NOLA in September?
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bdavis- Happy Birthday!
kbodie- Thank you for the tips on using the pink pockets. My first try was not successful. (c: My stage two is in March. At one month out are you feeling pretty much back to normal? Drains and compression gone? I'm six weeks out from stage one still draining, compressing but energy increasing.
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Adey- for stage 2 GAP you'll probably be wearing compression longer--as long as you can stand it, really--but your drains will come out sooner. I think I had one in for 2 weeks and the other for 4 weeks. Wore compression for 8 weeks.
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Thanks jeskachi!
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Healing vibes to all in surgery and recovering!
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Adey... After my stage I GAP I was in compression for 9 weeks and had drains for 8 weeks, so didn't really feel normal until all of that was gone... but by a week or so after all that, I felt good... At stage II, I had 2 drains for 1 week and lost the others before I left NOLA... and wore compression for 6 weeks, for optimal results.
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Thanks Bets! My drains will be in for 8 weeks too. Unless they go down a lot. I have 1/31 marked on my calendar and can't wait! The compression doesn't bother me though. Actually the drains don't either, they are just cumbersome. You know?
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Happy Birthday Betsy!! Hope you have a fabulous day!!!
How many drains do you have in the hips after stage 1 and stage 2? Just curious. I was thinking it was one on each side, but from the sound of things it's more than that.
I actually booked flights today too. I booked my son's flight to Florida. He will be there for 2 weeks (with my step-mom) while my husband and I are in NOLA and I booked my one way flight back from NOLA. My step-mom, who was the one to push me to get tested, told me last night to book the flight and she would pay for it. I told her I was waiting for a sale and she said NO, to buy it and get it done and put that part behind me. She may have just saved my life by pushing me to get tested & I am truly grateful to her!! I am so lucky to have her in my life!!
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chellehump... it is one per hip... but there are breast drains too... And you do have an escort to fly home with, right? Cause you need that.
And thanks everyone for the birthday wishes... much better than last year. Been tot eh gym, off to lunch with a friend and then dinner with the family.
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Betsy, that sounds like a great day!! Have a wonderful time with your friends and family!!
Oh ok, so one drain per hip and then one drain per breast I'm guessing too. I looked up the pink pockets and that looks like a great idea.
Yes, my friend who I am staying with after I get out of the hospital is going to fly back with me. My husband will drive back the day before and be there when I get home.It's nice to have the flights booked and behind me, but it does make things even more real.
Hugs to all of you!! You have been a tremendous help to me!!
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Adey, I wouldn't say quite normal. Sore, stiff, tired at night. But drains and compression are gone and mentally, I feel more in the game and my results are looking so good that it makes me feel better physically than I probably am. When I sit back in the car or on a resistance machine, my butt still hurts, he lipo-ed like crazy there. Hope it keeps shrinking. Just clipped a couple more sutures last night.
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I am very grateful for everyone on this thread. It helps so much before, during and after. Best wishes and big hugs to all.
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Betsy,
Happy, Happy Birthday! What a fun way to celebrate!
KBodie, Thank you for your comments. I am very encouraged by this and delighted I will finally have Happy Nipples!
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Hi Ladies,
I am here in NOLA--where did that balmy weather go--it's like 50 degrees! Karen, I have pre-op today and Spring, I have stage 1 DIEP for flap relacement (or is it a "revision"?) early Thur. I will look for you when I go over. If not today, we will see each other in recovery--good luck! Where are you staying?
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KBodie,
I just went on Pink Pockets website. Did you need the small or the large pockets?
Thanks,
Caitlin
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Caitlin - You are getting DIEP not GAP right? If so, you may not need any "pockets". For DIEP you have the drains for a lot shorter time than you do for hips. In fact - mine were taken out before I left NOLA! I think I am the exception but you may not have them for long. You may want to hold off getting the pockets until you know for sure you need them. The Center does set you up quite well and if you only have them a few weeks you could be just fine with the supplies that they give you. Just a thought.0
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Caitlin.. I agree with Laura.. My DIEP drains were in two weeks and my hip drains were in 8.5 weeks... Of the two weeks, I was in NOLA for most of that time, so I wouldn't bother for such a short time frame.
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Hi Ladies,
Yes, I will be having DIEP. :-) Good to know. I need to save all my pennies for NOLA.
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Caitlin, I had the small pack (3 pairs). I had one shirt with two pockets on it that I wore in NOLA but had all but one drained before I went home and then for another week or so, had two tank tops with one pocket for my one drain. It was well hidden during airport security so no one ever saw it. But in all, it was a short time. I had won the pack at a FORCE conference so thought I should try them out and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked them. I wore wraps and stuff over the tank and I'd pull back the wrap and show people my drain and they'd be all shocked. But having not had luck with them at stage two, I could see how you could go either way and be fine.
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Three weeks from today. I HATE waiting. And yet I dread the end of the wait too. Here are two more limericks:
My breasts are like two little pets
Who feel no ominous threats
They're happy and free
Obliviously
But just wait for that trip to the vet's!This waiting game is just the worst
I fret and I feel like I'm cursed
I can't do a thing
I'm wound up like a spring
One more thing and I know I will burst!I sent the cartoon to Liz at NOLA and she loved it.
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Happy Birthday Betsy!
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Doesn't cure anything but helps you know you are not alone...those last few weeks are torture. Inability to focus, consumed by thoughts only of the surgery and it's aftermath. I lived on the boards, anxiously checking them every 10 minutes. It's worse than the surgery, in my opinion. I was a wreck the night before, not from doubts, but from the build up of so much anticipation, I thought I might explode. Well, I did actually. Into tears, for the first time into all this. If they could have just sedated me and wheeled me away, I would have been much better.
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CHELLE--I got my breast drains out before I left NOLA (thankfully...though I didn't think I was going to!) You also have two hip drains. However, if you wear the little purse on one side (on top of your shirt) the tube from the drain from the opposite hip can reach to go into the little purse. You don't need maternaty shirts...but loose shirts at the bottom are fine, and then it can cover the 1 inch or so of tube that might peek through the bottom of your shirt.
ALSO--I have a couple of questions for those of you past Stage 1:
1) My surgery (hip flaps) was exactly 2 weeks ago today. (And thankfully I just got my mastectomy results and they are negative! Yey!) Anyway, I started to feel a harder lump on the outside of my breast nearer towards the armpit. The nurse says it's too early for necrosis. Has anyone else had this?
2) My breasts feel very warm/hot to me...has anyone else experienced this? I don't feel hot elsewhere or think I have a fever.
3) At what point can you start to lift things?
4) Is there a way to do a search for a key word(s) on this string?
Many thanks!!!
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Caitlin: I had DIEP and I did not go home with drains. I had Dr. S and had a one week post op appointment and 4 drains were taken out. But, I found it very difficult to walk because of the large incision across the lower abdomen. I asked for a wheelchair at the airport and it made things very easy as far as getting through security and relaxing (fear of others bumping into me or tripping, etc.) as I wanted to protect my flap.
DJ: I had some small hard outside lumps toward the armpit but I didn't really feel that was necrosis. During Stage 2, you may want to address it with your Dr. if it doesn't go away. I forgot to address it with my Dr. during Stage 2 because I did have necrosis in the chest area that he took out and refilled with fat from lipo. I'm praying that it will work this time around.
My breasts were warm/hot around the incisions, it got better over time. 2 weeks is not very long. I really started feeling like myself around 8 weeks post op; that I felt comfortable going back to aerobics. I did a cardio weight class and could not lift heavy on my reconstructed side as it felt sore so I used 5 lbs throughout the workout. I did not get up to my true weight lifting before Stage 2.
But, if you are talking about just general lifting, the guidelines that the Center give you is that you should not lift more than 10 lbs for 6 weeks. My assumption is that I will not be in the shape I was in before surgery until I am a year out. I was working out 5 days a week for about 2 1/2 hours a day doing hard core cardio, weight lifting, and swimming/surfing.
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Happy Birthday Betsy!
Thinking of you, Need2New! Good luck tomorrow!0 -
DJ...I had Hip flaps in July and could walk about doing things light right away, but I got very fatiqued... the fatique can take a while to pass... I may not be the best barometer as I also had a DIEP flap in August which set my recovery clock to the beginning... But even with all of that, I was feeling pretty normal at 9 weeks post Hip flap/ BMX... and truly normal at 11 weeks. It is indeed a process.. The good thing is that when it was time for stage II I knew that I would be "normal" again having just gone through the first part of the recovery. There is definitely peace in that knowledge. At that 11 week post BMX/hip flap mark, I was walking in teh NYC Avon Walk... and felt great. I did choose to wait until after stage II to get back to weight lifting etc, which I started about one month after stage II, maybe 6 weeks.
Also, I am 6 months post stage I and 2 months post stage II and I have firmness still in my "hip" breast.. Dr D says it is swelling... which can take MONTHS to pass.
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Betsy, I have determined that you rock and are my hero! I love hearing your stories and am so proud of how far you have come! Hugsto you!!
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Wow Michelle.. thanks-
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So.. tomorrow is Karen (need2new) and VictoriaB (she was a recent addition)... So good luck ladies!!!
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Thanks Spring, for the tattooing wishes! I returned home from Atlanta very late last night and today was all about catching up on 10 days of emails that I couldn't do by phone on the trip.
Hey ladies! I am back and quickly tried to catch up on everyone!
Vinnie wasn't sure he could do much with my two different-colored tattoos done last January. He said the color that was laid down is permanent, and only fades if exposed to sunlight. We joked about sunbathing with one side nude, but then he got down to business and very carefully mixed colors for me and applied a tiny amount to one breast. My daughter agreed with me that it was a good color for me, and so Vinnie proceeded with correcting the hot pink side, and making the other one a deep enough shade to match it. Vinnie said that the correction may require a second tattooing on one side later on, but I have to tell you that I see no difference in the color now, and it's been over a week. The tattoos are just starting to peel. The previous ones were pretty much one solid color, with pigment missing right around the base of the nipples. Vinnie actually made that area darker (to make the nipples more visually distinguished from the areola tattooing), and offered to do Montgomery's glands. I asked for those to be rather subtle and have not been able to actually see them yet. I'm a little bit worried because yesterday was the first day I didn't wear the telfa pads he gave me (okay per instructions) and I did quite a bit of physical work packing up after the trade show we did in Atlanta all week. The right side is the one that has started to peel first and that would be the side I would have damaged by doing too much, if I did. I guess I'll know in a week. Like Nordy, I always tend to do too much after surgeries/procedures. Last year, Dr. D revised my belly button scar and ten days later, I was doing heavy lifting when we moved our business. I totally ruined his work because I was using my belly to help carry boxes to and from my car. The fine little line he created widened out and all I can do when I see it is just say "oh well, I am DONE!".
Anyway, for those of you with tattooing in your future, Vinnie does amazing work. I think I'll soon be saying that Vinnie is to areola/nipple tattoos what Drs. D and S are to breast reconstruction. It takes a lot of skill and patience to fix up work done by someone else, and I am so glad that Vinnie is willing and able to travel to NOLA for a week every month. He is very professional in dress and manner, yet also very personable and motivated to please.
My first NOLA nurse, Penny, was at the Center that day and I got to give her a big hug. She's starting another round of treatments for ovarian cancer and will be off work for several weeks. I am thankful that my visit fell on a day she was there.
After my appointment, Alaina and I had lunch with my daughter at Zea. Alaina lives in LA and Zea is her favorite too! Then we headed over to the Riverside Hilton and she helped us do a bridal show there. Katie and her mom attended and it was fun to see them both so excited about the wedding. Alaina had a scan last week and things are again looking better. She's a walking miracle and says she feels better now than she did before she became so sick in November--she is working part-time and wants to go back to full-time if her company will allow it.
I arrived in Atlanta last Thursday and received word that my cousin's daughter had unexpectedly passed away that morning, leaving her husband and two little daughters behind. I missed the memorial service Monday...and just can't believe this happened. It feels really strange to see condolences on facebook...I guess many people do that now rather than sending cards or calling/visiting, but I cannot bring myself to post anything.
Best wishes to you, Karen and VictoriaB!! Please keep up the prayers for Penny and Alaina--they both have much faith and need support from every direction.
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Sandy- thank you for the update on Alaina! I am so glad to hear she is feeling better. Hurray! Also glad to hear your tats went well and are still looking good!
Need2new & Victoria - i hope all is going well today. Sending positive vibes across the miles.
Well, they all think I am crazy... Yep. All of my lymphedema therapists think I am absolutely bonkers to even consider any kind of surgery. However, they are not the ones living with it... In the end, I will do what I always do... Research like mad, talk to patients that have had this done, mull it over, say lots of prayers & then dive in. Oh yes, and fight insurance as necessary. Very stressful & draining process indeed. Speaking of which, Sandy, do you have the contact info on the police officer that you said had this done? Just need more affirmations with all of the negative feedback I am getting from the lymphedema therapists. Thank you!0
