Latissimus Dorsi Breast Reconstruction

justagirl

kate: calm down and just take your pain pills.  The drains are there to do what they are doing - taking away the fluid from your tissues that your body isn't absorbing.  If the drains are pulled too soon, you will possibly have a significant greater amount of fluid accumulate at the sites and then that fluid will have to be aspirated with a needle.  If there is fluid near the implant then the procedure has to be done with ultrasound so as to not puncture the implant. soory, but that's the bare truth.

jwilco

I hope your drains are out soon.  I had mine in for a very long time.  The last one well over four weeks and then it started getting clogged.  I had to go in twice so the PS could mess around with it and remove the clog.  Finally when it clogged yet again he said that's it and pulled it out.  I had my surgery on Oct 11, that drain came out right before Thanksgiving.  Needless to say there was a HUGE improvement in my attidude once it came out. 

westieluv

Hello to everyone recovering, gearing up for more surgery and still in the process.  I have been off the boards for awhile.  Too much going on in my life and I had to take a break from my many, many reconstruction surgeries.  I'm getting ever closer to the end, but I realized last week that I passed the 2 year mark and I'm still not done.  

Waiting for January to roll around and another surgery of tweaking and fat grafting to see if we can get to the point where I can say, stop.  I still have nipple envy and I've accepted that I won't ever be over that. Just hoping to get the girls to a point where I see roundness instead of squareness and then I can go for my 3D tattoos and be done.  Every tweaking surgery has gotten me a little closer and a little closer.   Remember that building something great takes time, so if your timeline seems longer than others, it just has to do with the building blocks you brought to the construction zone.  I had minimal blocks to work with, so I remind myself that I have come an extremely long way from post BMX.

Sorry to see so many new faces on this board, but glad that you all found a place where we can share and show support for one another.

I'm headed to the 4th annual Ta Ta Sisterhood reunion in Las Vegas this weekend with other BC.org sisters, so I'll let you all know how that went and what fun we had together.  Off to start my packing list.  First thing going in the suitcase is my Save the Ta Tas tank top.  It's all blinged up and ready to go!

katehudson25

Jo1955 being in my pocket helped. The Darn drains are out Yeah! What a relief. I so much appreciate your support. you have been a big help to me. Thank you.

katehudson25

Jo 1955 being in my pocket helped. My darn drains came out today Yeah. I so much appreciate your support you have been a big help to me.

katehudson25

Jwilco I so much appreciate your support too. Sorry you had to go through so much. Justagirl I appreciate your support too. My doctor said it was ok to take the drains off today, and I feel so relieved.

Momluke

Congrats Katehudson25!!!

I was relieved from mine today too! Was told not to shower for 24 hours afterward because that's how long the PS said it will take for the hole to close off.



I know the drains have their place and are very much needed! However (comma) they are a flat out pain in the behind!!

katehudson25

I have a question. When the drains were removed did you feel some discomfort by the drain site. I am a little disappointed because I still have some pain in that area. also I am still experiencing some back discomfort. Is this natural 12 days after surgery? I have a high tolerance for pain, so I am surprised that I am still feeling uncomfortable.

Momluke

Katehudson25,

The hole from the drain site is a little tender. I just try to remember that a few hrs ago it was a hole with a tube hanging out. The soreness went away after a day or 2 from my previous removal which was right under my breast. Just keep an eye on it for any signs of infection.



My back is still tender too. When I looked at it (via 2 mirrors) I can see why. Not a small incision! Then I think about how much every little move uses my back. I can even feel my back muscles in use to hold my phone to text. God forbid if I should cough or sneeze (cringing at the thought).



In the words of my nurse "you had a lot of surgery!"

katehudson25

Momluke,

Thank you so much for letting me know about your experience. I appreciate your support.

jo1955

katehudson - You are so very welcome.  It was my pleasure to be with you.  I am so glad the nasty drains are out.  I had some tenderness after each one was taken out.  Remember my last one was taken out at 5 1/2 weeks.  The tenderness will go away in a few days.

Momluke - So glad you are drain free.  Yes, give a few days and you will never know they were there.  Of course, you will have small scars but that is to be expected.

 On the back pain for both of you.  That is no small incision on your back and there is a cavity left behind from removal of the muscle.  That will take some time.  I did small stretching exercises as well as heat therapy - a heating pad - and Aleve.  It will ease up.  Don't be surprised if there is still some tightness left behind.  I can feel it a bit but I am used to it. I had mind done in April 2012. Most of your range of motion will return - give it some time.  Some ladies have gone to PT afterwards but I did not feel the need for it.  I play golf and have no problems with my swing. Now let the healing begin.  (((HUGS)))  

havanna

Ok sorry to seem a little mixed up its my first post, that I can remember anyway lol the ride with cancer was a rocky one. I have the back flap max on my left hand side 9 months ago and my back is so painfull can some one point me in the right direction where to discuss this. I am on other forums but I carnt seem to understand how this ones works. I will go surfing a  little more, think im just fed up and a little ratty that Im not seeing straight. thanks for any help.

katehudson25

I am wondering how long anfter a latissimus flap surgery can a revision be done? What did your doctores recommend? My doctor thinks 3 months is ok, byt that seems a little early fir me

Momluke

@Havanna-considering your surgery was so long ago, you really need to reach out to your plastic surgeon or perhaps a different one. There may be a need for a revision.



@katehudson25,

I was told that I have to wait 3 months before we can work on the nipple as well as any "fine tuning" that might need to be done. I have a bit of a lump on the top of the recontruction towards the middle. He said it takes about 3 months for things to settle. He said he didn't want to mess with anything until then because it might get better on its own.

jo1955

katehudson - I had my first revision about 3 months out from surgery.  This one was done in the office.  He had to remove some of the "patch" since it made the bottom of my breast look like it had a bubble.  The second revision which I had done in the hospital was just a couple of weeks after that.  Momluke is right.  You need to give things time to settle.  You may find out you won't need any touch ups done.

PS appt tomorrow afternoon.  Hopefully this will be just a checkup, take the last photos and then I am done.  Of course, the last time I said this, I left scheduled for the second revision so not going to say this is the last.  Will let everyone know how it goes.

movingon1

Thanks very much for your reply Jo. I decided to go with a little oncoplasty to make the cancer breast at least round. It is smaller to begin with but I decided not to do anything drastic now. Enough stress anyway. Best to you too.

movingon1

Thanks very much for your reply Jo. I decided to go with a little oncoplasty to make the cancer breast at least round. It is smaller to begin with but I decided not to do anything drastic now. Enough stress anyway. Best to you too.

havanna

Momluke that is my next step hopefully. I just have some more questions now I have been reading so many other post.

It seems most ppl are from the USA here or Aus is anyone from the UK. Its not a problem but PS may do things different in other countries.

After my Lat Dor recon which was Jan this year I was healing ok and besides sarcoma where the drains have been on the road to recovery. My results were not as expected and more cancer was found and chemo was brought in. First 3 chemo OK 4th getting bad and 5th I thought would kill me off before the cancer. sixth did not take place. My body from chemo aged me at least 20years or so it felt like that and I was told my sarcoma would not heal or really could be treated on chemo. I put up with pain hoping my life would take a better turn after chemo. Then bring in the tamoxafin July..wham hot and cold should read boiling point and below freezing. Weight gain at a speed of someone who eats quarterpounders as snacks, which I don't. New boob feels like Ive fallen down the stairs and back sarcoma is getting worse. Been to docs who gave me loads of pain relief which I try not to take, blood pressure is going through the roof no surprise really. After reading post here I see its not the norm so please don't let me scare folk who are considering this.

Also reading post most seem to have expanders with this lat dor rec where I was given a implant straightaway. Is there anyone who would like to share the same story please.

After the end of all my treatment I lost my beloved dad so things had to take a back stage. I hope you don't think my rant makes me a manic depressive person I have many greats in my life loved by many and very lucky to be here. I believe laughter is the best medicine ever but I'm starting to panic because I am high risk and been told my best bet is to have the same op on my right boob in Jan/Feb next year. This time I'm going in with both eyes open lol x

I am surfing the net on pro's and cons of Tamoxafin next now I know why my mum stopped it, any point in that direction would be great too.

jo1955

Saw my PS today.  This was my LAST appt.  Woo Hoo!!!  He took the final photos and had to give me an injection in my back just above my scar and I am good to go.  One more doctor I can mark off my list.   The only other BC related appts are my MO every 6 months.  I do not have any appt until Dec 10th.  How cool is that?

Momluke

There is one thing that I didn't think about prior to the surgery that I have encountered. Riding in the car is brutal! Thank God that all of my doctors are within 15 minutes of my home. Even those short rides are painful on my back. Not fun at all!

katehudson25

Hi Momaluke, sorry you have back pain when riding in a car. I am not experiencing that at all, but the drain sites still hurt and I have ugly looking marks( scabs I guess) from those sites. Do you have that too?

jen78

Hi Katehudson25 - I have scars from the drain sites on my back.  But, they're part of the dogear that is being removed on either side, so they'll be gone next week after my exchange surgery.  They remain sore to the touch (nothing horrific), even now, and I'm 6 months out.  But, when they were first removed, they were defintely painful for a bit.

jo1955

katehudson - I have two little marks left from the drains. They will be sore for a bit.  Be patient - this too shall pass. They will never disappear and can't be seen - on me anyway.  At my age, I don't wear a two piece bathing suit. LOL!

Momluke

Katehudson25n

I have some unsightly scars from the drains as well. I guess 6 months from now things will look a whole lot different.



Has anyone experienced increased muscle spasms from being chilled like a fan blowing on you or walking into a colder room?

rozem

hi ladies

would like to join this thread  having the lat dorsi surgery in 2 wks,  a few questions (this is such a long thread i tried but couldn't go through it all)

1.  what is the recovery like?  were you able to regain function and be active again (working out, lifting weights etc)

2.  why did you have to have this type of surgery?  i am told it is the only option on a radiated breast

3.  for those of you a few years out how does your scar look?

thanks so much

jo1955

rozem - Had my surgery on April 18th.  I found my recovery to not be too bad.  Really the worst part of this is having to deal with the drains post op until they are removed.  They don't hurt - they are just a pain to deal with. In fact, I went back to work one week after surgery - after my first post op follow up with my drains in.  I had 2 - one was taken out at 2 weeks and the other at 5 1/2 weeks.

 I had a lumpectomy with rads and this was my best option.  I wanted to fix a significant defect on the bottom side of my breast.  My PS was amazed at how good my radiated breast looked.  I do not have an implant - just the flap.  I am 5 months out from surgery and I have complete range of motion and my back scar is now a thin pink line.  I had my last appt with my plastic surgeon yesterday.  No future follow ups.

I know others will come along and share their experience.  Best of luck to you and please keep us posted. 

Momluke

Hey Rozem,

I had the lat dorsi reconstruction for my UMX. I had the MX and reconstruction all in the same surgery. I have an implant (silicone) as well. I wanted to do the TRAM but my PS had more confidence in a successful lat dorsi reconstruction.



I had the surgery 3 weeks ago and it has been pretty good. The range in my arm gets better day by day. The drains is the most tedious part. My last one was removed Monday.



I won't be going back to work until 10/22. Gonna take it really slow! I will not and have not done any radiation. I didn't want to do TE becuz of the experiences many have told me about.

jwilco

rozem - I will share my answers to your questions.  My lat surgery was Oct 11, 2011

I was in the hospital for three days and at home for about 8 weeks.  Main reason I was off work so long was due to a drain that just wasn't ready to come out.  Physically I would have been ok to go back in about half that time.  I also was able to work from home for about three weeks of that part time.  Once I was release to exercise again I took it slow.  I didn't start trying weights again until a couple weeks after doing cardio.  But I have found that although it feels different doing certain exercises, I'm able to do the same so far. 

I had this type of surgery because my BS and PS both thought it was best for my situation. I had prior breast implants and they thought that it would leave me with a better match.  I was lucky that I didn't have to do radiation.  I had my UMX and reconstruction all in one step, not TE.  I have since then had revision surgeries.  The original implant was swapped for a slightly smaller one, new implant in the non-BC side, fat grafting.  Last revision was fat grafting and nipple creation.  I don't regret my decision to have this kind of reconstruction.  My PS did say that he would have recommended DIEP but that due to my prior stomach surgery (I had a lower body lift after massive weight loss) I wasn't a candidate for DIEP.

After almost one year later, the back scar is a long (8 inches - husband measured) but a thin line.  It is a little wonky in the area where my bra would hit it during healing, but only made it slightly wider.  I also have a scar under my breast fold and then also around where the areola would be, which is really my back skin.  (but I did have similar scars from the previous lift/implants before BC and those scars faded a lot)  Sort of weird about the back skin but what the heck.  I'm here and pretty happy with my outcome.  For me, from my experience, the scars fade a lot over time.  For me the worse part has been the emotions and dealing with BC diagnosis in the first place.  

I guess I sort of rambled out my story (I'm avoiding homework for an online class)

Good luck with your surgery!

katehudson25

Jen78, Jo1955. and Momluke thank you so much for letting me know. Tonight is 15 days after the surgery, and now I am doing well. No problem at all in the range of my arms. As you know the drains were very painful for me, and now the drain sites are somewhat painful, my back feels ok today. Today was the first day I did not have to take any pain meds at all. That is all good news, but yesterday I had another scare. Yesterday my blood pressure was in a frightning range, again. It was 203/120. For a woman who is not overweight that is a bad number. My internist increased my bp meds and it came down, but it gave me quite a scare. I finally see him on Tuesday. I need to get to the bottom of this.

rozem

thanks so much ladies, it sounds like your experiences have been pretty good considering it is a major surgery.  i guess im a little frustrated since i am on the her2 thread and so many women there have alloderm replacing flap surgery.  My doc refuses to do it on radiated skin because he said the results are not good.