DIEP 2013

Sbelizabeth,

I had implant failure due to severe radiation damage. I had issues with immed recon with direct implants with malfunctioning Alloderm sling being crunched up under implant as well as tons of scar tissue even before radiation.



38 Rads plus 5 boosts destroyed my chest wall basically frying the crappy alloderm sling and scar tissue in chest wall.



I had much much pain starting from moment i woke up from bmx alnd and immed recon direct implant surgery.



According to my arrogant first PS, he said your skin looks great and ignored my complaints of pain and eventually did say in his dictation, but not to me that the unusual thickness in my breast fold was consistent with Alloderm. My non radiated breast did not have this alloderm prob but different set of probs from massive hematoma.



Anyway, my very thin and radiated breast skin got tougher and crunchier and dryer.



Then my implant made the great escape medically called extrusion through a break in my skin and had to be surgically removed.



I had no choice but to have free flap surgery such as DIEP or SGAP. (Thank God was not a candidate for old school Lat Dorsi flap some local docs tried to push. I had major damage and axillary / armpit cording in the way).



My breasts are now in process of being reconstructed by a top microsurgeon who has done thousands of free flap breast recons and only works on breast cancer patients.



In my case the bottom half of my breast skin was removed and replaced with skin and tissue from my butt. I had the other cement block implant removed and reconstructed as well. I had much damage to my chest wall and pec muscles too so i wasnt a simple case. He also ordered HBOT-hyperbaric oxygen therapy daily for a month to help healing of rads damage. So that's why i had to go out of state to highly experienced microsurgeon. A few local PS were just starting to get into DIEP and no SGAP and I was better candidate for SGAP anyway.



Thanks for listening to my long story.



You will be amazed at what your microsurgeon can do to fix radiation damage. Just be sure you are on same page and they explain everything that will be done.

Warm wishes!

Cuetang, best wishes on your surgery tomorrow! It will be over before you know it, and you will be on the road to recovery in not time. :-)



Namaste and God Bless-Jackie



PS-you won't regret it!

Thanks Moviemaniac! 

Cuetang - 

Go for the Atavin! So exciting that by tomorrow at this time, you'll be on to the healing. I read on these threads that one woman woke up feeling very relaxed, cus her body hadn't had the chance to lay still for a long period of time for a while. You're almost there, congratulations!

You can get through it, sbelizabeth....soon, it'll be behind you!!!! I'm struggling now with trying to "hang on to tummy fat", while also working at being as fit as I can going into surgery. The fitter I get, the smaller I get. AARRGGGHHH! Why can't this be the easy part! When I get up tomorrow, it'll be 35 days for me.

Hey ladies Im snowed in here in Massachusetts snuggled up with a blanket and some coffee

Cuetang I will be thinking of you today praying for a smooth transition and healthy fast recovery.



Janet M It's discouraging for sure I'm sorry to hear that you have to wait so long for surgery. I started this process back in November and kept telling myself not to worry about anything because I had plenty of time. Believe it or not though it sneaks up fast ! There were moments where I got frustrated with the waiting time after all in the bc world we are masters at the art of waiting but they were just moments and they passed. Oddly enough I took up painting as my own form of therapy/distraction. When I say painting I mean interior painting rooms in our house lol my dh isn't a big fan but he knows its helping.



Questions.. how soon after surgery can we use our own underwear? What types of pants/shorts are possible in the hospital ?

I've noticed that breast skin looks lighter after surgery is it always that way with a skin sparing DIEP and will it match skin tone with time ?



24 days and counting! I've got my physical and teach appointments in Boston next Thursday and Friday. My current state of mind is just calm knowing that I'm doing this because I need to and I'm surrendering my fears and all control leaving it up to my bs my ps and god. That may change the day before but for now this is where I am.



Enjoy your day ladies

Janet - how frustrating for you!! I'm so sorry and crossing my fingers that nihahi's strategy might work for you too.



Thinking of Cuetang today as well.



Scheduled to return to work on Monday. We'll see how that goes! It will be just about the 3-week mark and I still need me a nap every day, so I have a feeling they will be short days to begin with. I experimented with staying up all day today and I'm wiped out at 4pm. Thank goodness for a flexible boss and work that can wait.



I'm amazed at the human body's ability to heal itself. I swear I can sometimes feel my incisions have got tighter, more healed together, when I get up from a sitting or lying position. Probably my imagination, but I like to think of it that way. Makes the creaky, tight feeling more bearable!

Wow - thanks for the uderstanding. So nice to have people truly get how frustrating the waiting can be.

Nihahi - The waiting is as you said. Two surgeons, and an OR room for ten hours. And I will definitely call on Monday and ask to be put on a cancellation list. Thank you

My treatments ended last June, and the surgeon said that I should wait for a year after radiation, but then the PS said six months - so I think I probably should have been more proactive.

I've gained some weight for the surgery - and I was really hoping not to have to carry it around all summer. Okay - it's pure vanity. I wanted the tummy tuck. And I want to get more fit but I can't jeopordize my belly. It took a lot of cheese and ice-cream to get me where I am today.

Also - I'm a freelance with contracts from 2 - 8 months each, and I have one winding down and don't know about taking another and leaving part way through.  And - I wanted to plan a trip. I know this is common stuff, and my health is the most important thing (of course). But jeez - I've had enough of putting my life on hold. I just want to wake up one day and not have to think about cancer treatment. 

Thanks for letting me vent. I'll just buckle the f*ck up - and  live vicariousy throught the rest of you!

Seagan - Good luck at work on Monday. So happy that you've got a flexible boss. Take care of yourself.

Faith - Hang on to the calm. Sounds like a nice place to be.

Nihahi - I've been trying to suspend judgment on my waist, hoping things will "settle" differently after swelling subsides, but as of right now I have to say my waist is definitely bigger.It's like everything got pulled up and over where my waist was. I look more boyish, or as one gal said on a different thread - more like a Coke can, less like a bottle! I haven't tried putting on old pants to see if I'm just imagining it - hope springs eternal! - but I'm pretty sure I couldn't button 'em right now.



If it stays like this, I admit I'll be disappointed - I really liked my old waist! Plus I wasn't expecting it. I thought I had read about all the possibilities, but I guess not.



It's on my list of questions for my next PS appt. In the meantime, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's a temporary deal.

Janet M....I so understand.  My BMX was November 2011..My initial hope was to have DIEP June or July of 2012...but no insurance didn't want to cover a reliable PS...so I waited and changed insurance.  

My plan was then to have it January 2013...I even had it scheduled....but in the preop process found out chemo had damaged my heart.  So we will reevaluate heart in July...so my hope was for Fall 2013, but since we have a retail business will end up waiting until January 2014!!!!!  Just doesn't seem to be coming together!

I just want to get it over and be DONE!!!

I'll continue to follow the rest of you!

SO hugs!!! I feel your pain:)  Take Care

nihahi, I am almost 6 weeks out, and I don't think my waist line is larger. A friend of mine is a baker and she makes the world best carrot cake. Between Christmas and my surgery on January 28, I consumed two of her carrot cakes. They made a significant contribution to my new girls :-)

faith, keeping busy was the best way to make the per-op waiting easier for me. I worked full time until 3days before my surgery. On weekends and in the evenings, my friends kept me either on the tennis court or at bridge games.

My abdominal wound is nearly all closed. Today, I drove for the first time post surgery, went to watch my team play a tennis match in the morning and play bridge in the evening.

seagan, I will be going back to work on Monday too. Yes, a flexible boss is nice to have, so I can gradually get back to full time.

Best wishes too all! Tammy

Janet, I was DX with bc October 19, 2012, my bilateral NSM with DIEP surgery was January 28, 2013, over 3months. It took me over a month to find the ps I like, and two more months for them to get bs+ps+10hr OR room together.

Tammy - My PS re-sutured me exactly two weeks ago.....I cannot believe the difference in my energy level! My divot was about 7" x 2" x 1" deep....my poor body was expending a lot of energy just trying to heal itself. The best part, my wound culture came back clean....:-). I'm on the home stretch!



Namaste and God Bless - Jackie

Kimdy -- so sorry you have had to wait so long. And that on top of the scare about heart damage from chemo. Sounds like you have been through the wringer! I wish you all kinds of patience.



Tammy & Jackie - so glad to hear about your healing! I keep worrying one of my boys will accidentally bonk me and the abdom scar will open up or I'll lose a flap. One of them jostled me a bit trying to climb over a chair for something (?) and you'd think I had been thrown off a bldg with the fuss I made.

Where is the picture forum?  I've looked all over the site and can't find it.