Moving On......After the Flap
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No fires, Sbe, no fires!
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Nihahi, when I heard $131 for the 3D tattoo, that's what clinched the deal. I was fully expecting her to say $300 - lol. We are headed to Edmonton for Thanksgiving. Have not seen Emily since July. She is now sitting, eating by herself, sleeping through the night etc. Seven months old,lots of stuff going on, and time for grandma to visit. She is very interested in the cellphone when we facetime, and she definitely knows my voice. Maybe because I'm the only one speaking Afrikaans to her?
Sbel, we could certainly make a plan for a 3D tattoo party in Nanaimo - that will be pure fun!
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Jeannie, our fire departments are on high alert. With the heat and wind, it's almost a given that half the state will be in flames.
Liefie, enjoy little Emily! "Eating by herself..."
When our son, Aubrey's uncle, was visiting a couple of months ago, Aubrey (13 months old) was sitting in her high chair waiting for her mashed potatoes. I asked the Uncle to please feed the baby and handed him the bowl. He put the spoon in the masked potatoes, put the bowl down on her highchair tray, and said to the baby, "here you go." Hahaha...I had to swoop in and snatch up the bowl before Aubrey dived in.
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I had been worried about my daughter and the fire possibilities, Sbel, but SHE SHOWED UP at my door this afternoon with a big bouquet of flowers! What a sweet surprise. Izzy is still in San Diego with Dad this time.
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wow, lively couple of days here!
Thanks for the recap of your weekend with dh, Marty, so glad your cute shoes survived the rain storm. What a wonderful three days! Any pictures?
Pictures, liefie and sbe, baby pics always make me smile.
It's raining here and am laying low without rocks, trees, nor sticks, sob sob sob.
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Marty, how very cool that was. The gun salutes I have heard at Memorial Day parades truly are deafening but impressive. Glad you had this time with your husband.
Tattoo topic- Liefie what a bargain! Yow! I saw someone's tattoo from where I am going and it looks nice, it is my understanding that I can go to Vinnie next year if for some reason this doesn't take or something but I do consider just forgetting UPenn and going to him some days, I wanted to be all done this year if possible but will know for sure closer to my December appt.
Have been struggling a lot more with job stress and yesterday emailed office people and told them to increase my appt times with patients to 20 minutes like some of the other NPs. Was always proud I could "keep up with the docs" since they do 15 minutes but I am realizing I have nothing to prove and when I cover a zillion people it is just so stressful and there is no reason for me to do that to myself.
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Just got some info from the person who will be doing my tattoo, and I thought others might find it interesting.
I have sensation in both nipple/areola areas, (lifted natural breast and my flap recon breast). This is a pretty good thing, except when I think about the tattoo process. I asked her if it would be ok if I used a numbing agent like EMLA cream prior to the procedure. Her opinion is that the numbing agent changes something in the makeup of the fluid between the layers of skin, and this makes the tattoo "take" inconsistent. Does anyone have experience with this scenario??
Guess I'm just going to have to suck it up to get to the finish line!
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Nihahi - think sucking it up is the best approach, though an ativan might help. Vinnie said the same thing - no numbing cream. Of course, there is always a bullet to bite on
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Nihahi, I was told to use ELMA by my PS's office and I think it did make the ink inconsistent. I am numb anyway so won't be using it when I get them fixed.
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Maybe a glass of wine would help any pain of tattooing? Or champagne to celebrate the conclusion of this journey.
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Yes,
marty, nihahi needs one the of big ones from the 21 gun salute.0 -
Even without numbing, how bad is it? Everywhere you look, there are people with "ink." A shot of Irish whiskey, close your eyes and think of England.
Of course, it will be ME who will be howling at our FippleInk Party. Liefie, call Sandra and ask her if she gives group rates. No kidding. This would be GREAT.
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On the other hand, my fipples are so numb you could surgically implant a jeep under each of them, no anesthesia, no problem.
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you are all nutso!!!!! I'm going with a pre-tat ativan, and a post tat glass of wine. Should put me out for about a week....
Am I the only one with sensation???? It's not "normal", for sure, but I just about levitated off the table when my PS "widened" the abscess tunnel to remove the offending suture after my nip recon. He almost swallowed his mask in surprise!
edited to add: You all know about the full lunar eclipse tonight, right!!!! Of course, it's gotten cloudy here....like it always seems to when the aurora is dancing, or meteor showers are happening.
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Yes, our lunar eclipse will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 0300. Since Jerry gets up at 0430 and I get up at a slovenly 0445, we'll just set the alarm back a bit.
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Nihahi, I have some sensation and I've noticed when I take a shower that I can feel the water hitting my nips more and more. It's weird!
I hope you all got a lovely look at the eclipse in those parts of the world where it was visible!
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Heavy fog here which is especially sad because I am usually awake at 3 or so, probably because I'm so HOT! Maybe I'm what is between the sun and the moon!!
Nihahi, you can do it. My oldest has huge tattoos and they took hours. Yours will be a blink of an eye.
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No lunar sightings here....cloudy (rats!!!!).
Jeannie...now whenever I see clouds, I'll think of you .... vapourizing the atmosphere
.sbe....OMG....seriously, do you and Jerry commute to Kansas or something????? If I got up at that hour, I'd be snoozing by noon.
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Sorry I missed the party here last night. I will cheer the fipple tatoo party!
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Jeannie, yes, Emily 'eating by herself' is more like Emily messing by herself - lol. I have to admit I spoonfed all my babies because I could not stand the mess. If that was a serious lapse on my part, so be it. DD insists Em should do this herself . . . she has way more patience than me. Will stay far away from Em during mealtimes this weekend though, but the dog loves it for obvious reasons. When Em's done, the floor is clean, a win-win situation all around.
I have no feeling in the foob and fipple whatsoever, so will go in cold for the tattoo. Sbel, go google 'Sandra's Ink' in Nanaimo. If you are serious, we can go together. What fun that will be! I don't drink alcohol at all, but we WILL have champagne during and afterwards to celebrate the final step in this whole crazy, epic rollercoaster. YEEE HAAAA! BRING IT ON!
Enjoy, I love your attitude. You are so right - you have nothing to prove. You have already proved enough. You go girl!
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Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving everyone!
Tomorrow I'm going in for my nipples. I can't really believe that three years after my diagnosis I'm going in for a final procedure. I'm very very nervous - mostly because I'm going to be awake. But also I'm worried that they'll be ugly. I'm doing the right thing, aren't I?
I'm also getting rid of a dog-ear. My sister told me to tell the surgeon that he better be more careful that he was last time. My scar was thicker than I expected, and 'angrier', and my belly button is still red, so it's really important to me that this is an improvement.
I'll certainly be taking an ativin. Two, if they let me.
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Janet, nipples are GOOD! Mine are almost complete, just waiting for tattoos.
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Janet, I really like my nipples. I had them done in February. They were huge at first but have settled down now. I, too, was awake for them and it was fine. My PS considers nipples as arts and crafts compared to DIEP and we just chatted the whole time. I'm going in again in December to have a couple places in my ab scar revised. Compression for Christmas.
I'll be awake then, too. I'm getting my tattoos redone in a different appt. It will be three years since diagnosis for me in January. I really hope I don't have any more recon procedures in 2015! You can do this, Janet! I'll be thinking of you.0 -
Thanks Jeannie - I remember following your entries about your procedure. I must confess - there have been times over the last couple of days when I thought - If Jeannie did it, I can do it!
How long are they huge for? I don't like big nippples. I remember being at the YMCA when I was about 12 and I came face to face with the biggest nipples I'd ever seen - they looked like Christmas tree ornaments. I've been traumatized every since.
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I also have another question. I'm getting a dog ear done. Will I be housebound for a few days, or can I be comfortably out?
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Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canucks!
Janet....I second everyone else, you can do this, and it makes such a difference!
They seem huge at first.....they do shrink down, I think mine took about a month before I was happy with it. I had to have an "anchor suture" removed a couple months later, and now it is a tiny bit less prominent, and a perfect height/size for me.
I have not regretted for one moment getting the nipple recon to once again have two. It made such a difference in a flap becoming a breast again, mentally and emotionally, for me. I was freaking about the "awake" part too, ativan made it absolutely a non-issue for me. After having another procedure afterwards without ativan...I now know I need it, so would take it without any hesitation.
I have a tattoo appt in a couple weeks.....decided to forego the freebie from the PS and going with a local gal. I was dx'd 23 years ago, next week.....I cannot wait to finish the journey, once and for all!
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Janet, I'm probably not the one to ask about size. I had heard that they can shrink to nothing so I said, "Go big or go home!" They are fine now. I would think the dog ear would not require you to stay home. I wouldn't go ziplining or trapezing, though.
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Happy Thanksgiving Canucks!
Janey_M tomorrow, nihahi a couple of weeks:
Jeannie, you will be awake for ab-scar revision? I asked, but my ps would not do it. He said that preferred to put me under, so I would not move... My was on 9/30, and this time it did not open up again like the last two times. We will have to see how well it heals.
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Janet - all of the above. my nips will be 8 weeks old on Saturday my PS made me wear nipple protectors til all stitches and glue gone then 2 weeks more they have settled down a whole lot. When I first saw them I totally freaked I mean you could've hung ornaments from them. One thing to remember is that there is no support under them, just fatty tissue so they flatten easily. My PS has rebuilt nips for one patient 3 times as they keep disappearing. I bought 2 soma padded bras at 2 for 60 in a cup size larger to give them plenty of room to heal and hide the protectors. Some times I added a cosmetic cotton pad or two to further disguise when I had a fitted knit t on. There is an art to hiding in plain sight. Sooo happy with them and can not wait for tats in February.
Nihahi - congrats on 23 years! tats will be the icing on your cupcake!
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Morningsun, I may have used the wrong term. PS will fix two places, one on each side of ab. scar. One is just a stitch that has scar tissue around it, forming a little round bump. The other is a little more difficult--a weak area that is bulging a little. I am so numb there that I am not too worried about moving or being uncomfortable. I'm sure I'll get numbing injections, too. It is best for me because of my vision situation to avoid anesthesia that often lowers my bp. Yay for finish lines!
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