2018 DIEP Surgery
Comments
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Dipaquette, good luck with getting your GI referral expedited. Just out of curiosity, did you mention the anemia to PS? I was curious as to his thoughts. I just remember after ending chemo my counts were lower 3 months later than the day I stopped. I was shocked but evthey came back up. Just wondering if your body is still recovering from a big surgery/ if you lost a lot of blood. I’m sorry that this keeps dragging out for you. Please keep us posted.
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Dlpaquette - I was always slightly anemic and after my DIEP my count was low enough for them to give me 2 units of blood while I was still at the hospital. About 3 weeks after DIEP, the other night,I almost passed out after a long hot shower, so I started eating more beef hoping to boost my blood count. Hope your blood level can come back up too!
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I had DIEP flap last year and had a wound at the donor site on my abdomen that would not heal despite several things the plastic surgeon tried (Silvadene, medihoney, debridements). But then he sent me to a wound care center at a local hospital and they fixed it in just a few weeks just by doing debridements and special wound dressings (one was called endoderm). They really knew their stuff and said they are up to date on the latest wound care technologies, so someplace like that may be worth checking out.
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For anyone dealing with anemia, ask your MO about Flintstone vitamins with iron. I am taking two a day and she recommended the flint stone because it was easy on the stomach. I don’t remember how low I was when I started but am all the way up to 10 after taking them the whole time ( I was slightly anemic when I started and she knew it would only get worse and even with vitamins I got low enough after my third ACthat if it dropped again I was getting a transfusion). It’s at least kept me from passing out and having to get any transfusions.
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I’m seven weeks out now. I had been sleeping in a recliner but I got so sick of it. My back was really uncomfortable after a few hours. A couple weeks ago, I moved back to bed but still felt pretty uncomfortable. The last few days, sleeping on my side has become so comfortable again. I actually slept 9 hours on Sunday. Everything feels better with sleep! My kids get out for summer on Thursday and I finally feel ready to deal with summer break. I was a little nervous for a while but my energy is back.
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That’s awesome Flynn, it felt so good to “turn the corner” of the healing process, I know you’re relieved. Hope you have a great summer break with your kids:)
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Hi Ladies
I had my diep flap (delayed on left and prophilactic on right) on May 16th. it was a long surgery and with no complications. I was up and walking the day after the surgery and they sent me home on Sunday. my two drains, the PS does not put a drain on tummy, came out Tuesday. my right breast is visibly larger and drooppier than the left one. I will probably need some revisions during stage 2. the tummy incision looks good and seems to be low but I can't assess yet as I am not walking fully upright yet. it was definitely worth the wait.
pain level has been okay. I find it hard being on my back all the time as I am a tummy and side sleeper. Both on my forearms are painful, feels like carpal tunnel pain, not sure if it is because of using my arms to lift myself from the couch or because before the surgery they needed a heart line and pocked me multiple times (14) to find a suitable vein. Anyone of you had a similar experience and suggestion on how to reduce the pain?
also, the right side of my tummy is more painful and not as soft as the left. my dominant side is right so I rely heavily on my right side. even getting out of bed it's painful. is this normal? my wound are healing well and there is no sign of infection.
Hope you all are well.
hugs
Lolis
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Glad you’re healing well Lolis, as far as the arm pain, I wasn’t allowed to use my arms to get up or even lift anything over 2 lbs for 2 weeks which was tricky and they sent me to PT before my surgery to learn how to do that as well as roll and get out of bed and such. They basically wanted me to forget I had arms in the beginning. It was very painful for my back and legs but I couldn’t risk stress on any of my incisions was the idea. My husband would have to plant his hand in the middle of my back and push to help me up. So my arms just rested after surgery, I had a good bit of issues with useable veins and have typically had soreness after surgeries but I would say just rest them as much as possible and work on what ever range of motion is ok with your surgeon. I would say the pain of getting out of bed is very normal, you have to remember that the incision you see across your belly is only a fraction of what is there, there’s are layers and layers of sutured tissues under that. The typical danger zone for that area is 3-4 weeks out because we get comfortable and start stressing that incision and it can open up. Take it easy and let your body heal, you’ll be better in the long run for it. It only gets better from here:)
Oh, I’ve had revisions and they are a cakewalk compared so keep that in mind:)
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Thank you Twills. The surgeon's attending did not give me any direction in terms of using or not using my arms. I asked him if I am to continue sleeping on the back and he said that it would help if I continued.
I am starting to use my legs and back a bit more but I still use my arms.
I guess you are right with the latter risk. I will certainly keep it in mind. it has been hard so far to not be able to do anything but I guess this is the price that needs to be paid for longer success.
when did you start driving again or when did the doctor said it was okay to?
Thanks.
Lolis
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It was several weeks, about 4 I think. Because of range of motion and not being able to stand fully upright. Though I had a longer recovery that most it seems. My abdomen was pulled extremely tight so there was a lot of tention on it because they had to get as much of it as possible. My instructions were to not even try to being standing upright for several weeks, it was exhausting and very painful on my back. I think driving mostly depends on when you’ve come of pain meds and being able to react in traffic, like hitting the breaks quickly. Turning and being able to look over your shoulder would be important to I suppose.
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Lolis,
I had BMX with DIEP Flap in the same surgery. I didn’t drive until week five. The reason?? You can’t imagine the abdominal muscles we use just to press the brake pedal. Don’t rush recovery..
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Thank you Ladies.
I was wondering about driving as I am to return to work in mid-July and wondering about when most of you started driving.
Lolis
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I had UMX and DIEP on one side only, and at my 3 week follow-up my PS cleared me to raise my arm above my head and to drive. Still I waited one more week before I started driving.
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Just wondering, has anyone experienced bloating after eating? I had my DIEP surgery in January of 2019. Maybe I am eating too much at one time, but I had a half a PB&J sandwich and about 10 cherries for lunch. I had some water, but not more than 8 oz all about two hours ago and I still feel sooooo bloated! Thinking of having a diet soda just to ease the discomfort. Sometimes that helps as long as I drink that slowly over at least 30 minutes.
I seem to be having this problem more and more. I feel sooo much pressure in what I call my "muffin top." The area where the lower incision is doesn't hurt. I am wondering if it is the bread that is doing this? I don't seem to be gassy? Always seems to be something, ugh!
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lolis, i drove as soon as my drains were out. I was off narcotics. That was pretty much the instruction I had - no driving with drains or narcotics.
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Mavericksmom,
You might want to get checked for truncal lymphedema. Mine started out feeling like bloating and tightness in my abdomen, then progressed to swelling in my breasts and underarms.
Then again, it might just be gas. I know our systems get completely out of whack after surgery. But it still doesn't hurt to get checked for the lymphedema. It is more common than most people know after DIEP flap.
Good luck. Hppe you get some relief soon.
Trish
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Mavericksmom,
You might want to get checked for truncal lymphedema. Mine started out feeling like bloating and tightness in my abdomen, then progressed to swelling in my breasts and underarms.
Then again, it might just be gas. I know our systems get completely out of whack after surgery. But it still doesn't hurt to get checked for the lymphedema. It is more common than most people know after DIEP flap.
Good luck. Hppe you get some relief soon.
Trish
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Thank you Trish! I have lymphedema in my arm and had it in my breast prior to the mastectomy. My first time with breast cancer I had a lumpectomy and my sentinel node biopsy failed so the breast surgeon removed the whole fat pad containing 24 nodes. I developed the lymphedema immediately.
I can't believe I never heard of truncal lymphedema, never even considered that, but it makes sense. I just woke up and couldn't go back to sleep because I feel so bloated. Being a holiday weekend, I will have to wait until Tuesday to call about it. What did you do to treat it? I used to wrap my arm, but after about 5 years of wearing garments I had so many issues involving the sleeves and gloves that I quit. The lymphedema in my arm has been stable. It did get slightly larger when I stopped wearing the garments but remained stable. I didn't notice it getting much larger after my mastectomy.
I will absolutely take action on this bloating. Whatever is causing it, it isn't normal and it makes it extremely hard to function. I will definitely be calling a doctor on Tuesday, I am not sure which one, breast surgeon, medical oncologist or my primary care doctor. Who diagnosed your truncal lymphedema?
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Hi. I'm new here, but not to DIEP. TWillis, when you say “natural feeling" breasts, what do you mean? I had one breast by DIEP and one by muscle sparing TRAM. The DIEP breast is soft to the touch and more similar to my real breasts. The TRAM breast feels like I have something in it and for lack of a better word, feels like I have a foreign object in it. I'm really concerned I may be facing another surgery
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Freudosa, I’m not sure what post you’re referring to when I said that so I’m not sure how to answer. Might have to refresh my memory lol.Welcome to our thread though, hope you find some great info here:)
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TWillis, thanks for the reply. It was part of a post you made on May 2. My question is more about how the reconstructed DIEP breast feels. I have two very different feeling breasts, and they look noticeably different to me as well. One is soft, non-firm and the other is very firm. The softer one reminds me of my breast pre-mastectomy
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I finally got my DIEP scheduled for July 29th. Now the panic is starting to set in.
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Congrats KimE!!!!! you hot some time to prep yourself for it.
I am 3 weeks out and my tummy scar is fully healed and I started the massaging the scar on Wednesday after my follow up appointment. I have a small inflammation on my left breast incision but it is not infected, doctor gave me some iodine dressing to put on it. I started my trial meds again and I am sure it has had an impact of this area healing properly.
My arms are a bit stiff and I started some stretches. I have a few areas that are harder on both breasts and my doc said that after the 8 weeks follow up I can start massaging these areas.
Before I knew of my surgery, I had bought tickets to a concert, which is on Sunday. I really want to go but I am wondering if that would be pushing it a bit. the venue is about 1+ hours away. oh what to do?!?!??!
Hope everyone is doing well.
Lolis
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Glad you are progressing well, Lolis! I too have some lingering stiffness in my right arm (where I had rads). I’m working on it with stretching as I did after my bmx. I have actually lost count of how many weeks post op I am. I think that means i’m healing well lol. It was April 1 so i’m probably 9 weeks out. I’ve started working out (carefully) again and i’m working on this weight gain that I’ve accumulated over the last 2.5 years. Slow going, especially with summer vacations, but i’m sticking with it. Swimsuit shopping has been quite an experience!
Kim, good luck getting ready for surgery. I was super anxious to get it over with, let us know if you have any questions.
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Thank you Lolis and Flynn!!!
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Hi, I'm new to this forum. I had my Diep Flap surgery on June 3rd. I'm recovering. The surgery was after DCIS stage 0. My oncologist recommended only a lumpectomy but they found benign tumors in my other breast and my anxiety was horrible. So I elected to have the bilateral mastectomy because I wanted as much of my life back as I could get. I want to know if anyone (and forgive me if it has been discussed) can tell me if they experienced the pulsating throb in the breasts...and if so how long does it last! I know I'm fresh from surgery but I really hope this isnt a long term side effect. Thank you in advance.
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Cwins1218– It’s not long term! The PS explained it to me like the nerves trying to communicate with something that’s not there anymore. I don’t remember it lasting more than a week or so, but my memory is not great due to chemo brain. I still get an occasional zing but nothing that’s not tolerable or lasts for more than a few seconds
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Thank you Mncteach! This is so weird for me. I was on tamoxifen before my surgery and I understand foggy brain. I support your recovery and thank you for sharing.
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cwins, I also had shooting pain fairly often post op. Now maybe I have a twinge once a week, if that. My diep was April 1. I hope your recovery comes along smoothly.
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Hi Flynn!
Thanks for the information and your surgery is just a little over 2 1/2 month. How are you feeling? Are you finding a new normal? Supporting your recovery and thank you for sharing
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