DIEP 2014

i had my pre-op phone appt. today for stage 2 today. Goldie wasn't yours today too?. how did your appt. go? for the days leading up to this appt i have been feeling anxious. now i have my panties in a bunch so thought i'd vent in a safe place. i am totally bummed about having to be in compression for 4-6 weeks and the nursing pad nipple protector get-up sound hideous...for 4-6 weeks. I feel like a cat that has just been pet backwards. i am trying to figure out what the heck is the matter with me but this surgery feels more ambiguous to me and I am feeling grouchy and anxious about it. I knew exactly what they were going to do for stage 1. stage 2 they decide after you are asleep where to take the fat from and what type of lift they will do. that said i know that i am in excellent hands and they know what they are doing...my stage 1 results minus the divot are great! so my grouchy/anxiousness seems ill placed and unwarranted. perhaps it is the femera...then i asked about the tattoo and if i could get that by the end of the year and medically i can but they may not have the staffing to do it in nov/dec so they are not scheduling any right now. the thought of gong into the new year with that last step remaining is disappointing to say the least. new deductibles. really wanted to ring in the new year, well... as a new year. Ok so appreciate your ears and perhaps sparing DH of all of this download when he gets home. he got teary georgie last night, going to try hard to shake this off before he gets home. EEKS!

Anyway...

gila, i hear ya about getting as much done before the end of the year. it's tough to roll into a new deductible year and face another procedure or surgery.

pzercher congrats on the drain removal. I was so happy when my last one was pulled. freedom at least!! my P.S. allowed shoulder flexion and abduction past 90 degrees after breast drains were removed but I would double check with yours to be sure! 

wintersocks i think they take a piece of rib to access the mammary artery and vein to connect the blood flow chest->flap.

annieb4 the waiting is hard but your time will be here before you know it! 

teacher, thinking about you today and hoping you are resting comfortably. update when you can!

welcome julieho! i can't help with the dr's on the east coast but sure you will find some feedback here! while sorry you are faced with more surgery, I glad you have joined us on the board!

pzercher, congrats on the drain removal.  It's all downhill from here.  Rest and heal.

Georgie, yes...I did have my pre-op today.  It was good and bad.  Even though my tummy wound is healing nicely, there will be no tummy scar revision, or lipo done this stage 2.  I will have my breasts rearranged and nipples done.  I will have a stage2b for fat grafting and lipo.  I really don't want two more surgeries, but I after talking it all out, I am spliting the pain in half...lol.  I just can't believe how many times I have been put under in the last 2 years.  5 so far.  How many brain cells are gone? How bad is it to be put under so many times?

Mary,

Yes, there will be drains in both sites for stage 1.  Usually three.  One for each boob and one for the tummy incision. 

Apologies for my negative post earlier. Better now....

Teacher glad you are done and home! Goldie sorry you have to split your surgery in two parts. Hoping this will be it for you and then you will be done.

Andrea623 - belly binder because of belly scar revision. Yes, he did lipo from my flanks.mim already in full-on technical bruise phase.

CT scan today. Ten days to go

pzecher, I had some pretty significant bruising pop up after my bmx with expander placement (my first recon attempt), and it scared the pee out of me.  But, it cleared up.  No body blinked an eye when I showed up half hysterical to show it to them.  They patted me on the head and sent me on my way.  I do understand though, that with a flap unexplained bruising should be taken very seriously.  So, if they sent you home, I have a very good feeling you are okay. 

Sweetie, the count down begins.  If you are like the rest of us you will stay really busy, and the 10 days will fly by.  Hang in there.

Hello everyone, just checking in. I have so much to say I think I had better break it into smaller posts. Just had my DIEP surgery 7/15. Tubes are out, scabs are falling off, I'm pretty much working to keep depression and pessimism at bay and feeling frustrated but still being careful about not  doing too much too fast. Gee, sound familiar?

The first thing I wanted to post is a response to the question about the resume gap. My friend Joyce Lain Kennedy is an expert on job searching (I know she would have a better way of titling herself!) and has written many successful books about the topic, including Resumes For Dummies. I asked her about this issue and here's an excerpt from our e-mail conversation:

E: A few women on the cancer forums are asking about how to fill in a
gap on their résumés for the months-long cancer treatment.  My first
thought: "I was caring for a family member, and now have made other
arrangements?"



J: Elizabeth, Your first thought is technically true. You (the job
seeker ) are the family member and you are making other
arrangements. Technically true, but risky.



Because many employers cover health insurance costs for employees,
they usually run background checks. It's a spin of the roulette
wheel as to whether your previous cancer treatment pops up. I
wouldn't bet the farm, much less an interview for a new job, on any
serious illness staying off the employer's radar. And if it does
pop up, you're toast because you're considered a liar.



I suggest a possible answer in Chapter 13 (Page 230) in Resumes
For Dummies, 6th Edition. It is:



"Write: 'Illness and Recovery' next to the dates. It's honest, and
the recovery part conveys a positive message: 'I'm back and ready to
work.' "



The above comments address only the resume and application. For a job interview, the job
seeker needs to prepare a truthful and viable answer. We can pursue this, if you wish, but a quick answer is
to let your physician carry your banner. Present, at the appropriate
time in the interview (a video interview would require careful
advance thought), your oncologist's signed
to-whom-it-may-concern short letter saying in
essence: We have successfully treated (name) for xyz type of cancer and
can find no evidence of any remaining disease." Needless to
say, the letter should not refer to "remission," or anything like: "if
it doesn't reappear in two years, the patient is cancer free."



-- DIEP ladies, I thought that sounded like excellent advice! I'll check in tomorrow more about my surgery experience. As with most of my cancer journey, ups and downs, successes and disappointments. It is soooo good to come here and share experiences. Rest well sisters!

-Elizabeth

Ms, glad you are doing fairly well since your surgery.  The depression is normal.  Anesthesia I think, and fear of the unknown too.  Thank you so much for all the great info on resume's and job searches after gaps in employment.  I love how collectively we all bring so much to the table.  I don't think there is a question asked that some great info doesn't come back about.  This is the best place!!!  I count this forum as one of my blessings during my journey through this BC experience.

Lemon, looks like you and I have 2 more stages each ahead of us.  After a very long visit with my PS yesterday and discussing my wound that is not completely healed yet, there will be no tummy incision revision, or lipo/fat grafting this stage.  But, we will proceed with the breast revisions since they will be extensive.  He wants to do nipples that day too.  I am a little apprehensive about that because the breasts pretty much have to be completely moved up and in, and an inframammary fold created on both. We both have a vision, but I am hoping it can be done.  I could have waited and done it all at one time, but then we decided that we will do the breasts by themselves, and when they are all settled we will know where the fat grafting will definitely have to go.  There will be no guessing.  So, that is what we all agreed on!  Phew!

Good morning and happy Friday! 

Niicnak and Shine praying for you today. Sweet dreams and hi to Wilbur! Sweetie, Enjoyeverymoment, and Goldie you are getting close!!

Ms many thinks for posting about the resume information. Very helpful and timely information! The detail in your post is great. I need to get my resume updated pretty soon! Regarding the depression, I echo Goldie's post. Also, I think there have been a lot of folks who have posted  that the 3rd/4th week is a rough one for feelings of depression and funk. 

pzercher glad your flap continues to do well and they are taking your bruising seriously and had you come in. It sounds like they are monitoring you in an appropriate way. 

Teacher and K79miller how are you doing? Katski, I saw you posted awhile back. Been thinking about you and hope you are doing well.

Andrea thanks for asking about my stage 2 appt. I posted an update this week and then deleted it. I have been in a big ol' funk and I realized after I posted it, it was a negative/dump kind of post. Not helpful for anyone reading....Feeling a little better about things now. You are sweet to check in! 

Goldie and Lemon it sounds like you both have good plans for next steps. I'm glad you both have August dates! I guess instead of being same day girls this time we are same month girls!  Goldie wanted to thank you too for a post a long time ago for a bra recommendation from kohl's. I had saved that post in my email and yesterday spent 2 hours at Kohl's trying on bra's and various pieces of compression to have on hand depending on where they take fat for grafting. I was pretty tickled, I found 4 bras for 12.98 a piece (LOVE CLEARANCE) and they are holding everything for me as today is back to school tax free day plus I get 20 +25 % off for using my kohl's card and friends and family discount. Woowho! That helped a lot. P.S. for anyone newer to the forum that is interested in the type of Bra Goldie had recommended:

http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-1728850/barely-th...

Also I found the following very comfortable and most forgiving for a bit of differences between breast size and shape, which I have going on: 

Bali flexible bra style 3348, 3484

And Barely There Custom Flex 3462.

If anyone is in need of compression I also had some good luck at Kohl's for both the panty to under the breast and knee up to under the breast compression. Kohl's has a brand called Naomi and Nicole. I found style numbers 7485, 779, 775, pretty comfortable. 

Wishing everyone a blessed weekend. 

Georgie

I now have an excuse to buy new bras...holes cut in them to let new nips hang out!! Well, not hang, but show up. The lipo has caused more discomfort and bruising beyond bruising. My PS told me ahead of time that because I bruise easily, I'd be really colorful. He was so right. Yesterday my bp was extremely low so I didn't do much. Today it's still low so I will continue to take it easy.

OK, I'll bite.....who's Wilbur?

Yes, we all have a Wilbur.  There is only one, and he visits you after you wake up from anesthesia and looks over you for a  while.  It started when our dear Jeannie had her stage 1 last summer and she tried to post an update shortly after surgery, and it went like this (I saved it all this time):

Jul 19, 2013 10:46pm Jeannie57 wrote:

I am officially a flapper! Everyone says my doc did a fantastic have been jnnt fit the block. I can't dibs both Wilbur grgvsimecgungrt

How cute is that?  So, Wilbur became our patron saint.

You just about made me spit my water all over my computer..(I am supposed to be working!!)

That is way to funny.....I love it !!!!!!!!!!

And now we know..