Latissimus Dorsi Breast Reconstruction
Comments
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jbokland, thanks for the reminder about Juzo. The tie dyed socks I got are made by them. I can't remember if I looked at their spring/summer colors a few months ago or not. I might have and decided that I didn't like them well enough to pay the price. Most of them are too pastel for me. Maybe the fall/winter colors will be more to my taste. What I really want are wild prints like the lymphedivas. Then maybe when somebody sees me wearing 1 knee sock with my shorts, they'll think it's a fashion statement not a medical one.
That was my hope anyway. Maybe I'll splurge on another pair of the tie dyed ones at some point.0 -
2 Tabbies...one sock; it like wearing your gang colors!
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Hi Jo. I am having almost daily nursing debridement for necrosis. My wound is not healing well and today the wound care specialist applied a special dressing with an inbuilt vacuum system which is designed to draw fluid and improve circulation. ( this is called a Pico dressing)
My necrosis is at various stages, not all black but sloughy and green, yellow and brown. The nursing debridement basically involves scissorsing the skin away until they reach pink/red tissue which bleeds. Thankfully in my case a lot of this is where I have very little sensation, but I have found the experience very difficult and I am needing a lot more pain relief afterwards. I do know that one of the June surgery ladies posted yesterday that she had been in hospital for surgical debridement. It might be worth checking her post ( her screen name is Tempy) and maybe asking what was involved. I don't know if her issue involved a lat dorsi flap though.
There are at least a couple of us June surgery ladies on necrosis watch so feel free to pop over to that thread. We haven't been focused on necrosis, but I have noticed it is coming up the past few days.
Very sorry your healing isn't going well so far. By the way, my ps is on holidays too, so the wound care specialist decided to apply this dressing without his prior approval. Because I have a TE within the LD flap, there was some concern that the vacuum of dressing may pull the the TE through the wound. Depending on your PS attitude, and the depth of the location of your TE if you have one, the Pico dressing may be ruled out
Jac
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JO-5 - I'm so sorry that you're experiencing these issues with healing. Just want to let you know that there are a few women on the June 2015 surgeries topic that have necrosis and are currently having debridement. C'mon over and see if they can offer you advice/support.
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Haha ....great minds think alike Ilovepugs 😄
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Jacfin, I was going to write the same thing to you! 😉 I'm glad you found JOs post! Hopefully she will get some benefit from talking with you and the others experiencing necrosis. Honestly, I just can't even imagine...It makes me feel so helpless and frustrated that you and others are having extra difficulties on top of everything else!
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Jo--I am so sorry you are having these complications!!I have never had debridement of the breast area, but during chemo I had a leg wound that wouldn't heal and had it debrided several times. My wound was 1" wide and 1/2" deep and had bacteria in it that "tunneled up from the original site, so they had to go in and clean the tunnel out. It was not the most pleasant experience, but the area was thankfully numb already, so pain was minimal. I found that if I took a Tylenol or Advil before the procedure it seemed to help.
Good luck with today's appointment, sending you prayers and healing vibes.
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Jac- I was in Perth about a year and a half ago. I was there working with Western Australia Health. Lovely area
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Hi there jbokland. I am glad you enjoyed our little city. I live in the Scarborough area so I am close to the lovely Indian Ocean. I hope you got to enjoy some of our Margaret River wines while you were here 😉
Ilovepugs- you have been a huge support for the June ladies, especially those of us with the healing issues. We really appreciate your encouragement and empathy.......I know without you and the others who regularly post I would have not been coping too well right now. I owe you huge hugs 💞
Jac
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jac- we actually stayed in Scarborough on the Ocean! Does this place lol familiar?
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Jo and Jacfin, I'm so sorry you're having to deal with necrosis. Sending you both hugs and healing prayers.
jbok, gang colors! ROFLOL! Yeah. The LE Gang!
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JO, - so sorry that you have had such problems, but good to read that things are better under control now! wishing you a speedy recovery!
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Jo, I'm glad you don't need a skin graft.
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Jo - Everyone complains about the "loaf" although I don't know if yours is worse than any other. I will say that there was never a time that I could not put my arms down. Another woman on here described a seroma as an extra breast. Is this seroma or muscle? I am 8 mos. out from my LD and I can still feel my muscles are tunneled under my arms. However, it doesn't bother me. I don't know how long it took for the swelling to go down nor do I know if it will go down any more than it has. My bigger concern is whether or not it had potential to hide any new tumors that could occur under my arms. I imagine that will be checked with an MRI. What I find most difficult is not the actual treatment we have endured but all the stuff we're left to worry about when things aren't right.
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Jo, - My PS made it sound not at all uncommon to need needle drainage after drains were removed. He was watching my back carefully. The fluid did go down and I was able to avoid it. He said the area was still numb and if needed, it wouldnt hurt.
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I had the needle aspiration. Didn't feel a thing...except relief! I was numb ( still numb 7 months later).
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the loaf
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I had the back drain pulled after 4 weeks, the aspiration must have been week 5 or 6. Some poochiness remained quite a while until it subsided.
My only issue now is the tightness that runs from armpit to the bottom of the rib cage on that side. I did have a frozen shoulder for a while. Therapy resolved that but I have to have laparoscopic surgery later this month. They are cleaning out that shoulder area. Hopefully, that will start me on the road to full ROM
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Jbokland I just saw that fab pic of you at the Sail and Anchor. Great pub. There's a very thriving small bar scene established throughout Perth now too so we have a mix of the traditional like the S &A as well as quirky new intimate places with fab food and drinks. I hope you get to visit again.
Jac
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Thanks Jac. I only left Australia because I was diagnosed. My heart is down under and aches to be there
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jbokland- can you explain frozen shoulder for me!
This week has been horrible with my neck and shoulders. My DH says I have numerous knots and it feels like whiplash. My neck hurts the most. I called PS office Wednesday and they said take Tylenol and heat- um thanks. Friday I was still on severe pain, so I went to local doctor and they have me Robixan. I woke up Saturday in tears around 5 am. Went to Walgreens and bought a neck heating pad, thermawraps, icy hot and a massager. I was desperate. Today was a little better after I heated it and DH gave me a real pain pill alongside the muscle relaxer. If I pick up my 2 year old, it kills! I'm week 6 post op, so it just surprised me to be in pain again
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my frozen shoulder left me with a sharp pain in my upper arm and limited ROM.
I would see about getting PT. it could be a generalized muscular reaction and spasms from your newly 'rearranged' lat muscle
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That is exactly what they said today! Don't know why I did not think of it!!!! They moved a damn muscle😂. They think my shoulders and neck are making up for it and will get stronger. I got two shots today don't even know what they were! I have never had shots for muscles. So!!! They also gave me a pack of pills and I am waiting until tomorrow to start them. Picked them up tonight and directions said take 6 pills on day one! Then one pill for 6 following days. I thought that can't be right so waiting until tomorrow when I can check. Again, never have been in this situation so maybe it is correct.
Going to start more stretching exercises tomorrow as well. I've been doing downward dog and cat pose to help. A week ago I had amazing ROM. I might have pushed it thinking I was past the hump. Putting my 2 year old up in the SUv and car seat is killing me. She's 36 lbs. I think that did it. She is a chunk. I have three weeks until I start coaching cheer again, so time to take action.
Reconstruction- my right breast at the top has rippling. I am definitely going to have to do the fat grafting. What does that entail and please tell me not overnight again! My dr told me he was going to do it during the procedure, but he did not. The surgery took longer than they expected. I read my report and now know why! One arm of the "robot" stopped working mid surgery. They had to manually control it for a bit. So no fat was taken. He did say I would have three tiny marks with a stitch or two. Does that sound right? Maybe doing that around Christmas break.
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Jo - My "loafs" never caused me any problems and did reduce in size very gradually although they're still there to a certain extent. They never looked bruised and were not a primary source of discomfort. I had seroma drained from my back several times and it wasn't a big deal. It's my understanding that back seromas are very common with the LD surgery as a space is left where the muscle was formerly in the back. Given that you've been through so much already, please call your PS to report your concerns. As I see it, they get paid very well to take our calls.
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Percocet sucks anyway.
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Jodi, I'm glad you got something for your pain. It does sound like maybe you pushed the stretching. Maybe try something a bit gentler than downward dog? Perhaps child's pose? I'm not yoga expert. Just thinking out loud here. My PS told me to do anything I wanted just do it slowly and stop if it starts to hurt. I'm also betting your medication instructions are correct. I've had some like that. I think they were steroids which you might have gotten for inflammation.
Jo, I'm glad you called the doctor. That's what they're paid for, and sitting home in discomfort and stress isn't a good thing.
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Did anybody have a biopsy done as a matter of routine during any of their recon procedures? I got a bill the other day from a pathologist for tissue examination done on the day of my exchange surgery. This was a bit of a surprise and more than a bit upsetting since nobody had mentioned anything about it to me. (The pathologist's office also said I don't have insurance which is another story. I most certainly do!) I thought the bill was a mistake so I called my PS's office. The receptionist checked and said that they had sent tissue to the pathologist, and he'd "discuss it with me at my next appointment." I hate that answer. Too often it's been because nobody else is allowed to give you the results of anything especially bad news, but she made it sound like this was routine. But then I started wondering what the hell he'd seen in there when he was slicing and dicing. I called the pathologist's office since I needed to straighten out the insurance mess, and the person I talked to said that they "have to have a pathologist examine any tissue that's removed from the body." Really? That's the first I've heard of this. I knew the PS was taking some out tissue near the top of the scar on my back to fix a dog ear, but he never mentioned sending it to a pathologist. I guess my emotional reserves are a bit low right now, but being blind sided like this this just makes me so angry. I've felt like crying for 2 days which is totally stupid. I looked at my consent form, and the only thing on it about a pathologist was in the boilerplate section where it says I give them permission to use the services of anybody they deem necessary if something is found during the surgery that requires it. Other specialists (radiologist, etc.) are mentioned in the same section so I sure didn't take that to mean that they'd do an examination on the tissue that was removed. Has anybody else run into this? Don't they know that things like pathologists and biopsies aren't associated with good things for those of us who've had cancer?
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2T, - I'd have to go over my bills to see if anything was sent to pathologist, but it's quite possible!
When is your next appt with your PS? I am SURE that IF they found something of concern, you'd have gotten a call and they wouldnt wait until your next appt!!
Dont make yourself more stressed!
Dealing with the insurance company is enough.
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Tabbies - I'm glad I saw your post. Please relax. It's standard operating procedure. They routinely send anything removed to pathology. I did get a bill during my exchange too. As a side note, I actually asked my PS to please send anything that looks suspicious to pathology. He looked at me sarcastically and replied, "Do me a favor? Remind me to do that on the day of your surgery." He was joking. Everything gets sent to pathology.
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Thanks, Warrior. I'm not really worried since I called and was told by the pathologist's office that it's standard procedure. But I am pissed. Why didn't anyone tell me this so I wouldn't freak when I got the bill? I guess I'm a control freak, but I don't like being surprised especially by things relating to cancer, biopsies and surgery. Seriously, don't they they realize that finding out about a biopsy that we weren't told about might give some of us a bit of a scare? Crap, I've been diagnosed with cancer 3 times and the bc is stage III. So if it does come back, I'll be dead woman walking. I'm just so sick of this crap, and Tamoxifen has made my emotions so volatile, that something like this is all it takes to send me into the dark hole of depression for a couple days. It also doesn't help that I'm not really happy with how my rebuilt body is looking. I think the girls are too low. If so, I'm sure that would require a revision to fix. We'll see what the PS says tomorrow. I will ask him why nobody bothered to mention the pathology. Honestly, I think his brain was already on vacation in Italy. It may be routine to him, but he's not the one whose body is involved. Ok, I didn't mean to go into another rant. I hope I can be nice when I talk to him. Maybe I'll just cry. That might get the point across. Too bad I'm not a crier.
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