DIEP Flap Reconstruction 2016
Comments
-
Hi DawnLee
Had my bilateral DIEP reconstruction on the 6th as well. Hope recovery is going well.
0 -
beach4,! All the best for a speedy recovery! Hugs
0 -
Thankyou Stellamaris!
I know it's been awhile since your Diep..But was wondering if you or anyone else remembers how long you were on pain meds once home. I am one week.home from hospital, trying to adjust to just extra strength Tylenol...But the stomach tightness, burning, achey back is bothering me today. Don't want to go backwards, but maybe I should be on the nerve pain med a bit longer?? Thx!
0 -
Beach4,
I was on the pain meds for several weeks after surgery. My ps also gave me muscle relaxers. Just take your meds as you need them. Everyone heals and deals with pain differently. Keep in mind that everything is a stress on your body. That includes the stress of healing, pain, sleep, (or lack of). You do your best healing while sleeping. Keeping up on your pain meds as needed will help with your healing since your body will have fewer stressors to deal with. I usually tell my patients that if your pain starts getting to a 5, on the 0 to 10 scale, it's probably time to take something. Good luck.
0 -
i am pretty sure I took them on and off for a couple of weeks. One week out is still very rough going, but after two weeks home, and the drains out, it got better every day. I actually went up grouse, very slowly, after 4 weeks. Just don't push too hard. Do what is right for you and take your time. Big hug
0 -
Hi Ladies,
I know it has been a while since I've updated. Mom and I got to go home for a week after her surgery but were put back in the hospital. We've been here for 18 days. She developed an infection in the stomach incision and has to have a wound vac. Her doctor said we will be here a minimum of a month. Has anyone had a wound vac after diep flap surgery? If so, what's the scarring like?
Also... My mom is having terrible pain across her "new" breasts. They have her on 300mg of Gabapentin for the nerve pain. Does this pain subside at some point?
Once my mom is competely healed, they are going to start her on Arimidex and chemo pills, due to the positive lymph-node on the left side.
Thanks in advance.
0 -
ChelseaAmber, I haven't had DIEP yet, but I had a wound vac after my BMX. I had massive tissue necrosis on the right chest and a huge seroma on the left. They started me off packing the big wound with wet-to-dry dressings, but I was so traumatized they had to ditch that plan (It was so big, it looked like a wolf had taken a big chunk out of my chest. You could see the muscles on the chest wall!) They started me on the wound vac and the healing really began. It never got infected, amazingly, so I never had to go to the hospital for it. I did develop PTSD, which was probably from the accumulation of my cancer experiences (surgeries, chemo, sepsis). I have a history of PTSD, so the BMX complications just triggered it majorly. A 6-month course of antidepressants got me over the hump.
As for the healing, I wore the wound vac for 7 weeks. I even went back to work with it, which was not so much fun. But I was pretty amazed at how fast the healing went. Doing wet-to-dry dressings would have meant much longer healing. The only reason I stopped using the wound vac at 7 weeks was because I had to go on a week-long business trip and the wound vac dressing has to be changed by your healthcare professional every 3 days. So they used a different dressing that I could change myself. Still, it took a total of 16 weeks for the whole business to heal. (I was simultaneously packing the seroma with iodoform tape all that time,too.)
The scarring is pretty bad. Not as bad as I thought it would be, though, considering the size of the wound. It's been a year now and the scar is softening. It's still pretty rosy, though. I have had a pretty hard time with body image since my BMX--I'm pretty well mutilated.
Hopefully, your mom will heal quickly with no further setbacks.
0 -
The entire lower incision of my flap opened up 10 days after surgery. Actually the day after they removed the staples. The PS cut out all the necrosis and I did wet/dry packing for 9 weeks. My wound had good tissue growth but was taking forever. He finally ordered a wound vac and 3 1/2 weeks later it was almost healed. I got lucky my incision looks great. I experienced a lot of tissue flap loss though. To help with the shape he removed the football shaped skin paddle and I now have one incision. Every incision since has healed perfectly. I did have to do 5 fat graftings to rebuild what volume I lost. It was a long road but it is amazing what they can do to repair complications.
I hope your mother heals quickly with a pretty incision. I know how taxing this process is.
0 -
Thank you cwayman650 and Stellamaris for your replies. It's so true, healing is such an individual thing. I find I do have to move around throughout the day or I stiffen up and am in pain. Tylenol seems ok with a stronger pain med at night when sleeping. Beautiful weather here in Ontario. Opened our pool, nice to sit by in the shade. Hope everyone is having a great Sunday. Hugs to all!
0 -
ChelseaAmber,
Sorry to hear your Mom is going through a tough time with the recovery. I was on Gabepentin when I was sent home. It did help. While in hospital, Oxi. Maybe while in hospital she needs something a bit stronger than the Gabepentin?
Hope they can get it under control for her.
0 -
Can you tell me what size are you in this picture? I trying to figure out what size I want to ask my PS for.
I have surgery on 5/17/2017. I'm on the 2017 thread,
Thank You!
0 -
Suzzyq,
From what my plastic surgeon told me, there's no asking for a specific "size". Accorfing to him, you get what you get, mainly because it all depends on how much tissue you have available for transplant. They can make revisions, either larger or smaller, at a later date.
Good luck with your surgery. It's tough, but worth it.
Trish
0 -
Thank You Trishyla! Now that I thinking about it I kind of remember my PS stating if i needed lrger then can do LIPO.
Well i think i'm going to let well enough alone and just get through the surgery.
Thanks again!
0 -
suzzyq - my PS told me he always goes bigger with what he has to work with. It is easier for you to go smaller in Phase 2 than go bigger in Phase 2. My surgery was 3/14/17 and I am very happy with my results so far!
0 -
Back in 2012, I had a lumpectomy in my left breast, followed by 33 days of radiation. From that point on, my nightmare began. That whole breast became very hard over the upcoming months. Basically, my breast turned in to radiation fibrosis.An open wound appeared & yellow puss would come out. Back & forth to doctors to treat this wound. I was eventually told it would never close & heal since it was over radiated tissue. My only option was to either live with it, or get a mastectomy.
Seeing my plastic surgeon, I thought I had asked the right questions regarding the Tram Flap reconstruction surgery, following my mastectomy. All I remember her saying was "you get a tummy tuck" and then showed me pictures of other women & their outcomes. This was in 2014. My surgery took 10 hours, due to some complications. In my armpit, there was a large open would where blood had gathered & part of it scabbed over. Had to get the scab surgically removed.
Ended up with leech therapy & getting a "wound vac". That took about 6 weeks of in-home care to heal.
I also had a breast reduction on my right breast. My fake breast doesn't even look like a real breast or my right breast.
Since then, I have day to day pain.I not only look terrible on the outside, but feel terrible on the inside. Not to mention the emotional scars this has left. My left arm & neck have slight lymphedema. Pain just below my right breast, stomach area is lumpy; clothes don't fit or look right on me. I could go on & on.
I finally wrote an email to my plastic surgeon & was completely honest with her & encouraged her to not perform this type of surgery again. I have not heard back from her & that was last month.
It is bad enough to get cancer & deal with that. Having hopes for a better life. Then realizing one has to live like this the rest of my life. Luckily, I do have a wonderful husband who loves me, for me & who has been wonderful through all this. Thank God for him.
0 -
beachnut- so sorry about your outcome. There are many microsurgeons who are technically qualified to perform this type of reconstruction but who don't have the skill and/or the desire required for a quality outcome/end result. Many women who have had bad outcomes with other surgeons go to NOLA and the surgeons at the center for restorative breast surgery to have it corrected. They have before and after pics including do overs from a botched previous surgery done by other surgeons. I know the surgeon you had showed before and after pics too. That was one of my big questions before going to NOLA for my DIEP flap surgery. Are those photos retouched/photoshopped? How many months post-op are they taken? Are these examples of their best work, worst work or their norm? The answers were: not retouched/photoshopped,approx 3-6 months post-op and this is their norm. Most important, breast restoration focusing on flap procedures is all they do Day in, day out. No skin care, laser hair removal, face lifts, etc. Just breast reconstruction. My results look just like the immediate DIEP flap before and afters on their site. It might be worth a phone call to see if they can help and potentially relieve some of your pain while they correct the breasts and tummy. Here's their web address: www.breastcenter.com
0 -
Hope you were able to get into dr.Hofer and any pain has been relieved. Hope you don't mind me asking...as I had Hofer do my Diep April 6.2017. follow up is this Wed with him and BS who did my masectomy. Stage 2 approx 1 year after? How did your State 1 heal for you? Hofer doesn't put drains in the abdomen now. Something new.
Hope your doing well
0 -
Up early this morning for my phase 2 surgery. Have to report to Penn at 7 AM. New nipple on right and lift on left. Much easier than MX and reconstruction, but I'm all nerved up anyway. Probably a little more so this time. Had my sister with me last time and I didn't tell her about today because I knew she'd be out of the country for this surgery. Haven't decided if I want an umbilical hernia fixed because I'm hesitant to touch the abdomen. Still have swelling from December surgery. Hoping all goes well.
0 -
Good luck today, jcn16. Hope all goes well for your 2nd phase.
Trish
0 -
Thanks Trish
0 -
Back home. All went well on phase2. Decided to leave the umbilical hernia alone for now. It's small and my PS says doesn't need immediate attention. will probably stay home tomorrow because of anesthesia. Still groggy.
0 -
Glad to hear everything went well today, jcn16. Sounds like you need to take it easy for a couple of days. I recommend bon bons, a couple of trashy movies and plenty of naps.
Trish
0 -
Thanks Trish! Sounds like a great plan. Wish it were mine. I perked up when the Tylenol with codeine wore off. Will switch to plain Tylenol tomorrow and then it's back to work on Thursday.
0 -
Hi jcn16!
Glad phase 2 went well. So its out patient? So you can go back to work in 3 days? I wasn't sure how long I would be out for.
0 -
Stage 2 is fairly easy. It is usually outpatient and there are usually no drains. Hurray! I was pretty tired for a week, but was up and running fairly quickly.
0 -
suzzyq,
Phase2 is much easier. Less than an hour of surgery. Was at the hospital for a total of 5 hours. Took me a few days for the fog to clear from general anesthesia but that's it.
0 -
I had my p2 3 months after p1. 5 hours, was in the hospital for 2 days, and took me months to recover. Everyone is different. If for some reason you don't bounce back super fast, don't think you've done anything wrong. Allow yourself time to heal and rest.
0 -
Hi Everyone!,
Cn some one give me clarity? After a diep surgery you have to wait 3 -4 months to do nipple creating by the PS?
0 -
hi all. Finally got my date for new nipple post DIEP, June 9. I know it won't take long, but wondering how long recovery is? I am scheduled for Friday. Could I go back to work Monday?
0 -
Stellamaris, if all they are doing is nipple, you should've good to go. Even if they are doing fat grafting too, many are back up and running in a few days.
Suzzyq, the nipple is done on stage 2. They wait 3-4 months to let everything settle and heal to see where you are at. Think of the nipple as the frosting.
0
