2018 DIEP Surgery
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Thanks Twills - that's the hardest thing for me right now - the hunched over shuffle. My lower back is just so painful. When you started standing straight, how long did it actually take to get upright? Did you need PT for your back? Thanks so much!
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Hi everyone - are there always second and third surgeries after DIEP surgery? I have my surgery scheduled for October 29th and they never said anything about additional surgeries. I most definitely have trust issues with PSs because my first surgery (tissue expanders placed immediately after bilateral mastectomy) botched me up so much. Is there anyway a PS can be so good that you don't have to go in for additional surgeries? Just seeking to understand.
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Gemini Girl,
Much depends on your body. I asked my PS to explain the "dog ears" everyone was writing about and the description made sense - the surgery talks an oval across your lower belly and it depending on how tall and/or long that oval is, you may have the dog ear that you want to have fixed in a second surgery. Mine were small and I could have left them; if I'd only done that, my PS would have done it in the office with a local anesthetic. I chose to have a small lift done to my natural breast - again, could have skipped that. In doing that and reducing the side fullness of my DIEP breast, I feel balanced and comfortable. I am done. So, the answer is "it depends."
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Hi everyone! I have been lurking in this group for a while now and appreciate everyone's contributions. My bilateral DIEP surgery is scheduled for October 23 and I am freaking out about it. I am SO nervous about the recovery but mostly nervous about the drain removal as I had such a hard time with that after my bilateral mx.
My main question is how are most of you 8 weeks out? Are you back to being upright and functioning? I am hoping I can go out of town by then for a short trip with my family. Just a car trip no air travel involved.
Also what are people's experience like with the stomach/ hip drain removal? Is it super painful?
Many thanks!!
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Gemini Girl, you don’t have to have any further surgeries after your initial surgery. It takes a couple of months for your breast to settle (from fluid retention and the swelling of the surgery itself). After that time it’s a matter of what you are satisfied with regards to your new breast. I almost didn’t have my second surgery but there were some imperfections that I felt I would be unhappy with after a year. There is a Federal law that insurance companies must cover reconstruction surgeries to restore us back to being “intact”. As long as insurance will cover you go for all the corrective surgery allowable go for it. The surgeries after the initial DIEP Flap are usually same day out patient surgeries. No drains!!
My PS didn’t mandate a second surgery either. But when we met for the follow-up he immediately made suggestions about what he wanted to do. So Runrcrb iscorrect...it depends.
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Hi Esny- I am 4 1/2 weeks out from my DIEP surgery (right breast) and I can do car rides and walking around but have pushed it a couple times and then was super tired. Your body will tell you but at 8 weeks You should definitely be able to do a trip. I can stand upright but there is a tight feeling so I bend at the waist slightly and that helps relieve the tightness. I too was nervous about the drains coming out because I had a painful experience when I had my mastectomy many years ago. I had no pain whatsoever with the DIEP drains. I was lucky in that I was able to have all removed at my post op 5 days later. That felt so good to be free of them. 😊 The nerves are perfectly normal. I said the same thing on here before my surgery. I won't lie, the first few days after surgery were rough for me and I think others have said the same but again everyone is different. I feel that if you are in good health and don't have to go through chemo and stuff right away then you should do well. But I have read where women that have had to do treatments do fine it just takes a little longer to heal sometimes.
I just had a couple of issues that were minor but at the time, right after surgery, it didn't feel minor. But that is done and I feel that I have progressed very well and right on track so far.
Blessings to you and I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Keep us updated on your progress.
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Runrcrb and Bella,
Thank you for your quick responses and information. I feel like I'm finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and am both excited and nervous. I also wanted to ask about radiation. It will be almost four months since my last radiation treatment and the DIEP surgery. He said he won't be going through the incision already there on the radiated side, but will instead cut just below, where the breast meets your abdomen. Do you know if there a big difference with the radiated side vs. the non-radiated side?
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I can’t answer that question because I didn’t have radiation. There are many women on this thread that had radiation then DIEP Flap reconstruction.
Ladies? Chime in here if you can
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esny, I thought drain removal after BMX was VERY painful, but didn't feel a thing with any of my 4 drains after DIEP. I laugh now bcs I would tell the nurse to take them out after I counted to 3 and then exhaled, and they were always out before I started to count.
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Gemini, my PS removed a significant amount of skin on my radiated breast. It's almost all tummy skin.
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gemni girl,
My PS removed the original scar tissue from my mastectomy when he did the DIEP ( and sent to pathology- all clear). Like Ocdamymy new breast has belly skin on the under side. PM me if you want to see pictures of my post radiation breast and post DIEP breast.
Ensy, I've said it before on this thread- DIEP recovery was easier than mastectomy for me. I was back at work after 5 weeks and swimming and running (slowly) as well. I didn't have the challenges many describe regarding standing up straight- i slept flat on my back in my bed on the third night after surgery ( first two nights were in hospital).
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Thanks all for your quick responses! I appreciate the support!
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Hi everyone...I took a little beach trip with my girlfriends so am just reading last week's posts. Glad to catch up with everyone.
esny - You should be fine to take the car trip at 8 weeks. I am almost 5 weeks now and did pretty good on my trip. My girlfriends carried my luggage and took my beach chair and beach bag down to the beach each day for me since they were over my 5 pound restriction. That was a huge help. I did tire myself out though from all the activity. I've rested all day today and already feel better.
shellybeans - Hang in there, hope you are feeling a little better. The tightness takes a while so be patient with yourself. I'm almost straight now but still have a lot of tightness but I can definitely feel improvement each week.
gemini - I'm the same as OCDAmy, my tummy skin covers almost my entire radiated breast. I had tissue necrosis from radiation so my PS had a lot of skin that he had to cut away. The flap on the un-radiated breast is notably smaller. The radiated breast is also smaller than the other one so I will talk with the PS about getting the two more symmetrical during Phase 2.
Ann63 - Sounds like you are doing well, our surgeries were the same day...glad to hear your recovery is going well. Have to admit I'm quite jealous of all your drains coming out so quickly. I still have one drain in the abdomen and it has consistently put out around 50ml daily for the past 3 weeks. I'm about to lose my mind over it! I see my PS tomorrow so will see what he thinks. I think that Lanne had mentioned hers came out at 4 weeks even with output, so maybe I'll be that lucky!
Take care everyone.
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Hi everyone - had my first post-op today. Wound vac was removed - it didn't really hurt, just the adhesive more than anything. Also had my hip drains removed. The foob drains are staying put as I apparently have hematomas in both - the right cancer side more than the left. So I'm massaging them and trying to help them break down naturally. I don't have much coming out of each - what's coming out looks like motor oil - just very thick.
I have to go back on Thursday and then again next week. They think the left drain will come out next week and it sounds like the right will be hanging around a little while. When I looked at my stomach and incision for the first time I did start crying - I think I was just overwhelmed and I just wasn't ready to see the incision. I'm having to keep it covered and treat it with antibiotic ointment as it has a couple spots that look a little less than favorable. I'm still remaining in a hunched position but I've been able to put on my workout pants that have compression panels and that feels really good.
So - I'm slowly improving. Will be so glad to have this behind me.
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Hi Sonial- I was thinking of you yesterday as last I knew you still had the one drain. I know it has to be frustrating to still have that hanging around. I had difficulty with a drain after my mastectomy. I remember it was weeks before they were able to take it out. My thoughts and prayers are with you that the draining decreases. I'm a bit jealois that you got to go to the beach with yoir friends. 😊 Sounds like you had fun.
Have you scheduled your phase2 or waiting til you get this drain out? I am going to get mine scheduled soon as I want to have it done before year end but need to decide if I want to have implant in natural side to match the other or have the volume on the flap side reduced to match the other. Decisions. 😱
Shellybeans- Sorry to hear of the difficulties you are having but like you said, you are making progress and that is good. Slow and steady wins the race. 😊 Keepimg you in my thoughts and prayers.
Good-night all.
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Do any of you have questions you wish you would have asked your surgeon before your surgery? I’m still working on getting scheduled. I’ve got a consultation with a PS in network that I’m going to go just to see about options, but want to ask all the right questions in order to know if he is an option I should consider.
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The last stubborn drain came out today, whoo-hoo! Even with 50ml of output, PS said that it needed to come out at this point. They are going to check me again in about a week and a half to see if I have any swelling/fluid that needs to be manually drained. I'm hopeful that the remaining fluid will just resolve itself and that I won't get super puffy! We talked a little bit about Phase 2 today and they are going to look at the surgery schedule to get me on there for early December. I could have mine as early as Nov. 22nd, but I've got a work event at the end of November so I would rather do the surgery afterwards. My breasts are not at all symmetrical so looking forward to getting that taken care of (both of mine are DIEP boobs).
Shades5blue...this is not something I would have thought to ask, but I later learned that my PS works with a partner during DIEP procedures. That reduces the time you are in surgery. I had heard that a bilateral DIEP was a 10 hour surgery, but mine was just 7 hours (even with some stubborn blood vessels that they had to keep re-attaching) because there were two surgeons. So that might be something to ask. And of course ask to see photos of their work.
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Sonia, glad that drain is out...that is long time to have a drain, what a pain!
I am seeing my PS in two weeks to talk about stage 2 and get it scheduled. I have a list of questions for him. It has been a little frustrating because all my pants are too big in the waist but fit the same in the hips and thighs and butt. I have to constantly yank them up. I have to wear a belt sometimes and I hate belts. I have tried on a smaller size pant but they don't fit because of my hips and thighs. I am hoping stage 2 solves this problem? He said he would lipo my hips (he called them flanks!). Still a little worried that my thighs and butt are going to be big and look weird. Any of you ladies who had stage 2 find that you were able to go down in pants size? I am trying to lose weight but man it is hard on an AI!
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OCDAmy - I am 2 weeks out from stage 2 -- PS extended my scar on right hip to "even out area" and lipo'd from my left hip/butt. The swelling has gone down a lot and I tried on pants a size down and they fit so much better although still a little gap in waist along the back (honestly I always had this issue since I have larger hips ughh) I am really happy with the overall symmetry and tapering through my hips! Before stage 2 I felt like I had hip bulges sticking out and now they are gone
I haven't actually purchased any new pants yet because the abdominal binder is adding a few inches
I wore jeans this weekend and found my stretchy jeans are great but the regular Levi's are too big. I will say I have lost about 15 lbs since my diagnosis but my weight today is the same as before my DIEP - So I think the changes can be attributed to surgery!
I also need some new tops and dresses because the old ones gap up top -- my new breasts are smaller (and perkier!) Yay!! Too bad insurance doesn't pay for a wardrobe makeover!
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Hi everyone, I have been gone for a while just came back and have lots of reading to do.
My revision surgery date will be October 16, one night in the hospital for observation. It will be 2 1/2 hours of liposuction, fat grafting, some scar revision on my belly, and some hard nodules that might be necrosis removed from my groin area below my incision, and a few others above and below the belly incision.. He will not address the size differences until next time. So I will still need another surgery in 3-4 months. My non radiated side is drooping quite a lot and the radiated side is very perky and hard in some places, He will also fix what he called a pincushion in the center of my radiated breast this time. He also agreed to do the ketorolac preincision again, and no narcotics, or versed. The lift of the non radiated side will have to wait for the 2nd revision. Good luck everyone, and glad to hear your revision went well Twills!0 -
Hi all,
Haven’t posted in a while because nothing’s new. I called my PS office to make a phase 2 discussion appt., and my PS is out of town for six weeks! So we won’t even talk about it until Nov. 13. I thought I might be recovering during Thanksgiving, but I guess it will be later. I’m okay with that. It’s actually nice to have a school break or two where I won’t be recovering from something. And I am pretty happy with my results already, so I can just let scars lighten and live my life. It’s exciting to hear about everyone else’s phase 2’s, though.
Take care,
L.
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Hi All,
I have my surgery scheduled for October 1st, and I am nervous about a result of the surgery and pain.
My surgeon told me I don't have to wear a bra or abdominal binder a couple of weeks, until drains will be removed. I am not sure that it will be comfortable.
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Atly, my directions were no bra for 4 weeks. There was no abdominal binder either. I didn't have any problems being comfortable. Good luck on Monday.
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Thank you Runrcrb
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Had my follow up with the PA today - third drain removed so just have this last one on my radiated side. I still have swelling and some hematoma that need to break down. My abdominal incision looks okay but the skin is pulling just a little where there is the most tension. I'm doing my darnedest to stay bent over and protect it. The pain has subsided a lot - it's pretty much now just my lower back and some occasional pain in my right groin area and my rib area on my right side.
I go back in a week and will hopefully get the last drain out. I did have them put a new, clean bulb on it because it was just gross to look at.
I'm walking more and hoping that will help accelerate things.
Thanks all,
Michele
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Hi Atly- I too am scared for the pain and procedure. My Diep Flap is Oct 23. I will be having an abdominal binder after the drains are out -- I think PS said three months with that
Best wishes to you for your procedure!
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How long did it take for most of you to get your DIEP scheduled? I am meeting with several Plastic Surgeons in the next few weeks as I try to make a decision who to go with. I'm wondering how soon or how far out we may get the surgery scheduled. I am hoping to have it done in December. Just curious if it is something that takes a really long time to get scheduled.
R
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Rdeesides, I really think it depends on how busy the PS is. Mine also wanted to wait 6 months after rads
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Hi everyone
I haven't posted in a while because nothing to report - just getting stronger and busy with work and kids starting school.
I saw my oncologist a couple of weeks ago and she told me they want to treat me for the invasive areas they found in the pathology. The doctors were suprised they only found a small amount and sent the tissue back for a different type of stain to look for more areas of invasionbut I feel stuck in limbo because last week when I spoke with her she said it would be something like taxol and Herceptin - but that's all that I've heard. Waiting is stressful.
I know this thread is about DIEP flap but I just wanted to reach out to my friends here because I'm feeling anxious right now not knowing what the plan is
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Thank you esny! Best wishes to you too! The nurse in PS office recommended to use a Spanx-type garment over my abdomen after the drain is removed.
rdeesides, I made a decision in July. The date (October 1st) became known at the end of August.
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