DIEP Flap Reconstruction 2017
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Asked my surgeon again today about prophylactic surgery on my left breast again today. I became concerned when reading my MRI report. It said No evidence of maglignancy in the Left breast, however evaluation is limited due to marked background parenchymal enhancement. I read this can how an increased risk in high risk people. She said no increased risk, no to prophylactic surgery, no additional follow-up needed except mammograms. Just feels the planned right breast mastectomy and reconstruction is all that's needed. I know things may change once we get the pathology report. I recently had to switch from Mayo to Virginia Piper Breast Center in MN due to insurance changes. I am meeting all my doctors from internal medicine, surgeons and breast care for the first time. Hard to start over with all new doctors with a new cancer diagnosis
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Falconer --I take the monthly shot. My oncologists office is an hour and a half from where I live so my husband actually gives me my shot. 😁
I also went off the Aromasin for five days when I had surgery. I wasn't too happy about it --I feel like that Aromasin is my shield!
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jbdayton,
Hello, I just saw that I spelled the name of the hospital where my surgery will be. It is Beaumont on July 11.
Thanks again for all of your suggestions!!
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anyone had radiation post Diep? Looks like I'm going to need it for my lymph
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Tralph- I just went today and will have radiation beginning July 12. My PS was concerned about the flap that will be radiated shrinking. The Radiation Oncologist thinks it should be fine with newer technology and if there is some shrinking the PS said he would fill in when we do fat grafting. I hope this helps some.
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becky that helps alot.are you getting breast or just lymph radiation? Also why are they waiting a month to radiate u?
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Tpralph,
Whole breast and lymph from what I understood today( I'm sorry I didn't read your post correctly). I have a vacation planned and it only pushes it two weeks from when they wanted to start so they were fine with waiting.
When do you think you will start if you have to do radition
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becky I'm not sure when. Will depend if they r planning chemo or not. I have an appt. With both mo and ro Tues. But if no chemo hopefully rads within NXT two weeks.
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Tpralph, oh I certainly pray you don't have to do chemo! It was not terrible but was certainly not fun for me. Radiation for me is the last piece of this part of the puzzle for me, clean up is what my ON called it.
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Hi all - I'm 12 days post- bilateral DIEP, and feel like things have gone pretty well so far. I had all of my drains removed yesterday, so I finally feel like a normal person again, and I am loving having cleavage again! I didn't realize just how deeply it affected my psyche to spend the last 15 months flat-chested.
My left breast is starting to feel hard and lumpy on the part closest to my sternum. Anyone else have any hard spots? I've also noticed that when I cough, I experience excruciating pain in that same area. Fortunately, I don't have a cold or cough, so I'm not too concerned for now. Hopefully that will fade as I heal.
As for the binder - I also couldn't handle wearing it on my bare skin. I have to wear a stretchy, fitted tank top (found some super soft ones at WalMart for $3ish) under the binder, and it works great. Not ideal for summer, but I'm just planning to stay indoors as much as possible
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Hi all, I had DIEP Flap reconstruction on April 28, 2017, almost 6 weeks ago. The reconstruction was delayed, as I had bilateral mastectomies on November 11, 2016. My recovery is going very well. My last appointment with my PS was 4 and a half weeks post surgery. He said I'm doing great and I don't need another appointment until 3 months post surgery. I have no idea what surgery/surgeries/procedures lie ahead, but I'm already happy that I chose flap reconstruction. Here is my stupid question - I'm wearing a supportive sports bra 24/7. When can I go braless or wear a flimsy little spaghetti strap bra? (I haven't gone braless since age 12. I'm happy that I no longer have to deal with DDDs.)
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Mustlovepoodles, I can relate. I left my job for three and a half months to take care of my mother while she was dying of pancreatic cancer. Thanks to the Family Medical Leave Act, I was guaranteed that I would not lose my job (but not that I would be paid the whole time). Also, I, too, will need knee replacement surgeries - both knees. But my knees are not too bad so I decided to have my DIEP flap reconstruction this year. I had the surgery almost 6 weeks ago. (And I'm doing great) I hope to put off the knee surgery for a couple more years. Here are my thoughts about your situation: 1) Do you have a therapist? A good one is amazingly helpful! Depending where you live and what kind of insurance you have, insurance might pay. It's worth it, either way. You sound overwhelmed! 2) Plan two vacations - a big one (maybe Paris or Barcelona or the grand canyon or Cuba) even if it's three or four years away, start planning it now. And plan a little vacation - a weekend SOON, whether it's two days or whether you can stretch it to four days. A little get away to relax. 3) Let your sister(s) take most of the burden of caring for your mom. You need knee surgery now. It's not optional. You don't need to be a martyr. 4) Schedule the knee surgery. 5) Does your employer not offer short term disability, so you can get paid even when your sick time is all used? Can you afford to take time off without pay, so you could have both surgeries this year? You might be able to have some overlap of recovery time. 6) Don't give up on the breast reconstruction surgery, of course. In the meantime - At home, I had shirts that looked good when I was going flat - Most had gathers at the neckline. When I went out , I wore a Coobie bra with breast forms (little pillows that slipped into the bra pockets.) 7) Have the reconstruction surgery when you can, but you must have an amazing surgeon who is highly skilled in microvascular surgery - even if you have to travel. That's my unsolicited advice. Please forgive me if I presumed too much.
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Songbird- for better or for worse, right? Your DH is doing a good thing! The monthly Lupron shots are some of the worse, ugh! And the SEs they bring with it. But that's another thread; "I want my mojo back." I get to see my doctor each month, though for the surgery months he switched me to a three monther. It's less tolerable I feel. Tinnitus and headaches. I noticed that you mentioned you have not gone back to yoga yet. When you do, consider following the Let's Post Our Daily Exercise thread. It's a good one to keep you motivated
Aggiemegs-yay for you! I know we have been pretty much on the same schedule. How are the little ones doing? My four year old is sweet. Since I got the drains out yesterday, he could sit on my lap. Boy did I miss that. When I saw my PS yesterday he noticed a small hard spot and called it fat necrosis. He commented that he'd give that a little time. Thanks for the tip about the binder. The hospital gave me a huge foam thing that didn't fit at all. I might as well have been wearing a hula hoop. So my PS said to get some Spanx. Going out for that today.
Good luck everyone. Sending you healing prayers.
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Falconer - Oh, I'm so jealous! I haven't seen my babies since before surgery. They are with my mom, and I can't wait to get them back this weekend. I miss them terribly, but I know I needed this time to rest and heal. I know my youngest will be sad that I can't pick him up (as will I!)but I'm lookinnforward to lots of snuggles. As for the hard spot, I guess I'll give it a little more time before I call and ask him about it.
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Hello Ladies,
I'm 5 weeks post-surgery & have developed cording (axillary web syndrome); an uncomfortable pulling from my chest down the inside of my arm to my elbow when I extend my arm. Supposedly it's quite common caused by the trauma to the lymph system after removal of sentinel/lymph nodes. My plastic surgeon has given me a prescription for physio & lymphatic drainage massage. Has anybody experienced this?
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Hi AggieMegs,
I have some hard spots too. My PS told me to start to massage them, which I was doing already. They've softened up but now I know that I can go after the hard bits a lil' more aggressively. It helps to break up scar tissue. If they stay hard, well, then it's another discussion. My next appointment is 6-7 weeks.
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applemegs. I just saw my pas and he tells me that my hard spot on outer edge of new breast is a fat necrosis which will turn to jelly and my body will absorb. He tells me to massage it to speed it up. Says sometimes in fact often there are places of the new breast that do not get enough blood supply and do this
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bell,
I had cording which was relieved by massage- first my PT (specializes in bc patients)and then myself. I actually felt it let go, and relief!
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Hi Cheri444 and any one else with nerve pain post Diep
Follow-up: both my oncologist up here and the folks down at NOLA where I had it done said the burning pain across my chest, and around the periphery of the flaps is normal. The thoracic nerves wrap around from your spine to chest. In addition to being cut during the BMX, the PA at NOLA said that there are a lot of instruments and procedures during the operation that aggravate peripheral nerves - even the cauterization of vessels, etc. The pain she said is also some nerve regeneration by 4th week she said there will be marked improvement - not to say there wouldn't still be some twinges etc. This is more than a few twinges (the image of downed lived wires sparking across asphalt comes to mind!) but I was encouraged to know it will improve and that it is normal. Funny how just knowing it's a part of the process makes it easier to deal with. I've only been taking tylenol (the opiates do nothing for the nerve pain and I stopped those the first week due to nausea.) When I expressed concern over too much tylenol she said I could alternate with ibuprophin. She also mentioned Gabapentin but since that takes about a week to kick in anyway and there are side effects, I said I'd wait until after the 4th week mark to try anything else if it hadn't resolved satisfactorily by then. Since tomorrow I'll be two weeks from the date of the operation I can deal until then.
The whale bone corset feeling especially at the breast bone is that they remove about an inch and a half of caratilige there to get to the internal mammary vein. I knew this but I had no idea it would be this painful. My husband just told me that they told him while i was in recovery that they also had to spread my ribs to access the veins. Both doctor and PA stressed to me what a huge operation this is, and that recovery is a process. Good to remember that.
Hope your pain is lessening every day and that you are getting stronger and healthier by the hour.
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Ali84, thank you for the update and sharing these details. I must admit the removal of cartilage part was frightening. The rib movement part was scary as well. I had read here that someone had a rib removed in connection with a DIEP. I am not sure where I am going with this post. Can anyone direct me to where I can read more about this? Thank yo
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Hi Suburbs,
Yes, the cutting the cartilage unnerved me too, but I understand that's standard procedure. Just to be clear though, none of my ribs was removed. However, because of my anatomy - I understand while it's all pretty much the same some people have physiology that is just a little different that makes for different issues in access - they had to spread my ribs a little to get to where they needed to go.
I suggest if you are researching this procedure to contact any of the major hospitals who do it and make an appointment to talk with the surgeons. I can recommend where I had it done, the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in New Orleans https://www.breastcenter.com/. You can get a lot of info on the web site but better yet is to call. Someone will talk to you about all that is involved and answer any questions and/or concerns you have.
Bon Courage!
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They don't remove a rib--just a piece of one. You'll never miss it.
Here is an animation of the surgery. It doesn't mention the rib business, but it does give an overview without all the blood and guts of a live surgery
Notice in the video that this surgeon harvested 3 perforators instead of just one to give he breast a better blood supply.
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Back to PS for follow up today. I'm 14 weeks post and feeling pretty good. The left side of my abdomen is not flat yet so we need to talk about that. I'm hoping to get cleared to get back to my exercise routine. Hopefully we can discuss when the next step can take place. It's like it is hanging over my head. I'd rather have a timeline even if it's got to wait until next year.
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I'm 7-days out from my June 1st surgery and not doing bad. I'm off all heavy pain medicine, just ibuprofen every 6 hours. The drains are driving me nuts, 4 of them, 1 on left/right abdomen and 1 for each left/right breast. I'm walking upright well, but I'm still sleeping in my recliner and/or my bed that rotates up. I'm looking forward for the swelling to go down.
I see bunch of pinpoint prick-likes spots all over my stomach, what are they from, anyone know?
Thanks!
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Can I just please say what a remarkable group of women you are, even though I have not posted my whole journey yet - I will, your stories amaze me and the resilience of your survivorship? It really motivates me and keeps a lot of the "what-If" questions about the cancer coming back down and out of sight/out of mind. I have definitely learned to enjoy my health (whatever it is for that day) and my life with my husband, family and friends (I am blessed with a loving caring support system).
As I have heard a few of you state - enjoying life on the flap side. I'm only a week out form surgery but it has given me comfort how others had doubts like I did. I was not expecting the mental battle that ensued right after surgery, it was something. Please keep positive quotes, books and loving people around you who refuse to let you dwell in that state.
Again, thank you everyone for your honesty and support!
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BigSister- thanks for sharing the video. I'm so curious about what happened to my body. I was joking with the nurses afterward and saying we shouldve hired a videographer, like for a wedding. Lol.
Glad to hear so many are doing well.0 -
Does any one know what the wait time for reconstruction is in Saskatchewan Canada? Thanks!
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Suburbs - I asked about the rib thing in my post-surgery visit today - in my case, they removed a small piece of cartilage near the sternum (between the breasts), not the bony part of the rib. I had a nerve block in my shoulder the first day, so never felt any pain, and it doesn't hurt when I press in that area.
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Ali84, thank you so much for the info regarding the nerve-like burning pain...that makes me feel much better to know it can be normal and that it should subside. All that the PA said to me at my last appt is that it is normal at this point. She didn't elaborate on the mechanics of what is actually causing it, so I'm glad you were able to share that! And that also explains the pain in the center of my chest where they snipped a piece of bone (as it was explained to me). I hope you are feeling stronger and better each day, as well....I hope everyone on this forum is. Hugs!
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I would like to do the DIEP flap for reconstruction. I just am curious about the actual recovery time? I'm not really a fan of implants and I have about 4 months left to figure out exact what I want to do- but I would like to hear from others who had it. Any common problems that came about, and do you regret having over implants, or love it over implants.
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yLr1FmyoncE