Diep 2012

Makes me want to find a PT also!  Have not used one at all. I will have to look at my insurance.

Feedback please ladies....

I was scheduled for bilateral DIEP next Monday, January 14, but due to preop testing revealing damage to my heart...they now believe from chemo I must postpone.

I am somewhat looking at July if my heart function improves.  

Where I need your feedback is - If I have surgery June 3, could I be ready to travel to Italy the end of July first of August?  I had hoped to have stage 1 in January so there would be no issues.  I don't have options on the dates to travel to Italy.

Thanks for any insight you might could offer:)

Kimdy, very sorry to hear about your heart issues and hope all works out. In the best case scenario you might feel pretty good but I couldn't imagine myself making the long flight comfortably and enjoying running around Italy the way I'd like right now. It might depend on how much you have planned. I'm 2.5 months out and still having ab swelling/fatigue if I do too much. Plus, if you were to have any complications (e.g, wound healing) you might not want to be so far. What a wonderful trip to plan though! Where are you visiting? I'm sure it's disappointing to have any delay in your diep but any chance you can go to Italy first?

Thanks for your replies ladies....I must travel to Italy at the end of July.  My daughter is there and will finish her job then.  So it is the only time she is availabe to travel.  

So I'm thinking a June surgery date may not be the best option.  I am trying to get a 3 phases done in this deductible year.....

If I can get cardiac clearance, I suppose I can try for April.  Any thoughts on an April surgery date for phase 1 and travel end of July.

Frendat - flights are about 1500 or so from Tulsa.

Thanks again,

Kim

It all depends on your healing.  I would have been good to go at 7 weeks. However, I am not sure you want to be out of the country with a complication due to flying or healing.  April would be great if you can swing it, or wait until you get back.  You probably will not get all 3 in this year, even if you start in April.  Stage 2 is 3 mo. later at the earliest, but my doctor wants a longer space before stage 3.  It all depends on your doctor.

Good luck with all of this.  There never seems to be a good time.  If you have active cancer the sooner the better.

kimdy -- have you discussed this flight with your doctor -- re the 23 removed nodes? It is my understanding that now, when we fly, we need to wear a pressure sleeve, to fend off lymphedema. The trip to Europe is a long one... and some sort of staging might be really helpful... like an overnight stop in Iceland or something... to get that sleeve off and get good rest and circulation back strong before taking the second leg of the trip. Another advantage would be less (or no) jet lag when you arrive... and I would guess that airlines might work with you if you use the breast cancer card!

I felt pretty good after one month (my BMX/Immediate DIEP was Nov 6). I had relatively no complications. And now, at 2 months out, I think I feel pretty normal again (wow -- is that ever great!). Still -- I would not want to plan a long flight like that for right now... I am driving 10 hours to see my sister next week, rather than flying, for just this reason. I DO feel up to attempting the 10-hour-drive ... I figure if I get tired, I will just check into a hotel and get there a day later. But I have made the trip to Santa Fe (3.5 hours) several times now, and my stamina is improving all the time.

Maybe it is a silly thought -- but would you have time to make the trip a cruise instead of a flight? Kind of a romantic idea -- who knows what interesting people you might meet on the ship!

Linda

Thanks ladies for your feedback it is invaluable....with your help..I am leaning towards stage 1 in September after returning from Italy.

I do have compression sleeves and gauntlets for the flight. Will keep you posted. 

And any feedback is welcome.

Thanks

I like the idea of the trip first. Waiting for the surgery is just a looming, dreadful thing. Far worse than the actual surgery, many of us would say. If you have your trip to look forward to with excitement and "hide" the surgery behind it on your schedule, you will have less time spent in dread mode. My 2c.

Hi Ladies,

I had my Diep early December. I just started walking straight but notice my abdomen feals hard as rock, is a bit bloated and has no feeling. How long should I expect this? 

Hugs,

Kat

And Ronniekay, thinking of you. How did your appt for treatment plan go?

Dear RonnieKay, so glad to hear that your meeting was so hopeful, that should set a positive tone for your treatment.

Ronniekay - you are incredible...praying for GREAT success for you



Mena - we will be traveling to Arrezzo....the Tuscan region. I think 3 hours south of Rome and one hour north of Florence



Linda-Ranch & BDavis glad for the input on the sleeves. I had purchased them for my flight to San Antonio...and hadn't even thought about the flight to Italy...



So grateful for you girls that have gone ahead of me....hope I get to join you at some point with DIEP reconstruction. Hopefully this heart damage will improve in a month or so??? My hope was to start in January so I would have a better chance of completing my reconstruction in 2013....so ready to NOT be the patient.



With you guys input...I think I"m leaning towards stage one in September and possible Stage 2...but we will see, trying not to get too much set in my mind as things keep changing.



Anybody have any idea what the cost is for tatooing the areola in stage 3 and is that usually all that is done in Stage 3?



Thanks again for your insight Ladies & Hope you have Blessed Weekends!

I am little confused about what happens next after stage 1.



My understanding is in next stage, they will lift and reduce my left non radiated breast to better match my radiated breast. I think he will add some fat to the rt side and shape it up. This is also time they would work on abdomin- it seems pretty even to me right now.



This second stage is where they make nipples? I dont understand that at all. I haveheard they can use extra labia skin? I certainly hope not.



And what are three D nipples?



And what happens if you need stage 2b? What is that?

Tattoos are last?

I am tentavely planning on my stage 2 in march.



Will these scars fade? And in stage 2 will they go back in the same scars?



I will ask my doc all this too. Is there a youtube anywhere that explains some of this

Fredntan - Since each woman's surgery is different (one breast or both -- immediate DIEP with UMX or BMX or later, maybe even years after BMX/UMX...) each stage 2/3 etc are different, too.

Just depends on what you need. I think the idea is not to over-tax your body by doing too much at once... but getting your money's worth...

My own deal is I had BMX -- so I don't need my "good" breast lifted -- so they can do a little more in other areas... like create my 3-D nipple (for you they might add a stage 2b for that step... or maybe do it at the same time -- each doc is different).

I think you had your surgery done with PRMA -- right? I did, too -- and no one said anything about messing around with Miss Kitty... thank goodness! There would be no real reason to use labia skin (as far as I am aware) because I don't think the new 'nipples' are expected to have any sensation at all... they just look like nipples, and all coloration is done via tattoo in stage 3.

My understanding of my own stage 2 will be lipo from the torso to fat graft into breasts where needed to create the balance, size and symetery we want, and doing a little nip/tuck/sewing to pucker the belly skin (that now exists where my nipples once were) into a semi-erect-looking nipple. They will also re-do the abdominal scar to make it less gnarly... if necessary, and remove dog-ears/re-sculpt the torso to be more fluid/look better.

And -- my understanding is that I am supposed to lose whatever weight I plan to PRIOR to stage 2 -- to get the best results... in part because some of the weight we lose (from now on) will be from the new belly-breasts... and the only way to have a pretty good idea where the breasts will end up -- is to lose the weight first, then fat-graft the breasts to a little-larger-than the desired size/shape -- knowing that about 1/3 of that grafted fat will dissolve into the body and be re-distributed everywhere...

Kimdy - for that reason (depending on how much weight you want/need to lose prior to stage 2) that might also afftect your ability to get two stages completed in 2013...

Since fat creates estrogen... and I have 100 ER/PR+ cancer -- my onc wants me to lose at least 30 pounds... and I have set my own goal at 35-40 pound loss prior to stage 2 -- which I hope to schedule for May of this year. 

Kimdy -- the Tuscan region is gorgeous -- I spent 2 weeks in Lucca with Italian friends who live there... and then several days in Florence and a couple in Venice... but the beautiful vinyards and cypress trees... fantastic! Oh -- and the pasta dishes with truffles... amazing! OH!! And we went to Il Palio in Siena -- perhaps the most famous (and one of the most dangerous) horse races in the world -- all decked out with Rennaissance pomp/circumstance around the central palazzo... really exciting!

Maybe you could go a little earlier/stay a little longer... (?) The Palio this year is Aug 10-17... after all, the most expensive part of traveling is always the getting there and back, not the staying longer...

OK -- off the computer (for me) and out to get some exercise!

Linda

Kimdy,  I went to Italy one month after my UMX, because it was planned before the BC diagnosis.  I had no problems and enjoyed every moment immensly even though I was waiting to find out whether or not I was going to have chemo & Herceptin.  In fact I got the email from my MO just before the end of the trip that she was NOT recommending chemo.  I don't think one week after my DIEP I would have had as much fun, so I'm glad you're waiting until after your trip.  ENJOY it ALL!!!!

Fredntan:  I'm just as confused about stage 2....and I think it varies depending on your physician and insurance.  I've been expecting that my stage 2 could be as soon as April (PS says it takes 3 - 6 months for your new boobs to "settle in"), so I'm waiting until May.  Didn't know about the weight loss thing, but it makes sense, so I'm going to try to exercise more to try to lose about ten of those Tamoxifen pounds (not that the chips and dip have anything to do with it :-)

Reading this thread I was hoping that I could get some fat grafting to improve the flattened shape of my BC breast....but I get the impression from my PS that she's only expecting to do the nipple construction and then tatoo.  Could be my Kaiser insurance....could be my PS thinks the "settled in" breast will be more shapely.  I'm just glad the major part of this is done and I can wear my regular bras again!!!!