Latissimus Dorsi Breast Reconstruction
Comments
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I have a question (I know we all responded differently and have different experiences but...) how long did you have the drain in your back with the lat flap? and just curious, did you feel more pain with the drain in back than the drain in front? For me the drains in front are painful enough but this one in my back from the lat flap is way more painful.
@jo1955 - Congrats to you!!
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Flintviolet - My 2 drains were side by side on my left side. One was for the back and one for the front. The front one came out at 2 1/2 weeks and the back one at 5 1/2 weeks. I would have some pain when I tried clearing the tubes and when I reached the 5 week point. Other than that, they were just a pain in the butt.
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The drains in my back are in there since 7 weeks.....
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LockeKopp - I had my drain for the back section in for about the same amount of time. The drain even got clogged, twice! Hang in there. It's better if it can drain with the drain rather than the needle. Mine eventually got clogged so well that the dr couldn't unclog it and said that's it and took it out. I had my surgery on Oct 11 and got the drain out the week of Thanksgiving. It still had fluid and I had it drained with the needle once.
The drain was annoying and uncomfortable. Hang in there! Eventually it will come out. I took it easy and made sure I stripped it often to keep it pulling fluid. But it never did get down to what the dr wanted. I promise you, the day they remove it will feel so wonderful. Plan on treating yourself to something on that day.
Jo - Congrats on the last PS appt. You are so positive. I hope I will have the same outlook as the time goes by. Sometimes I feel like the BC cloud over my head just won't clear away. Hard to believe it's been a year for me. I'm finally going back to see my primary dr. Haven't seen him in a couple years even though he's been in the loop for all the BC stuff. Figured it was time I got a list of things to check on and make sure I stay healthy.
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7 weeks for me too. Soon it will all be over and you will be able to forget about what a pain in the butt those drains are. BUT I do know your frustration now. I had a minor panic attack one night and wanted to yank them all out - endin gup pacing the house for a while trying to calm down. Looking back though I can say glad the drains did the job...no needle draining, no fluid build up.
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So glad this was a short journey for me. Had surgery in April and here it is Nov and I am done!!!! Even with a few glitches, it was so worth it. I feel so much better about myself. I would encourage anyone who had a lumpectomy and a good portion of your breast was taken, don't rule out reconstruction. I went for well over a year thinking this was not an option for me. So glad I found otherwise. FINALLY, I am to the point that I don't think about cancer. I am looking forward to an uneventful winter.
Hope everyone has a good weekend. For those who are in pain, sending gentle healing hugs.
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Like Jo, I had 2 drains on my left side. I also had one right under my foob. The one under my food came out first, about a week after I came home, about 12 days after surgery. My first one from my side (closer to the front) came out a week later. The last one came out almost a week after that. They were sore and a nuisance.
Now, I'm just waiting for my foob to stop jumping every time I cough, sneeze or laugh hard. Its kinda freaky!
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Made it through surgery, both surgeons said everything went great. I think it was 5 1/2 hours total. Got to come home Friday and on pain med's every 4 hours. I can get around just fine with the pain med's. Spend a lot of time sleeping which is great. Hubby just washed my hair for me in the kitchen sink.
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Hwhranch....so glad everything went well. Expect to sleep a lot. The first 2 weeks I had the pattern of a newborn baby. I woke up to eat ot use the bathroom. Your body needs the rest to heal properly so sleep as much as you can.
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hwhranch - Glad you made it home and you are doing well. Hoping for a speedy recovery.
momluke - my foob was jumping for sometime. I would drop things before I knew I what happened. After about 3 1/2 months, my PS told me he could fix it but it would require another surgery. He said sometimes there are extra nerves that they don't see and I guess I was one of those. He made a small incision along the axillary under my armpit and took care of the problem. I was a short day surgery which started at 7:30 and home by 11:15.
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hwhranch, I am so glad to hear you are doing fine. I have been waiting to hear, I would think it would be hard to sleep with the incision on your back. big hugs
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hwhranch - Glad you are home and sounds like you are doing well. Bet you felt much better after the hair washing. Does wonders. Take it easy and rest.
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Was a little nauseous today and I know it is from the pain med's, they do that to me if I take them for awhile. Time to start cutting back the dose. The constipation is bugging me. I have had milk of magnesia 3 times and still nothing. Trying to get up and around but walking for any length of time just wears me out.
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hwhranch - I know it is tiring to move around but keep it up - it is good to move around. I know the pain meds gave me constipation and the only way I could overcome that was to stop the pain meds. Heck, I didn't need them by that time anyway. Glad you are doing well and getting better.
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hwhranch - for me when I would have weird dreams the pain meds had to go. So I switched to tylenol. It's amazing that once I was home the actual pain was less than it was in those first few days in the hospital. I did sleep on the couch but mostly because I would wake up at weird times an didn't want to wake up my husband.
Moving around is good. Walk around the house. I had a routine from the living room to the family room.
Surprisingly the actual incision in my back for that lat muscle didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought.
I hope you are doing well.
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I did take 1 1/2 Pain med this morning but think I will switch to extra strength Tylenol later. I am up and moving around the house, up and down the Halls and around the sofa a couple times. I feel like I am very swollen but hubby says no. It takes a couple times trying to figure out how to get out of bed without killing yourself, lol<. And it is true, the incision on my back does not bother me at all. All the pain comes from both of the breasts and those muscles that you want to use./p>
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Hwhranch,
I have found that ibuprofen helps with my pain a little bit better than tylenol. That swollen feeling is the pits but it will subside. My acutal foob is still slightly swollen in one part of it. My PS is waiting for that to go down. Next month will be the beginning of getting my revisions. Hopefully it will be just a new nipple.
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My PS instructions said no ibuprofen or aspirin, extra strength Tylenol is ok to take. Also taking antibiotics 2x a day. Went outside and walked around the house a couple of times and empties my drains, they are doing really well. See the PS on Wednesday. Hoping the drains can come out then because that tape makes my skin itch like crazy.
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hwhranch...I forgot that quickly that you are fresh from surgery. You are right...way too early for ibuprofen because of the risk of bleeding!! The PS surgeon opened up the use of ibuprofen about 2-3 weeks after my surgery.
I will chalk my memory loss up to Tamoxifen!! (lol...not really...just old)
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Thanks for the responses to my question on how long ya'lls drains were in after a lat flap! My front drain came out last Friday...it is just this one in the back that is getting more painful as each day passes as it causes sharp pain right up against my spine! Of course, I should add (for the benefit of those who might just be reading trying to anticipate their journey based on what others share) that I had my surgery (lat flap for left side in response to failure of implant alone on left side from double MX last Dec) Friday, Nov. 2, 2012, was home on Sunday around noon with last pain pill (hydrocodone) taken at about 2 pm on Sunday ( I have an aversion to taking pain medication). I took aleve for the next 24 hours and from then on nothing. I was off from work last week but returned to work today (1 week and 3 days after) and the pain from the drain in the back is pretty bad. I have a dr appt tomorrow and am really hoping I may get it out then...we shall see! I have been out walking every day...I really feel like the activity is helpful...my PS is not wild that I try to be so active so quickly so I am not sure I should be the proto-type for thinking individuals :-)
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flintviolet - Just remember the drains are the worst part. The rest of this is doable. I was pretty active once I got home inspite of the fact that I had the lat flap done one day and more surgery the next day for a hematoma - total of 4 days in the hospital instead of 2 that was in the original plan. So I am also one of those individual that should not be the proto type for thinking individuals. Glad to hear you are doing well and hoping you get the pesky drain out soon.
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Hi Everyone~ just had my Lat.Dorsi Flap thing done Nov. 6th, "voting day". LoL just had right side done, surgery took about 2 1/2hrs, spent 1 night at the hospital. Doc had me take shower before i left hospital. Took dressing off and just have steri strips on. Taking Keflex, antibiotic, Percocet for pain and Robaxin, muscle relaxer. The Flexeril, muscle relaxer didn't work for me. Have 2 drains, incision on back around 6+inches, "football boobie" incision about 12 inches oval. Most pain for me is in the back, feels like a giant charlie horse. Was totally constipated, took stool softeners & nothin', took Miralax twice and that did the job. This is day 6 and back charlie horses r still killin' me, boob really hasn't hurt much. Drains are doin' good. Back drains lots more than front. Went to PSurgeon today and said it looks all good, going back on 21st to remove stitches and possibly 1 drain. And first expansion. hwhranch~how are you doin? Personally this surgery hurts way worse than the mastectomy. Sleeping is nice propped up with pillows and arm elevated with pillow/blanket. I have lymphedema, was worried about that, but so far, so good. Put sleeve and glove on after surgery.
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Hang in there Julle..it will get better!
I had the mastectomy and lat dorsi reconstruction all in the same surgery...I was in surgery for 8 hrs!
I've been told that just a mastectomy is not so bad as it relates to pain.
I hope and pray your recovery is quick! Take it easy and get plenty of rest! You need it!0 -
julee - Glad to hear you are doing well. From the time I got home, i started doing gentle stretches for the back. The lower part of my back muscle was the tightest and once that loosened up the rest seemed to fall into place. I did sleep in a recliner the entire time I had the drains. Once they were out then I could go back to my bed. It does get better. It is such a relief to get those pesky drains out - for me - they were the worst. Sending gentle healing hugs.
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i have not read all the posts, sorry, so this might have been said already. i had a free tram 10 years ago and i never regretted it. still run and excercise and i am still working full time. took awhile for recovery but that was expected. just wanted to pass along that i had a great experience hope all goes well with all you guys:)
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Thanks girls!!! I just updated all my info, didn't realize i had so much to put on. Life is so unexpected. But we must keep on truckin!!! lol
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Today is just depressing for me. Nothing wrong just seem to be depressed. Fought constipation for 4 days and now I have to run to the bathroom with diarrhea. Last night was back to the heavy night sweats which were not comfortable with a big ace bandage around my chest. Pain is all but gone, was always from the left flap procedure, never much pain from the mastectomy or the incision on the back. Husband has had to change bandages every day and that is getting old. I guess it has all caught up with me because all I want to do today is cry and I am not a person who sets around and feels sorry for herself at all!! The drain output has really gone down and hopefully most of them can be removed tomorrow. I have 3.
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Hang in there hwhranch. There are definitely days that are emotionally sucky (for lack of a better word). Praying for some emotional sunshine soon!
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hwhranch: hey, you are entitled to feeling down and depressed. You have had major surgery involving amputation (sorry but it's the truth), pain, aches, constipation now diarrhea, hurt all over, and poor dear hubby has the unlovely job of changing your dressings each day. So cry. It's a good release. Feel sorry for yourself. I do, it's a big thing to go through. So today is a down day. There is tomorrow. And it does get better, I promise you!
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hwhranch - Oh sweetie! I have to agree with the others. You have the right to have a depressed day. This can be overwhelming. Just remember you have just had major surgery. You poor body is trying its best to recover. My hubby was a trooper and changed my bandages - I felt bad after a while asking him to do it and would try myself. Tomorrow is going to be a much better day. Hope you are able to get rid of those pesky drains. You will feel sooo much better with those gone. Gentle healing hugs!
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