DIEP 2015

Tallylassie. thank you soooooo much for the photo. Your reconstruction looks really beautifully done. I am having silicone implant removal and left breast diep reconstruction also a right mastectomy diep reconstruction hopefully sooner than later (on waiting list) and your photos and helpful words have been very encouraging.

It makes the journey so much easier when experiences are shared. Thanking everyone in this DIEP 2015 thread.

Trying 2Stay: Congratulations on making it through the surgery! I think the anticipation is as hard as actually facing it and going through with it. I hope your healing is fast and uneventful.

Sugar8: I so appreciate your note. It is scary to put a picture up on the internet, even though you can't see my face and this is a secure site, but I wanted to help others out. I didn't often see results from unilaterial dieps, and thought it would be of interest. I had strongly considered doing both but glad I kept the natural one. As with many here, I scrolled through the message boards many times prior to my surgery looking for others' experiences and it helped me so much. Nice to know I can help others out with my experience.

ssteacher: I exercised through the whole experience to the extent I could (chemo included) and I think it helped me with side effects and recovery. I had mild osteoporosis prior to my diagnosis, broke a rib doing yoga(!) during chemo so I dialed back on the upper body for a few weeks while it healed. I had a bone scan last September prior to diagnosis and just got the results of my post-chemo bone scan which shows "significant decline" of my bone health from the chemo. My doctor is talking about using twice annual shots of Prolia to reduce bone loss. But he also said to continue taking calcium and do weight bearing exercises, and walking is one of them. However, it was about 3 weeks after surgery before I could start walking seriously again.

I believe that yoga is very helpful in maintaining balance and reducing falls, which is a problem if you have weak bones. I started doing some easy yoga moves 7 weeks after surgery. There is a great book called Yoga for Cancer by Tari Prinster (2014) that I got from my local library. It has wonderful easy to follow illustrations to target specific side effects like lymphedema, bone loss, weight gain, constipation, etc. We also have a couple of studios in my town that provide free yoga classes for cancer survivors. These are very gentle low impact classes that I highly recommend. Now 3+ months out from surgery I'm doing abdominal exercises slowly and working the core in general. Thank goodness they didn't take any muscle in my abdomen.

Thanks to everyone here for sharing your experiences!

Thanks Tallylassie!

Yep, I have downy hair on my transplanted abdominal skin on my foobs. My husband and I laugh about it and play with the hairs together 😉. They can be lasered out if you want.

Trying2stay... Glad you made it through everything well! I haven't seen anything on the other surgeries from last week

I had my bmx and reconstruction surgery on June 29. I was supposed to get 1 Diep and 1 muscle sparing tram. But ended up with 2 muscle sparing trams. Ps said they tied off the vessels for an hour and the started to lose them, so they changed the plan. On the bright side I'm glad I didn't have a failed flap. I'm bummed with the loss of muscle but was told it was minimal.

Total surgery time was 12 hours and I was in the hospital 5 nights. Day 2 was pretty much a snooze fest I didn't even eat anything Day 3 I got up and sat in a chair and walked laps around the nurses station Day 4 I got my period. How unfair is that???? That really did me in with cramps and just the extra movement involved in 'dealing with it'.

I left the hospital on Saturday to stay with friends in Houston and have had up and down days. I haven't had any major set backs or complications but it just generally has been really hard on my body I think the thing surprising me the most is the tightness everywhere It can be overwhelming at times.

Yesterday I actually did about an hours worth of work but it exhausted me. And my first attempt at a shower was a major fail I could barely stand sitting in the shower chair so ended up standing and leaning on it for a quick rinse

I can already tell a lot of patience is going to be require for this recovery!!!!

Hello Team DIEP!

I completed my DIEP flap surgery and have to say it was not as bad as I thought, no worse than the mastectomy. The first week with drains and showers was probably the hardest part, no pain at all.

I only had two issues, my back hurt a lot after surgery. I am 4 weeks post op now and it probably just aggravated the old ruptured disc. Going to physical therapy and getting better slowly. I also have my Under breast incision that seems to not have closed. Has anyone experienced this

Lynn85... I'm so glad that you made it through to the other side! I'm sorry about you getting your period right after! That's just cruel and unusual punishment! You are so right about the healing taking time and patience. Yesterday I thought that I was Superwoman and did too much. Well, I paid for it today! I had to take 2 naps like I was a toddler! LOL! I'm still happy that I did the surgery but it definitely is a life changing event. Hope that you continue to heal nicely! Sending all gentle hugs

Hi 4Kiddos!

I'm sure that someone will come along that has a better answer for you but I'll just give you my thoughts. I had radiation also so I had to do the DIEP (according to my plastic surgeon). I just had the surgery Monday before last (June 29th). Before you make any decisions, read through this entire thread (it'll give you some insight on what to expect). Everyone heals differently and at their own pace. I know that I was terrified going into it but it turned out to not be that bad. I'm almost two weeks out and I'm walking almost normally. I teach so I have the whole summer off to recover. I think that 4 - 6 weeks (probably more towards the 6 weeks) is a reasonable time to be off of work. The main thing is that you are going to be tired. Even the smallest thing like running to the store for milk or orange juice or whatever wipes me out. From what I've read, you get your stamina back. But, with four kids I'm sure that you're good at juggling sleep!!!!Anyway, whatever decision you make is the right the one for you. Hope that someone comes along with a better answer!

Kiddos I went through a similar scenario with capsular contracture, ex panders and all that failed, what a waste of time! Don't let your Moms story scare you on the diep procedure. The key with this microvascular surgery is having a very good surgeon. I got tired of local PS throwing me back into surgery every month for failed something. Then they told me I was not a candidate for diep procedure cause they are not good at it. What they should have done is referred out to who is good. I was determined so spent the next three years researching and found my gold at the end of the rainbow. I am 4 weeks post op from the center for restorative breast surgery in New Orleans, or called Nola. Everything ran smooth as silk. First week is a pain with drains and every week after gets better. It's worth flying out of state and leave the kids at home for a week with someone. It's the best decision I ever made and I'm finally done with all this nonsense. They gave me back what cancer took away!

It's a great surgery, you should consider it with the right surgeon.

Hi Ladies,

Quick question: would you go to prma in San Antonio or travel to New Orleans for the Diep?

The reason I ask is that I had a nipple sparing bmx in Dec 2014 with expanders placed. I only made it 3 weeks before a nasty infection (mycobacterium) ended up taking both expanders leaving me flat and 4 more surgeries to cut out these infected nodules of skin. I am just now ending my antibiotic treatment after 6 long months. My only option is Diep now but I am a bit gun shy to have more surgeries. We are looking at December or maybe next January or February for surgery date.

Recovery time for this? Being able to bend over? Etc? Do you have a lot of pain etc? I have 8 children under the age of 12, so the thought of not being able to care for them for weeks is a concern.

Thank you all for your wisdom. 😊

G

Brandi

I'm sorry about the frozen shoulder. What do they say you can do to help it????

When did you have your Diep? So happy to hear you love your results. Are you doing nipples?

SA8PG - I would be very comfortable going to PRMA or NOLA.

If you are not 100% comfortable with a local PS then look elsewhere. Where in Texas do you live? Houston, Austin and Dallas have several very reputable PS specializing in DIEP and other flap surgeries.

Several of the big centers have more options as to how much additional work you want done cosmetically. Remember insurance will not cover truly cosmetic procedures.

With 8 kids that young you will need more help than you did while recovering from your BMX. If you travel out of town for surgery you will be in the hospital for about 5 days and up to another week in a hotel before returning home as long as you have no complications.

Healing takes time. Some need several weeks to be able to stand upright. It will depend on how tight they pull your belly skin. I was upright in 10 days but I did fairly small flaps and I am long waisted naturally. A friend of mine took 5 weeks though. Pain will depend again on how tight you are pulled, your tolerance level and how well you react to pain killers. I only took Hydrocodone for 3 days after I got home and then nothing else. I also only used about 30% of my pain pump in the hospital. I was on lifting restrictions of no more than 10 lbs for at least 6 weeks and elbows no higher than shoulder height. I had more restrictions because I had my pectoral muscle moved from on top of my flap back to my chest wall in surgery #5. My case was special this is not the norm, the flap is usually placed on top of the pec muscle but I was in expanders for months between BMX and DIEP and during the surgery I only had veins good enough for one breast so my radiated breast was fixed and theTE for my prophylactic side was left for a future implant. PS made the wrong guess because I would not do an implant so he did do another flap but put it under the muscle to stay symmetrical. After 2 fat graftings I insisted the muscles be moved back to the chest wall. Feel great now.

I did have several complications so I had 2 different flap surgeries followed by 3 fat grafting surgeries so far. I have another in September and hoping that will get me to a feasible symmetry and finish with nipples in December. I definitely know how hard it is to do more surgeries but when you finally see improvements instead of only corrections you will get excited.

Good luck in making your plans.

Hi Jenn I will be doing DIEP in Toronto in fall dont have date yet. Any surgery done in Toronto hospitals you do see your family doctor for a pre-op but the hospital does another extensive preop prior to your surgery. I have only met with the DIEP surgeon once but am sure will be seeing her again prior to surgery. Check with the surgeons office about the hospital pre-op appt.

CatsRus and Brandi999 thanks for the shoulder info. I had my DIEP in March and both my shoulders have limited movement, and something so simple as pulling the car door shut can cause awful pain. I see my DIEP surgeon in 2 weeks and that will be my main topic of conversation! CatsRus did they give you any shoulder exercises to do at home or did you see someone each week (or however often)?

Recovering from the DIEP has been great - once those dang drains are removed - but this shoulder pain is slowing me down!

Hey, ladies! I am seriously considering a DIEP and am wondering when you first made your initial consult with your surgeon. Did you wait til after radiation? Or should I be more proactive and have a consult after mastectomy but before rads? It seems like such a simple question but I have no idea! Thanks!