - reading those posts helped me make sure I asked all the questions so there wouldn't be any surprises. There is also one 'implants or diep  . would you go back and choose the other' . . BUT you have to keep everything in perspective otherwise you will psych yourself out!! So many more examples of good outcomes; most of us say how happy we are. I did everything possible for a good outcome and I had to let go of the rest. 

I'm really glad I asked if I would get a new belly button - it sounds like some women do and some don't. A question I didn't ask that I wished I had was how soon I could start scar massage, how to do it and how to avoid scar tissue. I still have a ridge in the center of my tummy scar. I asked where my belly scar would be and how long, he drew it out for me (I asked him to make it as low as possible).  

mscal102: I found it relaxing to cook in the couple of days before. I loved the feeling of being stocked up. I also made sure we had plenty of all the basics, like dishwasher soap. 

I just heard from Julie, Sue's sister.  She is still in the OR and they don't expect to be done until around 8:00 tonight.  That seems like a long time!!!!  She said the nurses have been keeping her DH posted and they have said she is stable and doing great.  Julie said as soon as she is finished and in recovery she will send me another message.  We are keeping the prayers going up for you Sue!

Susan

SAMayoFL - thanks for the update on Sue.  My PS told my husband not to infer that a longer surgery time means that things are not going well.  He said that there are hundreds of steps in the procedure and any one or two steps taking longer than expected just adds more time to the end.  I worried about their fatigue, but the surgical nurse assured me that there are points where one will step away for a break while the other continues.

Disclaimer for my update:  For those new to the thread - all of my issues are due to having the surgery so close to my final chemo (3 months - but needed to have the 2nd mastectomy toot sweet) and even more because I was on Avastin for a year and also only off for 3 months - Avastin works by blocking the growth and repair of fast growing blood vessels (strangling the tumor, but really slowing down the DIEP healing). What is going on with me is highly unusual, so don't let it inform you opinions about the DIEP - I would do it again in a second even knowing I'd have these issues.

I went back to the PS today to have him reassess my surgical wounds.  I am 8 weeks out.  He explained that my abdominal wound (about a nickle around and about an inch deep) was not going to heal because of the continued seroma fluid draining from it.  It seems that I have a long narrow cavity directly under my scar that healed as a cavity when I still had my drain in (he pulled it at 5 weeks and it was still putting out over 50cc a day then).  What he will now have to do is to open me up along the same scar and create a fresh wound that should heal correctly.  He believes that he will be able to do my stage 2 revisions at the same time and said that he could take off my muffin top on the hips (is this dog ears?) at the same time without needing to lipo since he will have the scalpel in hand.  He did say this would not involve the pain of stage 1 since the skin is already stretched and settled.

My larger wound is healing differently.  It is in the area under my arm that was the most damaged with radiation.  The flap looks marvelous, but the wound is still about a quarter in size with a ping pong ball sized hole underneath.  There is no seroma fluid building up, it is just taking forever because of the Avastin I was on for a year.  He will be able to work on this during the stage 2 revisions as well.  I forgot to ask just how he was going to take the larger Frankenboob down to a C to match the smaller Frankenboob.  Since it is about a DD, that would be a lot of lipo - I'm guessing he will cut along the scars and excise tissue instead.  That side needs a little tightening up to match as well.

So I guess in layman's terms I am going to get my "front end alignment" and these gaping holes fixed at the same time.   In the meantime (gotta get insurance pre-approval and then get on the surgical calendar), I get to continue the fun of wet-packing these wounds twice a day!

Haven't been on here for a while, but yesterday I had my Stage2. I already had tats done after DIEP in Jan, and this Stage2 I opted for lipo/fill and no additional mastoplasty because I did not want another long surgery and no more scarring. So yesterday I went in and under for about 2hrs while my PS did his thing. So today I am very sore around the "love handle" hip area where he took some fat and injected that to shape the upper part of both foobs. Looks good so far! I cant see the nipples yet as have to keep them covered and dry until Friday at the earliest. PS used each end of the DIEP ab incision to go in and take the fat then tidied that up. I have some small incision marks on upper breasts. Very sore, but after the rest (bmx and diep) this was a breeze! I hope this is final-final for me. I'm not planning on any more surgeries and hope I'm happy with this outcome when it all settles down and I can go to VS for some sexy bras! Roll on that day.

mspradley - I love your description of Stage 2 revisions as your 'front end alignment.' Too funny. I think I'll borrow the term when I get to that stage.

SAMayoFL - thanks for the updates on Sue. I'm to get a bilateral too and it's a long surgery. She should be out soon.

Scubacat - That is so funny!! I will borrow that term as well..lol

MsCal02 - Wishing you the very best this Friday, you will be in my prayers! Hugs!

Julie, Sue's sister, just sent me a text that said she doesn't have any new news this morning but the last news from last night was they finished about 9:00 p.m. and she was heading to ICU.  She said Sue did great.  She said she would update me again as soon as she got more news this morning. 

Misszed, there are three Susan's here now!  Woohoo!!  The funny thing was that me, SAMayoFL, and IowaSue were born 5 days apart.  LOL!!

Susan

mscal: wow - that must have been kind of crazy getting the phone call!

I'm excited for you. I was amazed at how good my breast looked right out of surgery.Everyday, I appreciate it a little bit more, especially when I talk to women that haven't had reconstruction or had an alternative method of recon.

When you feel your nerves, imagine how smoothly everything will go and how calm you will be. I practiced everything going well in my mind and practiced how confident everyone involved in my case was and imagined all my support network surrounding me all the way through.  After surgery, I imagined angel wings beating over my incisions and an army on guard inside keeping out infection. 

Susan /FL: thank you for the update. 3 Susans - that is a coincidence! Glad to hear Sue is doing great!