Embarrassing tram flap question.

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Mojojennijo
Mojojennijo Member Posts: 173
edited May 2018 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

so I was leaning towards going with the tram flap option for reconstruction, till I had a concerning thought.

So I’m gonna be real here cause I’m sure I’m not the only woman who grows body hair. I have some hair on my belly. It used to be peach fuzz but in highschool saw my friends hairless bikini tummies and started shaving it. It’s dark now. I usually wax it. Anywho. If they take my skin from my belly will I then have hairy patches on my breasts?

Feel free to giggle at my question. Cause I am. As I’ve gotten older I’ve started to find that I am not the only person who deals with hair in undesirable places for a woman. Makes it easier to laugh about it and not feel quite as embarrassed

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  • NancyHB
    NancyHB Member Posts: 1,512
    edited October 2017

    I can't giggle at you without giggling at me first!😊 I had UMX with immediate DIEP so I have a (large) nipple-sized spot of abdominal flesh in my left "breast". Several days after surgery I noticed peach fuzz on my "nipple" area - growing upward, reverse of how it had been on my belly! It was odd at first but after a year I don't really see it anymore. I never shaved it - it's just not there. I know others who've mentioned needing to pluck or shave a little. You might have to, but maybe not

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  • TWills
    TWills Member Posts: 679
    edited October 2017

    I've seen someone else on this site ask the same question and I have it too. In anticipation of my surgery next year I've started waxing as often as I can remember because I've noticed the more I wax the finer and less hair there is. There's always laser hair removal as well. The crap we go through, sheesh!

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  • Lula73
    Lula73 Member Posts: 1,824
    edited October 2017

    mojojennijo- you didn't say if you'll be having skin and/or nipple sparing mx or if you'll bring doing the flap during the same surgery as the mx. If the answer is yes to both of these questions, all your harvested tissue will be inside your current breast skin. The skin from the harvested area won't be visible at all.

    Can I ask why Tram flap? Most are opting for DIEP flap as it doesn't compromise the muscle and still uses the excess belly tissue to create your new breast mounds

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  • Mojojennijo
    Mojojennijo Member Posts: 173
    edited October 2017

    I have to meet with plastic surgery still but the options the general surgeon gave me were tram flap and and implant. I guess I don’t really know what the diep is.

    I also don’t know about skin nipple sparring.

    Surgery won’t be until March or April so I have a while to figure it out. I see plastic in two weeks.

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  • NancyHB
    NancyHB Member Posts: 1,512
    edited October 2017

    DIEP and TRAM are similar, but PS's tend to specialize in one or the other ("free TRAM" is close to DIEP but does not have a pedical, or flap of muscle, attached to the abdominal tissue to turn and tunnel up to the breast). It's possible your PS specializes in or is skilled in TRAM. Edited to add: your general surgeon may be using "TRAM" as a general reference to tissue-transfer reconstruction, too. Your PS will give you much more detailed info on your options.

    I've read some stories here of skin- and nipple-sparing TRAM or DIEP in which case no, you wouldn't see the belly skin in your breast area. My PS didn't offer nipple-sparing as an option so I have a small, round patch of totally different-colored skin (and a couple of post-pregnancy stretch marks, to boot!) if the hair had continued to grow, my PS offered laser hair removal for that area as part of my "reconstruction"

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  • NancyD
    NancyD Member Posts: 3,562
    edited October 2017

    I had gone through menopause before my DIEP reconstruction, and the amount of my belly hair was greatly reduced by age. One thing I noticed, though, was because they pulled up some abdominal skin to close the belly portion, I have a higher hairline "down there" and the stretching made it sparser.

    Basically, yes, any hair, mole, or stretch marks you have on the portion of skin used to create the breast mound will still be there, but maybe on the opposite side or upside down, lol.

    I actually lost the few hairs that grew around my nipples with my mastectomies.

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  • Mojojennijo
    Mojojennijo Member Posts: 173
    edited October 2017

    Nancy, that’s awesome!! I’ll find out more info when I go see the ps. I had to reschedule my appointment with him that I had today due to a sick kid. So I must wait two more weeks.

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  • ravzari
    ravzari Member Posts: 277
    edited October 2017

    If it's something you think will bother you, you can always start electrolysis (which is permanent; laser only guarantees a 'reduction') either before or after your surgery. Part of me wants to say, "Do it after surgery, when your skin is likely to be mostly numb!" because I have a few dark hairs around my navel area and man does it ever hurt to have those zapped by the electrolysis needle. It's not as bad as the upper lip, but it's still enough to make you twitch a little.

    I had a few dark hairs around my nipples that I was having worked on via electrolysis before my BMX and it's funny to see where they pop out now as it shows me just how and where they pulled the skin after removing everything. There's just one left now that refuses to fully die, but at least it isn't black anymore. Still long if I let it stay, but it's white now so it doesn't show as much.

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  • Mojojennijo
    Mojojennijo Member Posts: 173
    edited October 2017

    thank for the tip!

    Isn’t it crazy how fast those unwanted hairs grow? Like over night they are 3 inches long! I have a wax pot at home and I’m gonna get into a good wax regimen. Only issue is that I often get a rash. Im not sure if that’s desired while doing chemo? I have a book the drs gave me and it makes it sound like any broken skin is a no no.I’m a red head and my skin hates it when I mess with it. But I’ll use all the after care stuff I have religiously!

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  • Anna20
    Anna20 Member Posts: 1
    edited May 2018

    This is completely normal, girl! We all can relate to it very well. I have been tired of going waxing sessions every now and then so I gave a try and did my own laser hair removal at home.The results are amazing and well seen! Lasers does not permanently stop hair growth but it helps reduce the hair growth to a much extent. So you can definitely try laser if you're seeking out for hair removal in the long run. At clinic it is usually very costly and it depends on person to person. I read some reviews and researched on home laser hair removal machines. You just need to take care of few things and the you are good to go!

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  • TWills
    TWills Member Posts: 679
    edited May 2018

    For anyone waxing, hard wax is much less irritating to the skin. It’s not as sticky so as it cools it hardens and pulls slightly away from the skin so it’s a tiny bit less painful and a lot less irritating. I love Cirepil Blue Bead wax. I’ve been using it for years on myself and clients and have had no irritation at all. After using regular resin wax for many years before and sometimes getting a rash or tiny blisters at even raw spots this was and amazing find. Love it. I get it at a professional beauty supply but like anything else you can find it online I’m sure.

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