DIEP 2011

HI , CAN ANYONE ANSWER THE QUESTION KATHE MENTIONED ABOUT ALLORDERM CAUSING THE IRON BRA FEELING SHE WROTE IT BACK A FEW PAGES ,AND NOBODY HAS ADDRESSED IT. i NEVER HEARD THIS BUT SHE HAD AND IF ITS TRUE I DO NOT WANT ANYMORE ALLERDERM THATS WHAT MY PS SAYS HE WILL USE IF I DECIDE TO GET SMALLER MPLANTS AND NOT THE DIEP!! OHHHHH SO CONFUSED

Beacher,

I have the alloderm and implants, I had a tight bra feel during tissue expansion, but all better after exchange.  Most people do just fine with Alloderm.  I have been reading your posts, did you have Rads?  Many PS do not like to do implants on patients who have had Rads, mine will not.  Sounds like you have lost all confidence in your PS, have you gotten a second opinion yet?  I am so sorry that you continue with such pain, you deserve to feel better.

KatheW - I too had an abnormal EKG as part of my pre-op two days before I was supposed to leave Denver for NOLA. I freaked out! I have never had heart problems in my life and I was made that this could stop my surgery. I got an appt with a cardiologist the next morning (and drove over an hour in rush hour to get there - I was desperate). She did another EKG and an heart ultrasound and said I just have an 'abnormal' EKG. Now that we know this and I have a baseline (actually two baselines since I had one EKG in my doctor's office and one at the cardiologist) that it shouldn't be a problem in the future. I hope you are able to get into a cardiologist soon and get a peace of mind about that too. 

Yippee!!!  I went to see my plastic surgeon at Brigham & Women's today, and he told me clearly that I am a candidate for DIEP!!!  And I have an appointment on 10/5 with Dr. Stephanie Caterson who is also the Director of the Perforator Flap Breast Reconstruction Program and Instructor at Harvard Medical School.  I was told that there are two surgeons in the practice and they perform surgery in tandem, which should reduce the length of the surgery by half.  Since I've already had my BMX with TE's,  I am hoping that it won't be too bad.  I am going to lobby for DIEP before rads.  I will probably be seeing the RO at Dana Farber as I really want a doc who has treated someone with a loco-regional recurrence and had brachytherapy already. 

I would like it to happen this year, but I am not overly optimistic.  There are only four DIEP surgeons to support all of Boston and the surrounding area.  That's a pretty big territory for four surgeons!  I'll probably be starting "DIEP 2012" if someone hasn't beat me to it!

Keep talking, ladies!  I am learning something new every day and will be compiling my list of questions. 

And oh, who asked about the TE's and Alloderm?  That is the state of my current reconstruction and I feel quite sure that the TE's are the "iron bra" that never relents.  I can feel the edges of mine and they are such a pain!  Barring any unexpected circumstances, I will not have to worry about being "70-something" in a nursing home and trying to figure out what to do about an implant that has to be removed! 

Michelle

LuvRving, I had the iron bra feeling with my TEs early in the process. 

bdavis, I think if I would have been reading this thread in Nov/Dec 2010, I might have gone a different direction with my reconstruction?  Not that I am unhappy, I am just thinking way ahead.

Hey all - new to this thread.  I had a TE failure and my skin is compromised, so now I am on the DIEP recon route. I had a UMX and am considering having the other breast removed at the same time as the DIEP -- any words of wisdom out there? Thoughts?  I dread more surgery but if the anyone else has done a UMX with the DIEP for both breasts at the same time... I'd love your input.... I will certainly have the first surgery before the end of the year, but the subsequent surgeries I expect will be into next year...

just bought the jeanie bra at bath bed and beyond yesterday after watching all the you tube reviews. i got 2 for 19.99 in one box, im a 36d so i got a large. i wore it all day today with the breast pads because i dont have nipples yet. it is a very comfortable bra, both of my breasts are diep. i didnt want the bra to be too tight or too loose and for my size large was perfect. i love that you cant see the indentations from not having nipples, the removables pads are really nice. with 2 bras per pack 10 bucks each that was no to expensive of a risk. this week when i meet with my ps im going to wear mine in and tell them how much i like them.

Laura --Thanks for posting your experience with the EKG. I hope I have the same experience! Before my April MX, I had a similar EKG pattern; while not normal, it was good enough for 3 hour surgery. This EKG showed the same abnormality, but the surgeons see it as a problem for the longer surgery. I am trying to get into the cardiologist's office tomorrow; I feel desparate, too.

Beacher-- I think the bottom line is that alloderm is fine if you do not have rads, and maybe it is also fine for some who have rads. But for most, rads change everything. Why not consider DIEP? So many here are happy with their noobs. I hope to be one of them!

LuvRVing -- Congratulations on your new DIEP eligiblity! You say you will lobby for DIEP before rads. Why?

SAYMayoFl, I had both of my breasts lifted with stage II and love the results.  Be sure you talk to your doctor about it before the surgery because it is not something they just do with stage II.

Dutchy, Evelyn

Jerusha -- I am sorry to hear that you are getting tightness again. It seems like you might be prone to heavy scarring. I think I am prone to it. I have had a lapartomy and multiple C-sections; every time the OB told me she ressected a large mass of scar tissue. I also have "cording" from my node dissection (I so wish I had not agreed to the node dissection). The cording got worse after my MX even though the axilla had not been traumatized in over 4 months. My point is that it can take a long while for your body to settle down (and stop creating scar tissue) after a big trauma. Is physical therapy an option? 

Laura -- How long was your DIEP surgery? Did you have any complications?

KatheW - I would like rads after DIEP because I think the healing for DIEP, before rads can begin, is not that long...maybe 2 months tops assuming no complication.  But if I have rads first, I suspect I would have to wait much longer before I could have DIEP.  It just seems to be "more efficient" and helps move the entire process a little faster.  There's lots of time between DIEP Stage 1 and DIEP Stage 2. 

I am not sure there is a clinical reason to have rads before DIEP.  I'll know more next week when I meet with the RO.

Michelle

Not afraid and Laura --Thanks for posting your surgery times. Those are very good numbers. How long did you spend in the hospital? Not afraid, did you have a private room?

LuvRVing -- One reason to have rads before DIEP is so that you can complete --rather than delay-- your BC treatment; another is to avoid having rads damage the new flap tissue. These are reasons that were told to me; however, I do see that others here have had things take place in a different order. I am just curious; you should definitely do it whatever order your oncology team advises.

Laura -- 3 nights, really? I was in the hospital 3 nights just for MX+TE. Pain was terrible. Did you stay in Hope Lodge afterwards? Did you fly back alone with drains?

Kathe... I was in surgery for DIEP about 4 hours, maybe 5... but it was a do-over surgery, where they removed bad tissue and rebuilt the breast... When I had my bilat MX and Bilat hip flaps it was maybe 8 hours, but with hips they flip you over so it takes longer... plus they spent about 30 minutes tryig to remove my port... For the hip flap surgery I was at NOLA for 5 nights... for DIEP I was there 7, but again it was really only due to the fact that they wouldn't release me without an escort, and this was an unplanned surgery and Hurricane Irene came and disrpted my plan.

KatheW - I went to Homewood Suites on Saturday after my surgery on Tuesday and stayed 3 nights there, then home to Denver on the following Tuesday. I really was not in pain. I would say discomfort. Definitely discomfort. I could walk to restaurants for meals, I could shower by myself (with my husband on deck in case he was needed), sleeping was difficult - but I was not in a lot of pain. I did take some pain killers but never on schedule - I was not good at that. I took them mainly at night because I had a difficult time getting comfortable in the hotel bed after the wonderful hospital bed.  I was fortunate and got all of my drains out at my post-op which was 8 days post-DIEP and the day before I flew home.  My husband was with me (NOLA requires you have an escort on the plane home) but I didn't have any drains with me!! I shouldn't make it sound like it was nothing - it is a big surgery to recover from. And at 13 weeks (3 months today) I'm still recovering and I had no idea that one surgery could take so long. But I'm also living a normal life and able to do almost everything just little reminders every now and then.