Diary of a DIEP flap bilateral reconstruction

Sorry to have been slow to add to this diary. I feel as if I have been doing everything slowly for a while. Anyway, I was able to leave hospital after 8 nights as was originally estimated. I was really pleased to be going home. The 3+ hour journey was surprisingly ok and the seat belt was not a problem. I had so looked forward to my own bed but I had not lain flat since the surgery and could not do so, i was quite confronted and had to sort out a pillow pile. That is my next tip, work out how to be really comfortable at home but probably sleeping on your back and with head/chest up to some extent. I had a couple of very quiet days at home then a day trip back to Sydney to see my surgeon. He took off all the dressings, removed steri strips and stitches around my belly button. He said it all looked fine but from my point if view it was not pretty and there is a lot of semi numbness in my abdomen which feels weird. Unfortunately my new belly button is going to take a bit longer to heal (seemingly this happens sometimes) so I have had to see my GP/practice nurse most days for a dressing change. To my GPs astonishment I was allowed to drive 2 weeks after the op but I only did so because hubby had to go back to work (remember if you do not have medical approval to drive after surgery your insurance may not be valid). At 3 weeks driving is fine but at first doing anything was a challenge at home. Healing from week 2 to 3 has felt really slow, but there has been definite improvements, but it is slow! Physically I am still not up to a great deal and still taking panadol for pain/ discomfort. When I saw the surgeon he reminded me that I could get out of the big elastic abdominal support once I had some 'nanny knickers'. I wish I had bought some beforehand as I did not feel able to go near a shop for a couple more days. I have never worn 'support wear' before and they seems to vary a lot. Buy somethiing before surgery. My Target purchase is ok but more comfortable is some Ambra shapewear I bought online. I can now shower with relative ease and have started massaging some vitamin oil along my scar lines. My new mounds still have bruising on them from the surgery. I was told by the surgeon to work on arm mobility and had 10 days to be able to get both arms straight up above my head. On one side that is fine but on the other I am still very tight and cannot do this without discomfort. So overall I am progressing but at that really frustrating stage of recuperation. The surgeon says it will take 6 weeks for my haemaglobin to recover and my GP suggested iron tablets. I will be seeing him in another week and know that I will be feeling much better by then. Thanks for the thankyous for doing this diary, it is my pleasure, it is a warts and all description and I recognize that I need to give it more time. My body still feels rather strange and I am looking forward to losing all the redness of tape allergy and scars and enjoying my new look.

I just remembered another of the warts in this recovery. The back of my head felt bruised after surgery which I presume is due to the many hours on the table but at about 2 1/2 weeks I started losing hair from that part of my head, it brought back really bad memories or losing hair with chemo but was confined to one part of my head and a few days later it has settled. At least it did not become a bald patch, just a bit less hair.

Can you tell me what is good silicone implant or DIEP Flap....

And do you need more surgery after that?

Thank you

MJ

Can you tell me what is good silicone implant or DIEP Flap....

And do you need more surgery after that?

Thank you

MJ

Well it is now a week since my surgery and Day 8 with night 8 to come. I am improving slowly, getting in and out of bed is easier as my stomach muscles have woken up again. Getting sick of hospital and want to go home which is probably a good sign. My surgeon came in to see me early this morning but everything is progressing as expected and although the final drains output is reducing it is not enough to allow it to be taken out. Hopefully tomorrow. What to wear - well for the first 3 or 4 days I was in a hospital gown with shoulder ties. I had to keep my chest warm so a small towel was over the flaps as well. After Thursday (day 4) I have been wearing undies and front opening pajama tops plus a light dressing gown. I had brought pajama bottoms but found them too difficult to deal with until today. The best has been a loose fitting cotton nightie. The ideal would be one with a few buttons at the front ( I found that one of mine just had pretend buttons that did not open so I had to lift the whole thing up for flap checks). It has not bothered me but be prepared for an almost complete loss of modesty, and nurse shift handover time there could be 5 people in the room and one will check the new breasts. Somehing else that has been useful for me is a drain bag to go over my shoulder. I just brought the one I had been given when I had my first surgery. I thought I would have read my novel by now but although I feel pretty clear headed I am tired and there is no such thing as a full night of sleep with obs going on or tablets being dispensed. I would love to be able to lie on my side as I usually do but I do not think that will happen for a while. I sleep with elevated head and feet and suffer a bit from an achy back at times which the physio says is inevitable. Pain has been a bit less today and I can stand a bit straighter so I am healing

Well it is now a week since my surgery and Day 8 with night 8 to come. I am improving slowly, getting in and out of bed is easier as my stomach muscles have woken up again. Getting sick of hospital and want to go home which is probably a good sign. My surgeon came in to see me early this morning but everything is progressing as expected and although the final drains output is reducing it is not enough to allow it to be taken out. Hopefully tomorrow. What to wear - well for the first 3 or 4 days I was in a hospital gown with shoulder ties. I had to keep my chest warm so a small towel was over the flaps as well. After Thursday (day 4) I have been wearing undies and front opening pajama tops plus a light dressing gown. I had brought pajama bottoms but found them too difficult to deal with until today. The best has been a loose fitting cotton nightie. The ideal would be one with a few buttons at the front ( I found that one of mine just had pretend buttons that did not open so I had to lift the whole thing up for flap checks). It has not bothered me but be prepared for an almost complete loss of modesty, and nurse shift handover time there could be 5 people in the room and one will check the new breasts. Somehing else that has been useful for me is a drain bag to go over my shoulder. I just brought the one I had been given when I had my first surgery. I thought I would have read my novel by now but although I feel pretty clear headed I am tired and there is no such thing as a full night of sleep with obs going on or tablets being dispensed. I would love to be able to lie on my side as I usually do but I do not think that will happen for a while. I sleep with elevated head and feet and suffer a bit from an achy back at times which the physio says is inevitable. Pain has been a bit less today and I can stand a bit straighter so I am healing