DIEP 2011

Barring any complications it should be doable. I drove with my husband 32 hrs in 3 days across the country 4 weeks post BMX/DIEP. You will still get tired easily though.

slg2130 - I would not think that the length of the flight is the problem (2 hrs will be fine) as you will be able to sit for that long (I flew home from my DIEP on the 8th day). You will still get very tired very easily. But maybe there is something you can do to make it work? Baby yourself. Do things you may not usually do. Check your luggage for sure. Maybe even take the cart to your gate. Don't fly the same day as your meeting - let yourself get a good nights sleep in the hotel first. On the day of the meeting do the meeting only. And go home as soon as you can!  Just some thoughts.

If you do an internet search for vitamin C and surgery, you'll find several recommendations for supplementing before and after surgery with mega doses of vitamin C: one recommendation is 1000 mg every 8 hours. Dr. Weil says "the body uses vitamin C to make connective tissue and high levels of vitamin C speed the healing of surgical wounds." Weil recommends 1000 to 2000 mg every 24 hours for five days before surgery and for one week after. Weil offers several recommendations for optimal surgical outcomes.

I found an article from a medical journal but I can't find the link at the moment. If your sugery instructions say to stop all supplements before surgery, you would need to check with your doctor. Since we heal from the inside out, nutrition and rest are key. I know I'm a nag about this, but I've seen some miraculous healing after vitamin C was increased. If you have stomach issues, you can find buffered time release C. I didn't worry about bioflavinoids but I know some feel they are required in order for the C to be effective.

Sohardbnme: Wow - starting your PhD . . that is way cool! What program? Don't push yourself beyond what feels right for your body . . so good that you are communicating with your Dean.

HappyLibby: You'll always have a good story to tell. It must have been slightly crazy in the OR when the earthquake hit. Glad to hear you are off the nasty pain meds .  . . feeling nauseous on top of everything else is no fun! the last thing I wanted to do was vomit after the diep . . . did not like 'jarring' all that meticulous surgery! 20 hours is a long time . . . good think we don't notice the time passing! 

kay: getting the drains out is the BEST! I had lots of bruising but it all resolved eventually. I have less bruising after stage 2 but it is disappating much faster.

mrsnjband: glad to hear that things are progressing. Sounds like they are staying on top of your healing issue -- so much better to get ahead of these things!

Betsy; Are you home? How are you feeling? You must be so ready to be done with surgery for awhile!

Susan: How is your incision doing? I've been thinking about you!

I've been thinking about all of you with all the crazy weather your direction: heat wave, earthquake, hurricane and flooding. . . .makes my complaining about our rainy summer so lame!  

Kathy

I am flying home today... yay... Been gone for 2.5 weeks... Add this to the 2 weeks i was gone for my first stage one last month... And that's a lot of time away from home... But feeling good and ready to be home.

home....

Ladym, ... Impossible cos diep is not breast tissue??? Have I got that right? I thought recurrences after mx could only happen on chest wall or where there is residual breast tissue??? I could be completely wrong though ...

I was told the same thing . . . belly tissue/fat does not get BC. I had a small round nodule, just fat tissue that didn't get blood  supply. It scared me at first but my PS checked it out and reassured me, but its hard not to have that initial fear. Do whatever you need to do to feel at ease about it.

I had a large area of necrosis that I 'worked' on . . .  I began my massaging a line down the middle until it kind of split in two and then worked on one of the halves, doing the same thing . . . slowly working a indent in the middle until it broke down into two and so on. When I first started working on an indentation, I realized it was like the fat on beef . . hard but easily indented with gentle but firm pressure. I wouldn't recommend doing this without your PS's okay. The nodule/lump was harder to work with . . . I was able to flatten it out but it was at the top and bumped up against non-numb parts, so it kind of hurt, so I left it alone. I can live with it.

HappyLibby: sounds like you are doing great, soon the aching back will be a vague memory.

Betsy, So glad to hear you are home . . .being in your own space must feel great!

Susan... I am feeling pretty good... but how do I look?? Well, I have a lot of scars I need to get a few more weeks between now and later before I answer that one.

And I agree, can't get BC in DIEP tissue, but you can get cancer at the chest wall or any remaining breast tissue, so mostly up against the skin, as that is one location that breast tissue could be left behind in a skin sparing MX.

happyLibby, you are one tough girl, 20 hours!  That is what scared me out of DEIP, did you have more than one PS working?  My PS told me if I ever decieded to do DEIP is would be up to 12 hours for bilateral, YIKES.

Nope, only 1 PS. He expected it to be about 14 hours total for the BMX and DIEP. I had told both the breast surgeon and the PS that I was a free bleeder and easy bruiser, but they didn't really get it until they got in there. It took a long time to make all the capillaries reconnect. Ss far as 20 hours under, remember -- like flying, the most dicey parts are take-off and landing, and you have to go through those no matter how long your surgery is. Truthfully, the very worst part was the dilaudid and my nasty reaction to it. I was much, much better after I got off narcotic pain meds.



L

Why no sleeping on tummy and continued lifting restrictions susan? I thought there would be a party in my house at 4 weeks cuz i could roll over... It has been 6.5 weeks already from my first surgery, and am a little more than 2 weeks away from my next 4 week milestone... I have such trouble sleeping on my back and it will be 10 weeks when i get to my 4 week post diep.

I am almost three weeks post DIEP now; will be three weeks on Wednesday. I had a uni mx and diep and lift on my left side. Also had nodes removed, not sure how many, have to find out. Unfortunately, two had cancer, but I already knew that going in. As soon as the drains were out of the way, I was able to sleep on my side, but found to my surprise I like sleeping on my back. I am not in pain really, but pretty sire, numb and tight. I am surprised how far up my abdomen the tightness goes, all the way up to my ribs. Anyone else have this? My dh says he thinks they took fat from there? My surgery was5.5 hours, only one ps but there was a fellow and resident too I think. Right now the biggest problem seems to be no range of motion in my left arm, probably because of the lymph node removed. Will be starting occupational therapy tomorrow. Would have started it earlier but was down the shore for a few days. Need to be able to hold my arm over my head for forty minutes to start rads which is supposed to be in two weeks. For anyone in Philly, would highly recommend dr. Wu. She did a great job. Noob is still numb though. Will it ever really feel like the other breast? Don't like the way the flap looks either. It's a different color than the rest of the noob.

Bdavis, congrats on being home. You've certainly already paid your dues, hope you recover quickly.

Congrats Happy Libby on recovering so well! I thought 5.5 hours of surgery was a lo!

Susan thanks for keeping us updated. You are a wealth of info.

Sohardbnme, how is my hospital buddy doing? Hoping to meet up with you on the 12th at our post op visits. I'll Also be there on this Wednesday for Herceptin if you're in the neighborhood.

Good luck to all with surgeries coming up. And hope all on the other side are recovering well.

Betsy, my PS has an 8 week sleeping on your back, lifting and reaching over your head restriction.  When I tried to talk to them 4 weeks out he said that the blood supply to my flaps are delicate and they really want me to be extremely cautious for the full eight weeks.  The other thing that my doctor does different than many of the other doctors is I woke up with a surgical bra on.  My surgical bra feels a lot like an light ace bandage.  For the first 4 weeks, I had to wear it 24/7, even in the shower.  After showering, I took it off and put on a clean one.  After 4 weeks, I still wear it 24/7 except in the shower.  I can't take it off until the 8 week point.  The PS said it will give me just enough support to keep my noobs in place without cutting off any blood supply.  However, he is totally against any type of abdomen binder.  It seems like everyone else was the opposite.

Kay, I am the same way, tightness way up high on my abdomen.  I am still swelling during the day and by the end of the day I almost look pregnant.  My roundness begins almost under my breasts.   Also, I am almost 5 weeks out and still have to wear dresses everyday.  The middle of my ab incision is so sensitive I can not wear pants - even the yoga variety.  I hate wearing dresses almost as much as I hate sleeping on my back!  My noobs are totally numb.  I can't even feel pressure and my flaps are a slightly different color.  The funny thing I have just noticed over the last few days is that they also have a light covering of hair.  Apparently my tummy was hairy!!!  Who knew?

Theresa, I found that Percocet knocked me out and also made me nauseous and Tylenol or Motrin didn't take care of my back pain.  For me, 1/2 of a valium, which is a muscle relaxer, helped my back tremendously.  I think some of the other girls were prescribed Flexoril as a muscle relaxer but whatever your doctor gave you, the muscle relaxer helped a lot.  Even now, if I have a busy day, my back really hurts by the end of the day.  Also, you are going to be amazed at how much better you feel every single day.  After the first several days, I recovered quickly.  As I said above, my PS really wants you to be careful with your arms until you are 8 weeks out.  No lifting of anything over 5 pounds (almost impossible!!!), no reaching for your elbows to be over your head and just generally being very, very careful with the delicate blood supply to your noobs.  Good luck and keep us posted on how you are progressing!

Susan

Libby, I have to tell you that I think you are a real trooper about your drains.  That is a bunch of drain tubes!  I had my left hip drain for three weeks and was ready to BEG for them to to take it out. Good luck on Wednesday!

Susan

Hi ladies! I made an appointment with Dr. Wu at HUP for October 3rd. I am not even scheduled for a BMX until after I am done with chemo. I just had #4 of 12 Ambraxane/Herceptin, and am having problems with neutropenia. After 4 days in the hospital with a high fever, and a week of recovery, I'm starting to feel like myself again. Heading for labs today, and hoping I wont have any delay for chemo on Friday. Thank you for all your help and advise! Rose