DIEP 2013
Comments
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I love these flowers!!I have been told the after having 3 c-sec and a hysterectomy, the DIEP should be easier not fun but easier to make do. I do remember pillows and pillow coughing. Who knows what we will feel until we go through it. All of mine were a breeze according to the OB.
I had to cancel an appointment at Lemon-Holten b/c hubby said the wind was just too much. I would have gone but it is just to get renewals for med so I stayed home. Wind chill advisaries still across Michigan. I think I want to make a snow angel tomorrow! Maybe I can get Snickers to add to it!!
I woke up on the downer side today but am feeling much better! SAD is difficult for me in January and February. sigh
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I hope this isn't too big. I just wanted to capture the baby girls and the amount of snow on the tree and the ground. Remember, this is central Indiana where it did not get above 0 F yesterday. Florida looks better every day!
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Kat, those are pretty flowers.
It's interesting, after you have a c section the baby is so "all" consuming I think we deal with the pain, and usually we are younger than when we get breast cancer, and more able to deal. Also, there is not the fear of BC with a c section, or a hysterectomy. But, I hope you are right, and our tummies are not too bad after our surgeries. Sorry about your SAD. I hear that can really do a number on people.
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Kat-ski, the flowers are just lovely... a treat for my eyes after spending 40 minutes getting my car un-stuck from a snow drift in the driveway, and then up the driveway so I can drive it to work tomorrow. Ugh, I do not like winter at all!
I see my PS on the 27th for my second stage 2 follow up appointment (yes that is a bit delayed; I was originally scheduled for 12/23 but had to postpone the appointment). I think I've lost an area that she grafted fat into; it's not terrible but it's not as nice as it was before. It doesn't bother me too much but I wonder if it would be worth trying to graft more fat into that spot again? Has anyone had the same spot done twice? If so did it work?
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Flowers and puppies! Yay!
lahela, I don't know if it's iron or just aluminum, but I have tightness across my chest and my abdomen. I still can't do a sit-up to save my life. (I have visions of falling down on my back and rocking back and forth like a turtle to try to get up!)
Pre-op tomorrow and then surgery scheduled for the 24th. Hopefully PS can correct this scarred lumpy mess.
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Yes, lahela, I have a similar sensation. My scar is almost 360, and when I take off my Spanx, it feels like I have a rubber band right where my incision line is, all the way around. I'm thinking I need to do more stretching and massaging with oil.
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Bluebird, what a positive step, finally! Your PS better do a good job or he'll hear from us. We'll be in your pickets the whole time.
Julie, cute pups! It looks so cold. My DD is trying to stay warm in Ann Arbor. This is all new for her. The first thing I noticed about the ScarFade was that my ab incision was less purple! Hopefully it will work that way for you. You're supposed to use it 2X a day but I've only been using it 1Xday because it's spendy and I'm lazy. I am not as fit or slim as some, for sure. But we're okay, you and me, doing our best, trying to enjoy life and have healthy habits. Not going to go down the comparison road.
Christina, sorry about all that work in the snow! I don't know about the repeated fat grafting. My one boob developed scar tissue/necrosis/whatever on the top after DIEP and stage II. Less blood supply there probably. I'm not trying again. But from what you say, it sounds like maybe your fat grafting melted away as they say 50% of it does in some people. Marty probably has your answer!
Kat-Ski, daffodils are so cheerful! You will do great with your surgery. Just show up and let them take care of you. We are cheering you on. SAD is very common where I live. Seattle doesn't get as much rain as people think but we get too many (IMHO) gray days. It takes a toll so you have my sympathies.
On a sad note, my daughter told me her former neighbor's bc has come roaring back, aggressively attacking her spine, her heart has fluid in it. I, of course, suggested she come to bc.org for support, if she hasn't already. She has a young daughter and an older one who is expecting her (neighbor) first grandchild. BC is such a thief!!!! I hate it.
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Zenful... Tightness is very very normal for a long time, and then one day you will realize you don't have that feeling anymore. With each revision, it comes back to some extent, but goes away. My scar is a full 360 degrees, so I know what you mean.
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Zen - my ab incision was very tight after Stage 1. It was also lumpy and ropey. It felt like an obstacle. Dr. M re-opened it during Stage 2 and corrected whatever was going on. It is great now. Though just recently I began getting cramps in my ab muscles on occasion which I find really weird.
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hard to catch up with all this.... But
I was just wondering today if this too tight, iron bra tummy is normal. I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone, but unhappy we have it. I'm going to do research and see if regular tummy tuck people get this.
Christina, I also think I have lost some fat grafting from one spot. Of course, it is the main area that is noticeable to me. I am willing to give it one more try. I am curious about others that might have done this twice.
My MO is sending me to a liver specialist for the liver enzymes. I really think the Tamoxifen is causing it, but we shall see.
Jeez....I used to be on the once a year doctor plan. Sometimes I would go 2 years and I would just go to GYN for blood work up and check up. I never even had a PCP. It seems like a lot of these appointments are a waste. I actually feel pretty healthy. Sorry, I'm rambling.
On a bright note, I've been walking 6 miles a day, it's sunny and warm here in California ( sorry girls)' and I am on my 3rd week off from school.
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I'm drain free! Whoo-hoo! Didn't realize how much I was waiting for the last one to be gone until it was. I also had areas in each incision that were not healing as the stitches were not dissolving, so the PS removed all of the undissolved dissolvable stitches today. Hopefully now all of those areas will seal up. Then I'm going to just try and be patient until I see how things settle in.
I'm with Movie and Nihahi on the fashion scale. Love LL Bean/REI/MEC and my friends tease me about how I have a jacket for every walking temperature (although I'm still searching for the perfect goretex one!).
And I got a copy of my OR report - if I'm reading it correctly, they used the left flap to create the right breast and vice versa - never knew that. I'll confirm the next time I see the PS if I remember.
Lots of great pictures!
Take care,
Ridley
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Bluebird - I can't do a sit up either, and I think we had our surgery about the same time. I can do lots of other stuff, and I feel like I'm back in action, but situps - not yet. I still have to do the roll on my side and push myself up manoeuvre. I don't know if it's my lack of trying, or if I'm a slow healer - but sit ups seem to be the last frontier.
jbloom - Your girls are beautiful! ( I'm referring to dogs, not breasts) . I love their little faces. Tonight I had to drag my basset hound down the street with his coat on. It's -20 C degrees out right now and he did not want to be outside.
lahela - I have iron belt. It doesn't bother me too much because it feels like it's always progressing. So slowly - but progress is progress. For the longest time I felt like I'd been hit in the stomach with a pie plate, so anything is an improvement. A belt is better than a plate, for me.
Gotta say, I'm feeling pretty great. But not an hour goes by without me thinking about something to do with my DIEP. Free time at home is spent oiling, or massaging, and when I'm working, or driving, or out, my body always needs a slight modification. My belly button is still pretty hard and red, and I wore a very tight t-shirt today (to show of my flat stomach) and realized that it was poking through the fabric. Plus I keep touching myself! I seem to to be drawn to the parts of me that have been rebuilt.
I hope everyone is staying safe and warm tonight,
Janet
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Yay for losing the drains, Ridley! You are free!
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Janet, you know what the nuns said would happen if you keep touching yourself....lmaoooooooo. Sorry, bad joke left over from my childhood.
You all got to stop it with the iron tummy thing. I am having this surgery to get rid of iron bra, and now I am all paranoid about iron tummy. It can't be as bad as iron bra, I think?! Marty, you had iron bra, is iron tummy as bad?
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No, Goldie, the tummy band is not as bad. About 8 weeks After Dr. M repaired the incision, I began working with a trainer and physical therapist for 8 weeks waking up those abdominal muscles. So, from a schedule perspective, my DIEP was November and the revision in April. I began working out in June and July. Took August and September off because of a revision and began working out again in October. I can do all ab exercises, but some times there is a tightness or when I tense the lower abs I feel the line. Those feelings go away the more I work on it. I did have a plication (the muscles were stitched back into position) which is often a major component of a tummy tuck. Things change daily.
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goldie.....so sorry....no worries....the iron plate tummy is nothing like the iron bra. AND.....it goes away, slowly yes, but goes away.
Ridley....I missed your "drainless" announcement, I think....(anesthesia brain is starting a day early)....congrats! OMG...MEC is the best....my friends and I call it "MECCA", as in something very special!!!
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Goldie... Don't worry. I had iron bra and it stinks. The tummy isn't something you feel all the time like the breast.
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Phew, thank goodness. I am not willing to trade one for the other. I want to feel almost normal. I know normal isn't possible, but I would like close to it.
Good luck tomorrow ladies. We are waiting here for you when it's over.
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hi ladies! I hope everyone is doing well and staying warm. I've been posting over on the chemo boards as I started round one AC on Dec 30th. Round 2 is set for the 21st of this month. Hating chemo.
I have a question for you ladies. Anyone have any info about tamoxifen? I was wondering if you have a hysterectomy or oophrectomy do you still need to take the tamoxifen?
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all this iron talk... Do y'all mean the hard bands of tissue under the incisions? Is it common to go back in and fix the abdominal incision when you start phase II and such? I have a ways to go before I get to other PS phases. Just curious...
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RH-
My understanding is that if you have. Hyster / ooph that you should take an aromatase inhibitor instead of Tamoxifen. I am scheduled for mine on the 17th and will have my hormones tested about a month or two later and make up my mind whether I want to give those a shot or not. I'm on the fence still...
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Goldie.. Just know that it can take months for the tightness and iron tummy to dissipate. I am now 2.5 years post my initial surgery and I would say that it takes about a year for the tightness to go away completely. I remember using the ab crunch machine 6 months post op (light weights) and doing sit ups as well... This was about 7 weeks post stage II... And it took about 6 months of this and arching backwards over a ball at the gym to loosen things up... Massage helps and going to PT is always good too, although I didn't do that til last Spring. It might have taken longer... One day, I realized I didn't have that feeling anymore.
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Thanks, Betsy. I think iron tummy won't hinder me as much as iron bra. Also, everytime I do something that should be easy these implants feel like they are going to burst out of their pockets. I was trying to cut into a butternut squash (they are hard) but I couldn't do it. I had to ask my DH to help. I was scared I was going to pull something if I pushed any harder. I am too young to be asking for people to open jars for me, etc.
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You'll do very well with the DIEP... And the tummy thing is nothing like iron bra. I had an iron bra feeling the first week or so after MX, and did not care for it.
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Betsy, from your mouth to you know who's ears'
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Lovely flowers and puppies! I'm actually kind of jealous... here in Switzerland we haven't had winter at all! It's around 12°C (54°F) this week in Geneva - we should be knee deep in snow!
Bluebird, the turtle roll is exactly how I get up! LOL! After my ooph, the PS asked me to lift both legs off the bed at once so she could check that the gyn hadn't ruined my tummy muscles... I lasted less than a nanosecond!
Sounds like some PT and massage are in order for me, too.
Mammalou, I was the same - the only doctor I had was my gyn. These days, there is at least one appointment per week. My insurance company must hate me!
Ridley, I had a stitch that wouldn't dissolve and a spot that wouldn't close, then as soon as that bit of stitch came out it closed up really fast. Hopefully you'll have the same.
RHGSR, I had an ooph and will be seeing the BS next week to discuss switching from Tamoxifen to Arimidex. You certainly can still take Tamoxifen if it's a better fit (eg bone density issues) but an AI is an option after (natural or medical) menopause.Seeing the gyn today for my postop check and will ask about Effexor or something... another box of tablets to add to the stockpile!
Jeannie, every time I see your wonderful smile in your avatar it brightens my spirits so don't you dare ever think you're anything but beautiful!
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Ridley - Missed you drain-free post last night. Congratulations! Best feeling ever!
I went through the same things with the stitches. The undissolved stitches got snipped or tweezered, and everything started to seal up pretty quickly.
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I am 14 mo. out and still have a tightness near my incision. Going to a trainer this Friday, but can't afford to do this often. Is it to late for me to treat scars. My doctor never mentioned scar treatment to me. It is still very purple, but much better after revision.
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thank you all for the ooph vs tamoxifen answers. I'm 37 and haven't done a bunch of research on tamoxifen yet (as I still have chemo, rads, and more recon left before I start thinking about it ) but understand it will put me in menopause. Plus I hear such bad things about tamoxifen. I thought if I can avoid more meds by getting the ooph/hyster I'd rather do that. Is the Arimidex better than Tamoxifen?
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Hey RHG - I only started tamoxifen for a month before I had to go off for surgery, and then I started back on it after I got home, so I'm not sure I have felt the full effects of any side effects yet. So far, I've had some very minor hair loss and minor hot flashes. A good friend has been on it for about a year and she only has noticed hot flashes, although her's seem to be a bit more pronounced than mine.
I'm going to investigate ovarian suppression as well, but so far tamoxifen is not too bad.
Ridley
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