NOLA in September?
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Maggie - I was so glad that she was on the spot to care for you. What happened with the US on Monday? I seem to have lost some time for some reason
. When I saw her for pre-op on Friday morning, I told her I was worried about you and Brenda (HarmonySun). Any news? So glad we have such a wonderful doc to share.0 -
The us showed no seroma....two docs looked at it and both wanted to know why I still had a drain after so many weeks. They had never seen a "sharkbite" before and were full of questions.. was happy to educate them about the procedures
Maggie0 -
doc just said the drain can come out!!...I am so excited....waiting on my husband to get home and do it as I am way too chicken to do it for myself...I may pass out or something!
Maggie
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Yay, Maggie! Put on something cute tonight!
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Happy day!
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Alleluia!
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Had my post op with Dr. T and all is well! Went for a walk to the quarter and had an awesome lunch at Dominica and had beignets at Cafe Beignet while listening to love music. We had a great time and it was nice to get out and walk. Hope everyone is well!
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Melanie you sound great. Leaving for CA soon? A good day for you and Maggie!
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Live music not love music! But it's all good! Again, I can't say enough about the care I received here. Dr. Sullivan came and saw me 2 times post op and then he left out of town today, so I got to meet Dr. Trahan for postoperative appt. I hadn't met in before the surgery. I can't even remember falling to sleep before the surgery! When I woke up in the hospital I kept thinking I hadn't had the surgery yet and that I better eat because I can't eat or drink after midnight! It was weird!
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We go home tomorrow
yay!!! It went so fast!0 -
Yay Melanie. You sound great! I like "love" music. Lol! Have a safe trip home. Use that wheelchair at the airport.
Maggie- I am doing the FREEDOM dance. You will feel like a new woman! So happy for you.
Healing thoughts to those in NOLA who just had surgery in the last two days and those in tomorrow! Let us hear from you soon.0 -
Hi ladies! I have been following this thread for a while but haven't posted here yet. In fact, I haven't posted for a while. In short, had my BMX just over one year ago, thx to radiation on rt side the skin wouldn't stretch enough. and by Aug had a lat flap. all went ok until Dec when suddenly the incision on left, non radiated side opened up. He stitched 2 different times and after a few weeks wouldn't close. The implant and expander came out just before Christmas. I was devastated. My PS gave me hope about NOLA but wanted to wait three months before we did anything. Had my appt last week and filed with insurance and just found out it was denied since they are out of network. Crushed! But I am thinking maybe they all get denied initially, and will only reconsider during appeal. (?) I would like to hear about the initial process and any tips on appealing the denial. They don't want to make it easy do they! I thought about sending a picture. What a sight I am! Since I still have the flap, I have this little mutant boob, which is just a piece of my back, on one side. Didn't look as weird with the expander in. I have been lucky in finding my cancer early, (Been diagnosed with thyroid C too) and have been spared chemo, but the surgeries and complications have been awful over the past 4 1/2 years. Thankful to be able to reach out to all of u who have been there! This is a scary process.
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Welcome lea321 ...when I first looked into coming to Nola my out of locket was staggering. Talk with them...fill out the financial form and see what happens. Sorry you have been through so much already and I hope you can get it worked out.
I am drain free.....instant relief....now I am waiting for theinevitable seroma dr m says comes with gap. Any suggestions to belp reduce chance? I am compressed with washclothes on the sharkbite.
Maggie0 -
Lea, don't give up. Appeal and keep trying. I wonder if you called the Center, if they can help you? Fill out the financial forms too, as Mags says. They have worked with many women here. I am so sorry all that happened to you.
you deserve to be restored!Mags, nothing nothing nothing like the feeling of being drain free! I still remember the elation and joy, the easy showers, the unencumbered dressing, movement! Enjoy!
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Lea... The Center and docs are out of network for most people, but there are so many variations on the insurance. I have great insuracne and didn't have to deal with the financial forms, but as everyone said, fill out the forms, call them and see what agreement you can come to.
So I will be seeing Dr D on July 8 for an appointment to discuss my upcoming surgery - due to my problems last week... He is unsure if he wants to do lipo on me, and perhaps there is no need... I am going down for fun with friends, but will stop in for a meeting and pictures. Crazy weekend there (July 3-9) as its the Essence Festival and 4th of July. It was really hard to get flights and hotel, but missions accomplished.
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Lea, welcome! Call the center and let them work with your insurance company. Dr. Massey's office did this for me and I am forever grateful. They were out of network for me too! I settled on an amount with the Center. Don't give up! You deserve this.
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the drain is gone and with it probably more than 80% of the pain....it must have been sitting on a nerve! I could feel it down in the bottom of the cheek when he pulled it. Happiness abounds and a glass of wine is in my hand
Maggie
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So glad for you!
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I just had my stage 2. I had a seroma on each side of my shark bite and at first had serial aspirirations - about 6-7 of them. A local PS did the aspirations and was not a fan of Microsurgeries at all so always a negative comment about always being deformed (shark bites). The seromas were finally just left alone - Dr said they would eventually just be absorbed byy own body (they were on their way to that) or be addressed in stage 2. They were so completely addressed that I came away from stage 2 with a butt lift and no room to even need/put a drain! Major SGAP donor site revision, NO DRAINS and some flap revision. I have a stage 2 in July with fat grafting to plump out butt and breasts - but nasty seromas are gone! I got fed up with the weekly seroma aspiration and negative comments so after I drove back to see my Microsurgereon and he assured me that it would be okay to stop getting aspirated I stopped in August and just had my stage 2 in April.
Short answer though- IF you get one, aspiration MIGHT help, but the more I did, the bigger it got. I did the compression 24/7 until January and my PAP flap, then just stopped - noticed compression felt better but hard to do with PAP.
They sound scarier than they are. Compared with all the stuff we go through just another hurdle that our Drs take care of very well.
Hoping you don't get one, but know its not the worst thing either. I did the washcloth folded over and stuffed into the compression over the seroma site as well as a towel at times. Mostly spending lots of down time (when I was watching tv with DH) laying on the love seat flat on the washcloth pushing the seroma site even more). Over blouses hid the bulge.
Hope that helps?
Take care0 -
Melanie! Woo Hoo we made it to the other side just great! So happy for you, I was thinking of you every day! Woo double hoo- safe trip home to CA!
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Rainy day in New Orleans. Great day to lay around and have a Stage 2 surgery. On our way to SCSH. See you on the other side!
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Congrats Mags on the glass of wine... (oh... and the drain removal too).. hee hee... It must feel like ecstasy!
Good luck 4my4babies with your surgery today... please keep us posted...
Melanie... it is so funny that you don't remember going to sleep for the surgery... that sounds like you had a very comfortable anxiety free experience...... I so wish for that.
I'm having so much trouble wrapping my mind around where do "I" go during this 6+ hour surgery..... This time goes by and my husband will probably sit and suffer and worry... but what happens to me? As you can see I've never really had an extended surgery before... so trying to reconcile that in my head. It's weird.
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4my4babies-You will do great! We are all thinking of you.
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Motherandchild5, they will keep your husband posted on your surgery every step of the way. My surgery was 8 hrs long and my aunt was given updates about every hour to hour and a half. Brett was the male surgical nurse that called her. My aunt was really impressed with him. She had said she had been in hospitals before waiting on someone in surgery and it would take hours to find out anything.
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Judy....That's good to hear... Is it weird for you to think about what "you" did for 8 hours? Where your consciousness disappeared to? I wonder if I'm gonna go have coffee with my deceased father...... or what...
Your sugery was 8 hours? Crap. I really thought we were talking about 5-6 for Stage 1 DIEP.
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To me 8 hrs just flew by. I remember going to surgery but after that I was waking up in recovery and my weird thought was when I woke up was that we left a coke in the fridge at the hotel we had checked out of that morning..lol. I was expecting a longer surgery. I had already had a mx on my right side and opted to have a prophylactic mx on the left and I had Diep on both and also had my port taken out which Dr. Stolier just took it out when he did the skin sparring mx on the left.
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with all 3 surgeries I do not remember anythng from the the preop to post op wake up. The weirdest thing indeed.
well....the fluid is starting to collect a bit back there. jiggly jiggly. I am compressed and have shoved wash clothes all over to make it ever more compressed...laying low today...hope it helps
Maggie
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Dr M told me that the breast drains could be pulled. Just waiting to see if she wants to do it or if I should have DH. Hips are gonna take a a few more days. Bet some of the bruising will go with the drains. Progress!
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So I have my appt with Dr D for July 8 at 9am...
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About not remembering-- there were some posts about this on this thread a while ago. You are usually given the drug Versed (midazolam). It is put into your I.V. just before your are moved into the O.R. Versed relaxes you. It is a benzodiazepine antianxiety med, but it also causes amnesia in about 50% of people who get it. You are awake but don't remember- or remember very little.The general anesthesia drugs also cause amnesia for a while after you are out of the O.R. so even though you are awake in post op you may have few or no memories of it. My understanding is that when your memory starts recording you preceive it as "waking up" in post op but usually you have actually be up for a while. I personally don't like the memory loss that Versed causes and I always ask not to be given the drug preop so I remember being in the O.R. and being put to "sleep"
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