DIEP 2013

OMG, leave for a day and so much is happening.

Christina, you are beautiful, and healthy, and almost whole. Frustrating to have to wait for a nipple, but I have a feeling Santa might bring you a cancellation on your PS schedule.

RHGSR, Janet couldn't haven't said it better. You are going to breeze through this. We are all here cheering you on. Zen is also right, breathe!

Mammalou, sorry for your frustration. it takes a while for implants to settle in even under a real breast. My neighbor had a boob job, and she was tight and uncomfortable for several weeks. I truly believe it's just a matter of time. Ask you PS when it is safe to massage it a little. That is suppose to help.

2timer, if if were you I would get a second opinion. Since you are going through chemo you have time to talk to other surgeons, and find somebody that will work with you, and make you happy. You deserve it.

I started xmas shoppiing today, both online and in the stores. Got to get it done before my exchange!!

Hi, Ladies.  I Have Been Lurking Here For A Couple Of Months  As I Tried To Prepare Physically And Emotionally For my Diep.  I Had The Surgery At The Cleveland Clinic On October 18.  It Lasted about 17 Hours Due To Unknown Hernia And A Couple Of Other Things.  Got Out Of Surgery, Morphine Pump In Hand, And Proceeded To Have A Groggy, Restless Night. The Next Morning And Throughout The Rest Of Day,  My Husband Kept Telling THe Nurses  I Was Acting Bizarre And Not All Like Myself.  They Kept Blaming The Morphine.  Luckily, A Plastics Fellow Came To See Me.  My Husband Told Him The Same Thing.  He Spent A Coupl Of Minutes Observing Me And Then Asked What Year It Was, Where I Was, And Other Basic Questions Which I Did Not Answer Correctly.  He Immediately ordered chest X Ray Which Showed A Collapsed lung. My Temp Was 103.7, Heart Rate Was In The 150A,   Oxygen Very Low.  He Sent Me For CT Scan Which Showed Blood Clot In Lung.Immediately Taken To icu For 5 Days.  My Husband Was Told By Doctors That It Could Go EitherWay And To Let Family Know.  Everyone Was Crying, But I Had No Idea They Were Even There.  About 2 DayA Into ICU, I Developed A Very Severe Case Of C Diff...About 40 Bed Pans Daily For 12 days.  Unbelievable Pain.  I Am Discharged November 4, But I Don'tThinkI Am Ready.  Home Health Nurse Calls PS To Say She Thinks Abdomen Incision Is infected  PS Agrees, Cuts Away Necrotic Tissue, Opens It A Little, Cleans And Then Packs With Dakens Soaked Gauze.  Tells Me To Repeat At Home Daily With nurse And Husband And Come Back In 4 Days.  2 DayS Later, I Develop More Pain And Low Grade Fever.  On The 4ThDay, We GoTo See Her And She Admits Me.  THe Next Day, I Am Off To OR To Get Wound Vac Placed.  White Blood Cell Count Rises And Still Constant FeverS.  Infectious Disease Docs Insist Vac Removed, Could Make Infection Stay Inside And Fester.  More Antibiotics Could Make C Diff Erupt Again.  WoundVac Removed AnD Wound Cleaned And Debrieded Again In OR 3 Nights Ago.  The Wound Is A Huge Gaping Hole Now. White Blood Cell Count Was Lower This Morning.  Fevers Have been Gone For 24 Hours.  So, They Took Me Back To Surgery  To Replace WoundVac.  The Docs And Nurses Have Said They Have Never Seen Such A Bad Infection/AbdominaLwound DueTo A Diep.  I Am So Afraid Of The Outcome.  Any Comments, Prayers, Support, Knowledge, Similar expeOnce Appreciated.  I Am Going To Try To Post A Pic Of My Wound, If It Doesn't Show Up, Can Someone Tell Me How To Do It?  Thanks In Advance For Any Replies.  

Lesley. Soooo very sorry for the problems. This is very, very rare. I don't think posting a photo will help. Others have had wounds reopen and needed wound vac or hyperbaric therapy. Your challenge is not the same, but it can be overcome. You are so fortunate that the docs have been on top of everything. Just remember that diep is a process and if you are not happy with the outcome it can be altered later. Time will be your friend and patience. Sending you big hugs.

Lesley, my heart goes out to you and your family. I too learned that bad things can and do go wrong during procedures so you are not alone. It is supposed to be rare and uncommon, but when it happens to you that is no comfort. Please know that we are here for you and sending healing positive energy your way. You will get through this! 

butterfleye- I'll be driving myself to my appt on Thursday! Texas and NY beware! I think they may have free valet parking where I'm going so that will make things easier.

DebDylan- stress relief for me is music and comedy. If I'm really nervous and stressed I will go to you tube and watch jim gaffigan, bill Cosby, Seinfeld clips. Laughter is good medicine!

Christina- sometimes the dr and front desk are not on the same page! My dr will say "see you in four weeks" and the front desk will say "nothing available for eight weeks!" Maybe someone will cancel.

Mammalou- hope things loosen up for you.

JanetM- I agree re the pills. I'm not a pill popper either but sometimes you just got to say Ativan please!

Goldie and moviemaniac- I don't know what I would do without online shopping!

Lesley- thank goodness DH was persistent and that plastics fellow took the time to listen. Sending healing thoughts your way.

Nothing new with me which is good news. Everything looks like it is healing.

Saw my GP today - wonderful woman, very supportive, very thorough and was very keen to see my scars! She ordered x-rays of my foot and neck - she says the neck looks like arthritis to her, but there's something on the side of the heel bone. Not sure what, but a spot about half an inch across. We're waiting on the radiologists report - she said she really doesn't have the experience to give me a diagnosis so she's asked them to put a rush on it so I'll get a call this evening or tomorrow morning. Hopefully it's nothing sinister and all this worry will have been for nothing.

What was it you said, Nihahi, about trying to change things that can't be changed? I'll try to apply that to worrying about things that are in the realm of the unknown!

UPDATE: the radiologist agrees that I have osteoarthritis in my neck and has no idea what the spot on my heel bone is, but it doesn't look like a met. So we wait and see. I can do that

oh my goodness Lesley! I have no other words of wisdom. You have been through soo much. You must feel angry right now, but you will get through this. Sending positive vibes and energy to you and your family.

DebDylan- Remember, you are a warrior and will get through this. We all think about you each day.

debdylan,

stress relief is an issue for most, throw in the trials and tribulations of cancer...it "ain't easy".

First, find the positives that goes well each day, write it down. Made breakfast without burning it? Yes! Got dressed without falling down? Yes! Seems crazy, but there are so many positives in your day being overshadowed by the "crap storm".

Also make the list of the bad things each day. Then see if there is something you can do to overcome it. Wait at the bank sucks...could you have done online transaction or gone a different time, or to another branch? Look for the little things that YOU can change.

And yes, at times you have to accept the things you "know" will happen. For me, no matter the line I pick there will be an issue with that line. I just try and make sure I'm not in a rush to get somewhere, then I can laugh about it...it usually starts with me turning to the person behind me and saying "sorry the line isn't moving, it's all my fault, happens to me wherever I go". Usually the person laughs and we carry on a conversation.

I also truly believe that when there is a full moon "things go wrong" and my temper is not good. Once I realize that it's a full moon I am better accepting the "craziness"

I also try and remind myself that others have similar rotten luck or have it worse ...though that's not an easy thing to acknowledge when in the thick of things.

I do try and anticipate problems and come up with my solutions before I get there. I leave early for appointments, so I can avoid feeling stressed if I hit traffic....then I make sure I have something to do when I arrive early (I still have stacks of magazines I "need" to read! I try and look at the calendar and see what is coming up for the week and knock out what I can to prep for it. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts..get the uniforms lined up. Anything that will create less stress on "the day of".

When all else fails a good friend that can listen to my bitching helps. So does a glass of wine! Lol(but the answer is not in the bottom of the bottle")

Pat

Lesley.....wow, honey. So scary, so hard on the body and mind and your family. So happy you are here with us to share the story...and feeling well enough to share. Stay with us, ok? You are in my prayers.

Debdylan my stress relief is exercise....and gardening....or planning the next year's gardening. I used to scrapbook and sew and really want to start doing that again. .....someday!

I was going to just wait and post tomorrow, as today has been......crazy, to say the least.....but after reading Lesley's post......I had to respond....

Lesley, I am so sorry you have had such a terrible and difficult recovery! You just can't seem to get a leg up on this, before it knocks you down again.....

There are a few of us on this thread who had healing difficulties with our abdominal incisions, but I do not think that c-diff was involved.....I DID have a staph/anaerobic infection that blew my incision out @7-8" clear down to the muscle.....I was wet to dry saline packing for about 3 weeks....at which point the infection keeping my abdomen open was completely gone, and my PS was able to re-suture me.......I thought I had it bad.....but nothing like you have had to endure......there are several others on here who have left their open abdominal wound open and allowed the body to heal itself. They may chime in at some point.....just know that it WILL heal......Nihahi makes a very important point....eat lots of protein, good quality protein......please feel free to PM me.....if I can help you, I will......in the meantime...sending you a (((hug)))

Everybody else.......love you all!

Jackie

Rhg today is your day.....we are in your pockets..you are likely with Wilbur now! See you on the flap side!

Lucy... I'm so sorry for what you are going thru. I had an open abdominal wound for 3 months and know that it can be very distressing, not even taking into account all the other things you have had to deal with.

I drank pea protein shakes 2 times a day and also ate a lot of protein. I was packing it 3 times a day.

I did not see improvement in my wound for the first month at least and ten it started healing fast. You can tell when the granulation tissue starts forming.

Hang in there. If you have questions, please ask.

I need help. I am using MyFitnessPal to help me eat more protein. I have taken all bad carbs out of my diet like white bread(never ate it anyway), cereals (except real oatmeal), sugars, cookies, desserts, etc. You all know the drill. My problem is I just don't seem to get that protein level up high enough. I eat eggs, cheese, organic peanut butter, chicken, but I want to get up to at least 90 grams of protein everyday until my surgery, and after it, of course. I also have a protein shake almost everyday. When I get hungry I tend to grab fruit. Today, I broke down and had an angus burger patty for lunch, and that helped, but I need more high protein, low calorie suggestions. I don't want to eat a ton of beef even though it seems to be the highest in protein. Although, if they said I could eat a rib eye steak a day I wouldn't complain...lol.

I always eat nuts when I eat fruit to balance the sugar load. I'm pre-diabetic so I eat NO sugar / carbs except in fruit and it's always eaten with a protein source. Non fat Greek yogurt is really high in protein and low in calories. Always be sure to drink a ton of water. Too much protein is really hard on your kidneys so be sure to add plant sourced protein instead of animal based as often as you can. I use Lifetime Basics protein powder that comes from pea, hemp, and brown rice. I add a scoop of Garden of Life Greens powder since I'm not a huge fan of vegetables. Add in some frozen berries and you'll have a great smoothie that will last you for hours. Maybe throw in some non fat plain Greek yogurt to bump up the protein. I guarantee you'll be full and it's more than enough protein for 2 meals.

Thank you SBE, Lucy and Dyvgirl. I am writing all this down. I believe the shake I use is whey protein based. Is that bad? I thought I could eat all the fruit I wanted, but I guess not. I will watch that too. I don't eat as much veggie's as I do fruit. I do like a big glass of V-8 (low sodium) with lemon juice, and fresh cracked pepper. I have been buying fresh salmon from Costco, and we have that twice a week for dinner with some nice green veggie. In the morning, now that it is cold out, I have Old Fashioned cooked oatmeal with an egg cooked into, and I add a little almond milk to cool it down. It is my favorite meal of the day. I think I am doing pretty well with balancing the protein/carb at each meal, or snack. I will watch that more carefully. Thank goodness for Costco, and their great frozen organic fruit for smoothe's. I am not a huge winter fruit fan.