DIEP 2014

Having a rough go of it this week.  Feel crappy, have a cough and this morning when I took my tape off (ps has me taping the incisions because he says it helps them look better when they heal) I found 4 spots that are oozing and opening up.   I called the ps office, he is in Peru, but they got a message to him and he called me back.  He said it is normal for this to happen and not to worry, he will check it out next week when I see him.  Does that sound right?

Donna- two more drains to go! That bloated/swollen feeling will subside with time.

Jmb- great news on the BM. I had no appetite post op for maybe four weeks ( that isn't these case anymore but I ate small things throughout the day. A hard boiled egg....a Greek yogurt...a kind bar...peanut butter on a rice cake. Hope your PS got back to you. Hope you feel better. It does feel like a slow process in the beginning,

Beebop- Peru! Well that's good that he still is on call! I would think putting tape on and taking it off everyday would disrupt the healing on the incision?! Are you still on antibiotic?

Aemcat- hi! It's hard to distract yourself from some of those weird feelings sometimes! I would sometimes try to take my bra off and realize I didn't have it on! 

jmb - my radiated breast is harder than the other one, its been like that since surgery so I have not worried about it.   I think I will ask him about it next week.

Lucy- yep, still on the antibiotics.  Yeah, I thought it was great he called from Peru and within 30 min of my call to his office.  I love him!

Feb. 1st!!  Counting down the days to the 24th!!  PRMA sent me their "bill" yesterday and that has to be paid on the pre-op consult on Feb. 5th.  I am ready to get this all done.

Now, that a couple of weeks have gone by, I have gone through my other dad's things.  I have added things to our house.  It will be comfort to have some of his things.  My own mom is getting ready to move in with my sister in April.  I will have to make more adjustments and hopefully, my girls will want some of my things they grew up with.  It is crazy going through setting up reconstruction while dealing with aging parents but "Life does go on".

PRMA has set me up with a BC nurse navigator at the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio.  The nurse has called me a couple of times this week.  She is working on getting me a binder that will not be "horrible" with my sensitive skin. I plan on using 100% cotton shirts cut up to go underneath.  After having my skin break open from radiation in March, I do not want to deal with any skin irritation.  It will be what it will be I guess.  It is quite a relief to know I will have someone at the hospital working with me. 

Packing for the flight has overwhelmed me.  I am trying to pack clothes for the two week recovery in the hotel. 

Jmb I had a hard spot in the same spot. They weren't sure what it was at first but weren't concerned. They said a hematoma or fat necrosis. It turned out to be fat necrosis in the end. It was the size and shape of a golfball at first and then over time sort of flattened out and became more like the shape and size of an old flip phone. The joke was the ps left her cell phone in there and yes, mine hurt, too, unfortunately. They took it out in stage II. I hope yours is not anything serious.

Bee....several of us have had little areas open up. My ps had me doing the same thing with the tape. But I stopped when I started opening up ....I don't do well with tape anyway. Are they deep or more superficial? I have 5 little spots that have done the same thing after stage II. All are in the radiated side scar. I react to neosporin too....do you have those sorts of allergies or sensitive skin?

I went to a seminar on scarring this week at a local compounding pharmacy. I have an appointment with the compounding pharmacist next week. He thinks he can compound something to heal up my little open spots, something else to reduce my scarring and stretch marks on my noob and possibly something that could relieve pain in my radiated tissue.....hell, I'd be thrilled if he could do one of those things... all three and I'll be turning cartwheels!

I will definitely keep you all posted. 

Headed to a hot stone massage.....life is good. 

I ordered all my "head gear" in anticipation of the dreaded by safesaver" in_rurl="http://i.txtsrving.info/click?v=Q0E6NDczNTA6MTMwNDpoYWlyIGxvc3M6MTVjNDJiZGY5NjNhMjkyZmYzNGFhNDNiNWJhODUyZmE6ei0xNTQ2LTI4NzYwOTpjb21tdW5pdHkuYnJlYXN0Y2FuY2VyLm9yZzoxMTY3NjM6MDpiYmEzNmQ1ODk0MWQ0Mzg2YTM2ZTE2ZTE2ZTc1OWUxYw" id="_GPLITA_10" href="#">hair loss.  It is scheduled to arrive on Monday.  I am sure I will be a teary eyed mess trying them on.

The hospital notified me of all of my appointments for next week - Bone scan with dye at 9:00 am., pic line insertion at 9:30 am., CT scan at 10:30 am.  on Wed, Feb 5/14.  They said I will be there for several hours with the bone scan, I think you have to wait 3-4 hours for the dye to by safesaver" in_rurl="http://i.txtsrving.info/click?v=Q0E6MzE0NzI6MTIyMDp3b3JrOjdkMWY3YTM2ZmVhY2RlMjViOWZlMzk0OGM2M2QyMTRkOnotMTU0Ni0yODc2MDk6Y29tbXVuaXR5LmJyZWFzdGNhbmNlci5vcmc6Mjk3MjU6MDhmZmQ5ODc4OGVjMjZjYWIzMWUwODdmYWUzYjgyMzQ6YTVlZGM5ZDMzODU5NDIyYmE2ZWVlZTQ2NTYzNWFkYjI" id="_GPLITA_9" href="#">work it's way through your body.  CT scan is also going to take awhile.  Chemo teaching class on Thurs Feb 6/14.

Chemo is at 9:00 am. on Feb 11/14.

Jmb - DIEP breasts are not soft to the touch for awhile after surgery.  I felt like my boobs were clay mounds attached to my chest for the first 5 weeks.  They are starting to feel a little more normal, the right breast (non cancer breast) is more soft to the touch compared to my radiated breast.  

I would be pissed if I had asked the BS about the pathlogy and they only told you half the story.  If they were adamant in not sharing anything, they should have told you so and said they would explain everything when they saw you on Tuesday.  I am sorry that they found something in the healthy breast.  I dont know alot about Paget's disease.

Kellyb - awe thanks:)

Katski - you got this girl!

Beebop - I had a few very tiny areas that were nooptimally open skin covered the underlying area but more of a little idented area on the ab scar line on the one side.  Wound clinic had me put this gel stuff on it and a bandage...changed every day, each one cleared up within a week, there was never any large drainage coming out just a tiny speck on the bandage.  I will be 7 weeks out on Monday.

amecat - LOL, my butt felt numb at times but you really need to take it easy for the first three weeks or so and allow yourself to heal.  Its tough not doing anything but it allows for fewer complications.  I have now gone for a few nice walks, it was so refreshing:)

Hope you ladies have an awesome weekend!  I am so tired of snow and winter...more snow fore casted for tomorrow:(

Michele

This is for my Canadian Sisters!!  I fund-raised and walk in 2005 and 2006 to give back!!  Take a lookie at my donation jar!!  Men loved it!!

aemcat.... My PS actually has his patients put neosporin on the drain site, but not on the incision. Ointment on the incision will keep it moist and it may not heal properly. I was putting ointment on some blistered skin on my breast and some was getting on the incision. When the glue came off at two weeks, the incision opened up cause it didn't heal right. Big mess. The whole breast started melting out the incision, and I needed a debridement and do-over DIEP flap.

curly....you are as "on top" of all this as anyone could be. We're all thinking of you, "huggling" to support you as best we can. Do you have an idea yet of when chemo will end? 

Is neosporin similar to polysporin??? I'm not sure if they are similar, (likely they are).  I have had LOTS of incisions with sutures for various reasons, and always have been instructed to put polysporin on the sites for 3 days after removing the initial bandaging. Then, the instructions are to stop using the ointment, as it can apparently "weaken" healing incisions. If steristrips were used, however, then it is a "no ointment" protocol. If it was something with more "depth", like a punch biopsy, then the rule has always been to use polysporin until it's healed. I guess it's the difference between "healing edges together", and "healing from the bottom-up. Don't have any idea what the norm is for incisions that are glued, but, as always, follow your own surgeons instructions, and they DO vary.

bailey....would love to hear the feedback re: the compound cream! sounds interesting!!!

Neosporin is similar to Polysporin, but it has neomycin in it, which can be a problem for a lot of people.  It's easy to become allergic to the neomycin and develop a skin reaction.  When I worked in the ED (a million years ago) we always recommended Polysporin just for that reason.  

I'm starting to see commercials on the TV for people to join the Breast Cancer walk in September--is it Komen or Avon?  Anyway, it shows a young mother walking, and she says, "When I walk, I remember my mother's smile."  And it makes me so sad.  Damn cancer.

I imagine they are advertising the three day walks now so that people have time to build teams and train before the walks later in the year. I have a friend who did the Avon three day a few years ago and she said it was very hard but very inspirational.

My daughter walked in the Komen 3 day in 2012. She is an athlete, on two soccer teams, bikes, works out. However, she didn't train by walking long distances and was hobbled with tape all over her legs by the second day. She did what she could but couldn't walk the whole thing. She said it was a very inspirational experience (she walked with her best friend and a team that had bc survivors on it) but not one she would do again! We spent a whole afternoon cheering her and the other walkers on at one of the refreshment stops. It meant a lot to me, especially seeing elderly women cranking along, trying to do something to fight this horrible disease.  By the way, I don't really like to refer to myself as a bc survivor when talking about FBC. Do you have any other descriptors for yourself? I have said warrior, but I don't like the implied idea that there are " losers" in this thing. Nobody who has ever had FBC is a loser. It's been a year today that I finished chemo. That's something even if I don't know what to call it. I don't think I'll celebrate any of these milestones, although today comes close. I can't bring myself to celebrate the day of my bmx when my breasts were whacked off....I'm going to sign up for the 5K walk in the Race for a Cure. I enjoyed meeting other bc women there in 2012. There is a Survivors Parade which sounds awful but you're grouped by diagnosis dates and get to compare notes with others at similar stages of recovery. I promise not to flash anyone.....

I have done the Avon Walk in NYC for the last three years (raised 7k last year), but may take next year off... My team was started by my dear friend 13 years ago, but she now suffers from Brain cancer and couldn't do the walk last October. I just don't think I can do another one without her there. Even though her sister was there and many of her friends, it just wasn't the same.