DIEP 2014

Just taking a moment to thank all the 2014 ladies for your advice and encouragement us New flappers!

Sorry to hear about your throat, wintersocks. I have two or three friends hear who have had throat/ear things going on for several weeks!

I sneezed once, a couple of days ago, and nearly fainted with pain..... tears running down my cheeks! There were staff AND patients on my unit with the flu', which was also a bit scary!

Sassy, I am surprised you are still swelling that much a month out, but everybody reacts differently.  I only wore compression till my pain went away.  I do notice my tummy swells during the day, but that was happening even before the lipo.  That was from the diep itself.

I can tell that I have lost a bit of fullness already from my fat grafting to my breasts.  I am not sure if it's swelling that has gone down, or fat loss.  I have a feeling I will be doing it again.

Jmb, I now know what you have been going through after each stage.  I go into a funk each time.  I know I should look at each stage as a step forward, but physically it always feels like a step backward for a while. I need to find something to occupy my time that is not too physical. 

When do you suppose it is safe to start massaging the new fat grafted areas?

Hello ladies, just checking in after a while away. On the topic of breast weight gain/loss, many have testified that the flap breast does gain and lose right along with the other one after a unilateral DIEP. Heiditoo, I feel the same way about my results. I finally got past the angry, devastated feelings. I think the PS's tend to be extremely optimistic the way they talk to us about expected results. My case might be unique but after Stage I, I have decided I've had enough treatment. No more surgery. I told the PS my greatest fear was looking "freakish," and that's how I looked, to myself, even several weeks after the surgery. She told me specifically that a Stage II would only be to remove the flab under my arms, that Stage I would accomplish everything else. Baloney. I wish I had insisted to both surgeons that they leave my good, left breast alone. It's kind of a cute, little perky breast but now I've learned that the radiologist can't see as well on my mammo because I now have scar tissue in addition to generally "extremely dense" breasts. If I had thought about that, I would never have agreed to the reduction. Both PS's insisted it would accomplish the best overall result. Well... I am rambling. Every case is unique. I am thrilled to have the silicone implant gone, that's worth a whole lot, but I look just the same as I did before, just more comfortable. My DIEP breast is softer and nice and warm! I'm glad I had the DIEP but it's far from perfect, I'll never look as normal as I would like, and again I am sorry I agreed to any surgery on the healthy breast. I hope some of this helps. I have come to accept how I look now and it is no longer depressing. One thing that was significant was that day my husband was finally not afraid to touch me! It took a long time to heal, as we all know. I'm rambling, sorry. Good to be back and check in with everyone. Best wishes. It's a long road and I am glad we are here for each other. -Elizabeth

I understand completely. I had a bilateral DIEP in March but upon waking from surgery I only had one flap. Only one set of veins and arteries were good in the groin area. He had to make a decision and chose to create one good flap for the radiated breast. He knew I would be disappointed but he already had planned in his mind I would be happy with an implant on the non radiated side. Wrong, I absolutely did not want or would accept an implant. So I waited for several months and he decided to do a Ruben's flap. Woke up from surgery with a warm tissue mound for my other breast. Very excited until the flap opened up. And became a severe wound needing a wound pump to finally clear up the necrosis and heal properly. In the process I lost about 50% of the flap. I have since had 2 fat grafting procedures and am still not completely satisfied. I just want two fairly symmetrical breasts and fairly level. I am not expecting perfection but it needs to resemble a normal chest. So how many surgeries? I feel as many as needed as long as improvement is being achieved. I feel confident I. Maybe one or two small tweaks will get me there.

It is not fair for people to accuse you of spending "wasting" money for the cosmetic portion of this process. I feel it is a very important component of total healing. Please do what you feel is right for you. I am definitely on your side. I agree that the pain from surgery is a small price to pay for your mental health. I could change my mind if I was told it was no longer healthy to pursue any more surgeries; until then I think we have every right to pursue a good body image.

Hope you can get the results you want.

I'm almost 4 months post bi lateral diep and visually I'm very pleased with the results. Both breasts are about the same size, a C cup. The cancer side has an odd divot near the lumpectomy area, but I'm told it will be fixed in stage 2. The crop circles are bizarre looking, but I'm getting used to them. The scars are fading, it will take time. I can't imagine what the new nipples will look like, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

For me what's hard to get used to is the lack of sensation, especially in the tummy area. I was expecting to lose feeling in the breasts, but didn't really think about what would happen to my belly. The DH came in from the cold yesterday and teasing placed his icy hand on my tummy, but I couldn't feel it.

christinabelle,

I had pain there, and it is still sore at 4.5 weeks out from Stage 1. I would say the worst pain I had was in the boney area in the middle of my chest and the first few weeks it really affected my breathing, and I got awful indigestion.

For me the end of week one until week three was probably the worse for that spot. After a week I was off the strong pain meds and by week two I think it felt like a baseball had hit me in the chest. I think a lot of our nerves are returning around then. And I agree with LAstar, I called my doc a lot about this pain and it is because they shave down the sternum and one nurse said it will feel like a broken bone.

Anyway, having said this I would still talk to your surgical team and make sure they think it is all ok.

Glad you are doing so well at two weeks. I think I was still mostly sleeping or resting all day then.

Take care

Juliejo

hmmm.. I have some questions . Even after a double masectomy, diep /implants... The risk for breast cancer or recurrence is not that high, less than 3%?

I'm reading that some people had cancer stage III and years later IV. Can someone develop breast cancer from stage iV? Less than 6 months from the last mammogram or mri? How quickly it grows?

I had the prophylactic b- mastectomy and diep. My dr. Told me that I don't need more screening, that I need to be alert if my body changes or feels *different* . How do i know if I don't have cáncer on my chest wall if i can't "feel" it?

I have almost 8 weeks from stage 1,Do you feel like burning and wet sensation on your abdomen? I wanted to add some pics, but I don't have access on the private forum and I don't feel good posting them in public. So, did a drawing of my breasts. it's that normal f for stage . 1? . have my app. Next month.. and I'm have tons of questions to my pS

Pregnant after Diep? I have a boyfriend, planning in the future to have children, I'm scare if I have problems and need . A c- section.

I don't know , sometimes I think a lot about things, Google doesn't help, friends don't understand.. I think the word cancer will follow me for the rest of my life

kb33 - 'It's hard to complain when I don't have any clinical issues'. Funny you should say that, because most of my complaining happened after the issues had already been addressed. I never felt the need to complain during treatments, or surgeries (except when my breast surgeon didn't show up), or recovery. I think that was because I was working towards a goal, with a team to take care of me. But afterwords, where I was more or less on my own, waiting for all the newness to settle - that's when I needed help. No visible issues, but lots of invisible ones. And lots to settle inside my head. Like self image, and getting comfortable with the 'new me', and getting back to regular life. And all the aftermath of everything related to BC. Your family and friends are probably anxious for you to be satisfied and 'finished' so they can put everything behind them. But - your marathon quietly continues, and it is personal , and it is important that you are wholly healed inside and out, so don't let anyone tell you that you aren't worth the effort and the money. Only you can dictate what is necessary for your well being. If the people around you aren't supportive, hopefully you can find somebody who is, because you are worth it.

By the way - I personally find symmetry really important. Before my surgery I was making a list of priorities (with the help of a therapist) about what I valued most. Health was #1, obviously. But symmetry was second. It was really important to me that my body felt balanced to feel (my version) of complete.

Debiann - Hang in there, it takes a long time to get the feeling back. My surgery was over a year ago, and sensation is still finding it's way back. The difference is, that I rarely think about it anymore. My boobs are still numb-ish and when I hug someone I feel as though I'm wearing a snowsuit. My tummy actually feels pretty good! And the scar, which was 'angry' for a long time is slowly starting to fade. And as for my new nipples (last October), I love them! I was going to coast on my barbie Breasts for a while but was gently encouraged by my PS to go all the way, and I'm so glad I did. I love them, and I'm surprised by how good they make me feel. Also, the construction of my new nipples actually reduced the size of my crop circles. Definitely an improvement.

I know this has been said many times - but this is 'a marathon, not a sprint'. I heard it a million times and never really listened. But it is a Mar-a-thon. A long roller coaster marathon which is sometimes invisible, and rarely linear.

I hope everyone is healing well, staying warm, and is surrounded by love and support.

Janet

My PS said I can schedule stage 2 anytime now. Minor stuff, lipo and fat grafting, nipple and lift on other side. Because of the new year, my out of pocket will be $3500.00. Insurance will pay 100% of stage 1, done 11/11 but they haven't yet. (Got the EOB but not the check) I had already spent my deductible and max out of pocket for last year. I feel like I don't want to spend that money now. My daughter's getting married and work is very slow. Is it stupid not to do it? I know there's no rush and I'm content with how things look right now. Just need to vent.

Norita, I don't think there is any problem with waiting until you are ready, especially if you are happy with how you look. You can enjoy your daughter's wedding, not stress about money as much, and wait until Stage 2 feels like a treat for yourself rather than a chore that detracts from other parts of life. Your body will keep settling and healing in the meantime. No rush, I say.

Hi socks,

I am 4 weeks post diep also and have pain in my underarms. The pain goes to the inside of elbow and sometimes into the palm of my hand. I spoke with my surgeon and she thinks it is cording. Physical therapy should help but will not be permitted to start pt until 6 weeks out from diep.

Feel better.

Hello Ladies,

Today was the first day I drove my car. I went to lunch with a friend, then grocery shopping. When I got home my belly was really swollen. Is it normal to swell even with a binder on? This is the first time this had happened since surgery. I know I read before where some of you still experience swelling a while after surgery. It just caught me by surprise. Does it mean I over did it today?

caligirl3, I still get swelling after phase 1 DIEP when I over do it, I wear the compression on the treadmill and when I over do it I get the swelly belly, I think that is normal and have heard other say it could take 6 months or more for the swelling. I remember driving for the first time was a challenge too but it felt good to be independent again.

Happy healing too all.

okay, this is probably a really dumb question....but why is swelling such a problem? My PS said he only took fat and skin - not muscles - right? I'm going spanx shopping tomorrow - finally graduating from the binder. Do you go back and forth between the binder and spanx (or spanx and nothing) for a while?