DIEP 2013

shechirple....4 weeks out and back to work is a pretty ambitious goal! Even if your work is a "desk job", you'll be having to adhere to a schedule, probably be reaching, getting up/down, and of course, commuting. All these things consume a lot more energy than you realize! Please don't overdo things, and please don't get discouraged if your energy seems shortlived! Also, remember that at this stage, it's pretty rare to have a "nothing" scar....all that softening and fading takes a whole lot of time.

mammalou.... Trying to explain your reasons to someone who hasn't lived in a post bc body, is a great way, I think, to put doubts in your mind. I'm sure you have gone through the pro's and con's of this recon many times before deciding to go for it. I don't mean to imply that "should I, shouldn't I" aren't part of the thinking, but at a week out......your doubts are likely more the normal feeling that come with trading the known for the unknown. 

Goldie, after mx I didn't have any feeling on armpits either and now,2 months later, I only have feeling on one armpit. My BS said that the feeling might not be coming back, so I decided to do laser hair removal. I don't want to shave the side of my boob on accident!

My mom had her mx 13 years ago and never got the feeling back.

I think it has a lot to do with how much breast tissue you have under your arm. I know I had a lot under my right side, and that's the side that is still numb.

Mammalou.......your feelings are COMPLETELY normal........I was a mess for days before my DIEP.......I talked to my boobs before the surgery, as crazy as it sounds, because I needed to have closure over something so momentous in my life....and , although I am over-simplifying it, between that "conversation, and Ativan, I made it into surgery........and I haven't ever regretted the choice I made to do it. You WILL get through this, but at this point, it might help NOT to over think it!



Morwenna, the advice to schedule out your day as if you WERE at work is great! Sometimes I think that because we "bounce back" from DIEP more quickly than we anticipated, that we are thinking we are good to go, whether it's to work, or the gym, or, whatever......and, boy, are we In for a surprise......takes a LOT longer to feel somewhat normal (energy-wise) than we assumed!



So sorry to see the widespread destruction in the Calgary area.......very sad. So many seem to have been impacted by this freakish weather.....hopefully the area will see clearing skies VERY SOON. I don't want to sound like an ignorant Yank (but I am).....what are mozzies?



I have feeling in both armpits.....never lost it, but I was not overly-endowed, either. I also had no lymph nodes taken from the area.....maybe that's why......



TimTam update........just rec'd a shipment today.......should last me long enough to try and find a local source! I am a happy camper........



To those in recovery stage, and to those going in this next week......in your pockets!



(((Hugs))) to all.....



Namaste and God bless - Jackie

Whoops!!!! RE: Mozzies.......must live where they are not that big of an issue....had NO idea! Thanks Liefie! Sleep tight, and don't let the mozzies bite!



XO

Jackie

i was released from the hospital yesterday. Did well on the 1 hour car ride home, but then I got really sore yesterday afternoon. I felt really terrible and sort of wished I still had a cathetar back in so I wouldn't have to get up. Blech! Thankfully after a good night's rest, I feel much better. I have a blister on my flap- it is pretty nasty looking and I keep expexting it to pop or start oozing but it hasn't yet.

When does the flap become the same temperature as the rest of your body? My doctor said that it looks great, doppler sounds great, and really the only issue is the blister. I am still really paranoid about the temperature though!

Damiana- So glad to see that you are home already!  That's amazing.  I'm sending little blister blasting prayers your way!

My ps expects me to stay in hospital for six days- hope I can (like you) be a fast healer too.  My surgery is july 2 and I'm hopeful that I'll be back into a regular room by the 4th, and be able to see a few fireworks outside a window.

I took my kids to disneyland yesterday (we have annual passes) since I won't be going again anytime soon after the surgery and today a bit of camp clothes shopping for my daughter. 

Tues is my last pre op with the ps and they will be giving me 'embrey' to take prior to surgery for nausea and I'll be asking for antivan and start taking it prolly soon if possible.

  ssla01-healing thoughts and prayers for you girl, you've done it!  Cuetang-so happy for you to be facing stage II
- sfin, dbarkow, and mammalou- calming, stress free thoughts for each of you this week as you get closer to your date!

6/21/13            ssla01   (BMX with immediate Diep)
6/24/13            Cuetang (Diep, Stage 2)
6/24/13            sfin (bilat mx w/free flap TRAM reconstruction)
6/25/13            dbarkow  (Stage 1, Diep) NOLA
6/26/13            mammalou (uniDiep, Stage 1)

This weeks "class of future veterans".

Sending best wishes, calming thoughts to all of you. Succesful surgeries and gentle healing to you.

Still feeling pretty "out of it" around here. It just seems surreal. You think you've absorbed all the news....then you hear of the loss/destruction in another area.

Morwenna....EXCELLENT return to work suggestions! Therapist brain has clicked on for that one!!!!! Which pathway were you looking at??? The mozzies were getting pretty bad before all this...this is going to be just perfect breeding grounds for them now!!!! Enjoy the BBQ, nice to hav some good things going on.

damiani....for awhile, you can have more than one episode of 2 steps forward, 1 step sideways.....it's just your body's way of making you adjust to what it can handle, I think. Sounds like you're doing great!

Janet....I have been reading messages in a bit of a daze lately, but just want to say....you sound AWESOME! Loved the bassett hound walking faster than you story. You sound like a completely different person now that surgery is over. Happens to many of us. I think the Janet we "hear" now, is the real deal!!!!

Movie....careful on the timtams, girl . Sadly, but obviously, no Waterton weekend. They are not as impacted, but have closed the 2 main access to trail roads, lost of washouts on the trails, had we gone, we wouldn't have been able to do much. I think the animals will be stressed enough, that humans slogging around on the trails would be a recipe for disaster, too. Was thinking of some hiking around here to "reset" myself, but lots of road/trail/bridge washouts in my mountains have likely stopped that too. Incredible, the power of water.

Have good days, ladies.

Liefie, that is awesome.  I can picture your scar from all the pics I have seen in the Internet.  In a year you shouldn't hardly see it at all, especially if you have nipples put on.

Good to hear some of you got feeling back in armpits.  I can't really explain the feeling.  It's not completely numb, kind of like novacaine that is wearing off...does that make sense?

Damaina.  Glad you are home.  You will rest so much better without somebody waking you up every 5 minutes. I wouldn't worry about your flap being cooler that the rest of you.  I am sure they wouldn't have let you go home if it wasn't save.  The blister I hear is normal. Talk to Kuka.  She dealt with one, and I believe several other's have too.  There are different ways to deal with them depending on your doc.

Thanks RobinY, Nihahi and JanetM for the well wishes. I'm nowhere as nervous as I was for Stage 1, but am a bit nervous about the lipo/fat grafting that will occur and the recovery time and pain involved with that. It's an outpatient surgery, and my PS has told me no drains, so we will see how it goes! My surgery is in the afternoon so the poor hubby will deal with one seriously cranky me tomorrow morning without the food and water bit (good luck to him!).



For all of you that have the absolutely normal jitters and doubts before the surgery, hang in there! The nerves before surgery are the worst. I'm over three months out and life is pretty much normal, only have dog ears the ab scar and patches of skin on the breasts (used for the Doppler readings) that remind me of what I've gone through (will be gone with Stage 2!). The new foobs/flaps are also much much softer than before.



Good luck to the rest of the surgery folks this week!

Cuetang, what patches from doppler?  I am curious because my surgery is about a month away.  I didnt' know there was anything permanent the doppler left behind.

Good luck with stage 2.  I know it will be awesome!!!!!!

Goldie-- I had a nipple sparing and skin sparing bilateral with immediate DIEP reconstruction. My PS put two patches of skin (I'm guessing from my ab skin) in the area under the nipple (it's about the size of a quarter). The nurses did the Doppler readings in that patch of skin to check if the flaps were still alive in the hospital. I didn't get the feeling a whole lot of folks had this. For stage 2, he's going to fix that so the only scar I will have is a vertical line going from the nipple to the bottom of my breast.

It's good to read about pre-surgery nerves, friends' reactions and good results! My best friend who has a rare form of incurable lymphoma, looked at me like I was crazy when I told her what I was going to do, like why should you go through all that for breasts? Her perspective is different. Now I feel like I can't talk to her about it and don't have her full support. I am pretty nervous about the whole thing, but more about having pokes/bp in my lymphedema arms, barfing from meds, keeping the pain under control than the actual surgery. 25 more days!



Liefie, I, too, will have my TE's for fifteen months. They fit me really well but I am tired of "rocks on my chest," as you say. My PS says my skin looks really good from the rads which were last fall. I hope there are no surprises. I postponed my DIEP from the usual six months waiting period as I was recovering from pneumonia after chemo and wanted to get stronger. I had three months chemo, five weeks rads, then three more months chemo. My noob incisions will be circles where my nipples will eventually be. How they get the fat and vessels in there is a mystery to me and something I don't want to know!



God bless you who have surgery this week with fast healing and great outcomes!

Goldie-- so far so good on the tamoxifen (another instance where the anticipation was worse than reality). Instructions from the PS and the MO say off of it for one week before surgery and for one week after surgery. Thanks for asking! Hang in there, you'll be a veteran shortly!

Janet - the swelling can be indicitive of fluid building up.  You may want to call your PS tomorrow.  I believe you mentioned that you are drain free?  Might have been too early.   I had one that was falling off to the side.  My PS did a lift and reposition on it at Stage 2a.  We probably will have to do a bit more in August since it still doesn't match the other.

Janet - I don't think they put a drain back in, but they can aspirate.  Don't overdo your activity as that contributes to extra juciness.