Reconstruction

[Louise O'Brien]

I hesitated to start a thread on this because Mary Jo did such a great job on hers (and she was so helpful and supportive to me in private e-mails). I guess I decided to add my voice to this topic in case there is someone out there who is unsure of what to do, who might need some encouragement or a nudge when it comes to making a final decision.

I had a Diep flap, reconstruction on the left side, three weeks ago. The surgery lasted six hours although they had booked the operating room for 81/2 hours.

That was three weeks ago. Yesterday we went out shopping and then out to dinner. I'm moving fairly well, am in very little pain other than the sensation of tightness and can't believe how far I've come in three weeks.

It was not an easy decision for me. Two years ago, I had just had a mastectomy and was undergoing chemo. At the time, the prospect of reconstruction surgery was unthinkable. Enough is enough I thought.

But as I got to feeling better, I had this nagging feeling that I did not want to look the way I did for the rest of my life. I had no intention of seeing a plastic surgeon but went out of curiosity. Ironically a friend of mine had dropped off a magazine describing all the different operations available and I knew then that if I ever decided to have surgery, the Diep flap would be my choice. The first surgeon only did Tram flaps but he referred me to a leading surgeon known for the Diep flap.

Again I went out of curiosity and took my husband with me. I liked and was impressed by the surgeon immediately (my husband felt the same way) and knew I would be in good hands. He also had an incredible reputation.

Tip Number One: Research your doctor - it may be the most important thing you do.

The surgery went well and I was in the hospital for six days. All the nurses looking after me spoke highly of this doctor and he checked on me twice daily.

For the first 48 hours they had to check a doplar thingy implanted in my chest every hour on the hour to ensure the blood vessels were operating properly.

I had a morphine pump and only used it once. They took it away. I made a huge mistake at that point though - going off painkillers to just straight Tylenol - and after all the painkillers were out of my system - it hit me. It took two days to "get ahead of the pain" as they say. I was ok - as long as I didn't move.

I was afraid that if I took percocet (I don't like pills) I'd turn into Lisa Minnelli.

Tip Number Two: Take the damned pills after morphine. Tylenol 3 always does it for me.

By the time I went home, all the drains were out. Halleluia. Every doctor is different on this - my output had diminished significantly and he said he doesn't like to keep them in longer than necessary for fear of infection.

So I walked (or shuffled) out of the hospital drain free.

Every day it gets better. It was tough getting in and out of bed for a while - but I've developed the art of "tucking and rolling".

I'm now wearing an abdominal binder for a few weeks - it actually feels good - and I'm getting around quite easily.

The only thing I'm dealing with now is a bit of fatigue and I think that's from the anaesthetic. I'd swear I still think it's coming out of my system. My hair feels "ropey" when I wash it - and even the hairdresser feels it.

Oh yes - got my hair cut and styled yesterday too!

So the doctor says I'm over the worst. That was the big one. In four months I head back for a reduction on the good side and I can hardly wait. It's day surgery.

Oh - almost forgot. The outcome? It's smaller (as I wanted) well placed and it's such an improvement I can hardly believe it.

I'm happy I did it. I can't believe I did it - considering where I was just two years ago. It was the right decision for me.