NOLA in September?
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Minnesota--I had my drains for 6 weeks--my first ass-piration was 10 days after my drains were out (45 cc) -- not really uncomfortable, more sloshy. I had it again 2 weeks later (another 50 cc), and after that it was fine. My butt was still kinda numb and the procedure didn't hurt at all. I actually preferred that, to having the drains in for a longer...Best of luck!0
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Stage 2 Post Op - if you need to be seen after your surgery, and you are still there, they'll see you. For most, there is no reason to come in, even though they do make the offer. Depending upon what you have done, you may well not have any drains. Celeste can tell you ahead if you're likely to have drains. I had one tiny one, since I needed an abdominal repair, but generally they told me one would not be needed. I didn't have a post-op appt, and really didn't feel like I needed one since I already knew the drill regarding drains.
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Hey all, just updating - Onc said everything looked fine with scab, and since I am taking the antibiotic "just in case" we went ahead with chemo....4 down, 4 to go.....can finally believe that stage 2 will actually happen one day! lol Going to my local "Relay for Life" tomorrow night. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
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Eve I am 9 weeks post op from stage 2 and I have a standing order every Monday to have my Ass-piration. When I pulled the drain 2 1/2 weeks post op, the last two days were down to 18 cc and 15 cc. The first week ass piration they got 85cc, after 5 weeks I am down to 30 cc. Go figure after stage one I had no problem. Hopefully I will be done in another week or 2. If you recall I had a rather large indent in the left buttock that required a lot of work to repair. Butt looks great but I had to put up with the fluid buid up. Small price to pay. Hope yours drys up soon.
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Who does the ass pirations? Your primary care Dr?
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thanks Melinda for the information!!!!! My sister will be flying with me so I hope they are able to help me too!!!!
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Thanks for thinking of me Minn...Feeling GREAT! Yesterday had a really great preop with Dr. D and my friend the blue marker! Went to Fr Qtr after and walked around, then took one of those mule-drawn carriage rides. Very touristy I know. but what a blast--we loved it! We lucked out with our tour guide. He was a retired NOPD police officer who went on to be a history professor so he was extremely interesting and we learned a lot. The history of NOLA is truly amazing and now I want to lern even more. Our driver was "Howie" and it's completely worth it to wait for him if you want to take the tour. BTW. the half hour tour around the quarter is $15/each (plus tip) and so worth it.
Wish I could have met Sandy and others while here. Hopefully another time. So happy my surgery buddy (Holtbolt) is here. She's scheduled for fomorrow so let's keep her in our thoughts and prayers.
My surgery time got moved a couple of times and ended up being around 1:30 pm and I'm told it was a little more than 3 hours. When I came to I had no pain whatsoever and still don't! I had lipo in many areas but only a little from each place so maybe that's why no pain. Or maybe I'm still sorta numb and it'll comle later. Either way I am one HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY patient!!!
A short time ago I got my first peek at the lifted and shaped girls--LOVE THEM!!!! Dr. D is an amazing artist.
This has been the most AMAZING patient experience. I love being here and for those with a stage 2 in your futures, it has been a peice of cake. Oh and I must mention my nurse Holly--a total doll who has made such an impact on my experience. Also the girls in preop--LOVE THEM!! And of course Stacy and Sally--totally awesome!.
(Sorry for any typos. I tried to correct them.)
Will check in tomorrow sometime. Best wishes to everyone!
Suzanne
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Suzanne - I am SO happy that all went well!
Good luck to "Hotbutt" tomorrow!
2t - I am super happy that I did a post-op... otherwise I would have been with some awefully crooked nipples... and would have had to make another trip to fix them (which is kind of funny since I am making another trip anyway just to visit everyone and could have totally thrown in a surgery at the same time - but really, I just wanted to be DONE with surgeries... its exhausting being the patient). So, for me, it was SO worth it to have that post op! But you have to do what is best for you!
Gin - Glad to hear you are feeling well - have fun at the Relay tomorrow!
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PS - has anyone gone on the "ask the doctor" website recently and gotten a pop-up ad that sends them to another website without clicking on it? It is driving me crazy. I think someone has invaded their site!
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Congrats Gin on keeping up with the chemo and congrats Suzanne on a successful surgery!
Wishing you a painless, beautiful surgery, Holtbolt!
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MACK: How much swelling have you had? You mentioned the draining, but I'm beginning to wonder what I'l be able to wear to work afterwards. I'll be back in my office 1 week after surgery, and I think (HOPE) I'll be having quite a bit of lipo done. I'm SO excited to finally get rid of this weird ring of fat I acquired after Chemo. I am happy with the new breasts but the tubular effect of the fat diminishes the beauty of the girls!
Those of you who are post stage 2: Are you wearing the same size clothes, smaller, larger????
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Hi wonderful ladies!
I have a question about shaping during Stage 2, and would love to hear from any and all. I have Dr. D and will definitely be having a reduction and lift (Minn can back me up on how much needed this reduction will be!). Did you give input to your doc on size, upper roundness, how close together, how far out to the sides, projection, "sag", etc? If so, how did it turn out--especially size-wize. Was the size what you envisioned and hoped for? I'm so not sure what size to be (as I'm too huge-breasted now to even imagine "normal"). I've noticed on pics that everyone really has a different shape, and I DON'T want to be the shape I am or was before. ???
Thanks!
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Eve,
I had the same thing happen ...was walking down the street and suddenly felt VERY WET..looked down ...and uh oh...I had had a gusher from my old drain site ( 1-2 weeks after drain was pulled). I looked at it as,"better out than in"...figure it was a seroma in the making. I kept used the GOLD DIAL sopa in the shower continued to swab it with betadine and placed a small gauze pad over it for a week. It never caused me any more problems~
Had an extraction and a dental implant placed yesterday and am in LOADS of pain...wish NOLA could do dental!!!!!
Hugs,Marcia
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Well, today was a total disaster! lol Woke up to flooded apt floors from busted water pipe under sink. Called apt office and the guy came down, but as I went to ans the door, I slipped in the water and fell flat on my back! Luckily I had unlocked the door, and he came in and helped me up. To shorten things a bit - went to hospital where nurse said the lump on the back of my head was the largest she had ever seen. CT says all is fine, so I came home to "temp apt" with pain pills. Apts put me in temp 1bdrm while my carpet is changed out and apt dries out. They moved all my furniture. Is a nightmare. They said they may have my apt ready by wed, so not even hooking up tv and stuff....too many wires. Anyway, all is well that ends well - I am ok, basically, furn is all ok, may have lost one external harddrive, but no biggie...and hey...I am getting new carpet, so don't have to worry about cleaning the old carpet! lol But, did miss the Relay... Just wasn't up to it tonight. Take care all.
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Nordy, that happened to me several times on the "Ask the Doctor" website. I thought my computer was infected with a virus or malware. Ran my virus scan and spybot and it hasn't happened again...yet.
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I finally got the results of the ultrasound that was done last wednesday. by PCP, I have a small seroma, Now what do I do? Anything??
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GOOD GRIEF GINNIE!!!!!! Glad you are okay. One more thing to deal with girl!
Sally, you can have the seroma aspirated if you want, if you are at all uncomfortable, it will help. Generally the procedure does not hurt. I had it done once after the SNB, didn't feel a thing and it felt so much better to get the lump out of my arm pit!!!
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Gin! Holy crap girlie! That is no good. Take it easy.
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Jinger - for me, the new breasts were so very heavy, I had no interest in remaining large. For STage 2 I asked to be a full B/small C. Dr S did not discuss shape or roundness, etc, but did write on my skin B-/C+. And that is truly what I have here now that the swelling is down. I can wear C bras and have just an itsy bit left over in it.
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Ginnie - OMG - How much is one person supposed to take?! You're an amazing person to have gone thru so much, then have this happen, and then be able to joke about it and then tell us all to "take care." Back at you - please be careful! We all need you here!
Marcia - Thanks for your story. It makes me feel better to know that you had a "gusher," and yet that didn't automatically mean you had to have the ass-piration and all turned out well.
Sally - it sounds like we're having similar problems? Jeanine told me to watch the area closely. If necessary, I guess they recommend you-know-what. But as these kind ladies above have shared, it doesn't seem like it hurts - just another thing we get to add to our lengthening sagas. I keep telling myself that, since it's cancer we've been up against, we've had to use the big guns (and by that, I don't mean Jinger's breasts) (sorry, Jinger, I couldn't resist that). And the costs to us can be huge - we should just expect that, when dealing with such a vile enemy. But we're in it to win!
Sarabhealed - I really like the way you compared the asspiration to the drains and how you prefered it to that. That's a really good way to look at it. It helps to think that you thought this was less hassle - not so scary to me now.
Macksix - I also like your attitude. Small price to pay. Yes, you're right. And hearing your experience and all the others' sure serves to help normalize this for me. And the timing of this seems just about on track with what you other gals have reported, in terms of time between drain pull and back-up. Also, it's good to know this can happen, even if you make it to below 20, which I didn't quite do. Okay - that sounds weird - it shouldn't be good to think this can happen. What I mean is, I guess I didn't do anything wrong...
Jinger - LOL! And now I remember complaining to you about how huge my new breast was, and you kind of looking at your husband and bursting out laughing! Yep, it's all relative! And then how you set your drink down right on top of your breast and didn't even think anything of it and that it might be compressing the blood supply in the new girl! This is something I cannot even imagine - having a breast big enough to just casually use as a drink coaster! LOL! And my answer to your question would be that you get to decide all that stuff, but you can certainly ask the opinion of the doc, as he does have a pretty good idea about proportion, balance, shape, etc. But in the final analysis, of course, it's your (and your husband's) breasts. I was very happy with the first breast - and he had to match it to the one still there. He did a great job, since he is the best! I say - bring pictures of what you want! An excuse for your husband to go out and buy those kind of magazines - that might be fun! I brought in a picture of the nipples I want!
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Has anyone had a reaction to the stitches that they used to create a nipple ?? I am 3 weeks out and still wearing the nipple guards and I noticed that when I remove the nipple guards they were a mess. So my scars from nipple surgery are now a mess an I had to go fishing to remove stitches. Once I remove them the area stopped making a mess and looks to be clearing up but GRRR....the area is now no longer a thin line for the scar and in one spot there is a hole
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just checking in.... wow, Stage 2 is way easier than Stage 1... I'm still at St. Charles but being discharged sometime today. Lipo hurts... but only when you move..lol
Anyway, I haven't ' looked at anything... I did glance down at my nipples... but I don't know what's under this girdle. Hope it's a hotbutt!!! lol
As always, Dr. D was fantastic... I am staying through the weekend just because I wanted a post-op Monday morning.... We were able to eat at Zeas, Voodoo bbq and go to Harrahs (lost).... before surgery.... hopefully I will be able to get out some this weekend.. but it's HOT and HUMID !
All is well tho and feeling pretty good... and they have an Icee Machine here!! I am a huge Icee fan.. so I've had 3 or 4 at this point.... what a great addition to the hospital! I don't remember it being here in Feb... was it? it's in the famly lounge.
.. Flavors: Cola and Pina Colada!0 -
Ummmm.....Iceeeee'sssssssss LOL I am fine ladies. I hit my head, thank goodness! Hardest part of me! Just a little sore this am. And going back and forth from old apartment to the one they put me in, cause I can't remember everything at one time! grrrrr Oh well, just 3 buildings down, so I am getting some exercise. Gotta keep making that lemonade out of these lemons, right? Noone is better at doing that than us here!!
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Gin ... I just read your post... ong....YES.. keep making lemonade..... soon you will be here drinking an Icee after Stage 2.....0
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Gin - well thank god you made it thru the night! And that you didn't fall out of the bed! Yep - gotta make lemon Icees out of lemons!!
Jaimee - When do these sagas end?!!! But thank goodness your nipples stopped being a mess!
Hotbutt - Yeah! You're already up and almost about! Glad you're all thru stage 2! Do you have an on-q ball? If so, keep it! So do you think it will be hot and humid in July? LOL! The answer to that is the same as the answer to the question - Is Dr. D the best or what?!
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Hi Holtbolt (Hotbutt) - So glad you're feeling good. I had my Stage 2 with Dr. D on May 6, I'm home still healing. I also ate at Zeas on Mother's Day (nice), and Voodoo BBQ. When I got home I had some bad headaches at night and found out I was dehydrated (I didn't even realize it). Jeanine told me to get Gatorade in me quick (water is not enough you need electrolytes) - so if it's hot/humid be aware of that (lemon/lime tastes good).
My lipo still still hurt for awhile when I sat down, not so much now. My Q-ball was removed on the post op visit). Dr. D is amazing! I'll need Stage 3 (nipple, tweaking in the Fall). Take care
TrainerTam ~ For me, right after surgery and the week after, I had one size larger button up black top, and longer drawstring black shorts (just covers the lace on the black girdle/binder) - I left NOLA with 2 drains and got on 2 flights back home to Ohio. I started work one week later (no drains) and I feel I've gotten smaller and lost weight due to the lipo in the ab and thighs. My regular clothes are roomier, I feel I'll be in smaller clothes in a few weeks because of the lipo (can't wait). The 4th drain plugged up and luckily it was not putting a lot out, so it came out early. Good luck to you on the 25th
Jaimieh ~ No problems with my stitches on the nipples, can you contact Jeanine at NOLA, I sent pics to her when I was worried about a blood blister, 2 days later (after a reminder e-mail and she made me feel better) just a thought.
Sandy2009
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What will they think of next to make us gals happy....Icees, I love it!!!
Good job everyone on getting your pages to me. they are all wonderful. I am meeting with Sandy (In Paradise) tomorrow afternoon; she is hand delivering her 2 pages spread. Talk about down to the wire! Once her pages are in place half the book will be filled; leaving the other half for the rest of you to slide your 12 X 12 papers into when you go back to the Center. I was telling my hair stylist about it this morning, how it's from you all over the country, she said " What an amazing gift!!!" I agree
I'm so excited to get this show on the road! My co-workers on Friday all wished me luck, and some of the gals (in the know) said they were jealous! My standard comeback whenever someone says something like that is " Oh, you TOO can have this....as long as you're willing to pay the price, wink" they usually stammer quickly " No way, I could never go through what you have gone through". But, you know what...they could. I think we are all stronger than we ever thought were were.
For me it's been a matter of focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel. In 2009 before I discovered this sight I didn't see any light, (remember that Newport Beach surgeon telling me I had the body of a COKE CAN?)
Now I'm so happy, because I see the end of the tunnel and it's because of the knowledge I've gained here, and the wonderful skill of our Dream Team. Monday morning NOLA here I come!
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Okay so my area is looking better but I will be sending them pictures on Monday. My DH started digging for the stitches I couldn't get this morning and the area is looking even better. I just need to contact the center and ask what to do with the stitches on the actual nipple part (you know the hairy ones...lol...). I just want them to heal so I can get get the finishing touches done...lol.... BTW, my butt swelling has gone down and I have been catching my DH checking out my butt...lol...
Ginnie~ I hope you are doing okay.
Hotbutt~ You know you are smoking under the Dom. outfit
Hotbutt~ You know that you are smoking under the dom. outfit...
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Hotbutt when did you have your Stage 2? I have surgery on Friday the 20th of August and post op on Monday the 23rd but I was wondering how long the hospitalization is? The Icee machine came between my 2 surgerys. It was not there March 23 but was there April 22nd. I am now just 5 weeks out and now I feel like I am full of fluid. My rings are tight. Is this normal or just because of the warmer weather? Any thoughts?
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After Tammy we have a huge break in the list until mid JUNE!!!
HoltBolt = HotButt LOL!!!
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