DIEP 2013

In case anyone is wondering the hot tub was removed today!  Without incident.  Now they are digging big holes in my backyard - so I did what any self-respecting, intelligent woman would do - I left the house and didn't come back until they were gone!!!!  My husband asked me if I talked "to the guys" and I said "No. Not really."  He doesn't need to know that I have gone AWOL.  

Goodie - the bras are Invisible Simply Perfect by Warners.  After wearing wires and more structured bras - they look like there is nothing to them - but they are comfy and nice.  

Janet M - 1) I am in Burlington right down the road from you and 2) my head has many voices!  It's just good they don't pop out of my mouth usually!  LOL

A question for anyone out there.  How many drains do you typically have and how long until they are removed?  I've had a drain before (a thyroidectomy almost 18 years ago) - so I have some experience with them and remember once I got over the initial idea that I was going to rip it out of my neck and kill myself - I did OK with it.   

Another question is - what is the deal with the caffeine?  I'm clueless because next Tuesday I tell my PS I want this version of reconstruction and then he lets me in on all the little dirty details.  I've already started to cut back on the caffeine just from reading your posts.  

I'm off to bed now.  Not yet even 9PM!  It's OK.  I have to get my WBC back up from chemo and the sleep helps.  

Well, gosh...thanks for all the voices of experience!  And here I went and bought two pairs of lovely Soma Cool Nights jamies, a new robe, new slippers, the works.  All because the stuff I wear at home is holey and embarassing.  And...(and this is just a killer)...because I know half the people who work in this hospital and have supervised ALL the firefighters and paramedics who bring patients there by ambulance, who will no doubt drop off their patient in the ED and say, "hey, Katy's upstairs, let's go say hi."

I'm not modest in the least, as evidenced by having a news reporter and photographer at my side each step of the way, but there's NO WAY I could relax sans clothing (Movie...you're the best!)...in the hospital.  Some poor firefighter would pop in to say hello and he'd be scarred for life.  

Thanks for the insight.  It could be that all my goodies stay safely un-germed at home and I'll just enjoy them there.  

Janet M, after my first couple of appointments dealing with this fandango, I went on Amazon and bought a 2-pack of "mammography gowns."  They're soft, cover me completely, close in the front, and don't make me feel like a flank steak wrapped up for sale.  I don't like hospital gowns, but I REALLY HATE paper gowns.  They're designed to humiliate women and I refuse to wear them.  I bring my little gown along to every appointment and it has helped me feel much more in control and dignified.  

Happy Friday, everyone!  Nine days to go!

I came out with 4, one each breast and one each hip. I got the breast ones out at the post op appointment and I came home with the hip drains but they are going to be removed Tuesday, which would be two weeks since my surgery. Hope this helps some...

For stripping the drains, I learned to put a small dab of lotion on my thumb and forefinger before I slid them down the tubing.  It makes for a smooth slide.  Also, be sure to open the cap to the grenade before stripping.  It releases the pressure and makes it easier for the fluid in the tubing to trickle into the grenade.  

But don't forget to cap it off when you're finished.  Eww... 

Don't remember if I correctly explained the caffeine thing from my doc's point of view. He wants patients to be well hydrated pre surgery day, and feels coffee (if you drink more than a cup or two per day) acts as a diurectic, which makes it hard to stay hydrated. Also, because I already have a strong history of PONV, the anesthesiologist he works with feels it is better to go through the caffeine withdrawal headache thing before surgery, as my PS keeps you NPO until at least 24 hours post op. 

Ewww, drains, not on my list of "oh goody"!!!!!!

For stage 1 I came out with two breast and two abdominal drains. I had 3 pulled at my post-op. My final hip drain was in four weeks. I think Betsy had hers for 8.5 weeks. They are a pain but are there to do a job. When the final one comes out it is FREEDOM!!! For all the dreading, it didn't hurt at all when they came out. For my second surgery I had my husband pulled them. No problem!!

Thanks ladies! I guess hospital gown it is. I just came back from target and got some of the pants. I got a couple of a size larger than what I normally use. How long do you wear the larger size pants. I want to make sure I won't need anymore. I also found the short version of the pants. They had them in different colors and some with stripes. Of course I got the darker colors because I can hide my body better😄. I found a couple of shirts of very thin material as well. I almost got a robe that they had from the same brand as the pants. Omg! It was so soft! But I know I would never wear it and it was $25.

My BS called this eve and let me know that everything is set up for the 23rd. My surgery starts at 7:30am and I need to be at the hospital at 5:00am. Urggggg! That's early!! But I guess I'm ok with it since I'll be taking a long nap. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight, which I never do anyways. Hopefully I won't be getting any headaches because I won't be able to take any Tylenol, aspirin or iboprufen 7 days prior to surgery. She didn't say anything about caffeine for those of you that like your coffee, I don't drink caffeine, so it doesn't really matter to me. Now I just need to go to the breast center at my hospital to find out what type of undergarment I need to get for after surgery.

I have to say that even though I'm still very nervous about the surgery, the shopping therapy was really good and put me in a happy place. Now I can't wait to have the surgery so that I can wear all of my new pj's.

Oh! And I also found out that the oncologist gave my mom permission to come and stay with me for my surgery. She will have a three week break from her chemo and I'll get to have her with me. Nothing like mom when you don't feel good. For those of you that don't know my whole family lives in Spain😞.

I'm going to a mud run tomorrow and hopefully it will help me drop another pound before my surgery.

Kuka. For sizing I usually wear medium and bought medium. Whatever you are post op will be your size for a couple of months. Whether you wear a girdle or not also matters cause any clothes need to fit over the girdle. My first girdle was kind of bulky. My Marena was thin.



And so you all don't worry about hearing that I had drains for 8.5 weeks, I had both a GAP flap and DIEP flap. And the drains that lasted were from the GAP.

Balls and grenades...I love this thread! Now all we have to do is incorporate "hoohas" from the 2012 thread and we are set! Teehee...



Ok soo think I might have missed a step on the drains....I know you are supposed to strip them, but I got lazy and all I really did was empty them and then squeezed it before I capped it....



Hhcats--4 drains here, one for each breast and one for each side of the abdomen. 3 were taken out one week later at my first post-op appointment and the second 1.5 weeks later at the BS followup. I cheated on that one because the PS wasn't available until 2.5 weeks later and I sure wasn't keeping that thing in me longer than I needed to! (Was draining less than 12 a day). Ouch on that thyroidectomy drain! I had a thyroidectomy in the fall and you just made me realize that I must've escaped one there since I didn't have any drains.



Kuka-- glad you got your date and that it will be a comfort to have your mom with you.

I had 4 drains....2 in breast area, and 2 in abdomen....3 of the 4 came out by day 7, and the last one came out the following Monday.....because the drain failed ( I had acquired a hospital-born infection and I think it led to drain failure, and my abdominal dehiscence). Glad that is behind me ..... Even so, I would do it all over again.



Namaste and God bless - Jackie

I've had 7 surgeries in past 21 months with a total of 16 drains. 

I'm currently one-week post op from surgery#7. (Just have one drain this time-yay!)

My current  flap surgeon doesn't have patients strip drains.  So my last 3 surgeries with him I've had 8 drains that it's been nice not to have to mess with stripping!  Also do not have to clean around drain holes.  Do have to stay on oral antibiotic until a few days after drains have all been pulled.

For my initial surgery -- BMX, ALND, and immediate direct implants (that eventually failed), I ended up with 6 drains -- all for my breasts and very crowded sewn in my sides.  My husband helped strip, measure, and empty all those drains.  It took for-ever!

My previous surgeons had me use the alcohol wipes.

Hey ladies I'm finally heading home today! The hospital stay wasn't all that bad besides the room temp and my iv needing to be replaced a few times. The nurses were so great and believe it or not the food was pretty good as well.

The one thing I wished that I had during my stay was one of those small battery opperated clip on fans to clip to my bed side or the table etc. My ps likes the room to be over 75 degrees and it got so hot for me .

And the one thing I was most happy I had with me was my back scratcher. A friend of mine got me one that was adjustable in length at a local five below store. That was a great suggestion from some of the ladies here.

Now we will see how this car ride will go yikes it makes me nervous!



Glad to see that everyone is doing well and it looks like we have some newbies also ! Welcome

There's sunshine in Toronto - but no Kohl's. However I was was mistaken about the Target. Apparently we've got one here - I just have to find it. Till then, I'm pretty excited about going online and finding the mammography gowns and other fun things.

HHCats - Hi neighbor! I love Burlington! I had lunch there last week.

And Faith, great great great news that you're heading home.

Nihahi - I don't know why but my back was very itchy after surgery; especially the first few days.



I think they keep the room really warm for the flap to be happy. I also had extra blankets on my chest to really keep it warm!



Faith - you will be so happy to be home!!!!

Faith-so glad you are on your way home!  Keep up the good healing!  Yu will be back to your normal routine before you know it.  :-)

I also had a hospital room that was a "tad bit" on the WARM side.....SBElizabeth-that is why I was naked under the bedclothes....I felt like I was being slowly roasted!  :-)   (The nurses told me it was to keep the flaps happy.)

Kuka, if you feel anything like I felt, you may not feel like wearing your new pjs at all.....I could hardly stand anything touching my waist/hip area for at least 2 weeks after surgery.....I cajoled the nurses into giving me five pair of the mesh underwear (VERY light and NO pressure) which I had my family put into a little mesh bag to throw in the washer, so I could wear them over and over.  (I also had problems with an incision reopening, and I could put a surgical pad down them to place over the opening-but that is definitely not the norm for DIEP post-surgery)

Nihahi-you are up next!  Before long, you will be chatting with us from the "other side".  Getting excited for you to have the alien gone, and peas back in the freezer where they belong!  :-)

Have a wonderful weekend, my DIEP sisters!

Namaste and God Bless - Jackie