Latissimus Dorsi Breast Reconstruction
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Congrats, Warrior Woman, on being drain free!
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Warrior, I second DPiggy! WOOHOO!!
I went back to work at the 4 1/2 week mark and had to leave early a couple of days, I was just drained of energy. Its also taken some time for my back to get comfortable leaning back in the car or a chair and I will be at the 6-month mark on xmas day. This is a journey and everyone heals differently. Take your time ladies, rest up when needed but it will get better.
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i just had my one week post op visit. We pulled one drain and I didn't feel a thing! Very happy with that, I was not looking forward to it burning. All is well and I can sleep in my bed tonight! The recliner was getting old. I was given the clear to start applying Pokysporin to the incision to break down the surgical glue,start working on my ROM and back on the Tamoxifen. Also moving into an underwire
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I about fell off the table when my PS pulled one drain that was at the top of my TE in my VERY thin skin, that DID NOT feel good. Congrats jbokland on a drain being pulled, was it your only drain? Glad you can sleep in your own bed tonight! Why do you have to wear an underwire?
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I still have one drain, the one that tunnels around to the flap. Hopefully we can pull it next week.
They recommend an underwire to support tgr implants and ""keep 'em high
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Sharsalo, I'm glad work has been tolerable. I've got a lot of tightness yet too. I'm going to have a boat load of emails to go through when I get back also! It's good to hear your fill went well too.
I'm not going back to work for another 2 weeks. I was in for my 2nd fill today, and that was the doc's recommendation unless I absolutely had to go back. To be honest, I don't mind taking the time. I'm not sleeping all that well, and there are days when I get up and still hurt quite a bit. I'll do a week at half-time then go back to full time. Two weeks from now puts us at Dec. 24, and I'd already arranged vacation for that day and the 26th. So I'll actually start back on Dec. 29. That will be a good week to do half-time. It's dead in my office then. My fill went fine. It hurt a bit more on the right (non-lat) side this time for some reason, but feels ok now just tight. He gave me 120 cc's on the right and something less than that on the left. My right side is higher than my left. I didn't ask him about that. I hope it can be fixed during the exchange so they both sit at the same height on my chest. I've been cleared for whatever exercise I want to do. I'm going to try swimming tomorrow or Friday. He doesn't really think I need PT if I didn't want to bother since I can raise my arms straight up. But he gave me referral because I'm concerned about the cording under my left arm. He didn't actually call it cording but said it was the lymphatic system. He said it would go away if I just keep stretching it, but I'd like to get the lymphedema therapist to take a look. I just got a referral to her for my foot anyway, so we'll just kill 2 birds with one stone.
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I have been out of town but have been keeping up with all the progress being made! It is so great to be moving toward normalcy ( whatever that means in each life)!!
2 Tabbies, my implants were under the muscle but my skin was so thin and I had a reaction to the Alloderm. The skin really did not have any warmth to it because it was so damaged. The silicone implant was stone cold. The saline had some warmth. The new skin is probably what is feeling so much better.
Ronna, thinking of you! Pray you are doing better and the pain is subsiding.
Thinking of you all!!!
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jlow, interesting about the temperature differences. Thanks for the explanation. I bet you're right on the new skin. From what I understand, radiation reduces the circulation to the skin so that would make it colder than healthy skin.
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Ronna - You're still in my prayers. Be well and comfortable soon.
kfinnigan - I was really hoping by 6 mos. that my back will adjust. It makes sense for this to be a long process given the dramatic reconstruction.
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I posted new photos over on the picture forum. I'd be interested in opinions. One of the TEs (non-lat side) sits a lot higher than the other. I should have asked the PS yesterday if this gets fixed at exchange. Does anybody know?
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2Tabbies, I'll go over to the picture forum, but I wanted you to know many of us had TEs which were not even on our chests. The PS can fix it at exchange.
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2tabbies- no worries! My TE was really up to my collar bone. The implant are in a much better place
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I was told that it is a relatively easy fix to get the final implants where they should be. One of my TEs is a bit higher than the other too.
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Our PS's will work their magic at our exchanges!
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Thanks, everyone, for the reassurance on the positioning issue. I've been getting kind of paranoid about them not being at the same height because it really shows in a snug shirt like a turtleneck or t-shirt. Now I just have to figure out if I'm big enough. Latisha lefty, looks pretty good to me size-wise. Sylvie Silicon righty doesn't. But she's a lot flatter and more spread especially in height. So maybe she's about the same. I'm a poor judge of what looks right for my frame size.
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Hi everone, wishing all a wonderful holiday season. TTabbies, yes, the boobs will work out, I promise.
In addition to my friggin pain issues, I have one boob now smaller than the other I guess due to al surgeries,just don't know if if matters that much for another mastopexy.
Anyway, I hate discussing my situation, just wishing loves and hugs to all. I see my PS on Tues, I am still all bandaged up from two weeks ago surgery.
x0x0x0xx0x0x0 TO ALL
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Hi, Ronna! I hope you're feeling a little better and get a good report from the surgeon. At least it should be a relief to get the bandages off. Happy holidays to you too!
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I am so glad to have found you all! I had Lat Flap surgery in 2011 and no of only one other person who did. What does TE stand for? My great issue now is trying to get back to a healthy exercise program. I used to be quite a swimmer and enjoy light weight training. Over the past few years I have had one inflammation after another. I've tried stopping one thing, starting another - my PS didn't offer any advice other than "You can't do what you did before". I finally got into see a PT who is marvelous and said after I rest/heal that lat muscle, I can retrain it and begin a healthy exercise program again. Even swimming is back on the radar. This is one of the best Christmas presents I could ask for. Anyone else an exerciser and have experience dealing with any of this? I feel I've joined a great group here. so so glad to have found you!
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Hello, ladies.
I am scheduled to have reconstruction with lat flap next month. I was excited about this next step, but the closer it gets the more nervous I am getting.
I need your advice if you've already been there. I had planned to have bmx uuntil my PS consult when he advised that if I left the unaffected breast alone until reconstruction, he could save the skin and nipple on that breast. So, I had only the affected breast removed. Then at my last consultation he said, you know your breasts won't be as symmetrical if we do that. He said he could do a full mx and LD reconstruction on left too and that way they would look great.
At the time, that sounded ok to me, but now I'm wondering if the pain of hhaving LD reconstruction on both will be so bad. So, how bad is it to recover? Would you do it on a breast if it isn't necessary? I guess the other option for the left would be skin sparing mx, te, and implant. Would that look so different from the right, which will be LD flap, te, then implant?
Feeling nervous.
Leanne F
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Hi All, hope everyone had a good weekend and is feeling good. I went for my first fill last Wednesday and it went well. My PS added 100 to the right and 50 to the lat side to even them out a bit since lat side is bigger. I felt a mild tightness on the second day but that was all. I'm returning to work on Tuesday ... I was sort of enjoying working from home.
Ronna - Good luck at the PS on Tuesday. I hope you are recovering well from your capsularaphy.
Warrior Woman: you sound better now that all the drains are out. Hope your back feels better soon. I envy you doing your PT exercises. I've been really lazy with that.
2Tabbies - I wouldn't worry too much about the size and positioning of the TE's. Their only purpose is to stretch the skin. Your implants will be near perfect! Hope you're feeling ok from your last fill.
Leanne - if it were me, I would definitely choose not to have an LD flap if I didn't need it. It's a tough recovery. If your other breast hasn't been radiated then a flap is not necessary. You could opt for just a tissue expander on that side. You might not achieve 100 percent symmetry but it'll be real close. Discuss all your options with your PS.
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Welcome, Camille7 and LeanneF. Glad you found us.
Camille, TE stands for tissue expander. Regarding exercise, I was told by 2 PS's that I could do ANYTHING that I did before including swimming. If I'd been told I wouldn't be able to do the things I was used to doing, I wouldn't have had the surgery.So I don't know why yours said that. I only had my surgery about 5 weeks ago, so I haven't gotten back into much of an exercise routine yet. But I have been released by the surgeon to do vigorous exercise and plan on getting back to the pool shortly. Sure it will take time to build up strength on the side with the LD flap, but others who've posted here have done it. It sounds like your PT has you on the right track.
Leanne, I was in a somewhat similar situation to you although I did opt for a BMX. That was because, I had suspicious areas in my "good" breast, a type of bc that's more likely to recur in the opposite breast and a medical history of other cancers. I was hoping to get just implants, but when I talked to plastic surgeons last summer, I found that wasn't a viable option because I'd had radiation. My only real option was the LD flap because the abdominal flap procedures were ruled out by previous abdominal surgery. One PS (young guy) wanted to do the LD flap on both sides because he could achieve better symmetry that way. The other PS (older guy) said that would be doing medically unnecessary surgery since I could have just a TE and implant on the non-irradiated side. HE also said that he could achieve pretty good symmetry with the LD flap and an implant on one side, but just an implant on the other side. Since I hadn't really wanted any flap procedures at all, I went with the more conservative approach. Right now, with the TEs in, I have about equal size on both sides, but the shape and positioning are different. Others have assured me (see some of the posts above) that that will be taken care of when I get the permanent implants. As long as I'm not so asymmetrical that it's noticeable with clothes on, I'm ok with it. Do I still find myself worrying about how I'll look? Yup! But I'm just crossing my fingers and trusting my surgeon who has many years of experience. (Somebody commented on his web site that he's the Breast King.)
Regarding the recovery, it's not easy, but it's doable. From what I've read, it's shorter than with the other flap procedures. The pain isn't excruciating, but it does take a while to go away which gets tiresome. I've needed pain meds for longer from this surgery than from my BMX and other surgeries, but I'm not in terrible pain all the time. The meds take care of it, and it's getting better. It mostly hurts when you move the wrong way especially when laying down. So the hardest thing for me has been finding a comfortable position to sleep in, consequently, I'm tired. If I'd really needed to, I could have gone back to work at about 4 weeks. Maybe even 3 weeks if I really had to, but I would have needed to work from home. I've chosen to take a full 6 weeks off because I feel like I didn't take enough time off last year when I had the mastectomy, chemo and radiation. I worked as much as possible then, and now I'm just tired. I needed the break. The PS authorized 6 weeks automatically so I'm taking it. I hope some of this helps. More questions? Ask away!
April, I'm glad your first fill went well. My second went fine and didn't cause as much pain later as the first one had. Probably because everything, especially where the muscles were sewn together, has healed more.
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Leanne, I agree with those that posted that I would not do an additional lat flap just for the sake of symmetry. I had a BMX & ended up with a second lat flap after a skin failure with TEs on one side. I have not had any issues with recovery or pain or in resuming normal activities. I am also in Tampa, BTW.
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agreed! Lay flap is usually indicated after radiation. Did your PS discuss using Aloderm
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Just got back from the pre-op with my PS...down to the two week countdown. Here we go
Excited to get these bricks out and begin recovery-but also a little nervous.Glad to hear most of you are doing well. Thank you for posting your progress and issues-makes us waiting feel better to know what we are up against.
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Thank you! I don't think I will see the PS again before the surgery date, but will definitely call and be sure we're on the same page. Part of me wonders if I misunderstood. I do want the other breast removed though, but I agree - lat flap seems extreme just to get symmetry. Now, to decide if I will do skin sparing or full mx on the left.
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Ronna - This is the place to let out those fears and frustrations. In my personal life I can only dole out a little at a time to my supportive friends and family. But here people get it.
And so, here is my daily gripe....
#%^&**^%#%^* Seroma! Getting drained tomorrow. Doesn't it just feel like if something can go wrong it will? It hurts so freakin' bad I can scream. Bottom line is I know these are nothing more than a pain in the a$$...or back in my case.
A warm welcome to the new gals. You're going to read things on here that are frightening but you'll also see that by most accounts we come out fine. And BTW, aside from the seroma, I have yet to identify anything I cannot do and I've always been athletic. And I did have bilateral.
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vettegirl, you're in the homestretch! I know what you mean about bricks. I was noticing that last night while I was failing miserably at falling asleep.
Leanne, yes definitely make sure you and the PS are on the same page. Do whatever you need to to ensure that before the surgery date - phone call, office visit, whatever. If it were me, I'd definitely go for the skin sparing unless there's a really good reason not too. Check with your PS, but I bet you will have a better cosmetic outcome with the skin sparing. Plus, I don't think you'll need as much expansion on that side. Maybe you wouldn't need any. I'm not sure. Btw, despite the recovery from this being a bit longer than I expected (that may be due to other things going on in my life), I'm still glad I did it. I'm so much happier with the way I look even now when I have lopsided expanders and still have raw looking scars. It's such relief to be able to put on any shirt I want and not have to think about how to hide my (formerly) concave chest.
Warrior, well, cobnuts on the seroma! I'll double your #%^&**^%#%^*! I'm glad you're getting it drained tomorrow and hope it stays drained.
I was a little worried this morning when I saw a reddened area along part of my flap incision when I got out of the shower. I also had a rectangular red area below the flap. I have no clue what that was all about, but it's gone now. Yay. Here's some more lat flap weirdness. I was driving around doing a couple errands today. My car steers really hard (no power steering). It was so weird to feel my left pseudo-boob contract when I pulled the steering wheel with that hand.
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Warrior Woman - sorry to hear about the seroma, but I had the same issue on my left side about 2-3 weeks post op. I didn't experience any pain, but my PS aspirated about 3x's over 3 weeks & kept me wrapped in an ace to apply compression. I was not thrilled, but it worked. The pain I felt was 2 weeks after my exchange surgery, I developed a hematoma on the left side. That was pretty intense. Unfortunately, aspirating wasn't enough & ended back in the OR to swap out implant & clean out the pocket. That was almost 4 weeks ago, & so far things are looking good. This too shall pass...
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Hi, I have been absent on the site for awhile, which is probably indicative of life getting settled...or the huge assignments I've had at work and I can do only so much on computer. Computer still makes my shoulders and pecs ache. Soooo, I am seven months out ladies.....and I am doing almost everything. I was a slow responder and I would say those of you who might be shooting for 4-6 weeks, if you aren't where you wanted to be by then, It's ok. just stay the course, it gets better. I still go to PT 2 days per week and I have tissue massage every two weeks. Dr. said that he might advise one year of PT! But he isn't seeing me now until May, says I have the out of jail card and he feels he doesn't need to closely monitor!!! Nice vote of confidence. I am thinking I might actually get nipple tattoos at the one year mark, once sure the skin can handle it. haha my daughter wants a shark tattoo and I want nipples.... but it's all small compared to the accomplishment of being here and getting through.....
I see a few names from my stint - glad to hear you are all progressing and in various stages, but all sound positive. Hang in there! This is totally a journey.
Overall, I think this has been tough, but totally worth it. As for those of you talking bras and things, I only wear a lycra camisole, despite the cool bras I have, that I may never wear again. too soon to tell.
Happy holidays to you all....take care.
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Keryl, nice to hear from you. Can I ask why the long stint of PT? My PS wasn't even going to send me to PT because I can raise both arms straight up, and a lot of people don't want to take the time. I requested at least an assessment by the lymphedema therapist because of what I think might be cording under one arm.
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