DIEP 2013

Bailey -

I have the Breast book from Dr. Susan Love. It's a HUGE book, but its a really good reference, go to book for looking things up, classifying terms, etc and understanding the ins and outs of cancer and treatment options. My BS recommended it and it was really helpful.

Had to go see my regular family doc today.  Have to go every six months so he will renew prescriptions.  Anyway, he has been getting all my reports from hospital, etc.  Asked me how I was doing, and I told him I couldn't sleep.  I asked for Ativan, but got a bunch of Lunesta samples instead.  Ugh.  Anybody every try Lunesta?  Ambien left me a zombie.  He said that Lunesta is different. 

Dvygirl, I had very mild seroma after my drain was taken out post mx.  It was drained painlessly with a syringe. Then I went to compression for about a week.  No recurrence.

OMG - the old family doc told me he didn't like "how many cooks were in the kitchen" what with onco, radiation onco, BS, PS, OB/GYN, weight loss MD and chiropractor. I asked who he suggested I get rid of? He started back-peddling then. It ended up being him!

Sbelizabeth I think we were separated at birth. I would take your suggestion but there is no DeMille out there that I haven't already read. He is my favorite and John Corey is my main man lol!

I read the Breast Cancer Survival Book when first diagnosed. It was good basic information. I'm happy to pass it along if anyone wants it...pm me.



Bailey, I just read The Cross Gardener. Excellent. I also love the Janet Evanovich number books...so funny.

Goldie, first day after surgery, as soon as they removed my catheter I changed my hospital gown into my own pjs. I've never been comfy wearing night gowns, lol. But as soon as I came home I was just wearing my bra and underwear That's it! My husband hated it because he doesn't like anybody walking around the house in their underwear, but I told him when he gets cut from hip to hip, then he can talk to me about his rules, ha!

It is very hot today! Kids keep asking me to go swimming and I keep distracting them inside so I don't have to go out there. It's always nice to go to a movie on hot days since they keep it so cold in there.

RobinY, I had a reduction about 30 years ago.  I had a bilateral DIEP on April 15, and the prophylactic side had an incision that went around what used to be my nipple, down the old vertical anchor scar about 1" on either side of it, and about 2" along the bottom of the anchor scar.  This is before my Stage II, though, and there's a lot left to do.  I believe, once we're finished, I'll have what looks like another reduction scar on that breast. 

I am sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you reduction gals. You should probably laugh at me.  I have never been big breasted.  During menopause when I got up to a whopping average B cup I was thrilled.  Anyway, when I asked my doc how much weight did I lose from him taking my breasts he said 480 grams each.  I didn't know what that meant, but when I did the conversion it came to about 1.05 pounds each.  One of you mentioned that you had over 4 1/2 pounds taken from each breast.  My goodness!  

Two years ago I had a fibroid in my uterus that weighted more than both my breasts.  

When I had my first MX years ago, I did my laps by walking from scale to scale to see how much I had lost.  That big ole double D and I still weighed the same.  My dad, who was walking with me, said he finally had confirmation as to how nutty his best girl was. 

Bailey that's hilarious! You should make boob cupcakes on Pi Day!!

Hi Flappers......got to chime in here.....like Bailey, I am a birthday suit kinda girl......NEVER had a gown on in the hospital unless I was walking, then I had two, one in front, and one in back........since my abdominal incision blew open (like Tammy T's) after about ten days, I started wearing the mesh undies the hospital provided, so I could keep the surgical pad in place without tape, because , as Marty said, "tape is NOT your friend". I am back to wearing real undies (dammit!) and like the Maidenform "Barely There" in a granny-panty size(well, I AM a granny!) to cover the suture line, so my pants don't annoy the scar (that b**ch is SO temperamental!), and a Genie bra from BB &Beyond, which is soft enough that it doesn't annoy the foob scars, either. I prefer to go braless, and since I went in the OPPOSITE direction, from a barely A cup, to a B-/C+ cup, my scars are bigger than the nipples I lost, because I added territory to the foob region......I am just now starting to lose weight, which may be due to the Japanese diet of raw fish and chopsticks (fighting with those buggers wears you down real quick......suddenly you're not hungry anymore.......it's a fool-proof diet! ) I have adopted since coming home from Sapporo. my drug of choice for sleeplessness is Trazodone.....used to take Ambien, but once I took it the night before leaving on a road trip to Missoula, Montana to watch my DD (who now lives in Japan) play college soccer.....I woke up the next morning about 200 miles into my trip-I am NOT joking.....scarred the **** out of me......never again! Trazodone doesn't leave me groggy at all. We are all so different, aren't we?



Good luck, Janet.....you are going to be fine! We are all in your pockets, and soon you will be a veteran....dishing out advice to other newbies!



Love to all.......



Namaste and God bless - Jackie



PS-Kuka......STAY OUT OF THE SUN!!!!!



PPS-I love Janet Evonovich! So funny! Also like Sue Grafton. And if you like Historical Romance (with a twist of time-travel thrown in) Diana Galbadon's OUTLANDER series is really good-love her characters! I have other, more "high-brow" selections, but I find it hard to concentrate for long.....too much anesthesia, I am sure of it!

The reduction was 4.5 lbs total.  That took me down to a full C.  Once I had my son though, I was back in the land of DD.  So I am probably looking at something substansial since they are taking them both entirely and using my not little belly instead.  I haven't been a B size since 4th grade! So looking forward to that I have to say!!!!!

I'm hopeful that the bs will use the anchor scar as a guide....I think that is what my ps has in mind.  I'm seeing the bs first though and he did my lumpectomy.  I'm not very fond of him, and I'm mindful that I can be rather caustic when a male tries to treat me like an idiot, my plan is to play an idiot and sic the ps on him instead (more than on way to skin a cat). I had asked the bs for a bilateral mastectomy when he first diagnosed the rb in March of this year, and he turned me down flat. I'm glad about that now, because my plastic surgeon will have him do the skin sparing technique for my diep.

As an aside when I saw my bs for a post op (after seeing my oncologist) he asked me when I'd be starting chemo.  It was my onco's opinion that once I tested positive brca1 that doing the diep flap, followed by the ovaries and fallopian tubes being removed, that chemo would not be benificial to me, and that is what I told my bs.

Well mr. general surgeon not only didn't agree, but got nasty with me and asked me if I wanted to die.  I calmly (as you would to a child-yes VERY passive aggressive of me ) told him that of course I didn't, but I also didn't want to go through chemo unless it was medically nessessary, and besides my mom had much the same case over thirty years ago.  She did a double mastectomy with no chemo or rads (not suggesting that to anyone). He then in a snotty way asked when she died. (what a nice guy huh)  I told him she hadn't died and that she currently runs a construction crew and works as a property manager at a large condo complex in Los Angeles.   That shut him down, but I haven't seen him since. I'm getting a bit nervous about seeing him, so I think I'm going to talk to the gal in my plastic surgeons office tomorrow first.  Just so I'm prepared when I go to the general surgeon on Thursday.  (He wants to talk to me before the surgery....:shrug: 

Bottom line is that the plastic surgeon is running this rodeo, not the bs/general surgeon, but I'll let the plastic surgeon make that clear to him. I won't be surprised if I have a line right across my chest though....as much as I would prefer the other way.  Oh well.  I'm blessed to be able to get this done and lower my chances significantly and that for me is the number one priority.  Everything else is just frosting with a cherry on top (cherry on top is stage 2!) lol

Robyn - do your PS and BS operate together regularly? If not, ask the PS to suggest a BS that he prefers. Sometimes that can make all the difference in your comfort and outcome. It can also prevent the ego driven BS from getting into a pi$$ing contest in the OR.

Robyn, your BS sounds a lot like the first one I was assigned to. All about him/her and their regular practices.  As my mom would say "does not work well with others".  I chose to move to a team.

When was diagnosed I was a DD. I would be happy to be smalled, a large B, small C.  After TE and exchange I was a D. Hubby joked he was going to slip my PS a $100 bill for 'porn boobs'.  PS was not sure he could get more than a week B cup from my belly with a DIEP.  Well, I'm certain we are at a larger than D, possibly DD!  When I was discharged he told me 'your husband will be very happy, we got much better than we thought, at least a D'.    Of course, we have stage II yet to come.

I'm having computer issues.  My laptop is not working.  I'm on my kids computer, but my son is screaming in the same room as he is on x-Box.  Grrrr...now I understand my daughters complaints!

My ps has worked with Mr. Charm before and it was either Mr. Charm or another that the ps works with. I told my ps that I had no preference because I know that he was and would stay in charge and that I would be sleeping.  I told him, that whoever he could get the best result from was fine with me.  He ended up going with Mr. Charm mostly I think because Mr. Charm had already worked on me. 

I'll be fine.  I'm more concerned about me getting my back up if he says something I take offense to again then anything else.   God's got this.  I'm under His protection and everything will happen just as it is supposed to. I'm happy to say that my ps is Christian as well.  That gives me lots of comfort and confidence as well.