DIEP 2013

SBE, sorry you are back in the hospital, but glad things are under control.  Did they have to take you back into the OR to fix your incision?  Keep us posted.

Katy.......OMG - a wound vac???? Sounds like things went south in a hurry!!!! . So sorry you ended up being kept in Jail.......but if they could just figure out (wait, my tiny brain remembers you mentioning your open wound).....Get better.......I am coming in November!



DebD. I never had chemo, but will join the pocket party......you ARE a strong woman, and Liefie had some wonderful advice based on her chemo experience....there are many others who really know what it is like to walk in your shoes......you CAN do this, and if this is what you do to give yourself the best shot at killing the b&$t@rd$.......you will do it!

Sending you a (((hug)))



Kuka.....if you can find suitable childcare, I say go for it! You would be a real positive in that office! They must think so, too, if they called YOU!



I am also one who will help DD out with kids in an emergency.....but when I was young and raising my kids, my mother did not live nearby, and I survived. I found other alternatives.....I don't want to be a full-time baby sitter......been there, done that! Love my GC, but.......



Damiana.....what a wonderful vacation for you! Sounds like something WE need to do here on the DIEP board! So glad you got to go!



DorK.....forgot to welcome you yesterday.....and so sorry for all of your trials.....please come here and vent, anytime.....we're good listeners!



Love you all! XO

DebD, you have a lot of support here.  I add mine too.   You will get through it, and it will reduce your risk. I've done chemo twice now with no lasting side effects. Not fun, but doable.  My eyebrows are just coming in as my boobs are about to come off, LOL.  Well, I'll be happy to see my eyebrows again.  Katy, so sorry you are in the hospital. I hope you heal quickly and get to go home quickly. Goldie, I hope you get some good news soon. I appreciate the input on the delayed DIEP and I'm feeling more confident about it now. Damianna, loved the picture. Wow, there are a lot of  us out there. And it's great to see everyone looking so good.  Sherry, I like the idea of a flappers trip.  I know that I'm new here, but I hope that I can belong.  Don't know where else I fit in. 

I've come to terms with my delayed DIEP.  Have realized from you ladies, that this is a process that can't really be rushed, and I need to go with the flow a little, and trust my doctors.  Kuka, congrats on the job offer. That sounds like it will be really meaningful work, given your experience.  Please keep me in your thoughts next Tuesday as I go in for my DM and TE, prior to my DIEP. 

Deb

Katy, good to hear from you but bad that you are back in "jail". Hope they can get things cleared up quickly and make you feel as good as new. In the meantime, sending gentle (((hugs)))

Debwarrior, this is a perfect fit for you, and you belong here of course! In case I forget (which is totally possible - lol) I want to wish you well on your surgery this coming Tuesday. I had a UMX with TE placed. Those TE's do feel weird for a while, but I consoled myself that the cancer was gone, and that the TE was sparing my skin for the DIEP. It also looked good when I had clothes on, and nobody could tell the difference. So focusing on the positives always helps, and after a while I 'forgot' about having a TE (for 15 months), and just got on with life, yoga, exercise etc. Best wishes that your surgery goes very well, and that you come out victorious on the other side.

Someone mentioned valerian root to help sleeping.  Super Snooze has valerian root, too.  Yes, they do stink.  You can check it out on the Puritan's Pride website.

Also for scars, a lady came to our last BC support group meeting.  She raises goats.  She has this cream that is supposed to be great for scars.  Her website is www.bassfarms.com.  The triple B cream is supposed to be really good.  I started using it a week or so ago.  She said there are like 200 hospitals on her waiting list.  Oh, she developed this after the problems her mother and brother had after radiation.  Both of them lost their battle with cancer.

If you enter "BEATCANCER" as the promo code at the end, it cuts the price in half.  She asked that we only use that for products for ourselves.

So sorry for the problems that every one is having.  You are in my thoughts and prayers.  ...Julie

Damiana, I thought that was you, but I wanted to be sure.  You look awesome.  I am sorry about the women with the recurrence.  Did she have a bmx, or an umx?  I know several people with implants, and they are thrilled with them.  And, yes...those immediate dieps can look like nothing ever happened.

I know Nihani dislikes bio oil, but I just have to say that I went to my PS today for a fill, and I usually only see the nurse, but I saw him today.  We have plans to make...lol.  Anyway, he is blown away by my chest skin.  He asked me what I have been doing.  Just massage, and the bio oil twice a day.  He couldn't believe how the scars were almost gone.  Also, I had issues with the skin being thin, and fragile, and he said that has totally resolved.  He had the expander's filled again while he stood there and watched.  He couldn't believe it. No issues. I am getting close...yes!!!!!

Sbe, not again!! But I'm glad it's resolving itself. Just take it easy and do as they say.

Goldie, I'm so happy for you! You ARE getting closer, and before you know it you will be on the other side with us;)

About grand babies...., I talked to MIL last night and told her about the job and offered her to keep the two kids I currently babysitt and also offered to pay her for my 3 year old and she said yes! She will be making more than me, but hey! I get to get out if the house and start a career. There's so many benefits to this. Besides what I've already mentioned I get to help other women and to do that I need to look my best. Who wants to see someone that had done essentially two tummy tucks with fat rolls? So, no more cookies or icecream for me;). I'm going on Wednesday to spend the day there and see if I like it and talk to ps in person. I'm excited and scared at the same time. I don't want to let anybody down, so I really hope this works out.

Going out for pizza for a fundraiser for Cub Scouts. I guess I'll just be drinking water:)

Yeah, Kuka.  That is great.  Can't wait to hear how it goes.  

Katy- It was nice to hear your "voice". Sorry you are in jail. Hope you are much better!



Bailey- Yes, I go to ARTPRIZE every year. Now that I am retired, it was so nice to go during the week. It was still crowded. What great weather we are having. I probably walked 4-5 miles today and I had surgery one week ago. That amazes me.



Thinking of you all!

Katy- So glad to hear from you and sorry you are stuck in the hospital! I hope everything clears up quickly for you!



Deb- Hang in there, chemo isnt as scary as you think its going to be and it will be over quicker than you think.



I saw my PS today to get a referral for a lymph specialist. He doesnt think its lymphedema but he has no clue what it is so I just said thank you for the referral. I am sooooo sick and freaking tirec of hurting and hwving this big fat belly! I jave gainec five pounds since Monday inspite of being on a 1200 calories a day diet and waling twenty minutes on the treadmill. Something is just not right with my body and I know it! It was embarrassing that I am so freaking fat that I couldnt even sit up on the exam table! I have to roll on my side and push myself up. Stupid doctor tells me to do more situps. I spent almost my entire life as a thin person so this is really hard on my ego on top of being physically hard. I am freaking done, done, done with this crap and at this point I dont even care about getting stage two and the ooph. Im just done.



Thanks for listening to my whine and Im sorry to those who are struggling right now, my problems ar so miniscule co pared to what some of ya'll have been through.

Cherrie--4-5 miles?? Wow, that is great.



Sweetpickle, so sorry! What did your doc say about the weight gain??? Hope you love the LE therapist and if she can't help you maybe she can guide you to someone who can. I hate that you are suffering so. I'm virtually HUGGING you!

Deb.....hope things went ok for you yesterday, and you have minimal se's. You now have that "first one" over and done with, and are one time closer to the finish line.

Good morning, gloobsters!  It's a beautiful day in So Cal...not that I'm out in it (YET) but I'm getting sprung this morning.  I'll go home with a PICC line for IV antibiotics and a wound vac to schlepp around, but getting out of here is great news.

I'm so sorry I worried everyone with my sudden disappearance from the thread--I got sucked up into the tornado of admission, PICC line placement, treatment, rounds, etc.  I didn't have time to turn my computer on. We didn't have to go to the OR for debridement; my PS did it all at the bedside, and it wasn't painful, since most of that tissue is numb, anyway.  

Our small group from church normally meets on Thursday nights and I was lying here feeling lonely and missing them, when guess who walks through the door--all twelve members of our small group!!!  With a cheesecake!  So we're having a small, quiet party, and THEN my PS shows up for rounds.  He joined the party, had a piece of cheesecake, gave a short lecture on cancer prevention and nutrution, and led the whole group in prayer.  What an amazing blessing.

Sweetpickle, listen to your body, don't listen to the doctors.  If your body's telling you something's off, then it is.  I'm sorry, dear sister, that you're discouraged and frustrated.  

Gotta go pack up.  Going home.

Yes, listen to your body! Better to have a false alarm than a missed alarm! My EX-internist said my 7cm palpable lump I had him feel that pulled on my breast & dented it in said I only had dense breast tissue! Wrong! Plus I had just received a letter from the radiologist saying my mammogram was normal - wrong! I was my only advocate or I would probably not be here today! Better to be safe than sorry!