DIEP 2013

can't sleep either, Bailey.......

RHGSR....sorry about your pre-op troubles......hospital might be just the place to relax and catch up on some sleep! Hang in there.......you can so this!

DYVGRL , I could never have been back to work sooner than 6 weeks.......but I had some major problems with an abdomen that wouldn't stay sewn up......

Nihahi.....have you come any closer to solving your gloob dilemma? I kinda think your theory is close.....seems I remember a little of that feeling, too.

Gwenny.....let your PS know what is going on......if you are going to open up! there is not much they can do to stop it (if it's due to infection)......but, you may need to be on antibiotics.....my stomach incision leaked for a few days before it just started to come apart (due to a raging infection in there)

(((Sherbarb))).

Love you ladies!

Hi Sisters! I am off to get the small bit of hair colored but thought I would share some flowers that I gave to my niece(39 yrs) with you.

Lovely flowers, Kat! Thank you for sharing them.

Woke up this AM with a little bit of bleeding from ab suture from Stage 2a in September...... seems to be a surface(y) type of thing, most likely involving undissolved sutures......blech! Always a bit nervous......but unlikely to produce the level of blow-out I achieved in Stage 1.......calling PS just to be on the safe side.......

Never a dull moment, is there?????

Love to all!

My lift recliner was picked up today! Such a bittersweet thing. Mark of progress but no safety spot for sleeping. Me and the bed will have to figure it out.

dvygirl I am at the 4 week mark now and 3rd week at home. I could probably make it to work on Monday IF I had a total desk job that required no lifting, twisting and bending down. I didn't have any complications and I'm 35 in pretty good health and shape. I still have lifting restrictions and need to get my arm to go fully over my head. My job also involves a lot of walking around the campus which wouldn't be easy for me right now. Bottom line is I could go back to work Monday if I absolutely had to but really appreciate getting two more weeks to pull it together.

Gals I have a question: whenever I eat I feel extra full and tight. Is that normal? Also when I sit a certain way I feel like someone "tightened the belt" or the muscles are spasm-ing (is that a word)

I also am starting to itch like crazy around my scar and stomach. It's healing nicely and I wonder if its just nerve endings coming back to life.

butterfleye,

I can relate to sitting certain ways. I cannot sit on the floor to do homework with my son...by the time I get up it feels like a "charley horse" in my abdomen. I was also in a restaurant with a chair that you sort of sink into to...I could feel the "spasm" coming, so had to move. I have had no itching around the scars. Most scabs are gone, there are a few very small ones, but I refuse to pick at them.

Dvygrl, My surgery was Oct 2. 3 weeks out I was on a plane to Vegas to celebrate a friends 50th. Did a lot of walking there (interspersed with sitting at slot machines at times). Felt good. I think i was more tired from the time change, but I'm sure surgery had some affect. I'm 48, and think I could have went to a desk job at 3 weeks out....but I'm not working. We each have unique experiences post -op. I agree with Nihahi, put in for the time off you can take off and adjust from there.

Pat

day 3 post stage 2... I went to work today and it went pretty well. I'm a bit sore now, but I just plan to lounge around all weekend. My implant incision is hurting and the foob is very tight and firm. Do you think the fat grafting and implant will loosen up a bit over time? I sure hope so.

To add to my pain, I fell on my tailbone up on Orcas Island. It hurts soooo bad with almost every motion. My pain killers don't seem to help that much. Talk about feeling old! Uggg

Oh Mamma, ouch on the tailbone thing. Been there, done that. I actually sat on a donut pillow for 2 weeks once after falling on my butt roller skating. That was a long time ago. Bone bruises hurt!!!!!

As far as the implant, and grafting. It will take time. Ask when you can start massaging it. I am sure that is a ways out, but it sure has helped with these stupid expander's, and my PS said yesterday that he will want me to continue with that after my exchange.

RHGSP - What a sh*tty week! Sounds like you and your family are getting all the bad stuff out of the way so that there's smooth sailing ahead. I'm really sorry you had to go through a break in. Also, I hope your kids are feeling better.

DYVGRL - I took a whole three months off work. My job requires that I move around a lot so I had to wait until I got my strength back. I'm also double MX, but I don't know if that makes a difference. If I had a job where I stayed pretty still - I could have gone back a lot earlier. I really wanted to take my recovery slowly and since I'm a freelancer, I'm used to having big chunks of time off work so I was comfortable with a lot of time off. Lucy - as far as driving, I waited till week five, and it was fine. The biggest challenge was turning my body to get out of the car.

Everybody is soooooo different though. After reading this thread all year I've heard of ladies that go back to work - or get behind the wheel within three weeks.

Lucy - I started driving short distances after about a two and a half week and now 4 weeks out am back to normal - driving up to an hour each way to my doctors appointment. The only issue I have had is after a while, my seatbelt bugs me between the noobs. I also have the tight abdomen and crazy itchy flaky skin - I cranked up the humidifier and slathered on the moisturizer.

Lucy, I had the wound vac farting machine for a couple of weeks, and it really helped the wound come together fast. It was a pain in the neck carrying it around 24/7, but worth it. Sorry it's taking so long for healing.

Movie...duct tape. Gorilla glue. Maybe some clothespins. Anything to keep your incision line closed and get you to So Cal for dinner next week!

Nihahi, enjoy the day Red Crossing, and we'll miss you!

Sleep well, gloobsters!

mammalou- glad work went well. Sounds good for three days post-op. Ouch on the tailbone. Relax and catch up on some reading and movies this weekend!

Butterfleye- are you using Shea butter to super moisturize your skin? I am still scab city here!

Thanks all for the driving advice. Funny when I drive with DH I hold the lap and chest belts away from me cuz I fear him stopping short! I have two small pillows that I will put under the seatbelts I may attempt a short trip today.

Sbe- it's because of you that I know it's a farting machine!! Haha and when I heard the words I didn't freak out because I thought " ok I know someone who did this and it is doable!" Hopefully it closed a little . I think I am using less packing tape but it may be wishful thinking...gonna start measuring it.

Krissy42- I'm sure someone will chime in. I think they can lipo that area.

Krissy - they like to wait several months (4 or so). That gives plenty of healing time and you might find other things that need to be tweaked. You are still a bit swollen, even if it is not apparent. The dog ears can be done easily and the FUPA can be lipod so it is a bit less "ken doll". We are all anxious to be done, but you need to give it a bit more time to settle. Strange things can pop up.

kat-ski - the flowers are beautiful. Enjoy getting your hair done. I can't believe how happy doing anything with my hair makes me, now that I have hair again.

butterflyeyez - goodbye recliner! Huge step forward, woo hoo! I don't know that I felt extra full/tight after eating after DIEP (sounds like a bit of bloating maybe?) but my appetite definitely was (and still is) less than it was before surgery, which I have taken advantage of. I needed to lose weight (still need to lose a bit more). Not sure why my appetite was less; I thought it was the post-surgery antibiotics but even after I was done, my appetite never came back like it used to be. Maybe I just got used to eating less.

Lucy - I started driving short distances at 3 weeks. That was probably pushing it a little bit, but I'm an impatient patient...

mommalou - OW your poor tailbone! OW! I hurt just thinking about it.

krissy - the high pubic hairline thing bugs me too. You could probably do laser hair removal to lower the hairline. I'm probably just going to wax or nair mine whenever I do my bikini line. Haven't done any of that since surgery though.

Monday is my 2(-ish) week follow up from stage 2. Can't wait! I'm hoping my PS will remove the steristrips that have not fallen off yet, and I'm hoping to get my nipple surgery scheduled. My skin around my surgical areas has suddenly become a little dry and itchy over the past few days despite daily moisturizing so I'm trying to moisturize 2x day now.

bluebird, cute bear! I have a small fleece pillow the hospital gave me. I so sympathize with your rads experience. The burns were the most painful part of bc for me and so hard for DH to see me try to apply lotions or whatever to my falling off skin and raw areas. It does heal, thankfully. It took me three weeks to get over the painful, raw wounds.

Mammalou, I may have broken my tailbone while sledding years ago. It now bends out instead of under, making anything that involves rocking on it (yoga, rowing machine, etc.) a bad idea--it breaks the skin. I hope yours heals completely!

No, Blue, I was going to suggest Aquaphor if you hadn't tried, so I got nothing.  I know I started going all aquqphor all the time for several weeks....was the only thing that gave me any small amount of relief. I had plain white tank t's to put on to try to keep from ruining clothes with the aquaphor. Each treatment had its own special sort of hellish parts, but I found rads the most difficult and painful and exhausting. You've almost reached the end of it, though. You can do this. In your pocket.