DIEP 2013

Thank you Christina- yes, that is absolutely right, two steps forward and one step back. A couple weeks ago my PS said to me, nothing about your recovery is consistent with the norm.  Lucky me. 

Sbelizabeth - I had so much drainage it looked like something had burst (it appears it did come from the incision).  Since yesterday, I've had more but not as much. It is light red/orange and watery.  It isn't thick and yellow. What does that mean?  Why is this happening 1.5 months after the emergency surgery and 3 weeks after my cellulitis went away?  

I'm really trying to stay positive but it is difficult.  I keep thinking i am doing something wrong.   

Zoemom, after the PS removed my enormous radiation scar on my back, the incision "leaked" that orangish-red drainage for a while.  It was like there was a small seroma that had a little channel to the incisional opening, and just dribbled out.  It could be that whatever "popped" and drained was a pocket of drainage, just like goldie described.  I don't know that it necessarily means your drains were taken out too soon--I had a huge seroma after my mx and my BS had left the drain in a long time--it just works that way sometimes.  

I love the smell of Bio-oil.  And Bobby Brown makes a skin cleansing oil whose smell I love, too--I probably wouldn't spend the $$ if I didn't like the smell so much!  

Hope everybody is good today.  I have spent the afternoon visiting my bf mom in the rehab hospital.  She is 86 and had her right lower lobe of her lung removed because of cancer.  It's a miracle, they caught it early and she is cured.  Never smoked a day in her life.  I am pledging a oath.  I will never be a whining complaining needy old lady!!!  I really hope I never turn into that.  She about sent me over the edge after a couple of hours.  Nothing tastes good.  Nobody is nice to her.  It's to cold. The bed is too hard.  The TV is too small.  She feels awful. I don't know why I have to breath in that thing every hour.  OMG!!!!!!  I am glad I was able to give my bf an afternoon off from sitting there with her, and she needed it, but I never heard whining like that in my life.  And, you can tell the staff there is ready to be rid of her.  They have her discharge date in big number on the dry erase board.  It cracked me up.  

Goldie, Sbelizabeth, Betsy --  thanks for your input.  I do keep my ab binder on at all times.  What concerns me is that I still have pain and dark red area above the incision that won't go away.  Can I get an open incision that is still draining wet?  Do I need to keep it dry and covered at all times?  

Zoemom.....I just popped on the board.....take a pic with your phone and send it to PS........I had the same thing happen, and then my incision opened back up......you may be too far in the game for that to happen, but PS needs to know what is up......good luck....hope it is nothing, and you can go back to just healing up!

Lahela- after my surgery in June, I had a really hard recovery and really bad abdominal pain just in inch to the side of my belly button.  I did NOT have a true DIEP and was worried that it was where he had taken the tiny sliver of muscle from, and that it was a hernia.  CT scan showed nothing but I just had my revision in December, and it turns out that I had a small growth at the side, completely harmless, caused by trauma to the area.  I was so glad it wasn't a hernia!

Kelly- Hey girl  my abdominal revision was smooth sailing compared to the original surgery.  However, you haven't had much time to heal- so I imagine it will just slow things down a bit for you but shouldn't be bad.

I had my followup with the PS last week.  It went really well.  My lifted side is FINALLY starting to feel better.  My reconstructed side is still a bit larger than the other side so it will need some tweaking, and my reconstructed nipple is already much flatter than I would like.  At some later date my PS is going to do a revision- all in office- which will include some lipo and redoing the nipple- he has a few tricks to help with projection.

How much time should I plan being off work after Stage 2?  I am assuming it depends on the amount of revision.  Would love to hear your experiences so I can plan.  I am supposed to start a new position when I return, but I'm not really sure when that will be.

goldie-Yea, I will probably wait until classes are over- though, maybe spring break- I won't be under anesthesia for any of it, so recovery should be easier (though I am thinking I will be highly traumatized by going through lipo and whatever else in the office!)

Zenful- my flap was opened all the way back up, my abdominal incision opened all the way, and a lift- the lift was really the only difficult part.  I was driving less than a week later. Time off work depends on your job.  If you just sit around, you might be okay going back a week or 10 days later.

Damiana, if he is not going to use the fat he lipo's to do fat grafting he might use the less aggressive lipo machine.  It's the kind that just melts that fat instead of sucking it out, and it's not as painful, so I hear.  It's called Smart Lipo, I believe.  I asked my PS about it, and he felt he had more control with the regular old fashion lipo, but I know of other's that love the smart lipo. I have a friend who had her double chin done with the smart lipo and it looks so awesome. 

Zoemom, I'd be pushing for a consult if I were you. Hope it's all okay!

Damiana, thanks for sharing that - it's always helpful to find out as many possibilities as I can so I can make sure the PS on call has all the bases covered. It hurts a little less because I'm coughing less, so I'll see how it goes for another day - I really don't want to go in there unnecessarily. You're sounding great - so close to the finish line! And you're an inspiration, studying through all this.

My PS is convinced I'm a total wimp. She's doing my crop circles revision under local because it's just stripping a circle of skin and closing it up (I'm planning on keeping my eyes closed and cranking up the iPod)... but I insisted on a general for the nips because she's doing grafts from my upper thighs and I just don't want to be awake for that!

Christina, I had the same image! LOL!

Christina, I said "less aggressive" lipo machine.  Personally, I wish I never watched lipo being done on those TV shows.  I would definitely be better off emotionally about the procedure.

Lahela, glad your cough is getting better, and tummy is feeling better.  You are getting closer to the finish line.  Ask them if you can take an Ativan or something equally relaxing before you go in for your "awake" procedures. 

Damiana, I am expecting my Stage 2 to be similar to yours. I was planning on two weeks off, so it sounds about right.  Thanks for your thoughts. 

Zenful... As you know I had DIEP and GAP and so my stage II revisions have covered all parts of my body. The first stage II I had all incisions revised,lipo, butt lift etc etc, and was back at work two weeks later.

Niknak......I sent you a PM.......Tammy is right......on all counts.   LOVE my surgical team!

Lol me and tegaderm go way, way back, Blue.....get a corner started and it'll give in fairly quickly.....as far as getting that corner started, that's a different story.