2018 DIEP Surgery
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You will only need spanx for the abdominal and hip area.
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jjpope, you’ll only want spanx for the tummy and hip area. But check first to see if you PS wants you to wear compression afterwards. Some of the women on here have not. I wore a binder but my PS did not want it to touch the new breast. No bra for me but others did wear them after.
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Hi everyone,
I don’t post a lot but I read everything on this thread. I’m 3 months out from R mastectomy w/DIEP. I’m scheduled for outpatient surgery on 11/14 for stage 2
Create a nipple on right breast
L breast mastopexy (lift)
Fat grafting to right upper chest—donor site is inner thighs
My concerns: how is the soreness/discomfort from the donor sites? My PS says I can go to work after 3 days off. I can’t wear a bra but he will have a bulky dressing over the R nipple to protect it. How much fun is it to go to work not wearing a bra??? Ugh...
Angie
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Adhoney, I’d say you want to take at least a week off after all that! You’ll be sore and black and blue at the fat grafting site!
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Jjpope1 - I'd recommend some cotton camisoles to wear under abdomenal binder if that's what your PS uses. I bought high waisted spanx but didn't end up wearing them. I really appreciated a grabber to avoid reaching/sitting up/straining abdomen.
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so 5 weeks today post diep. Overall feeling pretty good. Still dealing with a yeast infection under my new flap not getting better or worse. Received some cream from the PS to put on it
One question how far out do you worry about incision opening. Is there a point your skin is sealed up and healed. I have a few areas that are really sore and seems to still feel like it is pulling when I move around on my stomach.
Hope everyone is healing moving and getting stronger.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN. we are getting our first snow of the year today.
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Duzy. In answer to your question, yes, there is a time when your abdominal incision is fully healed. However, five weeks out is not that time. I speak from experience on this one.😏😏
My chemo buddy had her 50th birthday party five weeks after my bilateral DIEP flap. So of course I had to go. And have a couple of drinks. Which of course led to dancing. In high heels, no less. At five weeks out.
Needless to say, I regretted it the next day. Not only was I sore as all get out, but I managed to open my incision. It was small, about the size of a half dollar. but it took 6 additional weeks to close up. My surgeon was not amused.
My advice? Take it slow and easy. Even though you're feeling better, it still takes a long time to fully heal. Trust me.
Best wishes for continued healing.
Trish
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Trish
Thank you for responding. I am truly sorry that happened to you but glad it did heal up
I will be extra careful for awhile yet. I have been working 4-6 hours a day (desk job), walking and trying to do more each dayl
Connie
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Did anyone else’s PS tell you no icing the breast flap for up to two weeks after surgery? How the hell does one cope with the swelling and pain without ice? Yes, I know I’ll get pain meds, but I do better with ice.
Duzy - we also got our first snow today. Quite a bit too, for Chicago in October.
Diane
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Duzy - I sprung little leaks in all my incisions until around 8w, even without a party, lol. They were tiny, but a reminder - take it easy.
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HopeWins thanks for the info. I will watch closely as I have a few areas that are really sore along my ab incision and seems to be pulling. I go see my PS in 2 weeks
Dvhmouse My PS said no ice on the Flap. My daughter lives in Chicago and sent pictures this morning of the sleet and snow. Crazy how early for our first snow fall was.
Connie
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No ice or heat! You have no feeling and could damage the skin.
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Hi JJpope,
A boppy pillow!!!. People suggest you sleep upright, in a recliner or propped up. The drains on your hips and if you have one on your breast have to be in a safe place so they wont get in the way of things. At some point, when you can, you are going to want to sleep flat. (not your sides for a while but not propped up) and you might experience the feeling that you cant stretch completely flat and that may cause lower back pain. So my friend bought me the breast feeding boppy pillow to rest my chest against but I ended up laying flat, propping my head up slightly with a regular pillow, and propping my butt up on the boppy (open side towards the feet) and a pillow.
The boppy worked because it wasnt too much of a lift and it never lost shape, its soft and easy to scoop under and vice versa. you can do it without moving too much of your stomach etc. I know it sounds complicated but it gave me my first "bed" night of sleep with my husband and he said I was snoring like I was having the best sleep ever! Inbox me if you want to see a picture of how I do it. 🤷🏿♀️
head propped on>pillow>torso>butt propped on>boppy turned outward>legs ontop of pillow>feet =happiness
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Just a FYI to help in the work/office pants issue for after surgery. I got new pants at Belk (I live in NC and not sure if other states have that or not) by Kim Rogers and are awesome, look great, and are elastic waist not button up. They were also buy 1 get 1 free. They have different colors and fits. Hope this helps! And the tummy control part isn’t hard or thick so I don’t think it will affect the incision. Could be wrong but I don’t think so.
Back story
I had to go buy new pants because prior to BC diagnosis I lost 45 lbs and got rid of all my big girl clothes and got smaller clothes. Well during chemo and now after I’m still swollen and needed to get bigger pants. So I’m thankful I found these and know I can use them when I go back to work after surgery.
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I just had my DIEP flap surgery in NYC, in July 2019. Like Lula73, I am thrilled. The result is natural, and the breasts feel real. I am so happy to have breasts that still feel like breasts.
I chose Dr. Hani Sbitany as my Plastic Surgeon (nycbreastrecon.com). He is at Mt. Sinai in NYC, after practicing for 9 years at UCSF Medical Center. His team at Sinai was amazing. He is apparently one of the national leaders in prepectoral implant reconstruction, but is an amazing microsurgeon based on my outcome. I am very happy with everyone on the team he has assembled in New York. He explained he did some things to make me recover easier from surgery, like using an ultrasound to inject 3 day local anesthetic into my abdominal wall at time of surgery. made recovery much easier and minimal pain. Sharing this so everyone knows to ask their surgeons.
Thanks everyone on this thread for all your posts and info. So helpful.
-Ash
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question...I am planning my DIEP surgery for Jan 2020. I have a spring break trip (Flordia Disneyland) planned for end of March 2020 which is approx 8 weeks after.. is that too soon? Will I be healed enough? Or should I move the surgery until the trip?
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Me2018 -
Best to ask your surgeon, but I was cleared after six weeks. Enjoy the trip!
dvhmouse -
Again ask your surgeon. And the lack of sensation makes a lot of sense. But, while in the hospital, I heard my doctor had been furious with one of the nurses who chilled a patient's breast a few days after the operation. Apparently it constricts the blood vessels and could endanger the flap. The nurses were still talking abut it a year later!
JJPope 1 -
The pants look awesome! If you're still looking for advice, I'd suggest doing squats and lunges before your surgery to build up leg muscle strength. It makes it much easier to get up out of a chair or bed without taxing your arms and chest so much. Made a huge difference with me. And I got an aluminum medical stool to put in the shower, and my husband put a hand wand on the shower head. Could ease myself in, sit down in comfort even when I was tired, and control the water flow away from the stitches. Heaven!
Good luck to you!
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me2018,
It looks like had a unilateral mastectomy 9/2018 and are having a single DIEP reconstruction. Assuming you’re fairly fit and active I suspect you will be fine. I found recovery from DIEP significantly easier from mastectomy.
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My incision under my left breast, healed slowly due to radiation. It even reopened in section after closing. I used non adhesive medical pads under my left breast to keep the area dry. I noticed staying on schedule with changing the pads and stopping certain oils like black seed oil sped up the healing process. I also agree taking it easy makes a difference. Whenever I did too much I noticed my incision reopened. To date it looks good. I will have stage 2 in December. Any tips on care after fat grafting and nipple reconstruction.
Insideout2
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Me2018,
8 weeks after surgery, you should be okay to go. Based on my experience, at the 8 week mark, I was back to all normal activity. You may still have some minor soreness with extreme physical activity, but you should certainly be fine for your vacation. Enjoy!
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insideout2 - I've heard good things about Medihoney. Some women swear by it for wound care. You can get it on Amazon. I used it on areas that were springing little leaks and it seemed to work well.
So, I had my follow up appt with the the PS. I guess I'm almost 12w out now. I pled my case on having to wait so long for revision surgery (I was scheduled for March 2nd) and he got me in sooner - next Tuesday, the 19th! I'm still trying to get my head around it all. I'll take the day off for surgery but work is so crazy right now, I don't know that I can take off more time. I work from home but have big meetings scheduled next Wednesday and Thursday. Am I crazy to think I'll be able to work?
I'll be having some scar revision- removal of mastectomy scar (around 2"), closing up of skin paddles, a tiny tuck/lift on one side, lipo on upper tummy, waistline and flank and then fat grafting into my divots - both sides. I usually don't have any issues recovering from anesthesia.
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HopeWins, Good luck with your revision surgery. I have mine on Dec 17th, a year after my original surgery. I'm not actually sure what I am getting done, I see my surgeon next week to discuss. I booked the date so that I could get it done before the new year. Except for fixing my side boob (i call it that its just a roll of skin and fat that developed under my arm after my original surgery). I notice there is dimple near my circles that I would like fixed. Did your doctor tell you how long recovery would be? I heard Lipo leaves you beat up.
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He originally said to plan on one to two weeks off work. The appt happened so fast, I didnt get much else.
I have a lot of side boob too! I wish I could get rid of that but that's where he made my vessel connection so I suspect I'm stuck with it.
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Hopewins-Good luck on your surgery. Hope you are feeling okay. I think our treatments have been around the same times. My phase 2 is tomorrow, and I am with you on what to expect. Hoping that I can work, and not knowing what to expect is making me anxious. I'm having a fat transfer from my hips to both breasts, and nipple reconstruction. I really wish I could hear from others on recovery time. It's outpatient, and expected to be about 2 hours long.
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I just had my phase 2 last Thursday, 11/14. I had fat transfer from my inner & outer thighs to my right upper chest, nipple reconstruction on the right breast& a lift on my left breast. I took Friday off work & spent the weekend resting. I was able to go back to work Monday and felt pretty good, just a little sore on the thighs. My PS has me wearing Spanx night & day for at least a week post-op, & no bra. I'm getting by with wearing a tank top under my shirt & a light jacket. I work in a hospital & can sit for a while, walk around for a bit. Tylenol & Advil is all I've needed for the soreness. I've been really surprised at how well I feel. I have some bruising on my upper chest but very mild.
I have my first follow-up this Friday & I'll get to see the nipple on my right breast. I'm hopeful that it turns out well! The lift on the left looks really nice! I almost decided against it & told myself, “ it's close enough," but I'm glad I went ahead & did it. It was worth it!
Notdefined: good luck tomorrow! you'll be fine. Ice packs will be your friend for several days.
Hopewins: good luck next Tuesday! I'd think you'd be able to do your meetings from home as planned. I felt good enough to get around the house just fine the next day, use my ice intermittently & take Tylenol as needed.
Angie
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*ice packs to liposuction donor sites, not to the DIEP areas according to my PS. So I couldn’t use the ice on my right upper chest
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Thank you so much Adhoney. Everything went good today, and I am home resting. I am a little naseous, and sore of course. I haven't taken anything since I got home 4 hours ago. I took a sneak peak and really like the volume added to my breasts. My hips look the same to me, which made me a little disappointed, but I'm hoping that is just swelling. Whether this volume sticks or not, I think I'm going to just let it be, so my *hope* is this is the last surgery I will need for a very long time 😊.
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hi all! All good here. My surgery was around 5pm on Tuesday - not a normal surgery day but he rocks and did it after a day of clinicals because I was so disappointed to have to wait until March (my original revision date). I did work yesterday. Felt like crap (dizzy and weak) until around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, but made it through the day. I even made dinner when I got done working (i work from home) I'm really sore and bruisy, but feel good other than that.
My boobs look great right now. For all the tears I cried over my phase 1 boobs, this really gives me hope! If only all that fat would stay! I had a tiny bit of dog ears, so he fixed that. He re-excised my lumpectomy scar and closed up my skin paddles. He took fat from my love handles and put it in the divots/flat areas in my upper/inner foobs. I also had weird divots/creases between my armpits and foobs so he lipo'd a little bit of fat from near the arm pits so it's not so pronounced. It's still swollen and super bruised so hard to tell if it made much of a difference. I can see the difference in my hips/love handle area. It's like- if I was wearing tight hip huggers I wouldn't have as much of a muffin top. He also lipo'd my abdomen above my scar. Didnt seem to me I had much fat left there, but I wasn't going to argue. Go ahead and give me a 6 pack, I dare you - Ha!
I forgot to mention it during prep and he forgot to do a tiny lift on one the left side. Honestly, he's the one who brought it up origjnally and i barely noticed it so I'm not upset. It will either get done next time or it wont get done. I did ask him to do something with my right nipple. It had collapsed a little, like folded down in the original DIEP. He was going to inject some fat to "wake it up" but there was too much scar tissue, so that's gonna be what it is.
All the lipo areas are super sore. Like beat with a baseball bat sore. I actually don't have much bruising except for the armpit area. I suspect that will come. I bruise really easily. I'm wearing an abdominal binder and surgical bra right now. Supposed to wear those until next Tuesday's post-OP appt. I did buy spanx just in case, cuz those r better than the binder. We're traveling to family for the holiday so I don't want to roll in looking like the Michelin Man.
Just an FYI for pain control. They gave me demerol in the hospital because I was shaking. Fixed that but I think it made me nauseous on the ride home. I normally don't get nauseous after general anesthesia. I took an oxycodone before bed Tuesday night. I really wanted one yesterday but had important meetings and didnt want to be woozy, so I waited and took one before bed last night. Hind sight, I don't know why I didnt take a tylenol yesterday! I think I'm going to do that now and hopefully I won't need any more narcotic pain pills. I'm on antibiotics and colace.
It's exciting to feel like I'm getting close to closure on this whole thing! Glad to hear others recovering well!
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Hopewins- Great to hear you are liking the results, and more importantly feeling good. I typically don't get nauseous after anesthesia either, but I vomitted once yesterday. Today feeling like myself with exception of being sore. What's got me down now is waiting 48 hours to 🚿 😂. It's the little things sometimes.
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oh I bet! So funny that instructions are so different from Dr to Dr. I didn't have "no shower" orders but I'm all surgucal glue. Maybe that's why. Didn't Adhoney say she had no bra? I might switch out to a different bra tomorrow cuz this one is gross with some blood on it. I guess if some people r allowed to go no bra it wouldn't be end of the world to wear a non surgical bra for a few hours so I can wash the nasty one.
I just want to be able to hug my people on Thanksgiving without it hurting!
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