Diep 2012

I doubt many momen wear tight yoga pants... Mine are called yoga pants but are more like baggy lounge pants... I DID wear underwear in the hospital,, but did not have a  binder... I had a girdle instead and I wore the undies over that. . since the girdle was crotchless (intended so you don't have to pull it down to go the the bathroom)... So I would wear the girlde, the granny undies and then the lounge pants... my drains were held in place by the girdle, so one side benefit. I had a girdle because I had had GAP flap initially with my MX in JUly... and a month later needed the DIEP to fix the right side... since I was still healing from the GAP flap, they just had me use the girdle... and my 8.5 week drains were also from the GAP flap... I did come home with about 5 drains after DIEP... and had little trouble dressing, but I do think the girdle helped... It had zippers on the side so I wasn't pulling them over the drains.

Meister... I finished chemo May 10 and had BMX and GAP flap July 21... My doctor would have preferred I have it sooner, but I had a vacation planned and wasn't going to cancel to get it in  a couple of weeks earlier... I think 5 weeks will be fine.If you delay, you run the risk of undoing what the chemo accomlished... I had already had my lump removed during a lumpectomy, so there wasn't as great a risk. And... The three drains is probably one in the abdomen and one in each breast... I don't see that as a problem. Where is your surgery?

I am scheduled for Diep on the 16th.....I'm apprehensive because I.ve heard that it is not easy surgery to go through. Any encouragement would be appreciated.

Paljo, there's lots of encouragement (and some realistic aches and pains) in this thread and the DIEP 2011 thread in the Surgery: before, during and after forum. With an experienced surgeon, our job is pretty simple. It obviously depends on what kind of shape you are in and how comfortable you expect to be, but the suspense was worse than the reality for a lot of us. 

Thanks ......from the posts I've read it seems as if it may not be as bad as I anticipated. I had mastectomy in Oct, 2010 and finished chemo and rads in June of 2011. I really want the reconstruction if only to kick back at cancer.....Cancer controlled me for the best part of a year....now I'm going to live my life on my terms. Being stage 3c I wodered if maybe I was making a mistake putting myself through the surgery but that would be giving in to the cancer, right? So, Ladies, bring it on!!!

What to wear: 

I'll add my two cents worth.

Around the house with four drains and especially when I was sleeping I found that the best thing to wear were the oversized super soft cotton t-shirts of my college boys and husbands that I cut down the middle. I could slip my arms in easily. If  I needed to, I could pin a drain in place. I didn't care at all if they got sweat or blood on them. Used 2 tiny metal binder clips to close them in the front when I needed to be discreet. Those clips worked like a charm and went on and off easily.

My other favorite is still a black cotton scoop neck tank with larger arm holes that hangs like a baby doll pajama. It is cute and comfortable. Early on I could actually step into it and pull it up. I eventually could slip it over my head and get it around my arm without lifting it. It is comfortable, covers me in all the right places, I can layer a hoodie, sweater, or jacket over it to go out and it goes with everything. It washes up beautifully.  

Gathered up my hoodies, bought an extra one (we have a great thrift store), and was loaned one by a friend. Some of mine worked .. some didn't. I am small and if the hoody is cut slim then it was definitely the wrong thing for my under arm incision.

Bought a sweet little button up cotton t-shirt that I also found at the thrift store made of pima cotton. It was a lifesaver because it was sooo soft and I could wear it out and feel 'dressed'.

I wore my husband's boxers (one of my PS's partner's ideas) the first couple days home and some cotton pajama pants that have pockets. Once the pelvic drains were gone I was in my own underwear and jeans when I went out, and sweat pants and yoga pants also. The firmness across my incision was much better than having the fit loose. I immediately stood taller with the pressure. No special pressure garments, girdles, or the like expected by my PS and everything is healing up incredibly beautifully. 

I did have to protect my left arm and guard against lifting it up too high due to an axillary excision following the sentinel biopsy when they found the nodes were positive.  The other reason was because my PS was able to make the vascular connection for my reconstructed breast tissue at the sight of my axillary excision. This 'connection' needed to be guarded and I was not to lift my arm anywhere near over my head and try to work or wiggle my arm into shirts and sweatshirts. It all depends on your individual surgeries.

I did find that a lanyard around my neck came in handy to pin my underarm drains to (I had two - just a left mastectomy) when I was 'bathing' myself. I could not take a shower with my drains in and would sit on the side of my garden tub to begin with, soak my feet and legs with bubble bath and 'sponge' bathe myself. The first shower after my surgery was glorious!!! Still waiting for the greenlight on taking a bath! I will soak until I turn into a prune if I am able.

Hi folks,

Thanks so much for sharing all your expience on the DIEP procedure. It is very informative.  I just had a Bil DIEP on Jan 24th and feeling good. 

I would like to ask advice on what lotions/creams you have been advised to use on your scars as they heal. My PS was not specific and just said massage the scars with a lotion.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks for your help

Sharon

This is my last week, so it's time to really start getting ready. Cleaning house, gathering lots of pillows, etc. I'm glad to know pulling things overhead shouldn't be a problem. It was really hard to do that after my uni MX, but I think it was more because of the lymph nodes.  

I ordered a Marena binder yesterday. My PS said the hospital provides one, but it's not very nice and I might want to get my own so I did.

I'm getting a pedicure tomorrow. A little pampering never hurts, right?

My hospital has free wi-fi so my iPhone and iPad will go with me. I need to remember the chargers. I live about 15 minutes from the hospital and DH will be in and out if I need anything. My sister lives near me and my mom, so I will have plenty of help. Also taking my Kindle although I don't know how much reading I will want to do. A few magazines. I'm not taking much. Just basic toiletries. My hospital provides some of that, but I prefer my own. I'm not sure I'm even going to take any clothes. Just leave something at home for DH to bring me on go-home day.

Any surgeries this week?

TexasRose, you probably should eliminate unnecessary overhead work especially heavy things. I did and continue to find it a stretch to get a drinking glass from the cupboard at 7 weeks and am having physio to stretch my arms/shoulders back out. I had a prophy mx with my DIEP so it could be partly that. It's definitely not as bad as mx with nodes, but you're scrunched over from the tissue removed from the abdomen, so you're starting lower than your normal standing height.

I'm sorry, goldlining. I phrased that poorly! I was talking about Betsy saying she could easily pull nightgowns over her head. I have NO plans to be lifting heavy objects above my head!!

Paljo- I'm two days ahead of you on the 14th. We were leaving for Hawaii on April 4th. PS assured me surgery would be in January. When I got my surgery date, it was February 14th. We rescheduled our Hawaii trip for September. We didn't need to wait that long, but we didn't want to go to Hawaii in the summer when it's so crowded and had other commitments the rest of spring, so September worked best and I know for sure that I will be healed and ready by then! I was not comfortable at all having a trip booked so close to surgery. I want to know for sure that I can swim, snorkel, hot tub...whatever I want to do on vacation, I want to be able to do it. I would have been really mad if we had paid all that money to go to Hawaii and I couldn't do anything. You never know what complications you might have. I'm a worrier though, so April was completely out of the question for me.    

Tamlyn:  In response to the tummy bloating, I am over one year out from DIEP, also six months out from "revision" to relieve some of the puffy tummy.  I'll be honest, my waistline looks somewhat better, but there has been no reduction in the poochy-ness.  I do need to lose some lbs though, but they are misleading women when they tell them that the DIEP will be like a tummy tuck.  Maybe in the sense that we're pulled so tight but not any less 'volume'.  I recovered so much quicker from the bilat mast surgery than the DIEP.  I even had to buy a pull-up bar to hang from so I could stretch those pecs out.   Hang in there !

Tam- yep I'm feeling exactly same about my belly . I'm 4 weeks out, I asked m ps is it. Swelling or is it just fat, she said well its hard to say. She said on the operating table I was pretty flat , so she is hoping its swelling. She is encouraging me to wear spanks. I don't think my ps will do any revisions to reduce my puffy stomach.

I thi I'm just going to have lose some pounds

Bdavis, where r ur pics

Would you mind you see

yes, I had my consultation with the plastic surgeon today after a four month wait for my insurance to approve it.  Looks like if insurance works out I will be having the surgery in April 2012. dont have a date yet though.  I am glad you are started this topic.