NOLA in September?
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Sally~ I hope you start to feel better. My blood pressure is just low most of the time. It leaves you feeling crappy though. I hope you continue to feel better, glad to hear your incision is looking better.
Christy~ No packing done at all yet. I have been playing taxi cab all day. My Aunt who watched my children all thru chemo had dental surgery today so I have been running her around. Which I do not mind doing at all, it is the least that I can do. Then in an hour we leave for a birthday party so it will get done sometime tonight, I am not too worried about it. It's not like I need a ton of clothes since I will not fit into much...lol...
Airline checked in so I guess it is all a go....
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Minn - It's odd about the swelling. I did notice a difference between week 4 and week 6 in that regard after Stage 1. Less as time went on. This stage 2 is simply unusual, since I had a muscle tear repaired, which Dr. S told me is a 1 in a million type of problem, but I think it's added to my recovery. Patience is not my strong suit right now. I think you're right about possibly needing a bigger size for the body girdle. I have been leaving the top buttons undone just so I could breathe. With them hooked, I tend to have nausea. Weird. Probably too much compression is not a good thing.
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Jamie, I understand your not packing. Last week I was the same way. My dh was packed and he looked at my empty suitcase and asked me what I was going to bring. I just was not worried about it. In the end, I tossed in a few clothing combos, including some baggy things (which is what I wore), and off we went. As you remember, while in the hospital, its all about the gowns and robes. I should have brought slippers, though. I forgot about that one. I did remember my eye mask, ear plugs, iPod.
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I have no hips, and a small rear. A larger ribcage and broad shoulders. I've also not had much of a waist, and I've carried fat in my lower abdomen. A diep was perfect for me. Last night i took off my Dom outfit completely for the first time, with my dh's help. My first good look at what's been done. Lots of black and blue, which oddly does not hurt all that much, but it's a very dramatic look. Then, my dh points to my hips and says, "What's that? Did Sullivan add hips?" We both stood there staring. I think he added hips. I don't remember requesting hips, but I guess he thought he'd toss them in for good measure. Looks nice. Well done. And it looks like I may yet end up with a waist once the lipo swelling goes down.
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Sueinfl - I added you to the listing above. We are up to July 30th !! :O
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I did get discharged today but not flying home til Wednesday. Because I didnt cancel my reservations for Sunday the airline wanted 1800 dollars for 2 people. but if we waited til wednesday it is 224 total. We are staying at the Hope Lodge. I cant get over how good I feel
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Sally I will be at the lodge tomorrow
. So maybe we can meet up for a little bit . I hope you are feeling better
So supposed to be packing and how is this for procrastination I took my kids to the local indoor pool....lol... I really need to get myself in gear and get it together.0 -
Sally I will be at the lodge tomorrow
. So maybe we can meet up for a little bit . I hope you are feeling better
So supposed to be packing and how is this for procrastination I took my kids to the local indoor pool....lol... I really need to get myself in gear and get it together.0 -
Drain questions-I had the stacked DIEP on the 14th and I have 3 drains left. One is only producing about 20-25 a day. Is this abnormal. I thought I would have them for a lot longer. Only I would be worried that it is producing too little...
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Mileha, Your goal is to get under 30cc/day, so you're doing well. Often one will reach this goal sooner than the others. Drains usually get pulled at different times, not all together. It is good for them to get below 30cc, so when you do pull them there is less of a chance of a seroma later, since your body can continue to absorb a small amount of extra fluid. No rush. They definitely have their own timeframe, that's for sure. Is the color clear?
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The color is a slight pink and all three are at 30 ccs or close to it (one is at 35 for the day). Maybe I won't have these for very long. Thanks for your quick reply.
Overall, I'm doing great. 3 drains...down to Advil for pain meds. (first day today) I couldn't handle the musle relaxant one anymore. I didn't like the way it made me feel in the morning with all the phlem. I drove myself to Walgreens today to pick up a script. I dont know if there were driving restrictions, but I wasn't on narcotics, so I didn't worry about it.
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Sally, glad you got all fixed up.
I'm glad everyone is doing well post-surgery; good luck to everyone up soon.
I've had swelling from what I assume is the dom outfit. My feet were so swollen the first 2 weeks post-op, now I'm 4 wks out and most of it is gone, but my feet still tend to swell here & there. All I know to do is drink lots of water, watch sodium, up protein, and put up your feet when you can.
I'm still in my dom 4.5 wks out, due to the slight seroma. It's still not bad, just slightly water-beddish, hasn't gotten worse. So I stay in this horrible torture outfit. I wish they'd give us gap & hip flap girls one of the other outfits that Veronique makes, without the high top and without the long leg parts. They make one that is the size & shape of granny panties; I'd MUCH rather wear that instead.
Hey, I had no idea anyone here was behind the Breastorations foundation! No idea. So y'all came up with it? And the Drs are on board? That's so cool. So is there a website? And, more importantly for me (LOL), is there a Facebook page? I would love to become a fan on facebook if there's a page; if not, maybe one of you can make one.
I've looked for the Center on Facebook but haven't found it. 0 -
Mihela, It's something like - under 30cc's for 3 days and you can get rid of the drains, unless they are still dark or very red. Congratulations to have switched over to Advil for pain management. That's progress!
Camiam - I'm sorry you're swollen, but I find it a relief that I'm not the only one. I'm only 5 days out from Stage 2, wearing the Dom, and major griping about swelling. I guess I'll have to calm down, since I've got to hang in there a bit more. Are you walking and moving about a lot? With my lymphedema, I've learned that our lymph system is what picks up our extra fluids. And what stimulates the lymph system to pick up is motion - motion of muscles, up and down movements of our bodies, all movement.
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I thought the drains had to get below 20cc's for 2 days - where did I get this? Did I dream it in my drug-induced haze? My husband thought the same thing. Is there a difference if it's Dr. D or Dr. S.? Or if it's GAP vs. DIEP?
Mileha - I was out of drains sooner with DIEP than this GAP is taking. I'm now at 4 weeks.
Camie - There is a facebook page for "NOLA docs" !
Sally - so glad you're feeling so great!
Jaimie - it's great you're so relaxed about packing. i guess because this time you know what to expect and that your wardrobe is limited to comfortable things!
kc - LOL! I'm glad you got hips!!!
www.breastoration.org
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mine was under 30cc's for 2 days just FYI and I had DR S.
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Spring, thanks for adding me to the list!
Sally, I am so glad you are better. The one down side to doing this long distance is the tendency to try and wait for problems to take care of themselves rather than having them taken care of immediately. Thank goodness our NOLA docs are so good at taking care of the problems once they see them.
Kc, are you sure you really have been given hips or is it your new waist line making them look "hippier" in contrast? You probably will not know for sure until you can try on your old clothes again. I hope the swelling disappears soon. The women with experience all push lots of water and walking to help after Stage 2.
Hurray for Breastoration and thanks Sandy and Eve! Every day I feel grateful for having insurance that covered this procedure and wonder about all those women who have none. What a wonderful program and amazing doctors that contribute so much and women with the energy to make this happen. I hope there will be some concrete way I can contribute soon.
And many healing hugs to Alaina. With never having shared a word before, Alaina offered to pick me up and take me to dinner with everyone the night before my Stage 1. She is wonderful, my inspiration and I am counting on chemo kicking her mets a**!
I ended up losing a drain yesterday. My right drain bulb had lost suction. Bess thought it was because the tubing had pulled out about 2" and told me to go ahead and pull the rest of it. It had been down to 30cc a day for 3 days. I was told they prefer it down to 20. What was really yucky was the sucking sound the opening made when I applied pressure to the area to squeeze any extra fluid out. It sounded like there was still a space the size of Jupiter in there! And here I thought I was healing so quickly. The toughest part will be trying to decide whether a seroma is building up. My whole backside looks like a wavy waterbed.
Has anyone else with bilat SGAP or HIP noticed a difference between sides? My right breast is at least a whole size larger than my left and corresponds with the larger incision on my left hip. It is so apparent that each surgeon worked on one side, flipped me and then worked on my other side it's hillarious. I just hope they can make my left side as large as my right during Stage 2. I know that's a tougher job, but the right breast is just what I wanted. Ultimately, I will be happy to be happy to wear a bra that fits both sides at the same time.
Cam, we ought to be walking together soon. I drove my stick shift yesterday and have to figure out what to do with the seatbelt across my chest...padding, sitting on it, something! That is the only thing that is killing me.
Good luck, Jaimie!
Gentle hugs to everyone...
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Mileha and all.
It depends on where the drain is! Butt, 2-3 days below 30cc and they may let you pull. Sometimes they don't, sometimes it gets infected or really sore and you pull earlier than this. It all depends. You need to call. But generally for butt or lumbar, 2-3 days below 30cc.
Breast and belly, 2-3 days below 20cc, and they may let you pull.
How do I know this? I had both butt and belly, and breast!!!!
My lumbars were only putting out 5-15 range after stage 2, and they would not let me pull until several days had gone by - and were wanting me to wait until 2 weeks, but they were putting out like 3 and 5 cc a day, finally I was able to pull one, then the other. It drove me batz! So there are no hard and fast rules. They have their reasons! Best to call.
Generally, I noticed if I was very still, output was lower, if I moved around a lot, output was higher.
Once one belly drain was gong, the other picked up the slack.
Sue, everything will be addressed in Stage 2. MAKE A LIST. They are very good and will do everything they can to make you happy. Don't be shy and tell them what you want, in a nice way! (My advice). Besides this, they will be addressing most of everything with their blue pen before you even open your mouth. I made a list just to be sure...
Sarabhealed, I added your info above. WE ARE UP TO AUGUST!!!!
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Has anyone had to have areas filled in on either side of their sternum at Stage 2... (upper pole?) I think I have nice shaped Stage 1 breasts but concaved areas on either side of the sternum.. so the sternum protrudes (alot)... and there is no gradual slope into the breasts....does that make sense?..... from the side it looks pretty scary and I'm trying to have faith there is a solution. I try lifting them with my hands but a lift alone will not correct this ... does this sound familiar to anybody? if anyone had this problem after Stage 1 and it was corrected at Stage 2.. can you chime in? Otherwise.. I'm happy... just trying to figure out if this is common or I am just bony up there and it's something I have to live with... thanks.
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Holt bolt, you can always send pictures to Liz or others at NOLA, prior to your stage 2, and ask how this will be addressed. I can't quite picture what you're describing. I would take pics and send in ahead of time if I was you.... Lots of women do this prior to stage 2. You can take pics of all of you and ask what they would suggest doing, etc., so you get a heads up.
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There is just something magical about New Orleans!! (and it makes you do things you would never consider doing at home!) Re-Cap of my stage II trip............
Wednesday - landed at 5:30 pm and hit the ground running. Met Marcia at the airport and she rode in to town with my friend Shelly and I. We then met Sandy and Eve for dinner (lovely!), and walked Bourbon Street after....it was quite active and the beads were flying!! The four of us (Sandy, Eve, Shelly and myself) walked past a 'shop' that had fleur de lis nipple tassels in the window....and curiosity got the best of me - we decided to go in and see how much they were - $19.99 - a bit to expensive for a 'joke'....but while in the shop we looked up and there, on the wall, were these flesh colored breast forms......(see photo), and Shelly and I decided we had to have them! In the store, we placed the forms under our shirts....and the four of us walked back out to Bourbon street. When we got to the 'active area' where all the beads were being thrown, I looked up and signaled everyone on the balcony to count with me....1 - 2 - 3.....when we got to 3 Shelly and I lifted up our shirts - exposing the fake boobs! I didn't know if I was going to pee my pants from laughter or from embarrassment, but we did get some beads!! The look on Sandy and Eve's faces was priceless.....Needless to say, it was a fun, fun night - lasting memories!!
Thursday I had my pre-op, and Sandy, Eve, and Marcia were at the Center too! Pictures were taken - it was just FUN!! Once I was in the examination room, Celeste told me to put on the gown, and Dr. Sullivan would be in shortly. Well, I put on the gown, but put on the fake boobs and the beads first! Dr. S came in and was looking at the photo's that were taken a few minutes before, and asked "Do you want my advice, or would you like to tell me what you want?" I answered, "You are the expert, so I will let you decide what you would like to do.....but before we get started, I do have a concern." Dr S...."OK, what's going on?".....ME "I'm not sure Dr. Sullivan, but for some reason, just recently, my breasts have gotten very hard and I don't know why...." He gave me a puzzled look, and I asked "if he would like to take a look." - "Yes, let's take a look." At that point I opened up my gown and what he saw was the fake boobs draped in Mardi Gras beads! Dr. S. let out the BIGGEST belly laugh and turned bright red! All of us in the room were screaming with laughter!! (Boy did I ever get my $10 worth out of those fake boobs!!)
Then I got attacked by the blue marker.........my left side was 15-20% larger than the right (he was surprised it had turned out so good, as it was my radiated side), so he explained he was going to make it a bit smaller to match my right side......and then I would get a little lipo to help fill in the right side. He did his magic - my breasts are perfectly matched and very symmetrical - I am so pleased with the results!!
Surgery was Friday - as I mentioned, just under 2 hours - I later found out that Dr. S also performed two stage I's that day! How does he do it?? I was released on Saturday, took a two hour nap, then walked the French Quarter for a few hours. Sunday Shelly and I left the hotel at 10am, took the trolley down St. Charles, then walked most of Magazine street (great shopping), then back to the French Quarter, the French Market, and made it back to the hotel at 6 pm. A ton of walking that day but it felt great!
I don't have much pain from stage II, just my upper abdomen where lipo was done......and the surprising thing is this..... a bit of swelling - BUT NO BRUISING!! I did take the Arnica tablets starting a week before my surgery - but was very surprised that I did not have any bruising at all!
My post-op was early Monday morning - Dr. S. was very happy with the results - and he pulled the one drain I had left!! (My breast drain was pulled Saturday). I mentioned that I was surprised there was no bruising, he asked to take a look - I showed him my abdomen, he got a little smile and said "that's good - but the back always bleeds and bruises".....I showed him my backside.....NO BRUISING......he looked at Celeste and smiled and said "I used the new machine"......I asked about that and he told me he used a new lipo machine on my that shoots out water at a very high pressure, and it looks like it does what it is supposed to - cut down on bruising!!
After my goodbye's to everyone at the Center - we were on our way to the airport, and flew home. I arrived home totally exhausted - the magic of NOLA had worn off!! Still a little tender today, and I will sleep - but thrilled with the results from my stage 2, and so honored I was able to have my reconstruction done by such an incredible team!!
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LouAnn that is HILARIOUS! How did you ever keep a straight face telling him your breasts had recently gotten 'very hard'...OMG...I would have died laughing! What a GREAT story! I'm sure they'll be talking about that at the Center for a long time to come!!!
Congratulations on finishing stage 2 and having great results (was there any doubt?) and no bruising!! That's excellent! (I hope they use the 'new' machine on me in a few weeks!!!)
Suzanne
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LouAnn- GREAT story! I laughed so hard! How funny... I'm so glad you got the matching issue taken care of. I'm also hoping he can match mine up size-wise, too, by adding lipo to my 8-yr-old reconstructed breast to make it match the new one, which I love.
Sue- I've been thinking about you! I was just thinking last night that we should meet up soon. I've been out & about a couple of times by myself already...even drove MY stick shift for the first time yesterday. It's tiring, but I'm glad to be back driving. Here's my tip for the seat belt, because I have that problem, too. I've been keeping one of my son's small pillows in the car, and I stick it in between the seat belt and my breasts. It's weird, it's kind of bulky, but it takes care of any pain caused by the contact, AND it protects my precious new breast in the case there's an accident (trauma can cause failure during the first 6 weeks, so I'm being overly cautious). It's just a little pillow about 12" long & 8" wide; it came from the sewing dept. at Walmart where they sell these little pillows for covering in various materials. The funny thing is this one is covered in a silly monkey print, since it's my son's...but oh well! It does the job. LOL!
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Springtime: I would love to be added to the listing: Jen in NOLA with Dr. D for Stage 2 DIEP on June 24th. Thanks so much.
I've just been on this site for about a month, courtesy of Minnesota's introduction (thank you, Eve!), and I enjoy it so much. I am not a breast cancer survivor (BRCA1 +), and it still has so, so much helpful information. And wonderful women!
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Hi All,
Sally, I am so glad that you are doing better. Low blood pressure is a drag. I always feel very lathargic when my BP is low. Since I have put on 40 lbs I have not had too many issue with it. However, I sure would like to lose that 40 lbs. But I need the fat for my new boobs (hopefully)
Thanks to Sandy and Marthe for your help and information. I love the stories on here (especially the fake boob story) I sent my information on Friday and I already received a packet of stuff from NOLA. I called today and they said that they are reviewing my information. How long does it take to get Stage 1 surgery scheduled. I am so anxious..I just want my body to be back to normal...
Have a great day,
Lynn
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LouAnn...TOO FUNNY!! I would have loved to see the look on his face when he saw your 'fake' boobs!
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Lynn,
Once I decided to have my Stage 1 with Dr. D I had the option of scheduling it in just 2 weeks (or had to wait 4). I needed the 4. I think it just depends on time of year, etc., but I was pleased to find that it wasn't a long wait! Good luck! (and that was just 4 weeks ago)
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LouAnn - I'm sooooo glad you told those stories!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As I said on Bourbon, I am so impressed with you and Shelly! You are wild girls! And this, with NO liquid courage, even!!!!!
Guys - I took the BEST picture of LouAnn on Bourbon, just after the fake boob extravaganza. I also have some photos of various of us modeling those boobs, but I had to swear NEVER to post them! Now I think this is kind of funny - because we all go around showing the real ones to everyone who wants to see them (well, not to the guys on Bourbon), but then get shy about showing plastic ones held up to our chests?! We are weird!
So I drove today for the first time, too. Now I am trying to get up the guts to schedule stage 2...
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Eve - So THAT'S when that picture was taken - after the fake boob extravaganza on Bourbon?? HA! And you are right - I have shown more people the amazing work that Dr. S did - but get embarrassed over showing the fake ones! Go figure!!
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LouAnn... LOL!
Spring.. thanks.. yeah, I have already sent photos to Jeanine... she said that Dr. D will try to fill in these areas with fat injections or fat graphs... I will know more (or he will) when I get there on 5/20.... I have faith!
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Hahaha! I so love the stories that you ladies tell. Seriously, though, I can flash or show anyone my new girls. No modesty at all.
So, more medical deicisons for me. Seeing a gyn today about all my female growths..fibroids, cysts, etc. If only I had regular genetics. It would make my life so easy...LOL!
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