Hooray finished chemo......

Congratulations on finishing your chemo. It's a great feeling knowing that part of the journey is over. My reconstruction was DIEP/TRAM Flap similar to yours will be. The flaps came from my tummy. What happened to my calf was a couple of weeks after surgery. I was diagnosed with Deep Vein Thrombosis (a blood clot) which can sometimes happen after a long surgery and a period of inactivity. The clot travelled to my lungs causing Pulmonary Embolisms (more clots). It's a bit dangerous but under control with the Clexane blood thinning injections I have twice daily. I hate the injections but I know they are keeping me safe. My hospital stay was for 9 days and it's been nearly five weeks since my surgery and I am improving everyday. I'm standing upright and the pain is not so bad now. I am still very tired but I'm moving around as much as I can. I don't really know when the pain will be fully gone but you do cope with it better and better everyday. My surgeon also said I might be in hospital for 2 weeks but I think it all depends on how well you do yourself. My plastic surgeon was happy with how my wounds were going and she said she was okay for me to go home on day 6 but I hadn't been able to move my bowell and so wasn't allowed to go home until I did. That didn't happen until the eighth night. Luckily all my drains were out by that time. It was really nice to be home even though I was quite uncomfortable and I would have loved to have the hospital bed to sleep in. It was okay with lots of pillows and cushions though. Good luck with radiotherapy Tanya and if you have any more questions I'm happy to help. If you join the group 'Breast Reconstruction' you will find a lot of stories from women who have gone through it and I found it extremely helpful. This is the link to the group. http://www.bcna.org.au/group/61026 Lots of love and hugs Tanya Love Janey xxx