DIEP 2014

Optimi - wonderful news.

Optimi...Congrats on the great news!!!!!

Andrea...I had my 2nd stage 2 wks ago.  I got the nipples, dog ears removed & lipo.  Had lots of bruising from the lipo but it's almost gone now

Optimi great news.  

Goldie continue to heal and I hope the nips turn out perfect.

Lili RI how is the skin graft doing?  I hope it is the solution to your wound issue.

I got my wound vac off yesterday, hooray!  I will still have to do wet to dry packing for the last bit of healing.  The flap is still open at the bottom incision but the nurse says it will grow new skin to cover the raw areas.  I am not sure how it will be reattached I hope to find out Wednesday.  I will update then.

To everyone waiting for their surgery, my prayers are with you for strength.  

To those recovering, prayers for good healing, no complications and hopefully you get the look you are wanting.

JB - I am still very sore at donor site and graft area. I can't see the graft area due to dressing which will not be removed until next week. I hope the wound vac and dressing changes work for you!

Teacher - WHAT! You poor thing! I hope can relax this weekend until Monday's appt

Optimi- yeah! Great news! Breathe.

jbdayton, what is a Ruben's flap? I'm glad the wound vac is gone! It will be interesting to hear how the new skin will grow over the raw areas, so please let us know on Wednesday. Was this due to radiation damage?

Good morning!  First OMG on the ken doll affect. I sooooo have that and now it has a name. That is just weird..

Loved reading so many positive posts this week! Optimi awesome news!! Shine glad for your news of stage 0!!! Did you get some drains out yesterday?

KB33 so happy for your mom's news. Also glad you were able to hang with the neighbors and get some adult relaxing time! I had a uni and stage 2 is where I think most PS do the lift for the native breast. Can't speak to the final scars since I am not there yet but understand with tattooing they do try and cover some of the scar if you go with a nipple??

MsQW2012 glad things are healing well! The picture taking sounds awful. I allowed pictures but I was not completely naked. Still kinda uncomfortable. 

Teacher thanks for the tip on the sticky nursing pads! Let us know what you find out about the baseball size bulge. I was thinking hematoma but if it is hard...is it in the area where they did fat grafting?

Goldie how are you doing today? What kind of compression are you in? Yes, my surgery is next Friday! I am soooo ready to get this done! Feel a little freaky deekie this weekend thinking about Friday. For some reason a little more nervous about this surgery than the other even though it isn't as extensive. 

Debiann LOL! I loved your story about the scale. There are just some things our DH don't need to be in the know on! You sound like you have a keeper DH!

Aff so good to get an update from you and that your cording is almost gone. We will all be celebrating with you on the 18th for the last day of rads!! Very cool your brother and family are coming. Family is good medicine!

Naiviv awesome the pain is being managed. i sure can't imagine going through all of this without good pain control. 

Enjoyeverymoment thank yo for the compliment. Yes my surgery is less than a week away! Glad you are doing well! Where are you going on vacation!!?? 

LiLiRI will be anxious to hear about the "reveal" on Tuesday. Praying that everything will be as expected. I hope that you are able to rest and relax this weekend. 

Jerseymom/Tina yay for a date! That always feel good to have a date and a plan! Awesome about having some feeling in the breast! And sounds like you have a great surgeon. I hope he will be able to do everything he needs to do in one surgery so you don't have to go back again. 

Sweetie1972, some people just don't get it. Best of luck to you on Monday, will be saying prayers for you! Hope your able to spend your last couple of days before surgery doing something fun and relaxing. 

JBDayton glad for your continued healing. I hope that last bit of wet/dry dressing will do the trick! Keep us updated.

Haven't said it in awhile, but so thankful for the support and friendship on this board. Blessings. 

hi everyone,

The Ken Doll effect is the perfect description of this.   I also have it and am hoping it goes away with time.   I had no idea this would occur.  

LiLi -  I hope you have great success with your graft and are feeling better soon.    

Sweetie1972- Dr.  Gimble did a flap type of surgery on my husband 3 months ago (Long story), but I wanted to let you know that the surgery went well and he is healing beautifully.   We really like Dr. Gimbles bedside manner too.    Due to our different insurances, I had a different PS at AGH.   Good luck with your surgery on Monday!

Optimi- I am so happy to hear your great news.

Hope everyone has a healthy healing week

Rose

Hello! I'm new, but I've spent the last two weeks reading this thread completely and others as well.

I'm not sure if it's ok for me to post here, I don't currently have a cancers dx, but am positive for the brca2 gene mutation. I am planning prophylactic mastectomies and DIEP. My PS says I need to lose weight first, I need to take my BMI from 37.5 down to below 35. I am scheduled for the surgeries on December 5th. Which should give me time to lose 15-20 lbs. 

I am also having a total hysterectomy-BSO in early September so I am a little worried about how I will lose weight once I hit early menopause. I really hope to be able to join this group as you all seem to be such amazing women.

Thank you for the welcome jmb5!!

I will send a message your way.  I'm so happy there is a wonderful group here with so many insights!

Somehow I missed the Ken doll post. I had that, plus was very lopsided. In stage 2 a bit of tissue was removed and I was evened up. That, losing the side breasts and a tiny bit of fat grafted over my pacemaker are my favorite things of stage 2 because I could see immediate results and wasn't bruised in those places. Nipples are doing fine but are a work in progress.

K79miller - a bit green with envy that your bruising is nearly gone...or I would be if I weren't mostly black bad blue still.

I'm supposed to be massaging 3x daily and it's ok on the left side but hurts like crazy on the right where the bulge is. GeorgieGirl, it is where my PS did the grafting.

Sarahbb- ask questions to satisfy your needs. We are here for each other.

Hey Guys,

Optimi, great news!!!!!  Now you can deal with the issues at hand without worrying too much. Prayers do work, and we were all praying for you.

I left the house for the hospital at 4am yesterday and we were home by 3 pm yesterday afternoon. Long day.  I am in a lot of pain today.  He completely repositioned my flaps and then sewed them to my rib to creat an inframammary fold on each side.  OUCH!!!!!  Lots of swelling and bruising.  They stitches will dissolve and I should have a fold again, I pray.  Anybody else have this done?

Aff: thank you!

Teacher64: Thanks for the welcome, I will probably have lots of questions! 

Enjoyevrymoment: Thanks for the welcome! I'm trying to avoid ever having cancer, but who knows what may be found when they remove the breast tissue.

I'm having to lose weight for the DIEP, but am planning to have my hysterectomy and ovary removal next month. I'm really worried about early menopause, and what that will do to my metabolism, since it's not that great to begin with!

Sarahbb - I don't know about your situation with early menopause but I was through it by age 38. We had jokingly said we'd keep trying to have a baby til I was through menopause and surprise! I didn't let it change me. Oh, two years later we adopted our son. Meant to be.

checking in from Colorado! Music festival has been soothing, and my sons have been just awesome. Lots of hugs and love. I had some similar questions for others that kb33 had. I am three weeks out now. My foob is high and firm, and I have lots of tenderness near my breastbone. My pec is very tight. Does this get better over time? I foolishly thought it would be all better with the tissue expander gone. I still feel hesitant to touch it much, like I might mess up something. When did you stop wearing a bra at night?

Kb33: a couple of thoughts regarding getting back to work. Keep your plans flexible, because you can see that unexpected things or complications can occur. I had surgeries canceled twice on the day of surgery. Physical recovery may be fast but the emotional funk can be powerful. I had a unilateral diep but the mastectomy eight months earlier. The pain from my SNL biopsy and cording that followed was worse than the DIEP for me. I have sometimes overdone it during the day but in general am feeling pretty good with short daily walks and enforced resting periods. Will see clients in the office this week for two days (I am a psychologist, so I sit down most of the day). We will see how that goes. Also, I definitely will need a lift and possible reduction during stage 2 to achieve symmetry. I just didn't have enough tissue to match and don't want an implant. 

Jmb33: my PS has a darling young nurse, one of my favorites, very down to earth and sweet. I asked her about the abdominal scarring before my surgery, and she offered to show me hers (from a tummy tuck). She had a lovely floral tattoo across the scar, and I am not a big fan of tattoos. But I find my opinion on many things has changed through this whole journey. Might treat myself to some Celtic warrior tattoo on my foob. Sons are supportive of this, plus the initials FC.  You all know what that means. 

So I was inspecting my foob, and I swear to god there is a pubic hair growing out of the abdominal skin on my breast! Has anyone else had this happen???? PS had to cut pretty low on me. As if we haven't suffered enough indignities already.

pzecher, I have one pubic hair on one foob.  I haven't looked for it lately.  But, if that were the worst of it I would take it!!!!  LOL.   I have heard of gals having a nice little patch of hair.  I think it stops growing after a while.  But if not, and it really bother's you, you can laser it off I guess.

The tummy tattoo is going to happen for me.  I am ready.  

Sarah, I am sorry you are having so much pressure about different issues at the same time.  Being told to lose weight while you are so stressed has got to be difficult.  I do have a concern about something you mentioned.  They want you to have your hysterectomy before your diep? Right?  Will they be doing it vaginally, or laproscopically.  The reason I am asking is because you don't want to possibly damage any vessels in your tummy they might need for your diep. I would definitely ask your PS and your Gyno to have a little pow wow about the issue so there a no surprises later. Just make sure everybody is on the same page.