DIEP 2013

In case anybody needs, or wants one.  Costco has already starting putting out furniture, like they do every January, and they have an auto lift recliner for under $300.  That could be cheaper than renting, I don't know. It is comfy. I sat in it. What I love about Costco is if it doesn't work in 6 months, a year, two years, they will take it back.  Got to go back out there.  Oh my goodness it's nuts out there. 

Shechirple, you have every reason to feel the way you do.  It is rational, based on the facts of what you've been through.  That is the only thing I learned from the first therapist I saw, who turned out not to be a "fit" for me.  I'm hoping I can see someone else soon but don't know how I'll pay for it.  Time for me to just relax, try to enjoy the holidays (including my birthday) and face 2014 when it comes.

Okay, girls, you know I am actually done since I just got my tattoo.  However --- since I have a noticeable red scar from my DIEP a little over a year ago (because of radiated skin) -- I am getting a laser treatment today at the PS's office to lighten the scar & blend in the skin colors of my white tummy flap, red radiated area, & normal chest color. Wish me look! I'll keep you posted on how it works. Feel like a guinea pig, but hopeful. My scar is on top of the flap & runs down the inside of the flap where cleavage shows. I'll also let you know what type of laser & how much it costs if insurance doesn't cover it. She did say it would only be $50 per treatment. I just don't know how many treatments it will take. 

By the way, my tattoo looks great!

Oh, Lahela.  You were right to push them on this after all.  They should be ashamed at how they made you suffer all this time.  I hope this is the fix you have needed all along.  You sound like you are feeling more at peace.  Enjoy your holiday.  I hope they can pull that drain and you are done with all this for a while. 

Sharon, let us know how it goes.

Lahela, glad you are home and healing! Wonder if my fat necrosis is causing problems....just made an appt. to check it out. That makes 5 appts. for January already, grrr.

Julie, good to hear from you! My birthday is the 29th. Thankful to be here to celebrate it !

lahela! Rest and relax and snuggle with Wilbur! Sounds like you are on the path to healing now.

Sharon, hope it all blends together for you. 

Sorry for everyone who is being hit by the storms and crazy weather. Our snow is all melted now. It was 70 degrees here yesterday. Ridiculous!

Zoemom- I hope the pain and redness subside and they figure out this puzzle for you and fix it!

Goldie- "my foobs feel great when I am tipsy" haha I laughed when I read that! I agree on the more fitted shirt. I am still wearing my hoodie...time to show off the good shape my Bali gives me!

RHGSR- may delay stage two due to very very high deductible

Jlbloom- I'm gonna ask about the FUPA....mine seems like it belongs on a giant!

Curlylocks- I can't believe you still don't have power! Wishing you electricity soon.

Lahela- good for you for being adamant. I hope this will fix everything.  Hope the pain subsides.

Ocean- rest and enjoy that dessert!

My girls are home and I feel like I'm living in a college dorm....socks, bras, water bottles, cereal bowls, computers,jackets, sneakers are all over the place! They also keep forgetting to let the dog out before they go to sleep at night and she has peed twice...once on a comforter and once on a mattress cover which is just adding to the dorm effect!

lahela.....those "gut instincts" should never be ignored, eh? We're all hoping this time all has been sorted out, and you will now heal quickly and completely.

Ocean....sounds like you're doing well.....be patient....I bet you'll start to get some "bounceback" in a few weeks.

curly...cannot imagine the first days at home without power. Are you staying warm enough and able to eat properly???? I'm worried for you.The news is on as I type this...sounds like it still could be days for some people, still. Hope you don't have to wait that long. SunnybrookHospital is still running on generators!!!!!!

dyvgrl.....you are spot on...there are many categories of life that are challenged in this journey. 

sbe...I hear you on the shoulder woes. Mine took a huge step backwards after the surgery, and I was quite depressed, since I had expected that with all the "contracture crap" gone, it would be smooth sailing. Not the case, and I actually had a pretty teary session at physio one time. But, he reassured me things would get better....and he was right. Took time, lots of work, and not the most "painfree" process....but, I've now got a pretty functional shoulder.

 To everyone I missed, hope it has been a great day.

Had a great snowshoe today.....sooooo nice to get out and put the cabin fever behind me. 

Deb... assuming your doctor used the whole flap, then yes, it is stacked.

Curly, I have always been more comfortable without a bra & now I don't need one with a perky flap & lift on the natural boob. Love it!  I do wear one out, however if I need to conceal my headlights. Don't want this 71 year old to look like a hoochie mama - ha!

Goldie- when I was a kid I remember a jar in the bathroom labelled and filled with darvon.  I believe a cousin of darvocet. People took it like Tylenol back then.

Gosh, Lucy and Deb, wish you could be here with me.  It's so quiet.  We could whoop it up ourselves...lol.  My husband spent 2 hours searching Netflix for a movie to watch, we finally sit down to watch it and he falls asleep...ugh.

Curly, I hope you sleep like a baby tonight.  Rest is so important, but you sound like you are doing great.  I don't know how you are moving around so well already. You are a trooper!!!!!  

Anyone who thinks our bodies are just a collection of fragmented, separate systems never had breast surgery.  What percentage of us have had shoulder issues related to our breasts?  A whole bunch, that's what.  But did anyone every say, "stretch and exercise your shoulders because big surgery on your breasts will implant some shoulder trolls?"  No one did.  

Thanks for the encouragement, Nihahi.  My PS currently doesn't want me to go to physical therapy or even move my left elbow very far toward my midline for a while, just to protect the healing incision on my back.  But I can adduct to the side and stretch/extend my pectoral muscles, which is better than nothing.  It aches the most when I first wake up, and of course, what do I think?  "THE CANCER IS BACK!"  Just like when my eyebrows itch, or I get a hangnail.  Cancer is my first thought.  It will be great when I can have indigestion and not automatically assume breast cancer is somehow responsible.

Curly, good news that your power is back, and maybe now you can get some real rest.  My advice is to take a pain pill along with a sleeping pill or an ativan and SLEEP. It's tough to drift off when you're in pain and sleeping in a position you're not used to.  

Sharon, I'm so envious of the laser treatments.  One of my DIEPs, on the BC side (of course) looks like strawberry ice cream, with the still-red radiated skin sutured to the trout-belly white of the abdominal skin. Let us know if insurance covers that, ok?

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!  Clean the downstairs, pull out and wash the china, polish the silver, make cookies, wrap gifts, go to church!  The blue velvet dress or the green sparkly vest????

FYI, for anybody who is going to start chemo and needs to get a port, I just got off the phone with a friend who starts chemo on the 30th and her surgeon put her port in her arm, and on the upper inside of her arm!  Not visible now, and the scar will not be visible later, and she already had her recon.  I asked if the port felt funny there, and she said, "not at all."  It's nice that they are finding little ways to make this whole process a little bit more humane.

Mammalou - Have you thought of acupuncture for your scar? My masseuse, who does all kinds of healing, says acupuncture releases the heat and drastically reduces the redness. I haven't tried it yet  (too early) but I'm six months out as well, and am going to try it in the new year.

DebDylan - I'm getting hot flashes too - and they sure come in handy during an ice storm and a power outage! 

Power came back on last night though - a giant inconvenience more than anything. We were lucky to have places to go, and lots of blankets. For some people this is such a critical time. Curly, I hope you're sleeping as I write.