DIEP 2011

zogo: I have never heard of using benedry, but when you look it up, it says it can be used to prevent and treat nausea, vomiting, and dizziness caused by motion sickness. I'm going to try it; I get horribly sick after surgery -- that and thrush from the harsh antibiotics are the worst parts for me.

Susan: we're all praying for you and sending you our best! 

Treesprite, I was surprised how well the benedryl worked.  In the hospital, they tried 2 heavy duty anti-nausea meds in my IV and they barely made a difference. A nurse then said, "Let's try Benedryl". They put that in my IV and I swear in about 4 minutes I said "I think I'm hungry". We were all amazed at how well it worked for me (I know everyone is different, but it is such an easy thing to at least try). I just used the regular Benedryl at home with every dose of the pain meds.  Everything is a bit foggy, but I think I ate something first to have something in my stomach for the meds to land on, then took the Benedryl and the pain med.  

Being nauseous is such an icky way to feel. I really hope it might help you, too.

zogo: love your signature quote . . .awesome! I also believe in permission to have a melt down every so often once we get through the 'walking boldly through them' part!

When people tell me how brave I am, my response is "what choice do I have?" I could be all pissy and whiney and that would just suck for me as well as everyone around me, so I choose to be as upbeat as possible and save my melt downs and tantrums for my therapist and those closest to me who love me no matter what!

Susan, I hope you are feeling better this morning! We are all pulling for you as we are for everyone going through this journey! Each hour that passes is one hour closer to feeling good again and moving towards our new normal. 

I am SO going to try the benedryl next week after my stage 2 --  I HATE nausea and throwing up after surgery SUCKS!

Anyone have suggestions how to build my immune system in a week and a half? I usually get thrush from the heavy duty dose of anitbiotics . . .so miserable! The whole inside of my mouth gets raw and everything I try to eat burns! I have started taking stool softener and metamucil to get ready to avoid constipation . . .that is also no fun.

all of our recoveries are going to be different, we are different ages, some of us are uni, some bi, some delayed, some immediate and those are only the obvious things...

by the way, what is kefir?

Antibiotics give me yeast infections.  I used to take a spoonful of yogurt with every dose.  But, after my stage 1, my pharmacist recommended a product called Florajen3.  It came refrigerated and is a "high potency probiotic dietary supplement".  It has 15 billion live cultures per capsule (sounds creepy but it works)....I took one per day. No problem with yeast for me using that.

yay susan!!!! sorry for your med issues... I never really took pain meds, so you should be fine... They made me take one a day for a couple of days just in case, but I stopped altogether on day 4... now at week 2, I am sensitive but still no real pain.

Kathy, I didn't have to have antibiotics after Stage 2.  I was completely relieved (I get a yeast & bladder infection 100% of the time -pro biotics or not).  

You will get a lot of bruising after stage 2 though.   

Susan, congrats on getting released!  Your progress is wonderful.  I can't wait to be where you are.  My surgery is scheduled for 8/17, coming up quickly.  Yikes!  I am reading all the past posts here.  I am on page 11, but have also probably read from about 70 to currect as well.  A BIG thanks to everyone for all the info.  It is great.  Just watched the link to the surgery which was back on page 10.  It is really different than I thought it was.  I am glad to know what will be done.  I can understand why people feel so tight after the surgery now.  It is now scarier to me, but I think I am better off being well informed ahead of time.

Susan, congrats on getting out of the hospital. Every day gets a bit better.



I am exactly 3 weeks out of my DIEP and unfortunately back in the hospital. I developed an infection in my immediate mx side about a week after surgery. It was just swollen and red. I underwent a couple of different oral antibiotics and it was not improving so my dr put me back in the hospital for IV antibiotics. Ugh!!! I have been here since Friday and it has cleared up considerably. The dr doesn't want me to go home until the redness and swelling are gone. So I guess I will continue IV meds for a couple more days. This was an unexpected detour down my road to healing. However, I must say....I feel really good in every other way. All my incisions are healing well ( except the one on r breast) and I'm getting around well. I walked 14 times around the unit this morning- they tell me 18 times is a mile so I'll have to do more later today.

I know once this infection clears, I will be a happy camper again. I still believe this surgery was worth it.

Hang in there everyone....take it one day at a time and know that flat tummies and perky boobs will be our reward.

Kay... I went to New Orleans.

Kay~I used Dr. Serletti at UPenn but hear great things about Dr. Wu. I am 1 and a half years out from DIEP and doing fine. Healed fine and overall pleased with the results.

Warm Regards to all!

Kay... Penn has a great reputation... I don't know of Dr Wu but I am sure she is very good... For me, I live in Central NJ and the closest competent doctor is at least 1.5 hours away (NYC or Philley), so no one right around the corner... so I figured, drive 1-3 hours away or fly 3 hours... the flight is easy and I have coverage in NOLA so, it was an easy-ish decision for me.

NJ, I will be following shortly after you!  My surgery is scheduled for Wed.  Best wishes to you for a successful operation and smooth recovery.

Hey guys....those of you that are about to or have had stage ll completed.....how many more surgeries did you have after the initial DIEP?  I have stage ll scheduled for Sept 15th (June 1st was the big bilateral DIEP day).  Can everything be finished in 1 surgery?  I do have an appointment with PS in late August...but I want to know now!!!  LOL... I am happy to admit that I am aware of my instant gratification issues.

Any answers out there?  Thank you in advance for settling my nerves.

Wolfe - I am 8 weeks post surgery and after my last visit with my PS he told me only one more surgery.  I am curious to what others are having done.  I still need a nipple or areola on my right boob and I have dog ears at my waist. I am undergoing chemo...so I won't be having the surgery till Nov or Dec...when I am done with radiation.  

Good luck with your upcoming surgery!