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Latissimus Dorsi Breast Reconstruction

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Comments

  • Floridakt
    Floridakt Member Posts: 11

    Hi everyone,

    I had my Lat Flap surgery Friday and got home yesterday afternoon. The surgery was 8 hours long. My PS took out my TEs and did not replace them. I was starting to get some infection around them. She wants me to wait 3 months or more to let everything settle down and heal.



    Thanks to all of you for posting your experiences and keeping me in your prayers. This surgery has been painful. I have been on my meds as ordered and that has kept the pain at bay, but made me weepy and teary eyed. I have little upper body strength and when I move I feel ripples in my back. It may be the tubing for the drains. I am praying the skin heals well and I can start recon in 3 months. I was sad my recovery will be prolonged but the TES were killer for me and I don't think I could have handled both at the same time. See the PS tomorrow and will know more on how she thinks things look. I am praying I have no more skin necrosis.



    Karen

  • Nicole4
    Nicole4 Member Posts: 56

    Hi Karen, I am glad you are at home, it will get easier every day.  My surgery was also 8 hours long.  I am so glad that is behind me

    Tomorrow will be two weeks for me, and I have some purple skin around my scar and wondered if it was skin necrosis.  how and when does it start and is it painful? 

    If you have skin necrosis, do they always take out the tissue expanders?

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545

    Karen,  So glad you are at home.  The "ripple" feeling does go away.  Everything is probably a little tight feeling right now.  As you can slow do stretches you will get your strength back.  The worst part of this surgery was the drains - once they come out this it is smooth sailing after that.  Please keep us posted on your progress.

  • cat24
    cat24 Member Posts: 47

    Karen, I'm glad you are at home too.  And this surgery was suprisingly painful, I can't imagine dealing with both sides, one was bad enough. 

    I will be glad when these drains go away too.  I got one out last Monday and one on Thursday and I don't see the PS again until 12/13.  I'm hoping both can be taken out then, but my output is still pretty high on both.

  • Momluke
    Momluke Member Posts: 91

    Its been a long journey for you hwhranch...looks like a horizon is coming soon for you.

  • Floridakt
    Floridakt Member Posts: 11

    Thanks for the well wishes everyone. I am so down today. I guess it is all the narcotics. I am just miserable. I know it will get better, but now everything is so sore.



    Nicole4, my necrosis started with my skin sharing mastectomy. I think the BS caused it being to aggressive with the skin. The skin was very black and never healed. As time went on, it just got blacker. My PS tried debriefing it and trimming it out. My skin was very tight and I had so little. The lat flap surgery was my only option.



    My biggest misery is I cannot get comfortable. Oh well, enough crying for me.

    Thanks again for all your support and prayers.



    Karen

  • likepink
    likepink Member Posts: 2

    Hi Floridakt things will improve once drains are out slept in recliner seems likeforever  I s I am 9months out now just waiting for expander removal not sure how my nipple will be replaced??   you and the others are in my prayers. 

  • Flintviolet
    Flintviolet Member Posts: 33

    @Karen: so glad you are home...praying every day gets better. The emotional roller coaster can seem overwhelming, I know! I just try to take it a day at a time and find positive happy thoughts to dwell on vs the many challenges. Having had 7 surgeries in the last year with two more ahead of me and still sleeping in a recliner for a year now(even though I am normally not a back sleeper).... But it is good in that it helps avoid wrinkles...right? :-). Hang in there...it does get better. I am 5 weeks out on Friday and getting my range of motion back. Like Jo said, small, gentle stretches help.

  • mclark55
    mclark55 Member Posts: 92

    Floridakt - so sorry you're having such a rough time!  Do you have someone who could rub essential oils into your back?  Peppermint and wintergreen are especially helpful for pain and inflammation and will speed the healing process.  If you have really fresh incisions, just keep them from getting right into the wounds, otherwise these two oils are really helpful - they made a huge difference to me.  A light back massage would help you rest better too.  Wish I could help you!  Sending hugs from Denver.

  • waitingtoexhale_26
    waitingtoexhale_26 Member Posts: 13

    hello everyone I had my surgery last year in May.I had a3 centimeter tumor in my right breast . which left a big scar afterwards right next to my right underarm .it's ugly and I don't like it much .I just couldn't have the chemo first I had to have that thing removed that's all I could think of .because the tumor was so close to the skin ,I was told right away that I would lose that skin .so I had the ld flap.I wasn't given any other options . so after chemo and radiation a year later I wanted to have that port removed and then reconstruction .all that was done July ninth 2012 .because the right breast was now larger than the healthy left breast during surgery he put a small implant in the healthy left breast and put an implant a permit implant in the right .as it turned out the left breast was WAY bigger now than the right .so back to surgery .on October 15th 2012 I had a smaller implant put in the left healthy breast he also had to move the nipple up on the left breast to make it even with the right .I'm not sure if he replaced the right implant I told him I liked the size of it before surgery and that I wanted the left breast the same size as the right .it's been almost 2 months since I had the surgery and now he's talking about the next step which is reconstructing my nipple on the right .....here's my problem since I had radiation on the right side and of course not on the left and I did not have a mastectomy on the left so I still have my natural tissue in the left breast ...so of course the left breast projects farther out than the right 1 the radiated side .at my last visit he said my breast we're even .I would sure like to know where he was looking .it's very noticeable that the left breast sticks out farther than the right and it shows through my clothes .I don't want to have nipple reconstruction as long as my breasts are not even .has anyone else had this problem? and if you have does the breast eventually become the same size?

  • lalove55
    lalove55 Member Posts: 21

    I have heard from quite a few women who are experiencing what you are.  I'm one of them!  My left healthy breast (mine doesn't have an implant) sticks out normally.  My Lat-Flap-with-implant breast is more flat and squashed looking.  I have described it as a balloon that someone is pushing down in the middle with a fist.  I have heard other ladies describe it as hamburger bun shaped.  Someone told me that the doctor should have used a "higher profile" implant, so it would protrude more.  I guess you could ask your doctor about that.   I have had so much trouble with capsular constracture I won't be getting a new "high profile" implant.  I have surgery scheduled in January to have the implant removed.  Bummer, huh?  But at this point, all I care about is for it to stop hurting!  With one so much more squashed looking, I've never had a matching set anyway.  It shows thru my clothes too, so I know where you're coming from!

  • waitingtoexhale_26
    waitingtoexhale_26 Member Posts: 13

    Lalove55 yes that's exactly what it looks like ...and kinda looks like it pulls to the right but I think that's the flap that's misleading my eye .anyway I'm upset about it and he will fix it I didn't ask for an implant in the left breast .but now that I have it and he has already relocated my left nipple ...there's no turning back he will fix them so they are even .I'll see to it .this is hard enough let alone having to go around looking lop cited .and thank you very much for your reply

  • Floridakt
    Floridakt Member Posts: 11

    Hi all,

    Finally, GOOD NEWS! My PS said everything looks good and the skin is pink and healthy and no necrosis. I am so happy. The first good news since my first surgery a month ago. My boob looks like Frankenboob, but I don't care. If I can get reconstruction and feel halfway normal, I will be happy.



    Likepink thank you for the prayers. It is wonderful to have you and all the others women who have battled this monster on my side. I keep all of you in my prayers too.



    Flint violet, why so many surgeries? If all goes well, 5 will be the total count if all goes as planned, but does that ever happen? They are all grueling. Praying for no more detours. I think this surgery is the hardest one to get comfortable with.



    Mcclark a message with those oils sound heavenly. Can you buy them at a health food store? I will do anything to help the healing process.



    Nicole, let me know how your skin is doing. I will pray it heals nicely.
    Lalove, did you have a TE? I thought that was the whole purpose of using those to get a normal profile. Did your PS give you a choice of what kind of implant to use?



    Thanks to you all for your support. This thread has been a life saver to me.



    Karen

  • hwhranch
    hwhranch Member Posts: 126

    Going in this morning for my 2nd fill.  I sure hope they get the right breast caught up with the LD left side.  Right now I am so lopsided and can't do much about it except wear loose tops, lol.  I don't really give a chit about what others think but I would sure like to be somewhat even in size.  Last time the nurse said that if I could handle it they would do more on the right and get it caught up somewhat.  I really, really like my PS and I hate reading the horror stories some of you are going through.

    and Karen, good news about the good skin!!!  I'm sure that was a relief.

  • Momluke
    Momluke Member Posts: 91

    Karen,

    That's some great news!!! 

  • jwilco
    jwilco Member Posts: 209

    Karen - happy the skin was ok. 

  • cat24
    cat24 Member Posts: 47

    I had four drains, now down to two.  My PS said the one in my back would stay in the longest, but that has really slowed down around 30 ml yesterday and only about 15 today.  The one in the breast is going strong - output of 90-100 ml a day.  Did anyone else experience this?

  • Floridakt
    Floridakt Member Posts: 11

    Hi all,

    I have had a little bit of a rough day and reading through the end of the rainbow stories about nipples cheer me up so much. I have a question that maybe some of you can answer. I am having some weird feelings. Can you let me know if these feeling are normal?



    1. It feels like the lat muscle they pulled around and the muscle on my back jumps and pops around.

    2. It feels like it is itching between the muscles in front. I do not have TEs yet.

    3. I am swollen up pretty bad under both arms and can't really put them down.



    Are these normal to experience after surgery? I am only 5 days out. Thank to anyone who can answer. I know it is different for everyone.



    Karen

  • cat24
    cat24 Member Posts: 47

    Karen:

    I have not had the first two things you mentioned but did have underarm soreness.  It helped to put a pillow under my arm to rest it on.

  • jwilco
    jwilco Member Posts: 209

    Karen - I think that what you are feeling is pretty normal.  Even a year later and sometimes on my lat side I get that "puffy" feeling like a small pillow is there.  I think it's the numbness.  The itching is weird and will come and go.  It's like an itch you can't really get to.  Very strange, but normal.  Just the nerves healing.   The nipples are definately something to look forward to.  I got my nip in August and the tattoo last Friday and it's made a huge difference in acceptance of the weird Lat Foob

  • hwhranch
    hwhranch Member Posts: 126

    Yes Karen, when I move my lat side arm the muscle jumpe around and it feels strange. I get itches in weird places also and I am 4 weeks out of surgery today and have TE's,.



    Got my 2ns fill today and they put double (120cc) in my right to try to catch up. Yowza!!! Does it hurt!! I took a muscle relaxer and 4 Advil at 11am and headed off most of the pain, right now it's pretty good unless I raise my arm much. Going to take a real pain pill before I go to bet tonight so I can get comfortable and sleep.

  • cat24
    cat24 Member Posts: 47

    Everyone says their muscle is jumping around.  I have noticed this - is something wrong?

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545

    cat24 - No!  What has happened is the nerve to the muscle was not cut during surgery. This is happen to me and 4 months after my recon, I had another surgery(outpatient) to cut those nerves and now my muscle does not jump around.  

  • cat24
    cat24 Member Posts: 47

    I meant I have NOT noticed this, so does that mean my nerves were cut?

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545

    cat24 - Most likely.  My PS did cut mine at the initial recon surgery but must have missed some.  Had to go back in and get the rest.

  • Floridakt
    Floridakt Member Posts: 11

    A big thanks to all of you! I am glad to hear I am not a freak. My small tissue mounds feel hard too. This is certainly a rough surgery. Tomorrow will be a week and I am still feeling like I was hit by a truck. The posts by you ladies who have made it to the other side give me hope that things will get better soon. I have spent the last month immersed in surgery or recovery. I am glad not to be scheduled for anymore surgery for the next few months and working toward putting this behind me. Thank you all for sharing on this message board.

    Karen

  • hwhranch
    hwhranch Member Posts: 126

    my muscle does not jump around, my nerves were cut...but when you move or use your arm in a certian way the muscle that used to move in your back is now in your breast and it still responds when it is used.  It flexes your breast so to speak.

  • Momluke
    Momluke Member Posts: 91

    Hwhranch,

    I know exactly what you're talking about. When I sneeze or cough it tenses up too. My PS said it will take anywhere from 6 months to a year for it to "realize" that its not in the back anymore and that is when atrophy will kick in.

  • hwhranch
    hwhranch Member Posts: 126

    Geeze my boobs are Rocks right now...those TE's are hard.  Baby steps, I keep telling myself.

  • Nicole4
    Nicole4 Member Posts: 56

    I had my first fill today and I didn't feel a thing.  She put 60cc in each, they are looking really good and I feel good.  I also had my last herceptin YAY!  so many reasons to celebrate this weekend.

    ps said that my skin was healing nicely, the discolouration is from radiation, may or may not go away...I will stop worrying for now. :)

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