DIEP 2013

About side sleeping. My PS said no side sleeping til 6 weeks. Doing it earlier can compromise the blood flow, but also more likely distort the shape. And when I say side sleeping, I mean on your SIDE. at 4 weeks, you can kind of hug a pillow and tilt toward the side so you aren't flat on your back.

Morwenna....you bet I know Abby....I was hired on at Foothills when they opened the Burn Unit, and had already been there a few years before Abby. She is one of my "people"...we get together regularly for Girls night out, and every year for probably 20 years, we go away for a weekend, usually somewhere around Banff or Lake Louise. We tend to move the location around, as we party pretty hard, and try to not repeat visits in fear of being "banned"! You likely also know Adrienne and Wendy, fellow OT's, that are part of my gang too. Ade, Wendy and I actually hike, ski and snowshoe together. Abby visited me each day while I was recovering on 31. Glad you've joined the thread. 

MartyJ....your walk sounds like a real achievement....be proud of yourself, girl. Can't imagine wearing compression in the humidity and heat that you must have. Black dress....hot pink shoes....gonna be one hot mama out on the town tonight!!!! Enjoy!!!!!

Cuetang....re: bellybuttons. I swear, if I had to identify mine in a lineup, I'd guess wrong!!!! pre and post op!!!

Movie...I get where you're coming from. Sometimes, we just have to tell each other how special the connection is to us. 

sbelizabeth...did you find some compression garment that works for you?? It's grassfire season around here now....I hate fires...hope everything has calmed down around you.

Ann...sign me up for the party!!!!!

Liefie....hope you have lots of fun planned for the weekend. Keep busy, as I know you will.

Cherrie....so sorry to hear you're hurting, hopefully it's a short-lived thing. Crackers and gingerale is my remedy....lived on it post op for days...couldn't break the naseau cycle to eat anything else. Hope you can sleep it off.

Busy day for me, 4 km walk with some extra hills thrown in as a test, 3 hour lunch with golf buddies (including a glass of vino), baked bread, did laundry, made supper....now have crashed for the evening. 

You are amazing friends and source of strength, courage and to be honest, a real "hoot" too! ((x))

Morwenna...since you are familiar with my "people"....it's important that you remember....I'M THE QUIET, RESERVED, NORMAL ONE!!!!!!! 

I had lunch with her yesterday.. I will pass on your "hi" next week. Meanwhile, have a good weekend, hang in there with the chemo.

Dyvgrl, my doc said exactly the same to me last year, because nobody knew if I would need rads. So I had the left mastectomy with TE placed in February 2012. As it turned out, I had one positive lymph node, and had to get rads. The TE felt a little weird/tight for the first few weeks, and the fills were a little uncomfortable. I won't lie about that, but that's what pain medication is for, and it was totally doable. By the beginning of March I was into chemo, and quickly forgot about the TE, as I had enough other stuff on my plate . . . lol.  I've had the TE in almost 15 months now, and it does not bother me at all. Do yoga, swim, run, strength training, sleep on my TE side - no problem. I have no pain or discomfort whatsoever. All in all a very positive experience. 

Cherrie, hope you don't have too much pain. Sending healing vibes your way!

Somebody suggested a get together. I'm in! Nihahi and Movie, can't wait to meet you! Las Vegas will work, but somewhere else will be okay too.

Will chat again tomorrow. Good night everybody!

And definitely in for a party!!

Cherrie - did Dr. M give you zofran?  The anti-nausea meds really do help.  If not, text her before her seminar begins.  

I have talked to Dr. Massey a couple of times. I have been on Zofran. I have had a half cup of water this morning and quite nauseous. No travel today and going to her office tomorrow. The pain is much better.



I blame the anethesiologist. I woke up with tremendous pain and I had a lot of pain meds before leaving hospital.

So I am very curious about TE and fills when the plan is for DIEP... Why would you go through fills to expand the pec muscle when the DIEP flap goes over the muscle, not under it? It seems pointless to me, and unnecessary pain and procedures. I can understand putting an implant in as a placeholder, but I don't understand the use of a TE. Can anyone explain this to me?

Nihahi, you so crack me up.  Yeah, after the DH gets the lawn mowed, we're heading out on the mountain bikes, with eagle eyes to up the count for the year.  I've actually run over the things, purely by accident, and it doesn't seem to hurt them.  Probably puts them in a pretty bad mood, though.  You would absolutely WIN a race in which they space legless reptiles, like hurdles.  Hmmm.  Something to think about.

The compression panties are just OK.  They seem to bind my legs a little and leave a red mark on my tummy above the suture line.  Should I be looking for a more abdominal-binder type garment?  

Cherrie, I hope you're feeling better.  When I took Zofran a couple of times with the chemo, I renamed it to "never poop again."  With your dilaudid and inactivity on top of the anti-nausea drugs, you're pretty set up for constipation.  Stool softeners and miralax will help.  I actually packed some doses of Miralax to take to the hospital and I'm glad I did.  

Well, time to get moving, the trail is just going to get warmer.  Have a great Saturday, everyone!

Cherrie, glad you feel better today, and medication is helping. Pain no fun, ever.

Bdavis, in my case the initial plan was not for DIEP, but for an implant. Unfortunately things don't always work out the way we want. The TE was placed during mastectomy and SNB, and filled afterwards to make sure there would be enough skin for a new 'breast', and maintain the skin pocket. Could not do direct recon, because nobody knew what the path would be. You certainly don't want to radiate a new implant. When the path report came, I had one positive node(micromets), and chemo and rads were prescribed. As it turned out, the rads had caused some capsular contracture around the TE, and my PS then suggested the DIEP flap, because the contracture is very likely to happen again with an implant. She does not want to take that chance at all. Neither do I. She will tidy up the scar tissue and rads damage during the surgery, and hopefully there will be no complications with the radiated skin. My guess is only a PS will be able to answer your question in a satisfactory way. Each PS has their own reasons why they do things in a certain order.

Sbelizabeth - 'never poop again' - LOL! Can sooooo identify. Got Zofran to prevent nausea during chemo. After first cycle very nearly ended up in ER because of constipation. Fortunately got 'movement' just in the nick of time. Phew! Was so relieved, because I'm sure I would have died of sheer embarrassment. . . don't even wanna think of it. Told the nurse navigator on the phone this week that I want no chance of this happening, and she promised they would be ready for me. As a precaution I also bought a big bag of dried prunes, and will be eating a few every night leading up to surgery just as I did before my hysterectomy.

A story for you biker girls: A few years ago a fellow was riding his bike here in our neighbourhood. He saw two cute identical house kitties crossing the road in front of him, and went closer to see them. That's when the mama cougar came up behind him and swiped at him . . . he took off on that bike like a bat out of hell, and had a bleeding cut down his calf to show for it. He was sooooo lucky. Just saying . . . .lol.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. My pain isn't bad anymore and I am holding down Vernor's and crackers.....so far. I started Miralax and Colace 3 days before surgery. Constipation almost put me in the ER too. I never want that again.

Anything to relax you is A-ok.... Try not to worry... Can you ask a family member or friend to kind of run the show for your husband's care?

We all worry before surgery and you have extra reasons to be concerned for sure, so if Xanax will help - what's the harm! YOU are doing for yourself what you do for your DH - taking care of YOU!



So hoping everything goes well for both of you and so nice to have a wonderful BFF to help! My PS wouldn't think twice if I asked for something to relax me if I needed it, I'm sure. Would be surprised if yours wouldn't give you something!



It is a big deal, but think it will be very much appreciated when you finally get it taken care of (surgery).



Hope that helps?

I went and got my hair done today. Omg! It felt so so good! But by the time I got home I was exhausted. I laid in bed reading for a couple of hours and then went outside with the kids. We've been outside for almost three hours and had to come in and lay down because my tummy scar was pulling and was uncomfortable. Also the sides of my breasts are sore, towards my armpits. How long does it takes for the soreness to go away? I can't wait to have a full energy back and not feel so tired all the time. I'm sure my kids can't wait either.