Charleston Bound, part 2

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  • PinkHeart
    PinkHeart Member Posts: 1,193
    edited July 2014

    Ketch,

    There is another patient, Mags, who is on this board and posts on this thread but mostly on NOLA. She has had similar complications as you with cellulitis, LE, wound vacs, and flap problems. Her doc is Dr Massay.  You might want to connect with her. Take care. 

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  • Catie2013
    Catie2013 Member Posts: 1,023
    edited July 2014

    kerch, so sorry you've had these complications - wow!  Dr K really really is there for us, isn't he?

    I've had experience with the wound vac as well, but mine was for just 4 weeks.  Hoping your 8 weeks goes well for you.  And also know how it can seem like you are mentally done with surgeries and want no more for a bit, however once you are done with the wound vac and feeling more normal you might just be a bit eager to complete the next step.  

    I know I nearly dropped my jaw in amazement when my husband asked Dr K when I could have my next surgery when all I wanted to do was NOT go through anymore for a long long while.  I explained to my husband that I needed to forget the angst of the reason I needed a wound care vac and that wasn't going to be anytime soon.  

    However, after it was off and a few months passed I asked to be on the schedule again.  I was eager to complete the plan.  

    Again so sorry and so praying your ordeal will soon be lessened in your memory with the joy of completion - WHENEVER that is!

    Thank you for sharing - I think personally we need to uplift each other but at the same time give REAL scenarios of our experiences like you did so others know there are solutions and treatments to complications when they arise!  For me when Pinkheart and Cascader went through and talked about their HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen treatments) it made it easier for me to accept and go through it myself.  

    Take super care and gentle hugs

    Catie

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  • HighBeams-14
    HighBeams-14 Member Posts: 53
    edited July 2014

    Question for other S-GAP Girls:  Do you think there will come a time when I will be comfortable again on a bike seat?  I am 4 weeks out and so far seem to be healing nicely, but still have a sore tushy.  My husband bought me a bike so I could get in shape for my Stage 1 surgery and I really started to enjoy it.  Will I need to have Stage 2 Fat grafting and a little more padding before bike riding is feasible?  I won't be trying anything before I get a go ahead from Dr. Kline, but I just wondered if there are any S-GAP girls out there who have returned to biking?  Bev

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  • ketch
    ketch Member Posts: 157
    edited July 2014

    Catie, I am hoping I will be ready to put this all in the past with the final surgery once this is over. I try to be optimistic, but all this is wearing me down. I can only imagine how it is for my family. This was just a freak thing that happened.

    Pink, I'll read back posts from Mags & see where she is now.

    My plans for next year are to get the hubs to retire, buy an RV and head west, north, and any direction I take a notion--but not Charleston, not for a while!

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  • LAstar
    LAstar Member Posts: 1,574
    edited July 2014

    HighBeams, I'm just an occasional bike commuter but I've not had any problems on a bike seat after my SGAP.

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  • HighBeams-14
    HighBeams-14 Member Posts: 53
    edited July 2014

    Thanks LAstar for the info on S-GAP and bike riding.  Anyone else have any experience with bike riding after S-GAP surgery?

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  • PinkHeart
    PinkHeart Member Posts: 1,193
    edited July 2014

    Jeskachi,

    I just sent you a PM with my surgery date to add to top of this thread. Thanks

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  • Catie2013
    Catie2013 Member Posts: 1,023
    edited July 2014

    HighBeams - haven't been on a bike lately so can't say re the SGAP, sorry!

    Hugs

    Catie

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  • lbrewer
    lbrewer Member Posts: 766
    edited July 2014

    just finally getting back on. Ketch I am so sorry to hear of  your troubles. This disease is so much harder on us than most people know. I hope things go more smoothly for you. 

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  • lbrewer
    lbrewer Member Posts: 766
    edited July 2014
    We wanted to tell you about Pillars4Life, an online coping skills training course for anyone affected by cancer. This 9-week course will meet online every Wednesday from noon-1:15pm Central Standard Time starting Aug. 6.

    In each class, a licensed social worker will guide you, and 11 other participants, through the learning and implementation of new tools for coping with life's stressors. Each class builds on the next so we are looking for 12 participants who can commit to attending at least 7 of the 9 courses.

    This opportunity is FREE through a grant from LIVESTRONG. If this program and schedule seem like a good fit for you, please pre-register below no later thanWednesday, July 23:

    http://pathfinders4cancer.wix.com/p4l_livestrong-participants

    We will be filling the course on a first come, first serve basis. After you pre-register, the facilitator, Hannah Gibson-Moore, LMSW, will be in contact with you to discuss the program and address any of your questions or concerns.

    Take advantage of this great opportunity to thrive in the face of cancer now!

    Sincerely,

    The LIVESTRONG Foundation

    cancer.navigation@livestrong.org

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  • lbrewer
    lbrewer Member Posts: 766
    edited July 2014

    I got the above from Livestrong. Unfortunately I will be too busy to do it.  Maybe someone else might be able 

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  • Davy
    Davy Member Posts: 114
    edited July 2014

    HighBeams - I have no trouble riding a bike!  I'm more than a year out from Stage 1 and workout regularly with no problems. Everyone is different, but I suspect you'll be riding your bike again pain free before you know it.

     

    Cheers,

    Davy 

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  • HighBeams-14
    HighBeams-14 Member Posts: 53
    edited July 2014

    Thanks for the encouragement, Davy.  Your message gives me hope. I love my new bike and I don't want to give it up.

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  • Ashira
    Ashira Member Posts: 161
    edited July 2014

    Thanks so much for posting this LBrewer.  The August class is full already, but I did pre-register for a class beginning in September.  I could use a bit of encouragement as I attempt to get on with my life and get beyond this whole thing. Have you done the course? 

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  • lbrewer
    lbrewer Member Posts: 766
    edited July 2014

    no. I really want to but won't have time in August. It's the first I have heard of it.  The livestrong foundation has many programs for cancer survivors.  I didn't know about the sept class. Maybe I can do that.  Was there an October?

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  • lbrewer
    lbrewer Member Posts: 766
    edited July 2014

    image

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  • lbrewer
    lbrewer Member Posts: 766
    edited July 2014

    take the quiz

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  • brca35
    brca35 Member Posts: 68
    edited July 2014

    Hi all, 

    I made it through.  My DIEP was successful! I had a lovely time in Isle of the Palms at Coconut Joe's Monday and at Fleet Landing Tuesday after all my Dr appointments. 

    The nurses are fantastic at East Cooper. Thanks to you all and this thread for all of the help I have been provided. 

    I do have a question about flying out tomorrow. Will I have any problems with security? I have arranged to have a wheel chair when I arrive and my sister will be with me. I'm just concerned about the security process. I still have 2 drains and I can't raise my hands above my head. 

    Thanks again to all of you! 

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  • PinkHeart
    PinkHeart Member Posts: 1,193
    edited July 2014

    Brca35,

    Glad to hear your surgery went great all around!

    I flew home (alone) after my second surgery using wheelchair service and had drains. My friend took me to airport and at the curb an attendant brought wheel chair and took my luggage and we checked it first.  Then I asked for a pitstop in the restroom, then onward to security.

    Because I was in wheelchair and had drains i was taken to a private room with female TSA agents. They had me touch drains and then they checked my fingers for traces of explosives or something. The women were very polite. 

    You will do great and it helps that you are traveling with your husband. 

    Wishing you an easy recovery and please keep us posted. 

    Do you have a Stage two date yet?

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  • Ally2345
    Ally2345 Member Posts: 320
    edited July 2014

    brca35-  So glad your surgery went well!!! Thanks for posting and giving us an update.  I am sure the airport there deals with many women in a similar situation so don't worry about that.  Just focus on relaxing and recovery  Get a script for PT when your doc says it is ok and that will help with that range of motion and recovery.   

    Post when you can!  Take care!!

    Ally

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  • MartyJ
    MartyJ Member Posts: 1,859
    edited July 2014

    I am afraid the airports in Charleston and NOLA really aren't savvy about the surgery.  Given the total number if passengers, we are a proverbial drop in the bucket.  The key is to be patient with them and not to take offense at anything they ask. All for our protection.  Just imagine what a baddy could carry in drain bulbs.  The zippers on my compression always required wanding.  

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  • philomene
    philomene Member Posts: 45
    edited July 2014

    Glad to hear thing went well, BRCA35. How are you feeling?

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  • lbrewer
    lbrewer Member Posts: 766
    edited July 2014

    Brca,

    CHS security can be funny!  One time they got in a argument with the lady in front of me as to whether pimento cheese was a solid or a gel. Ended up she kept the crackers and they got the cheese!    

    I'm sure if you are in a wheelchair they will be understanding. 

    Glad to hear all went well.  You're over the hardest part!

    I work for homeland security and I'm always the one that gets double checked.  Must be my explosive personality!

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  • MomtoIrishQuads
    MomtoIrishQuads Member Posts: 128
    edited July 2014

    Hello all,

    I live in Charleston so if any of you sisters need any recommendations for anything - let me know.  I'd be glad to help.  I'm a bit of a foodie and healthy food fanatic....and have discovered some spots.

    I wasn't a candidate for the flap - but maybe someday (I had too much host fat if you know what I mean - working on that).

    Mom to Irish/Deb

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  • lbrewer
    lbrewer Member Posts: 766
    edited July 2014

    momtoirish,

    Thanks for the offer of help!  It is really nice for us travelers to be able to ask local questions. So sorry to see you had to go through this twice. I did as well, and tell anyone who wants my opinion, just do both originally. My onc says that's not the AMA position on the matter but his PA tells women to think about doing both seriously. I read someplace that bc shows up in the alternate breast about 20 per cent of the time when both are done and the pathology report is issued.

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  • ketch
    ketch Member Posts: 157
    edited July 2014

    The local surgeon that I saw prior to deciding on my doctors told me that removing the other breast was overkill. I went to him knowing I wanted a full mx. He told me to "let him do the thinking" and that I was "reading too much". I had my own reasons which was a personal one, I lost my aunt to whom I was very close when she had 1 breast removed and cancer came back in the other--the 2nd cancer got her. That doctor and I did not see things eye to eye, so he was crossed off the list quickly. Fast forward to Dr. Baron, who did not question my decision at all, when the pathology came back on my unaffected breast, he told me good move as I had pre-cancerous cells that probably would have developed into cancer with 5 years. I know all the statistics say removal of both breasts vs lumpectomy is no difference, but it made a difference to me.

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  • Ally2345
    Ally2345 Member Posts: 320
    edited July 2014

    Ketch- so happy you followed your heart and gut!!!  

    Ally

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  • cascader
    cascader Member Posts: 599
    edited July 2014

    It seems like ages since I have been on here. I have not had a chance to read all except for the last few posts, brca glad all went well and hope you are home resting. We have been in the middle of a disaster zone here in North Central Washington, wildfires. A very scary week no power water or phone with  flames cresting the hill above our house. We are lucky our house and business still stands but for those to the south it is devastating. With power restored Things are beginning to get back to normal , so I thought it was best to check with Dr K about my ultrasound that he and Dr Baron were going to review. I got a quick email back from Dr K as he was headed out on vacation, but Dr Baron wants me to have a needle biopsy done to be ultra safe. The lump is in my recon sgap breast , I really don't want anyone messing with it after all that we go thru. Sigh.. I should hear from Chris this week regarding details. Have a beautiful week everyone!

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  • Catie2013
    Catie2013 Member Posts: 1,023
    edited July 2014

    Cascader, our hearts and prayers are with you on the disaster area fires!  So glad you are safe and hope that stays that way for you.  Also please let us know what the needle biopsy shows.  

    On the subject of 1 vs 2, I think if I knew now 20 years ago when I had the first cancer in my right breast and had a lumpectomy, chemo and rads, I might have just opted for a bmx instead.  The cocktail they used on me then has lead to osteoporosis 16 years ago and now something I need to deal with - I might have avoided the chemo and rads because the cancer then had not gone into any of the 17 nodes they took.  When diagnosed with cancer in the left breast 2 years ago it was a no brainer to do both, taking the lumpectomy breast before it too could get another cancer.  

    That being said, I think I was fortunate though to be able to have the microsurgery for my recon that the time in between my cancers allowed.    If I had to vote though, I'd vote for a bmx instead of a uni.

    Hugs to all, glad you are on the other side BRCA - 

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  • PinkHeart
    PinkHeart Member Posts: 1,193
    edited July 2014

    Cascader,

    Glad to hear your house and restaurant were not harmed but sending prayers to those in your community. 

    I'm glad our docs are being ultra safe in checking out your lump. I don't blame you for not wanting other docs messing with it. Can you go to Charleston for the biopsy?

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