Latissimus Dorsi Breast Reconstruction
Comments
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Hello! I did start all that at the hospital, fever was not higher than 101, went down a little, they said it was not a big deal, put me on antibiotics and sent me home. I have normal temperature now,but I have chills and sweating like crazy. Because of that I don't shower, but do a sponge bath. Drains hurt me too. Can hydromorfan give me chills? Or this stupid cold doesn not want to go away? It is day number 6 after surgery and I feel like c. My skin is itching too, there was some rash around the incisions...
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Hello! I did start all that at the hospital, fever was not higher than 101, went down a little, they said it was not a big deal, put me on antibiotics and sent me home. I have normal temperature now,but I have chills and sweating like crazy. Because of that I don't shower, but do a sponge bath. Drains hurt me too. Can hydromorfan give me chills? Or this stupid cold doesn not want to go away? It is day number 6 after surgery and I feel like c. My skin is itching too, there was some rash around the incisions...
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Momluke - Is it breast skin or from the lat so it's your back skin? I had skin sparring so I only have a round circle of "back skin" on my boob. It's where my fake nipple and tattoo are now. Anyway, I do notice that skin as being slightly different and a little dryer than my actual breast skin.
Keep using the coco butter and hopefully it will improve. Plus the massaging in of any sort of lotion will help the scar tissue.
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Olgah - I had a terrible problem with a red, horribly itchy rash around my incisions as well. It made me want to get out a BBQ fork and scratch my back incision! Tuned out to be an allergic reaction to the glue that they used to close up the incision. My own doctor at home got me a prescription of a steroid cream (Triamcinolone Acetonide cream) which I put on the rash, and that finally cleared it up quickly. If they used glue on you, I'd ask for that cream right away. The itchy-ness can almost be the worst part!
After my surgery, I had some episodes of getting the chills, I shook so bad that it was like all of my muscles went into spasms. They would put heated blankets on me, which made me not feel so cold, but the shakes & spasms kept going. They finally gave me a muscle relaxant, and that gave me a lot of relief. I don't know for sure, but I have heard that chills and shaking can be a residual effect of anesthesia.
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Jwilco- I have a large football patch from my back up front and its the skin on the patch that's dryest. I've been doing the cocoa butter at least once a day, sometimes up to 3 times a day. I guess I must have a dry back and now I'm just now seeing it since part of it is up front.
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Random question....is the tatooing painful? I have sensation on the circle (top part of the lollypop) so I can't imagine getting tatooed there! Do they use an actual tatoo needle/gun? Are you sedated while this is going on??
I am done with chemo and am starting to think about replacing the expanders with implants. All info on this process appreciated. Thanks!
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momluke - I had the same problem with my "football patch." Guess we now know just how dry our backs do get. Believe it or not, I used Gold Bond foot cream on mine and it cleared it up after awhile and I no longer have the problem. I also use that cream on my knees in the summer when they tend to peel.
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I used viatamin e lotion. I don't have the footbal patch area, but rather a small circle where my aerola and nipple were -it did get rather dry.
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WOW, i just read everything from the past week and you guys made me laugh alot, talking about looking in the mirror and bending over and such. LOL After i get the real implant i will check all that out, for now i just have a softball as a boob. LOL so, my husband was massaging my back by the incision and it hurt soooo bad, he said it feels like a bone. Do you think that is just the part of the muscle that got sewn back together or just a tight muscle or what? it seems to go all the way across to almost my armpit. I feel like it is all tight and just want to stretch my arm up to the sky all the time. It is cold here also, was wondering if that is part of it. HHMMMMMM... so many questions. Did your husbands massage your back or did you go to the massage person? I am feeling like my husband doesn't really understand what my body feels like all the time, it is starting to piss me off. Does he remember what i went thru?!?!?!? I think he just wants to get on with life, and i just feel like... that is never going to happen for me. MY BODY WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!!! Does anyone agree with me??? I dont complain about my pain or aches and one of my husbands friends said maybe i should. That was weird coming from a guy. He's talked to my husband and that is the response he told his wife, and she told me. uuuughgghghhhhhh..... SERIOUSLY!!!
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I totally understand where you are coming from. My back feels tight all the time from lower back up to right across the incision line which for me is right across my back as I had bilateral.
I also know what you're saying about people wanting to move on. I often feel people get fed up with me. I try not to moan but living with constant pain and trying to function is hard0 -
julee - try myofacial massage, it really helps release scar tissue. I have a PT who does it once a week. Stretching also helps.
yes my hubby massages...he wants me to move on but tough when the constant pain/tightness reminds you of BC every single day
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Julee, I understand perfectly, and it's valid for all of us. The tight area is scar tissue. You have to think that you have an area on your back, going roughly from your armpit, to the spine right below the shoulder blades, spine at waist level, and a point under your arm at waist level that is scar tissue - that is where the latissimus dorsi muscle was lifted from, the harvesting area. Of course you will have scar tissue in all that area. And stretching is exactly what you need to do, that and massages. I am almost 3 1/2 years after the surgery (sept 2009) and if I go for more than two weeks with no massage in that area it starts tightening until I can barely breathe, it feels like a corset that is too tight. And when touching it, it feels like there's rawhide under the skin.
On a different point of discussion, I did not forget about the website, I am still working on it, but I have been to a week-end fair as a vendor this past weekend and I am still tired. I will be working on it in the following days, I want to make it in a specific way, so that members can write their stories and it would also have medical news and whatnots.
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Tattoo question - no it didn't hurt at all. I had mine done by a permanent makeup artist. It was covered by insurance. She works closely with my PS office so between the two they did all the insurance paperwork.
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hi ladies
wanted to post about my mtg with the PS and patient relations today. I went through all my issues, shared some similar stories of the kind ladies that PM'd me from here. I know this is not going to help me but if it can spare someone then its not in vain. The PS is actually a very compassionte guy, he said he has been thinking about my case a lot and cannot understand why im having all these complications. Well we all know why. I do believe him, because they do not perform as many lats as DIEP's so as a percentage of total surgeries its low (add in all the ppl who just do TE's/implants aswell) therefore it could be the case that they havent had anyone with such severe complications. I don't know - just my theory. Anyway i told them this procedure should only be used at the absolute last resort and the potential complications explained IN DETAIL to the patient. FULL DISCLOSURE. I also explained that proper physiotherapy should be provided after this surgery by someone well versed in this type of surgery
what annoys me the most is that their speciality is micro-surgery - this should be offered first not the lat even if it is only done on the radiated breast
anyway - they are referring me to a sports medicine specialist who will be conferring with my PT on physio/re-hab
i hope this helps other women who come to this thread looking for guidance when picking this surgery - i wish i had more info but i chose to trust my surgeon and discount all the "horror" stories because i didn't think it would be me. Ha! was I wrong
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at least you got somewhere and it will maybe make that particular surgeon think again. Just sorry you had to go through all the additional stress to get a minor result. Us women should never have been put in this position in the first place!
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THANK YOU LADIES SOOO MUCH!!!
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Julee - my husband still, a year out, massages my back and my side. I did go to a therapist, both massage and physical, but after three months I stopped. The physcial theraphy was GREAT - the stretching felt wonderful. And yes, often I think my husband doesn't really get it - I mean he knows what I went through, saw the scars on my back, the drains on my side, my inability to lift my arms or button my own shirt. But I do think he just wants it to be over, to move on, to stop having to rub me down. (That said, when I spoke to him today - he is on a business trip- he wanted to make sure I was not overdoing it and I am one year out!) I find that if I sit for a long period of time I need a deep massage. and yes, I feel like my body will never be the same. Even though my ps did a great job I wish for my old boob back the one with feeling, the one with a real nipple, the one that my husband isn't afraid to touch.
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Alright ladies, the website is fully functional now. I will tweak the look of it later, right now i'm testing and populating with some articles. You can register on it, and try it yourselves.
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Fitzdc - your words totally rang true with me. I am nearly two years post surgery. I want it over so I can understand how our husbands/partners/family/friends feel. They just want everything back to normal so the impact on them is minimal - that's just human nature I suppose. Everybody still asks how I am doing but what they want to hear is that you're fine. Once I was having a bad day and when someone asked me the usual question I told them how it really was - her face was a picture!
This site has really helped me cos we understand how it really is!
Day - website looking great!0 -
It's been a little over a year for me and my husband was very supportive during all my surgeries, decisions, etc. But I think he also wants to just move forward. Which is good. But sometimes I want to dwell on it a little. I link maybe the moving on is his way of dealing with it. Sort of a man's way of thinking...what's the problem?....how do we fix it?....there, fixed, done!
I miss the way I used to feel my body but it's getting better. The other weekend he surprised me in the shower. He hadn't done that in over a year. I think it helps with the tattoo and nipple. I understand. But I was also worried if it would ever get better. For me it has. I wish the same for you all too.
When I get down I try to remind myself how truly lucky I am to have come out of this BC crap ok. I'm truly grateful.
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jwilco - It has been 9 months since my lat surgery and all is well in my house. It is funny, I did not realize that after my lumpectomy, my DH did not pay too much attention to me. I wa so focused on treatment and also for some time, I could have cared less if I had sex or not. Guess time got away from me and it had been a long time. I had such a defect, I think it just plan turned him off. Now that I have had the recon, well it is a different story now. He was also very supportive and was there for me throughout this whole journey. I also often wondered if it would ever get better and I now know that it does. I don't think about BC on a daily basis. I do have the constant reminder of the slight tightness in the back but even that is getting better and it certainly does not slow me down.
Hope everyone has a great day.
Hugs & Kisses
Jo
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My husband used to wash my back in the bath and tell me about his day. He would sit on the edge of the tub and lather me up. Well, last week was the first time he did that in over a year. (he would rub my back, but I always managed to keep the front covered so as not to freak him out with a strange looking breast) Maybe the fact that the breast now has a nipple, maybe the fact that the back scar is healed, maybe the fact that I am less 'ashamed'. Whatever it is, it is most welcome.
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Well, Thursday was my final appt with my PS. They took the final pictures. Everything is healed up great, the nipples look great, the scars are fading, and I'm ready to move on to the next journey in my life. I told them that I was leaving to go to Florida and they told me what I need to do once I get there to get my records. He also suggested that if I don't feel comfortable finding another PS down there, to stay come back and see him in a year. I will miss the office staff, the doctor, the courteous nature of their care. But I am glad that this part of the recovery is now over.
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kerrberlady - I felt the same way when my final pictures were taken. The office staff was so very nice and the PS was wonderful. Doesn't hurt that he was really good looking. LOL! I also wanted to move on. Hoping the only thing I have left to do in this journey is finish my Tamoxifen - 2 years and 11 months but who is counting.
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Did anyone not get final pictures taken? I didn't and now I'm wondering if I really do look ok. I think he took some in the beginning, but none at my last appt. Is that weird? He did ask if I would do a testimonial for his website. I said ok, but haven't done it yet. When I had regular breast augment years ago the PS (different one that for BC) took tons of pictures.
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Well...I was scheduled for my nipple reconstruction on Friday but unfortunately I will have to reschedule. I don't have my 10% that my insurance company doesn't cover! I already owe my PS for the Lat dorsi.
UGH! BC doesn't attack just the body...it attacks the pocketbook too!0 -
Hello everyone! I had my LD on 22 Jan, and PS filled me with 400 ml. Next Wednesday I am going there, and they, probably remove 2 left drains( I hope!) and do some fills too. My question is: is it too soon, to fii, just 2 weeks after LD? I had such bad experience with TE before, I am scared.
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I wouldn't be able to tell you. I had skin-sparing and direct implants.
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Sorry I can't be of help... skin sparing and no fills.
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they were going to do mine 2 wks after the LD but didnt because i was in a lot of pain. I think if you can tolerate it will be fine. Just go slowly!
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