Latissimus Dorsi Breast Reconstruction
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THANK YOU, MY SWEET FRIENDS!! OXO
Wishing all here a sunny, relaxing and comfortable holiday weekend!
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I thought I would introduce myself. I am 35, married, teacher, mama of two. I was diagnosed 2.5 years ago with stage IIb IDC. Our baby had just turned a year so I opted for a mastectomy without reconstruction. It was the right decision at the time. I did AC and T, followed by 25 IMRT. I was kind of made to feel like DIEP was my only option because of radiation. Now that I think I am ready, and quite frankly I am over being flat, I just do not think DIEP is for me. I am very interested in the LD reconstruction. My kids are 12 and 4 now, so much more manageable then when I was going through treatment
I am getting ready to start exploring other plastics in the Columbus, Ohio area other than the ones I have seen. Overall, have you been satisfied with your reconstruction?0 -
Hi NYCGirl, IMHO, you've been already thru the worst. For me, the shock and resulting pain of the BMX were unthinkable; while the idea of the chemo and radiaiton still make me cringe. I always say, I'ld take surgery anytime over the others - at least painkillers ae available. I know it sucks to have another soemething else come up, but you know what, we don't really have a choice. I try to think posiitve, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel being braless and wearing all the tops I couldn't because I needed a bra and being perky til i'm 89. I am so thankful that PS has come so far along. Imagine if this would beee 20 or 30 years ago when there really were no optioons, just the prosthetic bras. When I was first told I needed a BMX, my world collapsed, not because of the cancer, but because of the physical deformaty. I definitely have down days, but I have a wonderful support with my husband and friends. Alsoo, good to vent and question on this forum; plus FB for me has been amazing to connect with friends and get encouragement. When is your surgery schcheduled
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Cali- I love your wonderful attitude!!
( I'm scheduled for Thurs, if all goes as planned!)politico, - nice to meet you!
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Politico, overall, I'm happy with my reconstruction so far. I still have TEs so the final results aren't in yet. The only thing I don't like is the way the flap of skin from my back is so obviously a patch on my foob. But since I had radiation, I had to have some sort of flap so there was probably no way around that. I hope it eventually blends in. I'm happy with the shape and symmetry I have so far even though I only had the flap on one side. The other is just a TE. I'm also happy with my recovery in that I'm back doing everything I did before the surgery including swimming. I hope that helps answer your questions.
anotherNYCG, we'll be in your pocket on Thursday wishing you the best!
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Thank you 2Ts!! (btw, - we have 3 tabbies in the house, and also care for a tnr colony outside of 5!!
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hello everyone. I am 3 years out of my original Bmx with tissue expander placement and over the last three years I have had implants that failed tissue expander replacement that failed and now the current tissue expander where the skin is opening up again so I am waving my white flag. I believe I am ready to go the lat flap route however I am concerned about so many things that I'm hoping you all can answer my questions honestly. What was the original recovery like? Were you able to lay on your back? Do you have pain in both areas or is one of them numb? What was the hardest part of your recovery? Are you happy with the results? Would you do it again? Thanks again.
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Hi ladies! My surgery is set for Wednesday! Getting more excited than nervous at this point. I met with my PS Thursday, and go all the info. He swears it won't be as rough as my BMX. We shall see😉. The plan is to use the DaVinci robot to go through the front scars and grab the lat and pull it forward into place. He did say that my radiated side was super tight, and he will do some fat grafting from my tummy area. Anyone got advice on that? It is not Lipo or a tummy tuck just a few stitches is what he said. The TE's are going to be removed and the gummies will be put in. I am just a bit nervous about the pain since we are doing it all at once. My DH is going with me to Texas while my mom stays with our daughters. Not sure how my 2 year old is going to like me not holding her for awhile, but she can come snuggle next to me. Is there any big advice or tip that might help after? I figured I would have my room set up like it was after the BMX. But going in pretty much clueless! Well not really but it feels that way
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Thank you everyone for the kind words. I'm thinking about leaving this job at the end of November when our fiscal year ends and they want us to sign another contract. I am really tempted to quit sooner so I can get more involved in my son's daily life. He wouldn't want that but I could go into general real estate and still be there for him.
This weekend they laid her to rest in Ohio and he was struggling to decide if he should fly up there. The other night I sat in his room and we looked at pictures he has on his lap top of them when they were dating. I think it helped him a lot. They still haven't arrested the driver, but someone pointed out that they are most likely gathering the DNA evidence etc so he doesn't ask for a speedy trial and the state is left with lack of evidence. People just need to stop when they hit someone, it's become an epidemic here in Florida.
Meanwhile, I'm recovering well from the surgery. Wore a bathing suit this weekend to the beach and you couldn't tell I had just has surgery!
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Hi NYC Girl,, will be thinking of you Thursday. I really don't think it will be that bad, I am so glad I did it. Workst think for me are the drains, that's where all the pain is coming from and hindering my activity. I believe the most important thing, and it worked for me, I took the painkillers right on schedule for the first three days. regardless of whether I was in pain or not. I believe the nurse said it was best to take them before the pain starts. Let me know if you have any questins. WHere are you getting it done
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Thanks Cali!
I will send pm to you, ok?
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hbb, you have been through a lot. A lot of us understand your concerns. We've been there. I guess I wouldn't look at this as waving the white flag so much as going with the best available option. I will try to answer your questions.
- What was the original recovery like? I'd say it was a little worse than the recovery from my mastectomy. I think that was because more muscle was cut and stitched. But I was not in a lot of pain all the time. Most of the pain was just when I moved in certain ways like trying to reposition when I was laying down. For that reason, I took pain meds longer than I had for the mastectomy, but only at night so I could sleep.
- Were you able to lay on your back? I was able to lay on my back, but as I said above, repositioning was difficult. It was easier to sleep propped up. A lot of women use recliners. I don't have one so I slept propped against the arm of my futon.
- Do you have pain in both areas or is one of them numb? By "both areas," I assume you mean the back incision and the chest incision. There was some pain in both although the skin of both was, and still is, numb. The pain around the back incision wasn't bad. The worst area for pain was a line around my chest from one side of my rib cage to the other right where a bra band would lie. I think that's where a lot of the muscles got stitched. As I said above, it wasn't constant, but mostly when repositioning especially while lying down.
- What was the hardest part of your recovery? Not being able to sleep flat in bed was the most annoying thing. It seemed like that stage would never pass, but it did.
- Are you happy with the results? I am happy with the results so far. I still have my tissue expanders so I don't know exactly what I'll look like yet. But even now, I have pretty good symmetry and look relatively good in clothes. I've mentioned in other posts that I don't like the look of the flap of skin that was taken from my back and sewn to my chest. The color is different because the chest skin was darkened by radiation. I hope that it blends in better eventually. But even with that, I'm pretty happy with the results.
- Would you do it again? An unequivocal yes. It is much better than the way I was flat. I hated that. Even with scars and the flap skin, I'd still do it again. Even if I had to keep the TEs forever, I'd do it again. The surgery itself and recovery weren't a cake walk, but they were worth it to me.
Good luck with your decision.
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Jodi, good luck Wednesday. You and anotherNYCGirl will be on our radar this week! The daVinci robot! How cool is that! You aren't clueless. Whatever you did that helped after the mastectomy will probably be helpful now. Having a good way to sleep propped up was probably the most helpful thing for me. That and don't wait for the pain to get bad before you take your pain pills. If you do, you're playing catch up. However you managed that for the mastectomy, should work fine for this. I didn't have fat grafting and don't have children so I can't help with those questions. Good luck!
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HomeMom, there's been a lot of hit and run around here too. We just had one this weekend. The driver did call later and turn herself in. Sadly, it was the sister of a friend of the victim. My condolences to your son. Congratulations to you for rockin' that bathing suit!
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AnotherNYCGirl, I'd have more cats if my current 2 and my husband didn't object. Yes, I could easily be a crazy cat lady.
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Thanks, again, 2T!!
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2Tabbies, thanks for the thorough reply! And you're right, I should definitely think of it more positively with good hopes for better results than I have so far!!! Did you have both sides done or just one? Why are you unable to lie flat? I've had so many surgeries at this point I figure how much worse can it be than all the others. Lol. One of the worst for me was when they sewed in pig skin as a liner. That was definitely painful. a spray tan cover the difference in skin colors?
Thanks again, the answers to my questions definitely help ease my nerves.
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hbb, I only had the lat flap on one side. I needed it because of radiation damage. The other side didn't have radiation so it's ok with just an implant. I did have one PS tell me that he'd do the lat flap on both sides for better symmetry. The PS I ended up choosing thought that was unnecessary surgery. I agreed with him. I've got fairly good symmetry with the TEs so I'm not too worried about that issue. I couldn't lay flat after the surgery just because it was so hard to re-position. It was a bit easier to do that if I was propped up and just a bit more comfortable overall. I think you're right that this won't be significantly worse for you than your previous surgeries. I don't know if a spray tan would help camouflage the skin flap. How long do those last. I'm really being silly caring about it since nobody is going to see it except me and my husband. Well, there are the women in the locker room at the Y, but they've seen me looking much worse - flat and with TEs. I have a consultation with a tattoo artist on Friday to talk about tattoos to color my nipples once they're built. I'm going to ask her about a tattoo to darken the color of the flap. I think it would be qa bit hard to match the skin color.
I'm glad my answers helped reassure you!
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2 tabbies, wait!!!! Before you have nipple surgery check out http://www.naturallyimpressive.com/. I have a pair and I have literally fooled every single person ever seen them. My oncologist actually asked me where I got the Nipples from for transplant! Lol!!!! Plus, noooooo surgery! That's one on my implant side. Best thing I've ever purchased.EVER.
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and the lying down thing makes sense. I'll buy one of those chair pillows Calibea recommended. A good spray tan lasts about a week or more.I figure it'll be good if I need it for a bathing suit. What was everyone's recovery limitations? Lifting? Exercise? Driving? Etc?
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One last thought, how big was everyone when they woke up? With regard to your final size I mean.
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Hbb,
Thanks for the picture, your nipple looks amazing(things you can say to your bc sisters😜). I am having my exchange surgery on June 3rd and am thinking I will not do the nipple reconstruction, but do want the 3D nipples. I had my lat flap surgery January 20th. I would say the first 3 weeks I had limitations. I started driving 2 weeks after the surgery. Couldn't raise my arms up for a few days, propped myself up on pillows and would turn on side if and when my back got uncomfortable. I can't really remember when I started exercising again(even though it wasn't that long ago....chemo brain) but it was probably about 6 weeks after the surgery. I was happy with the results immediately! I am ending at a size D, initially they don't start expanding the expanders for about 2 weeks.....they need to make sure the flap is going to take and it needs to start to heal before expanding. I would say initially they were size A. Your situation is a little different than mine though. I had delayed reconstruction, so for 6 months had nothing. Since your skin is already stretched from your previous surgery maybe your PS will start expanding sooner??
Best wishes,
Kathy
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ok, I lied, that's not my last question😜. Lol. How long was everyone's hospital stay ?
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kthielen, get your 3d nipples! Lol!! I bought mine from naturally impressive and couldn't be happier! I'm ending at aD as well but my existing skin is so damaged from the many surgeries and radiation I imagine he'll take the majority so I'll probably be starting from square one. My PS appointment is tomorrow So hopefully I'll know more then. What lifting limitations did you have? I have a baby and hate the idea of not being able to hold him.😢
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I did my surgery as an outpatient, didn't stay one night! I think that is not the norm though!! Hmmmm....lifting, I remember being very sore and it was even hard to open the car door. I think it was for about a week, maybe 2. Maybe someone can sit your baby in your lap or you can just lay next to him?!?! Im sorry,that would be extremely hard!
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Hi ladies, this is my first time on this thread and I am happy to hear so many success stories. I am facing similar situation and still don't know which way to go. Doing my initial diagnoses radiation wasn't part of the treatments plan but after my TE was filled up I meant the radiation who said I needed it so I finished rad last October after chemo. Now my PS is saying due to radiation for a better outcome he recommended LD. My concern about the LD is this, will I be able lift and have good rance of motion? I am a caregiver and worried that will prevent me from doing that. I went for a second opinion and he willing to work with my radiation skin...which way to is the best way?
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Light1...I had the LD because 10 years ago I had radiation to my left breast. Because I was so far out, I was successful and my breasts look great. I am going in though for a little bit of tweeking to that left breast. He is gonna swipe it out for a smaller implant so it can be symmetrical with the right breast. Other than that...at least for me, I have full range of motion, but still feel like I am wearing a tight bra. Also, I got my 3D tats and they look absolutely wonderful.
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Hbb...I stayed in 2 days and had a nurse as well as a physical therapist visit me for 2 weeks. I really didn't need them, but it made my husband feel better that someone was looking after me while he was at work.. Not showering was the worse thing. And when I woke up I was the size I wanted to be...a nice "B" sized cupful. I'm a fluffy woman, but did not want the DD that I had before.
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Thanks shortfi for the response, I am glad that everything is going fine with you LD. I wish you and all brave ladies well. I am considering it.
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light1, I had the surgery January 20th, am able to lift and pull patients as I am a nurse. Have full range of motion pretty much as well. Should be doing stretches regularly but don't😁
Good luck with your decision!
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