NOLA in September?
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Jeskachi: we don't have wound centers here. I kind of don't know who to call. Maybe I should call my internest? I told the Center and they told me to keep putting betadine. I'm kind of tired of this. In 4 days I'll be six weeks out and I was looking forward to doing light exercises. Small spots of blood in abdominal incision right below new belly button. Do they numb the area before stitching?
KBodie: you are so brave. I don't think I could have pulled my drain. After they pulled my drain they told my to put a glob of neosporin pain relief for comfort. No more drains!
Kathryn: great photo. How do you know that 50% of fat he added stuck? What does he do with the other 50%? Is it necrosis? How do you know so soon after surgery? Maybe I misunderstood your post.
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Hi SurfaGrl. Don't really know how much of the fat really stuck but a good portion of it reabsorbed. I know this because I was much bigger post stage 2. Of course some of it is swelling but I was definitely much more bodacious after surgery. Four months out ( I had my initial stage 2 in June) a good portion of it is gone. No fat necrosis - just not as big. Does that make sense?
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Dana - That was great!! I remember you flashing someone haha...I just did that to the OR nurse when I was getting my port taken out!!! Your Grandmother would be so proud of you and is smiling down at you, I'm sure!!!
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So...... looking for flights for December, they are freaking expensive! Boo.
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Beautiful article, Dana.
Kathryn, I love your new picture!
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KathyrnLA,
Just thinking about stage 2 ... After 4 months do you feel that some of the transferred fat remained? Do you feel it is an improvement compared to before the transfer?
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Adey... go to Kayak.com and check flights... I found that because I am flying back the week before Thanksgiving, some flights are super expensive... I am staying an extra night in NOLA to save $300 per ticket, and taking a morning flight versus an afternoon flight.
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SurfaGrl: the wound care centers I've been to are departments in a hospital. Usually very small departments, one doctor (usually part-time) and 1-2 nursing staff or assistants. I found them by doing Google searches for the hospital systems near me. Ended up finding ones close to me. They were in hospitals I would not like to have surgery in, but the wound docs were very competent and very nice. No attitude problems like in the larger university hospital systems here.
Edited to add: the advantage of going to a doctor for this is it's possible your wound needs to be debrided to heal. If it has slough in it (dead tissue, usually white or yellow, sort of rubbery or scab-like) it's possible your body won't break that down. Debriding gets rid of that and roughens up the wound a little so it bleeds and then heals, with a normal scab. There are dressings and ointments that will keep the slough from coming back and only allow real tissue to grow.
Your body will probably heal the wounds on its own eventually, but getting professional wound care will make it heal faster (and with a cleaner scar). Like I said before, wound care specialists know about products regular doctors don't, so that's the advantage there. Call around to the hospitals near you, I bet they have wound care clinics.
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Thanks bd! I'm still searching. (c:
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Who wants in on the BC group on facebook?? Friend me Betsy Schreier Davis and tell me who you are on BC.org.
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TooMuch - I hope that you are doing well and are happy with your Stage 2.
KathrynLA - Love your new pic!
I'm doing well 4 days after my Stage 2. I am in more pain than I anticipated. Anywhere that I had lipo hurts. It just hurts, so so tender. It also itches - which is a way to slowly go crazy!! I'm pleased with the way that everything looks (trying to see past the swelling) and am SO happy that Dr D managed to break up a lot of the scar tissue I had in my stomach area between breasts and abdominal incision - just that alone would have been worth all of this. Even with the itching and constant tenderness having my stomach feel better outweighs that discomfort! I'm hoping for the tenderness to subside as it makes it hard to relax when sitting and/or laying down hurts. Standing is ok - but I can't do that all day. I walked our dogs 2 miles today, that felt great! I'm glad I have a few weeks off from work - I can't imagine sitting at my desk all day right now. I would not be able to do it. Did anyone else experience this itching with Stage 2?
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Thanks Kbodie, I talked to Dana. I am pretty sure Im gonna go with Dr Von Almen. I already had my ovaries out so hopefully taking out the rest wont be as big a deal. The hormonal issues are the major issue and I am already looking at a 3 -4 week recovery without the hyst. So it makes sense.
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How do you add a profile picture?
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Besa - I feel there was a huge improvement after stage 2. I think Dr S transferred quite a bit of fat and I liked the look right after. A lot of it stayed but some of it got absorbed. I looked pretty good after stage 1, but after stage 2 I feel like I look great! He added fat in some spots, and removed some along the bottom of my breast too. They had looked a bit square before, but now they are nice and rounded on the bottom. I'm very happy with the outcome. I have a few tweaks, but if I didn't have to come to fix my stomach scarring I'd be done...but since I'm going under I'm hoping he will tweak a few things.
JustLaura - sorry to hear about the pain - but you'll be thrilled you did it all! Thanks for the compliments on the photo. I found it and knew I had to post it here (most people wouldn't understand the blue pen marks!
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Celtic, thank you for the warm fuzzies on BC/BS, just in case I ever need to go back there and get a touch-up! ha.
Betsy. I had 4 flaps, DEIP and Lumbar. I had stage 2 and a lot done, plus plication. I took off 4 weeks from work after that one and I needed it. I think if you skip the plication you're recovery will be a lot faster. I had massive lipo and I tell you, lipo is a major owie.
Dana,
You are famous now! Someone above mentioned only about 50% of the fat "Took" and I think this is quite typicaly. I remember Sandy saying Dr D even had some new lipo water thing that was gentler on the fat. Maybe you'all will get more than 50%!! We can always hope!
For my stage 2, I went in with a list for Dr. D. but I let him go at me with the blue pen, If he was marking in an area I was concerned about i might point out another spot near by. By the end I was covered in blue marker, and I checked my list before Dr. D left and we had covered everything, and "then some" as someone above so aptly put it!!0 -
KathrynLA, Thanks for the response. It helps a lot. Just gearing up for stage 2.
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Dana, Bravo! Well done!! You promised me you'd "pay it forward" and you have done that in many many ways..so proud to have mentored you:)))
"You've come a long way, baby"!!!
Many warm hugs,
Marcia0 -
12 more days..so ready to get this final stage completed! I pray all is going well. Can't wait to see the other Oct 31-Nov 3 ladies. I will get someone to post my screen name if we forget be on the look out for the big tall guy. My husband is 6'7 and looks like Shak's twin.
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I have many thanks tonight. Thanks to Toomuch, Besa, Nordy, Tigsun,Celtic A, Soccer mom, Kathryn, Surfagirl, Minnesota,. Your support and encouragement was so helpful to me this week. One of the mornings, when I really thought I just couldn't get out of bed, I pulled my phone onto my pillow and read through all of your posts. I really felt all of those hugs, was fortified and hauled myself up.
Soccermom, I am SOOOO grateful for the tip about the Clotrimazole troches. After adding those in to the mix, I finally turned the corner and my mouth is now a tiny bit better-- so I know I am headed in the right direction.
Kathryn, I love your new pix. I have to tell you that after my preop, I was headed back to my hotel,and decided that I would go straight to dinner instead. It was about to rain, was getting dark, and I was on my own-- my husband was arriving the next day. So, I went to GWFins, asked for a corner table and told myself that the big blue ellipses peaking up over my tank top, one saying( very clearly) "BIGGER" , the other "FAT" would pass as some very odd tattoos! Would loved to have been sitting there at dinner with you. We would have been quite a pair!
Besa and Minnesota, thanks for the nipple advice. "She" did pop back up today( how weird). I guess she's giving me a second chance to treat her better, so I am back in the nipple guards. I hate re-using them day after day-- it seems like re-using a wound dressing , or something, so I was looking online at the company who makes them, thinking I would buy some more. On their site (Asteame Medical Devices) they actually report a study from the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery. I don't know anything about this journal, but the authors supposedly have no reported interests in the company. They were looking at nipple projection and the subjects wore the guards for 6 weeks in the study ( and BTW, changed them every 24 hours...). The outcomes were favorable compared to no guards. Did not compare to shorter time frame, and ultimately only looked at 6 month outcomes. But interesting to me that there are actually studies on this! I will look further. My guess is that there is not a difference in ultimate outcome with the 3 week( Dr. S) or 4 week(Dr. D) recommendations, but now I'm feeling a little superstitious and reluctant to take them off.
Dana, lovely article. Brave and generous of you.
Best wishes to all recovering this weekend, and thoughts with those preparing for next week.
My agenda this weekend is to have no agenda!0 -
They're using Asteame guards now? Those are very new. Also expensive. They are supposed to be changed every 24 hours (per the product instructions). Interesting. I hope Dr. M brings some of those back to Chicago for me! I wanted to try them last time but the cost is prohibitive for an individual. (almost $800 for 2 months' worth!)
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Dana - what a great article. So well written!0
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Dana... Loved your article...
Jerusha... pamper yourself and feel better... you are almost done!!!
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I'm 2 days post stage 2 and just coming out of the fog! I didn't get drains this time which was great but I miss the on-q pain balls what a difference they make! I stayed an extra night at SCSH but feel ready to be discharged now. Just waiting on my blood count. My fingers are crossed that it's still good!
Dana - You wrote a fabulous article. I'm sure that it will help many young women who ar BRCA +.
Laura - I hope that you're feeling better today.
Kathryn - I'm leaving on the 25th so I'll miss you.
The New Orleans weather is just beautiful right now so I hope that all you ladies coming up have some time to enjoy it!
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Toomuch -So very nice to hear the surgery went well and you expect to be traveling home soon. Yeah! Rest up and pamper yourself.
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Jerusha, LOL! "We would have been quite a pair! " In fact, we would have been two pairs! Glad all of us could lend you some support. That's what we're here for.
Toomuch, sorry we'll miss each other. Glad all went well.
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I forgot to mention that I went to a new GYN the other day. She did a breast exam (not sure if that is even necessary anymore - is it?) and when I told her I did my reconstruction in New Orleans - she's the first doctor that did not say "why did you go there?" Maybe it's because she saw my breasts before I told her about the surgery. Anyway, what she wanted to know was - which one was the new one? I love that she thought that one was the original and the other was made to match. That's how good they look. When I showed her the scars underneath both breasts she was in awe. I definitely have to get a stack of NOLA cards when I'm in town next week and hand them out to my LA doctors!
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Very good to hear Kathryn... i see my gyn on Tuesday (of course I am pre-stage II)... curious on his thoughts... My MO has been kind of snarky about the whole NOLA thing, but did compliment the work (so far) on my breasts.. seemed sort of surprised AND THEY AREN'T DONE YET..mine actually need quite a bit of work. I think had I not had a complication and had a do-over on the right, they would be almost identical at this point... I fear I have a stage 2B in my future, but we'll see what Dr D can do in November.
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Sent my pics to Dr S and he has agreed to do some tweaking -- adding some fill and removing some excess skin to firm up my left foob. (I opted to remain small so there is actually isn't very much needed) I'm hoping to get tats while I'm there. Also got the insurance info and am ready to make my appt for my 2B. I'm wondering, because I'm having so little done, if it's absolutely necessar to have someone accompany me. Has anyone gotten permission to come alone? I plan to travel extremely light and use a rolling bag so I won't have to worry about the 10 lb restriction. Of course, I'll ask the Center when I make my appointment but just wondered if anyone has done a solo.
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Kathryn and Betsy, good to hear. Betsy, I had compliments after my stage 1 even. After stage 2 I had docs calling others in from the hallway to see. One famale doc said, "we're all at risk. I'm writing this down".
Daze, I bet you would be fine, but I bet they'll insist on a traveling companion. Let us know what you find out!
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Hi everyone-
Just checking in 9+ weeks out. I posted some new pics on TimTam's site.
It's hard to believe my next surgery is only 4 weeks away, but I'm SO looking forward to being done! I started having myofascial (+ lymphatic) massage for my glued-down tummy, it's helping a lot. I won't be cleared to do my regular exercise (rowing & pilates) until about a month after my stage 2, but I think once I can exercise my upper body regularly the stickiness will get much better.
I hope everyone's healing well. Good luck to all the stage 2's coming up.
-Brenda
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