DIEP 2011

You really don't need much to were home after surgery unless your getting out of hospital and staying in a hotel til you follow up. Are you flying? I wear the wife beaters in place of a bra plus you can wear them under anything. Right now I am wearing one and I strap the binder on over the wb to keep from rubbing.I wore a athletic zip jacket with wife beater under,my fight like a girl stretchy pants, undie and flip flops home. I will say they almost didn't fit because of the 20lb of water weight I put on in the hospital, seriously they were tight.

Yes the binder goes around the waist it is about 7 in wide they told me it keeps my guts in also helps to keep fluid from accumulating  in the middle. The binder is comfortable. I worn jeans yesterday and the binder fit right in and protects the incision from rubbing on my pants.You will want comfy clothes for those days after surgery. Maybe 2 pks of the wife beaters because you won't be doing laundry while your away. Where you able to get my tx pic?

Susan, I have a binder now after stage 2 surgery, but not for the diep flap.  I'm sure some Drs are different, but all I wore home was a velcro front cami that had pockets for drains and a sweat suit with a wide waist band. That's it. No binder no bra. Low cut undies would be good to not get near the incision or drains. I just didn't wear any for a while and spent the first few weeks in jammies.  My favorite tip to bring was a pack of premoistened facial washclothes or wipes.  Ones that don't leave you sticky. Before I could shower, it was a nice way to freshen up.  

Lori... I may have missed some posts, but read one of yours on the last page... I feel the same way. I had lumpectomy and chemo... was supposed to have rads... had 4 docs tell me to do rads, and I am doing DIEP... even though I only NEED radiation, my odds of recurrance and new cancer is about 22%... with MX, 2%.. with my history of ADH and BC, I just feel my odds of something in my future are too high... I know the DIEP is a huge surgery, especially since I need a stacked DIEP (using hips too)... but I am (I think) menatlly prepared for a long recovery, in the hopes that I can for the most part put this BC crap behind me!!!

I was resisting the wife beater purchase until I saw the post on putting the binder over it,  I guess I better get some.  I thought just regular tank tops and camisoles would work ok.  How much too big should I get them?  How long do you wear binder?  I will be coming straight home.  It is hot and humid and that really bothers me since chemo.  Yes, even here in Central NY!

Hi All: I am feeling stronger today. I think I took too much ,but I had my surgery locally. I wore hospital gowns until the day to come home ,and that was a good thing because twice the nurses emptying my drains spilled them. I kept my cool though. I sent my phone and my eyeglasses back home. I just wanted to sleep.This nurse came into the room to do her 2am check and said oh your oxogen is low . She gave me this thing that you inhale into, mind you I am very sore in my chest area and can hardly take deep breaths, when she came back at 4am she asked if I had been using it? Nope, i was trying to sleep before you came back in. My doctor said no bra or binder. I ended up wearing a house coat home because the yoga pants although low cut,sat right on my incision. If I had to travel by plane I probably would have taken a wrap dress and jacket to hide the drains.

OK, I hate to ask a stupid question but what exactly is a wife beater?  My husband calls this motorcycle thing he has with no arms a wife beater.  What are yall referring to as a wife beater?

Mscal, that was what I was thinking about.  Trying to find a couple of dresses that would be loose and wrap around.  I know when I am released from the hospital I will have two doctor visits and a plane trip that I will have to dress for.

Susan

I call wife beater shirts grandpa undershirts -  men's undershirts, white, sleeveless, ribbed, scooped neck, very stretchy and cheap, a guy's tank top.

My yoga pants are 'Moving control" and they were super comfy. I found mine almost brand new at a thrift store, a big stretchy tank top from target, a walmart  $10 zip up hoodie with inside & outside pockets, and slip on sandles - that became my 'go to' outfit going back and forth to hospital and anything else for a couple of weeks. I have no extra money these days, so thrift shops, walmart, target & my sister's closet are my 'mall'. 

Decide whatever you have will be exactly right . . . that way, you will always be right! It will go by so quickly.

After my MX, an aid squirted me all over my face & chest when changing my drains, he was squeezing the bulb when he pulled the cap.

Getting ready to check out after my diep, the nurse pulled my IV, stuck some gauze & tape on and then put the blood pressure machine on the same arm. As it was pumping away, I felt something warm & wet on my leg!  Ooopsie!! There was blood on the table, my leg, my foot & the floor. I calmly told the nurse, "Um, I think we have a problem." She slaps one hand to stop the blood and pulls the plug with the other hand. In the overall scheme of things, it was nothing. She wanted to take my blood pressure before giving me a pain pill for the drive home 'cause my blood pressure had been low that morning . . . .might have been a tiny bit lower after losing some blood!

I normally faint at the sight of blood. The drains are pretty nasty, but I got used to them out of necessity after DH went back to work. 

It seemed best to stay calm! I felt sorry for the nurse- I knew she was upset.

My experience at NOLA was that you needed almost nothing during your hospital stay. You wake up from surgery tucked into your bed with NOTHING but a nice, soft, (black!) surgical bra on, and stay like that until you get out of bed the next day. From then on you can just wear the hospital gown, robe ( a really nice one) , and slippers. If you wanted to wear your own jammie bottoms you could. All the toiletries were there. Chapstick if you are a chapstick addict, and feminine wipes for the time after cath is out but before you shower ( about a day). A regular laptop will probably be too heavy to use in bed-- an iPad was perfect! A small flashlight to get around at night if you like to keep the room dark. NOLA will send you home with a good supply of bras, binders, iodine wipes and ABD pads -- thick gauze pads to put over ab incision. They also give you drain pouches. For those going other places, drain pouches can be found online. I preferred the pouches to pinning to my clothes . I also preferred stringing my drains on a drain pouch belt (I had a few, so "washed" this one in shower and then had other dry ones waiting) while in shower . Hanging them around your neck where they brush against your breast incisions seems icky and non-hygienic to me! At NOLA, the car that taes you from the hospital to your hotel stops at Walgreens to pick up your meds and anything else you need. For others, having your meds and any supplies they'll want you to have would be good to assemble ahead of time. For clothes I found that most drawstring or elastic waist pants were fine. The fold over waist sweats/ yoga pants were good. Low cut bikini panties were perfect. I had the kind with strings on the hips. Longish tops to cover the drain pouch were best. Button down were good at first, but you will be able to lift your arms for loose pullovers. The NOLA bra is kind of hi-cut and will show with any low-cut top. I slept in a big T and panties. At NOLA they give you disposable stretchy panties. I cut mine to turn them into a stretchy band that went around my hips and tummy and kept the pads in place (I'm still doing that now, 2+1/2 weeks out). When I looked thru my wardrobe, it turned out I really had plenty on hand. (Thanks to my previously poofy tummy I had lots of comfy pants and shorts already. Haha).

Slip on sandals or clogs would be good. Hope this helps . I saw some of you were wondering about what to buy, bring, etc., so thought I'd chime in!

Thanks once again Jerusha.  I am not going to NOLA but I bet most of your hints will be applicable.  My PS didn't say anything about bras just that I would be given a binder.  The PA for the PS said to use shirts with shelf bras.  Of course, I got rid of those last year after the MX.............I went looking for simple knit dresses and actually had the best luck at Walmart!

Not trying to be a NOLA snob...really, really. I figured that the info would be applicable anywhere:)

Thank you Zoga for the tip, l will probaby get one of those this weekend.  What a wealth of info, lm making my list of questions for the hospital coordinator to l know what they provide and what l really need to bring.  Not looking forward to the drains...sigh....

Sending positive vibes and smooth healing wishes to those that had surgery. And for those of us with upcoming surgery, comfort and strength. 

Hugs to all!

I am scheduled for a bi-lateral DIEP in June. I thought I found a good PS, but I just found out he is not board certified. Is this a red flag? How do I really know if a surgeon is qualified?

Daisy,

Try a website called DIEPsisters.com You will have to do some research from there.  My goal was to find a doctor that was qualified and had performed hundreds of diep procedures.  I did find one, did do my research and I adore my doctor.  

I can just imagine how nerve wracking this must be for you. Best of luck, honey!