NOLA in September?
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Oh, I am talking about the breast, not the donor site
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Hi all. I am hanging well. Great caregivers all around. I got out of bed to eat breakfast and the pain is very different from lying in bed. Surgery was 11 hours amd things are good so far. Can't complain at all. Thrilled the implants are gone and loving the new ones. I completely umderstand gentle hugs now. Thanks for the support ladies. Much appreciated.
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Anita! Hurray!!
Ralston- is your surgery at UW?
Cascader - hang in there! Everyone is different and it is still really early!0 -
Cascader - I know how you feel. I had Bilar S-GAP but ther was a significant difference between my radiated and not radiated side after St 1. Dr. S worked his magic at St 2 and I'm much more symmetric. They're still not perfect and I've been thinking about sending pictures and am considering a 2B. Still I'm thrilled with my warm, squishy breasts! My husband keeps telling me it's normal not to have a perfectly matched pair! One of the nicest things about the docs at the center is that they'll work with you until your happy! Give it time.
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harmonysun and janelleg-Fairway is located in St. Tammany Parish and is VERY different from New Orleans, very quite and lots of trees (I live near by). Harmonysun-you will be going over the Causeway Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain nothing to see for 24 miles except water, and the occasional seagull and pelican. I wish both of you ladies good luck (you have the best doctors though).
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JenLee, Jesskatchi and Betsy - Thank you so much! About spanx/bike shorts/assets/marena...I don't know if Marena is recommended after stage I. Do you know? They suggested "compression panties to support your abdomen with light, even pressure". About bra/camis...They said "do not wear a bra for 3 weeks after your operation, wear a surgical camisole for breast support"... I feel trap when I wear surgical camisoles!!! I have Amoena cami 2105, but I don't like it. I also have some wiresless bras, but what do you mean "wireless padded" bras?
Nordy - Yes, I am having my surgery at UW.
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Marena is just another brand of post-surgical compression garment. There's a reason the center doesn't supply them but I'm not sure what the reason is--I don't think it's because they don't think they work, has something to do with official certification, maybe? But they are effective, and very comfortable. I wore them after 2 stage 1's and 4 stage 2's (yikes).
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Hi all - WOW! Things are just moving right along! SO glad to hear about all the recent girls and good recoveries! The one day at a time philosophy is spot on. I am four weeks out today - yay! I'm feeling good; still have that weird sensitivity/burning sensation in my breasts but I'm adjusting and I know it's just the nerves doing their thang.
Today is the first day that I haven't taken pain pills (granted, it was just tylenol these last couple of weeks) and I'm feeling good. I'm standing up straight and certainly have that tight sensation in my abdomen, but I think it's incrementily getting better. I did want to to ask about the abdominal "bloating" phenomenon that I remember folks talking about many pages ago... my belly, between my incision line and my new belly button does seem... big. Sort of barrel-shaped and bloated. That's really the only way I can describe it. It's not red or painful, not fluid-filled... just bloated. Betsy and others who experienced this - can you give me some perspective or info on the collective wisdom of this particular side effect from surgery? I think it's normal, yes? (I did write Jeanine and she said it's normal... but I just need/want more info about whether I can expect it to change - or what I can do to help it along from you girls!)
Secondly, the glue on my abdomen is gone and I know I can begin scar treatment now. Jeanine said that I can do either the tape or the ointment they gave us - that it's up to me. (I was under the impression that you do tape first, and then the ointment.) Any best practices ladies? Did one work better than the other? I think they are for different purposes, no? (Eliminating raised scars vs. fading the scars.)
Thanks so much!!
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Jen.. i didn't use any scar tape or ointment until after stage II since they were reopening all scars. If you think that isn't happening to you at stage II, then its ok to use the scar treatment... I used the tape first until that ran out and then used the kelo-cote... just don't use them at the same time... and I later learned to leave the tape on until it comes off.. I was taking it off daily... I think that is wrong.
And about bloat. Mine was more scar to boob bloat. My belly just looks distended. I have never had any bloat below the incision and not specifically between the incision and the belly button. Mine was always and continues to be incision to boob. No insight. I have been told to be patient.
Ralston... all the NOLA docs use the surgical bra, not cami's, so I can't comment on the cami. I never wore one. But perhaps ask your doctor about the surgical bra. It does not really compress you at all, so I am not sure that it is a compression bra. Just a surgical bra. And what I mean by padded bra, is when I went to Target to find a 42D bra without underwire, that is a huge obstacle... just imagine... but the ones I did find were these padded bras (they hold their own shape). I will have to look at the label and see what brand they are. I only bought two, and wore them again after stage II and nipple reconstruction as they put zero pressure on the nipple. I could even wear the nipple guard under them, and it was fine.
And as Jeskachi said, Marena is just a brand name... I think it is better than Spanx or Assets, gives uniform compression better than the other brands... The think about all of these garments is that you need to be drainless to wear them comfortably, as they are pulled up. You would want to pull up a girdle while wearing drains IMO. So for my stage I, since I had drains forever, I jusy wore the girdle the doctor gave me that had zippers. I survived, but the marena is better, much.
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Hi Ladies,
Gosh, I haven't been on the thread in nearly a month. I had to skip ahead as I had 25 pages to read!
I just wanted to give you a little update. I am on my 5th treatment of Taxol/Herceptin. It is MUCH easier than the AC! I am experiencing some neuropathy in my left hand, but it's not terrible. My hair is starting to come in a little. I have peach fuzz, but who doesn't love a little peach fuzz?!
Unfortunately, I will not be able to have Stage 2 until 4 months after radiation which will be sometime in 2013. I am pretty disappointed, but it does give me some time to recover and Ann told me that some PS make you wait a year after rads to perform surgery.
My spirits are pretty good, but I do have days when I am scared and think of the possibilities of the cancer coming back, but I am mostly positive. We had a speaker a few weeks ago for a work function and she went over the Law of Attraction: Ask. Believe. Receive. That has really helped me.
I hope you are all doing great and I promise to be more "present" on this forum....I've missed you guys!
((((HUGS))))
Caitlin
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I love that Caitlin: Ask, believe, receive. Thanks for sharing.
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So glad to hear from you, Caitlin!
Jen, Marcia referred to that area as a "Barbie belly" -you may get it after DIEP. I have it but it is not so noticeable since my skin has finally stretched enough to create a more natural concavity in my torso. It is why my waist measurement remains the same as pre surgery. I thought my waist would get smaller/appear smaller since some fat was "harvested" (sounds like hunting/gathering and cracks me up!) but no. Betcha yours will improve; keep walking! Peace, Tam
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Caitlin -- good to see you back on here. Keep a watch on that Taxol neuropathy. I still have it 9 months PFC, but it is as mild as it was the first week after Taxol--the same all year, but MO says it may go away at about a year. She had me on Neurotin, but a neurologist I saw later said it won't do any good, and took me off of it. She has me on alpha-lipoic acid capsules and extra vitamin B6 for neuropathy too, but I doubt they made any difference.
About my update near top of p 600: After PET scan was denied again (to check liver lesion seen on CT scan) my MO has decided to wait and do an MRI about a month after my mid-July DIEP surgery -- because my TE will be out then. She does think it is something benign like a hemangioma. Nordy, you suggested abdominal ultrasound, but it didn't come up, passing info through MO's nurse. Thanks for sharing your experience about EKG last-minute scare. I'll be seeing a cardiologist this Friday, hoping it was just a fluke. I remembered later that the EKG tech had trouble making one lead stick, asked me if I had lotion on (I didn't), cleaned that spot with an alcohol swab, and it still didn't stick well. I'm hoping it just wasn't a good transmission (whatever they call it)!
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I have heard of EKG issues for a few people, and in the end did not affect the DIEP surgery.
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Thanks, Betsy. I'm reading that too -- that others have false alarms, or something minor on the EKG that allows them to continue with surgery. I hope it's nothing, and certainly don't want to end up on a heart med either. I vote for normal - ha.
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Me too.
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Ch968 - I added your July 25th date above in our listing. Welcome to the club!
LAStar - thanks for passing on our love To Glenn. He is such a sweetie. I can't imagine losing a child. What a loss. Her name was Belinda. She was their only child too.
HarmonySun, And KatieJane, and JannelleG: Trust! It will be okay! You are in the best of hands. The best place in the world! You will be restored! They are experts and know exactly what to do...
Cascader, Stage 1 is one thing, and Stage 2 is another…Stage 1 is just moving things around. Stage 2 is getting everything perfect. No worries. I was pretty horrified after stage 1, my body as a whole looked ravaged. It all worked out in the end…
Willy, good to hear from you! One day at a time! You're on the other side now…
Marina garments rock! The one I used is above in the listing info.
CaitlinB, So nice to hear from you! I knew the Taxol would be easier... for neuropothy, look into L-Glutamin - read about it online. IT WORKED FOR ME!! Totally worked. I stopped, the neuropathy started again. So I kept on it for a while. Next I stopped it was fine. My ONC's office said there was no scientific evidence it worked. BUT IT WORKED FOR ME and many others. It's a powder you can get at GNC, I think I mixed 1 TBSP in juice 3x a day. Took a few days to kick in. then, Relief!
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Spring, is that you in your new Avatar? You look younger without your horse companion. Lovely
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AnnAlive, several weeks before surgery, I had a little something on my EKG that was maybe a big something. Someone from the cardiologist's office called late Friday afternoon on the weekend of Mother's Day, saying I needed additional testing. But they couldn't tell me what they were trying to rule out and the doctor was gone for the day. Completely ruined my weekend and most of the following week. Long story short, turned out to be a nothing. Cardiologist wrote a letter that I wasn't a risk for surgery. Sending you positive thoughts!
The marena garments sound great and I'll surely get them for stage II. I read the marena site and in addition to being comfortable, having highest rated compression, are also rated as the coolest and antimicrobial.... Didn't want to mislead anyone that spanx or assets are as good. But my surgeon recommends compression garment for just one week after final drain is removed (for DIEP only, can be girdle or binder). They said that each surgeon has different recommendations, but the outcomes don't particularly differ. And despite the fact that the girdles i had were huge and huger (I was swollen up like a blimp when I left the hospital), they were still freaking me out, and wouldn't have accomplished much being so large. So Dr. S's nurse, whose name I now forget, said it was ok to wear the Spanx. I told her I was wearing both that and the abdominal binder and she suggested that was overkill, but IMO, better too much than too little.
I have a little swelling below my DIEP scar. Like a little belly, wasn't there before. But at only three weeks, I'm not going to permit myself to start worrying. Not much, anyway.
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AnnAlive, yes that is me, but I am going to change it again! hehehe. Time to remove Chester the draft horse from Biltmore Villiage...
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Springtime, I thought that was your horse
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JenLee, I wish it was my horse!
I do have a cat and a dog and a husband and two daughters. But alas, no Draft Horse! 0 -
Spring -- Ah, I see you did change it again this evening. I'm thinking of doing the same soon. My current avatar is the day before chemo started last year--I was bald 2+ weeks later. I have fuzzy post-treatment short hair now, about 2" long, and just abandoned the wig a couple of weeks ago.You look like you have some natural curl in this picture, but wasn't it straight in the horse picture?
Jenlee -- Good to hear another false alarm EKG story. What exactly is clearance for surgery? I keep hearing that -- does a doctor put this in writing and it goes to the surgeon? Do I have to see that the Center gets it? They haven't mentioned it, but my MO did. It must have happened without my knowledge when I had BMX locally, because my docs are all in the same clinic network.
I will have Dr. S for DIEP. Did someone say he doesn't have his patients use compression garments? I'm trying to take in what to expect.
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thanks ms trouble and spring....here i am at hope lodge tonight....to go for my consult with dr massey and then to tauro hosp for scan and then to over the bridge to covington for preop and then finally to the hotel....what a day...made my train by 5 mins bcuz traffic in chicago was stop and go...actually more stop than go!....here by myself tonight cuz my sister wont get her til tomorrow night...it's going to cost me 130 just to take a cab across the big bridge.....
....i have been super excited....but feeling a lil down and melancholy tonight....wondering if i'm doing the right thing....
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made my train?...wow, must be tired....i meant plane...lol..
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harmonysun, it's natural to worry, but try to get some sleep and your sister will be there to support you tomorrow. maybe you can have a great dinner together. you'll be so glad that you've done this.
Annalive, I had a DIEP and I left the hospital with a binder and girdle. I was discharged on Saturday, so tried the girdle, switched to the binder. When I Dr. Sullivan that Monday, he told me that he doesn't require compression until after all drains are out, and then just for a week. I don't know if that's for all of his flaps, or just DIEP.
As far as clearance, I was getting a lumpectomy a few weeks before going to Nola and that surgery center told me I needed clearance because of the slight irregularity on an Echo & EKG. They were afraid of heart damage from Taxotere. And I wouldn't have wanted to have anesthesia without her giving me the green light anyway. Since i had to send my medical records to Nola and the issues of possible problems were in my record, the clearance would then be important. I don't think I would have had to have had clearance unless there was an issue or I was high risk in some other way.
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Harmonysun, trust that you have made the right decisions along the way & try to rest your mind. The relief of being past your surgery (and pain meds!) will carry you through those first few days. The body is amazing and works hard to heal while we rest.
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Did anyone have any irritation of the vein used for their IV after flying? My forearm became sore & swollen during the flight home. No SNB was done on this side. Jeanine at the Center is suggesting ibuprofen and warm compresses which help for a few hours. Just curious if anyone else experienced this.
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thank you so much jenlee and lastar.....still a lil unsure this morn....off to meet dr massey...:))
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LAstar, I had an irritated IV site after both of my last surgeries flying or not flying. It was the worst part of my TVH/BSO. The gyn onc told me it can take up to 6 months to resolve. Both got better after 4 months. Sorry you have this.
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