DIEP 2011

Hi ,  i have been following this thread for so long but just realized i do not know what takes place when you have the diep part 2? Can you let me know thanks!

Such a lot can change in a few weeks.   I was originally scheduled for bmx with immediate diep on Dec. 16.   Preop led to questions about whether I was a potential candidate for post surgery radiation.    Which in turn led me to head to MD Anderson for an opinion on the whole thing.  Now I am scheduled for the BMX on Jan. 3.   No tissue expanders (personal decision) no immediate reconstruction (surgeon recommendation).  My risk of radiation is low but there.   Decision on timing of the DIEP will have to wait on final pathology of the tumor.   The surgeon gave us a long lecture about how doing the unaffected side wouldn't affect my long range survivorship (though she can't guarantee this).  That and the battery of tests were probably the  most exhausting aspect of the trip.  STill waiting on results of bone scans and CT for staging (ie to rule out spread).    I'm tired.  But feel good about the decision and that I'll be with a surgeon who really specializes.   Meanwhile, here I am 8 weeks post chemo and my eyebrows fell out!

link to Stage II / stage 2 thread: (you may have to copy and paste) 

http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topic/769050?page=28#idx_838

We all have different journeys and have to decide what is best for us based on the recommendations of our team and personal and family needs. Before BC, I had no idea how many different variations of BC out there. There is no right or best way to do reconstruction, just what is right for you.

My goal for 2012: how to truly take good care of myself!!! work in progress and so much to learn about the reality of what 'self-care' means! 

step 1: acceptance 

Kathy...

Congrats Goldlining! Now relax and get some good sleep tonight!

Yay!!!

Okay, I am starting to wonder when I will rejoin the ranks of the people who can walk upright...

As I approach day 14 tomorrow, I can move okay especially once I get rolling, but I cannot yet straighten out. I have constant low-level discomfort, well below what I would take Tylenol for, and still quite an appropriate level of comfort in the circumstances. The ab skin is still too tight to straighten my back. My follow up is not for another 2 weeks yet (thanks, holidays.)

something that has been said on this forum before that I want to reinterate . . . be very clear with your PS at each stage of the process if you want to see a change; especially a downward change in your breast size.

I asked to go smaller, from a DD to a single D . . went for bra fitting yesterday and now I am a DDD.

I had a reduction on the non-mx side so perhaps I was wearing an incorrect size pre-surgery because I'm definitely not bigger on the non-diep side or perhaps having the lift adjusted my size up?

In going through the uni-diep, my PS made the diep side larger to accommodate for potential necrosis and during the lift of the non-diep side, matched to the diep side and then matched the diep side back to the non-diep side . . . if that makes any sense. 

I should have been more insistent about size at each stage. I'm a bit disappointed to end up in a larger bra size rather than a smaller; even harder to find a good fit in a triple D versus a double D.

I do look fabulous (she says modestly), but I would prefer a smaller cup size and less construction in my bras.

After wearing camis and non-underwire for most of the past year and a half, I don't love going back to a more constructed, underwire bra but that provides the best support.

Hi Shirley from Nordstroms!! (sorry I was a bit scattered yesterday . . . I hope I didn't mess up your name after asking you three times . . . I seem to have lost the ability to remember names and nouns  . . . .now where did I put that thingie-ma-bob?).

treesprite / kathy

Thanks SeaShelly -- The light at the end of the tunnel for us all... I want to get upright so I can do more walking. The back is rough, and when I do try to straighten up, the skin forces the ab muscle against all my giblets--stomach, bladder, ovaries, what have you--and they complain. I think my situation/reason is similar to yours. My PS said afterwards "you were not so fat". He said the immediate uni mastectomy was 700g, and the belly flap was 500g. That was made into two breasts, so I am definitely smaller than I was, and very happy about that. I have plenty of random thigh fat I would love to donate to fill in any gaps in the tune-up, perhaps later in the spring or summer, but I'm very happy with the first draft. Happier when I can straighten up!

I'm 4 weeks out as of yesterday and have been fairly upright for a while now.  My skin is so stretched that I feel like I'm pregnant and I just started walking yesterday and although I know I didn't look like it, I felt like a 7-8 month pregnant lady walking down the street.  I am still taking 2 Alleve each day and since Christmas Eve (when I overdid it) 2 tylonal in the middle.  I'm also still taking a nap every day, I lie day for about 1.5 hours each day.  No way could I return to work now as I can't even stay awake the whole day!  But each weeks gets lots better.

I've done 7 HBOT treatments and the breast is no longer red, but is much smaller that the "perfect" right side and the underside is dry and hard in some places.  I am doing 3 more HBOT treatments next week.

And my most important item in the hospital was definately my Ipod and headphones!  The one thing I didn't buy that I needed for home was an airline U pillow for sleeping on the recliner. 

Bdavis - how funny!  Were you at a relatives house?  Hope you enjoyed it!

NJ - Also, I forgot to say that Wow 5 weeks doing HBOT sessions!  That's a long time!  Were you bored?  As I said, I'm going back for 3 more next week, which will make 10 in total.  I need to look at my DVD's to see if I have any movies I want to watch, as I have just been watching TV.  Although I've been somewhat enjoying The View!

Ladies, I just found you.  I have recon planned for the end of Jan.  Here is my question...my husband works out of town and I only see him on weekends.  He plans to take a week off for my surgery.  Is this unrealistic.  Will I need him to be around a lot longer...I am getting a little freaked out.  I am wondering if I should wait until the summer when he can take more time off to help.  Since I live in snowey Canada, I wont be able to shovel I assume. 

Micheleboots - my husband also works out of town and is only home Friday - Sunday. He took the week of my surgery off but traveled the following week. My sister came to town that same week to stay with me since he was going to be gone. It was great to have her here and she was wonderful cooking meals and cleaning everything! But having said that, I could have been ok without her. Now I would have eaten microwave meals and not cleaned a thing - but that is doable. I also had several friends who brought meals by after I got home from the hospital and this was absolutely wonderful. I have never been the recipient of meals before, only brought them to others, but I have to admit it sure came in handy. Then I could just warm up a small serving of something for a meal and be set. I did this for about 6 weeks until I had the energy to shop and cook again. I do not have small children. I have a senior in high school and a junior in college. So I was working just on healing I did not have to care for someone else. If this was the case I would say that you would definitely need some help.

You can stage your house accordingly too. All things that you need a arm height. Any dishes/glasses/towels out on the counter so you don't have to reach up to pull anything out of a cabinet or anything. Save laundry and other cleaning for your husband when he gets home. You will only need this for a few weeks and then can do most of it yourself. You can't lift anything greater than 10 lbs for about 6 weeks - but you can do a lot without that. Just takes more work (loading laundry in several smaller bundles, moving things one can at a time, etc.)

You will most definitely not be able to shovel. Not for a long time (perhaps through the end of winter this year). Maybe you have a nice neighbor that can take care of you when your husband is out of town? This is one thing my son was great at. He would come home from school and see the driveway completely covered with snow and actually do it voluntarily (very unlike him) before even coming inside knowing that I always shovel right away and if there was still snow there than that I couldn't do it. I couldn't even push the shovel (yes I tried) as that hurt also.

Micheleboots- I am also in Canada, where are you having surgery and who is your PS?

Ladies i go for surgery Monday......petrified. Anyways, what vital stuff shall I pack. I guess I'll be wearing hospital gowns for 5 days.