DIEP Flap Reconstruction 2016
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Hi ladies! I'm in the same boat with you smrlvr, getting very nervous and anxious! I get the radiation tracer injected in the C breast on Tuesday afternoon since my surgery starts early 8am Wednesday. Been switched to the Lovenox twice daily so hopefully the Xarelto I was taking for the blood clot is out of my system by Wednesday.
Just trusting in the Good Lord above to see me through this like he has the rest of this process🤗
Taag I liked the story of your daughters questioning the placement of the new foob, made me laugh out loud
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Grateful, I am about 2 months out from my stage 2 and finally feel back to normal. I was up and running a couple of weeks out, but tired easily. I was on lifting restrictions for 4-6 weeks. At 55, I guess o don't bounce back very quickly
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lol taag4 Yes! The real boob is not only in the wrong place, it has completely succombed to gravitational pull! I can't wait to get my real boob reduced and lifted. I swear, just love how it the foob looks in a t shirt with no bra lol...never thought that at 65 i'd look forward to bathing suot shopping
. glad to hear you are healing well - I found that it all was so much easier and quicker when the drains were out. I felt much less like an invalid. 0 -
Taag, the feeling will settle out over time. I am slowly getting feeling back, and that is nice--but it is slow! I sure like having breasts again. The feeling is so much better then the expanders were.
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Morning ladies!
Taag, I keep getting an "engorged" feeling. I also have an insane amount of side boob (caught myself checking out another womans side boob in comparison yesterday
Ooops), that is ridiculously hard. He says he will pull them forward during stage 2. Glad to hear all are doing well in their recovery. Ladies prepping for surgery, be thinking of ya. It'll be over before you know it.
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Thinking of rdgc today as she prepares mentally and physically for her surgery tomorrow. YOUVE GOT THIS!!
Yes, you can apply for a PE job. I taught PE for 20 of my 35 years in education. You will still be healing, but you can teach. However, you will need tweaks(stage 2's) this year. Think about when you can do this. You may need 2-3 weeks for each one. Christmas vacation is one and next summer. There are advantages, insurance wise, for getting it done during your insurance calendar year. Mine was July 1-June 30.
Thinking of you today and during your weeks of healing.
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simplicity - lol - I hear you on the side boob!
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I am supposed to be at the hospital at 5:45 am tomorrow. Very nervous. I hope they give me some good drugs as soon as possible. I think I am ready.
Donna, I will see you in the other side.!
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SM, they will. Seems I got mine almost as soon as I got back to pre op
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Hi ladies! I posted a while ago about having umx and DIEP sometime in July/August with Dr. Momoh at UM. He recommends 4-6 weeks PFC, and tomorrow is my sixth of 6 TC's (yea!!) I finally met the surgeon who will perform the mx today - Dr. Sabel with UM. No surgery date as of yet, as they need their radiologist to re-read my latest CT scan for two "concerning" areas (mediastinal lymph node and axilla spot that could be mets, but are likely something else - no one can seem to figure them out).
Anyway - Dr. Momoh suggested a recliner for sleeping for the first few weeks. Has anyone else done this - or is bed-sleeping possible? I suspect I'm going to be one of those patients he has to tell to "slow down" (I'm already dreading the no-running and no-yoga mandates during recovery), but if I can sleep in bed and roll to one side to rise, I'd really like to. I am not having an SNB or axillary node dissection, so perhaps that will allow me to use my arms a little more?
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Jenjenl, I guess none of us has heard from CarolinaAmy. Did you try Private messaging her
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Nancy, I slept in a bed. I purchased a 7" temperpedic foam wedge and found that helpful. You won't be able to sleep flat for at least a couple weeks, so the wedge is helpful. Others have just made a best of pillows.
Do be a good girl and take it easy. If you move too soon, you will not heal right. Be especially attentive to the liftingrestrictions.
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Thanks Cherrie!! I appreciate your words of encouragement. I'll be going in to the hospital at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow and the operation starts at 8 a.m.
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nancyhb, I managed okay in my bed (DH slept in the living room lol). I used a huge pillow under my legs and that worked fine. I was able to roll sideways by the time I got out of the hospital.
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Nancy, I did fine in my bed after BMX. I would suggest a recliner for DIEP or TRAM thou. I'm very hard to keep down too, but do be careful. Your insides need to heal just as your outsides do.
My incision separation has gotten a bit worse
Going to send the Dr a picture in the morning....0 -
Rdgc- hardest part is getting there. Good luck.
Nancy- my yoga practise really came into good use during my flap surgery. The nurses were amazed at how easily I was able to roll to my side and get in and out of bed. Also the yoga breath I found to be very calming laying in bed. It was basically the same deep breaths they were asking me to do every hour on the hour. I used my bed for both surgeries except for my flap surgery I used a step ladder to get into bed just because my bed is so high up. You will need lot of pillow strategically placed. Just had my husband move out of the bed I was always afraid he was going to roll over and hit me with his arm.
Stellamaris- I can't wait for that lift. I find it funny alway joking I wanted to get my boobs put back where they were suppose to be. I guess you have to be carefully what you wish for. Never thought it would be cancer that would allow me to do it.
Simplicity- Mines not so much side as in my arm pit. Hope that can be fixed. See my surgeon again next Tuesday.
Smrlvr-Will be thinking of you. I had to be at the hospital for 6am and was lights out by 8
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Good luck smrlvr and rdgc, I'm exactly a day after the both of you. I'll be praying for your smooth surgery and quick healing! See you both on the other side!
I go in at 2:15pm tomorrow for the radiation tracer injection, then have to be back at the hospital at 6am for 8am surgery on Wednesday. Definitely hoping they have some really good meds to give me as soon as I get there as well! I feel like I'm as ready as I can be as well, just the anticipation is dreadful :-/
Bless all you ladies that have shared your stories, that's really helped calm me... Believe me, I'd be much more a of a frantic mess by this point without you guys:-)
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Nancy - also sleep in bed post bilateral Mx and DIEP. Bought a 10 inch wedge on amazon - and pillows under knees - and it has been good. My PS suggested protecting abs over arms...
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I did both bed and recliner desperately searching for decent sleep. My fitness tracker showed I slept better in the recliner. Go figure. It became my best friend for about 4-5 weeks. I put it in my bedroom so it was a bed not a "chair". I sent back the lift chair. I didn't need it and it was stiff and unfortable. I had a puffy lazy boy that I used.
Thinking of all going in today. You guys will do wonderful. Prayers to you and to all the victims in Orlando.
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Morning ladies. Best wishes to all who are in surgery today!!
Taag, just saw your comment lol Yep. Seriously to the side sideboob. My right side (cancer breast-19 lymphnodes removed) is the worst. I have a cavern of sorts as an armpit. Left isnt so bad, just needs to be pulled forward a bit.
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Thank you for all the input on bed vs. recliner. I'm going to stick with the bed, I think it'll work better for me.
Finally got my surgery date - July 21! Excited and nervous. Way this part of treatment over so I can move forward.
I promise to work hard to slow down. Won't be easy but I know my recovery is depending upon it
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Hooray - got the call about my path and it was all clear!!! I was terrified that there would be more of that DCIS and other crap in the rest of the boobs they took out, but there was not!!! Doing the happy dance.
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Congrats Zinny!! Awesome news!!
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Good Luck to all the ladies that are coming up soon! And I hope everyone on the "Flap" side is healing nicely! Here is some advice for anyone coming up to stage 2. Someone on this site suggested it, I wish I could find who it was to give her proper credit! SHE IS A GENIUS!!! Nipple guards made from Dr. Scholl's (or CVS brand, lol) callous cushions. Just stick 2 together and paper tape over the new nips! I'm a week out from stage 2 and this advice has been a Godsend!
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sportysister, looking great! Thanks so much for your 'nip tip'! Going for stage 2 July 18 so I'll have to pick up some Dr. Scholls! Hope your not in much pain, have you had to wear a binder? Quick healing!
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Great idea, sportysister. I'll have to remember that for my stage 2.
I just received my surgery report and found out that on one side I got a flap weighing 438 grams and on the other side it weighs 483 grams. Strange. So that's why I'm lopsided! My right side is definitely bigger. Why would the surgeon do that? I guess, I'll have them evened out in stage 2 but just curious.
My canyon is slowly healing but still a long way to go at almost 7 weeks. I would suggest not taking the tape covering the stitches off too soon - it holds the skin together a bit longer to give it a chance to grow together.
Good luck to all you ladies going next.
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Zinny - high five. Thrilled for your good results
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Simplicity- Just wondering did you end up with lymphedema. I had 15 nodes removed. A year later had lymphedema.
Zinny- So so happy for you!!!!
Sportysister- love it makes me think of goggles lol
Grateful99- Your report is this something everyone gets. I haven't seen my PS since my surgery, I go on Tuesday. Also how long did you have your tape on for? My home care just took every other one off today and its been a week and a day since surgery. Also still no shower she said maybe by the week end.
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Hi taag4, I had to ask for a copy of my report, they don't give it to you here unless you ask. And the tape was taken off before I left the hospital on day 5. Do you still have dressings on your incisions? I found that clothes rubbed against them and they were not as healed as I thought they were. Especially the abdomen which was tight as a drum. If I could do it again, I would put some sort of dressing with tape on it to protect it from rubbing and stretching too much. It just seems that every time I moved, or ate, a part of it opened and kept oozing for five weeks. Are yours oozing? Are all your drains out? I expected to be all healed by six weeks, and now it will take at least three months. It definitely is a game of patience.
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Thanks slv58! I was VERY sore at the donor sites, inner and outer thighs and above butt!!! Now the only annoying thing is this spanx-like thing. I can't wait until it can come off!
Grateful99- when I had my implants in, one was 500 and the other was 650 I think! I found out after mx that I have pectorus excavatum and that's why I was lopsided my whole life! It's pretty close now but one is smaller and wider. And I think if I tell my husband I want to try to get them a little closer in size, he'll have a heart attack! And as far as your "crater", just remember, it's healing a little every minute! I think we're all just so tired from all of this, we just want everything to be over quick. It's hard not to keep checking all the time. Just rest and don't overdo anything
Taag4- OMG! I spit my water out when I read that! You are so right!
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