DIEP 2014

Hi, ladies .. sorry its taken me so long to check in after my surgery on Jan 8th, but I have been in a funk emotionally, and when I got home from NOLA on Thursday,  I discovered a plumbing problem that I'm still waiting to be fixed.  Going through the mail, paying bills, etc ... YUK!  I'm single, so there's no one to take care of these issues for me

Anyway ... I had Trahan at NOLA - and I really liked him, but I only saw him the one time the day prior to my surgery.  I did not see him at the post op, because he had "a case come up".  My post op was with Sullivan, and though I liked him, too, I felt a little rushed.  Just a tiny bit.  The nurses in the office are great, but a couple of them have a hard time keeping up with the doctors.  LOL - I felt a little sorry for them, until I remembered they didn't give me some stuff they were supposed to.  Meh, I'm being bitchy.  

As far as my foobs go ... I can see that stage two is a definite must.  I don't use the hydrocodone they prescribed, mainly because pain meds make me sick - but my foobs feel so heavy. Parts of them feel hard.   They gave me two "compression" bras to wear 24/7 ... but they are THREE sizes larger than my regular bra, so I don't see any compression.  I have a hard area in the right armpit area - rather, just below it - that I'm concerned about, and it is not smooth like my left side (which is the prophylactic side).  I developed a blister on my right one right beside the dang incision, and have to keep ointment on it.  I use the pads they sent us home with to line my compression bra so the stitches don't get rubbed.  By the way, I had skin sparing AND nipple sparing ... I feel lucky about that.  

I still have one drain in my left hip.  I HATE THESE FREAKIN DRAINS.  I know I'm being a little dramatic here, but truly .. HATE.  Doc says I have to keep it until its draining less than 50ccs over a three day period, and mine is about 65-70 still.   I hate wearing a binder.  I hate being restricted in any way, LOL.  I've always had the ability to do what I want, when I want, and I guess I'm just used to bulldozing my way   Dr Trahan did not have me in compression when I came out of surgery.  Only when I had an excessive bleeding problem about 4 days out of the hospital and had to be rushed back to the doctor did they put me in the binder.  The drain site has been so irritated from before compression, and after.   But it has been better after compression 

My tummy scar doesn't hurt, but I'm careful with it because I have visions of it splitting open!  Hah - I'm sure that won't happen, but I know I'm not supposed to be doing so much, but have no one here to help with it most of the time ... my 21 yr old son lives with me, but he's finishing his last year of school and has two jobs, so he does everything he can when he's home, but no one is here with me all the time.  

I will be so glad when this is all over.  

MOVIE- Happy one year DIEP birthday!  The year sure has gone by fast.

Maggie - I really turned a corner after week 3. Don't push yourself and try to have patience with that drain. I hated them too,  but if it gets pulled too early you have worse problems to deal with. It is glorious when gone, but hang in there it isn't forever. Let your house go and order out if you need to. Take care of yourself young lady. LOL ((((hugs))))

Movie, congrats on the anniversary! You have come so far!

Maggie, welcome, flapper! You have received good advice here. I agree that you need to take it easy, ask for help if you need it, walk every once in awhile. The first few weeks I think we were all crabby and uncomfortable at times. It does get better. Your boobs are still swollen and will change. Any hard spots should be massaged but I don't know when it's appropriate to start that. Someone will chime in.

Cherrie, happy birthday to Tony! I know he'll love it. It's nice to be able to give back to our DHs who have been through so much with us.

Maggie... Double check on the level of fluid before pulling drains. I was always told 20cc, not 50. And if you pull them too soon, you may have issues. So just follow up with an email to them. Also, be patient. Do remember that this surgery was all about moving the flap. Don't poke and prod at it. Just be patient.

Plus if they forgot to give you something, tell them. They will overnight it to you, including a different size bra or girdle. About the size of the bra, if shouldn't be much compression.

My drain limit was 20 ml per day for 2 consecutive days.  Maggie, when I read your message, I thought maybe your limit was 50 ml in total over three days ( vs. 50 each day for three consecutive days).  

I had one abdominal drain that I didn't think was ever going to come out.  It increased in production after the other abdo one came out.  When I saw my surgeon at just under 4 weeks post surgery, he took one look at me and said - "you still have a drain? it needs to come out."  It was still pumping out between 30 - 40 ml per day.  I think at some point the risk of infection increases.  As it happens, the colour of my drainage had started to have a greenish tinge to it the day before my appointment and seemed a bit cloudy, so if he hadn't said it was coming out right away, I would have pursued it.  So watch the colour and clear/cloudy factor as well, as those can be signs it needs to go.

Jmb - nice fortune!

Movie - happy noobiversary!!

Home care nurse added an antimicrobial ointment to the areas on my incisions where the stitches were removed (cause they were not dissolving.). Looks like pumpkin pie filling, although thankfully, it doesn't smell like that and it did not hurt.  I'm hoping it speeds up the healing process.  I'm ready to be healed and sealed!!

Take care all,

Ridley

Sweet, there is no way you gained 10 pounds in two days, so it will come off, I am sure.  I hope your drains come out ASAP. 

Ridley, I have heard drains can stay in too long.  It's just scary when you are still putting out so much a day, and they pull them anyway.  I had 4 drains for my bmx and they pulled one on each side after a week, but the last 2 were in almost 3 or more weeks.  When they finally pulled them one got stuck on the way out, and they really gave it a tug to make it come....ugh....omg!!!!  Anyway, that side had to be manually drained twice, and then compression.  Then it was fine.

For constipation...two words.....magnesium citrate.  If the constipationator was on (Sbe), she may tell you that........

One thing I have learned after DIEP........patience is the name if the game!

Beebop, sorry about your constipation.  Are you trying to walk everyday.  That helps get things moving besides being good for your healing.  Of course, the usual advice, lots of water, fiber rich foods, stool softener, etc.

I love the story about your husband at the store.  My husband calls me several times from the grocery every time he goes, and he also get's the wrong thing after many calls. I try so hard not to show how much it annoys me, but sometime I am not successful.  I have no poker face.

Add some prunes and prune juice! If you haven't gone, don't wait too long! I had to take an ambulance ride!

I have taken the colace and ducolax but still havent gone yet I think its because they had me do the mag citrate before surgery and that really cleaned me out.

Maggie, as a couple of these ladies had to keep reminding me in the weeks after my surgery, it's a marathon, not a sprint. I am the most impatient patient, but we really have zero choice, so best to just accept our fate for a few weeks. *hugs*

jmb - that's freaky! LOL!

Movie - a year already! Congrats!

beebop, no noob compression is common - it depends on the doctor.

Beebop, like Movie already said, I AM THE CONSTIPATIONATOR!  I named myself after my first chemo treatment, on a Wednesday, and didn't drop the kids off at the pool until the following Tuesday.  Wow.  Talk about uncomfortable.

So I drew up a plan and it always worked.  A couple of days before I know I'll be exposed to constipation-inducing activities (like surgery) I start taking colace, morning and night.  The night before I take Metamucil mixed with Miralax, and keep all three going until I'm off narcotic pain meds.  If you've missed the window for these meds, Movie's right, a bottle of mag citrate, chugged along with a lot of water or Gatorada, will work too.  

Good luck!  

I got an answer from NOLA and they do not accept my insurance I kind of figured that but took a shot at it anyway.Guess I will need to search around my state (WISCONSIN) for the best PS I can find that will accept it. If anyone has experience with UW Madison doctors let me know.

thanks for the constipation nfo. I tend to lean that way already. Four days post op from my lumpectomy I strained to hard and developed a huge hematoma porn boob. The pain was horrendous. I was sent to my surgery hospital by ambulance for immediate surgery. Spent the night in the hospital. I felt much worse and very fatigued after that compared to how I felt after the lumpectomy. They said I almost needed a blood transfusion and thats why I was so weak. So I plan on taking any and every thing to prevent that from ever hapening again. SWO ladies make sure to keep constipation in check, it really can c cause problems.