Tag: DIEP flap surgery

Trending on Twitter #Ilooklikeasurgeon

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Trending on Twitter #Ilooklikeasurgeon Trends on Twitter and much of Social Media go at break neck speeds. Here today and gone tomorrow. There has been something trending on Twitter the past few days that inspired me to write this post. The trend followed the hash tag #Ilooklikeasurgeon and began with an article written about diversity and equality from a London surgeon, Dr. Ed Fitzgerald. A resident in surgery, Heather Logghe, MD, started the trend with pictures on Twitter.  And yes, it exploded on Social Media!  Dr. Kathy Hughes, a surgeon and one of my favorite bloggers,  even started a Facebook page to honor this community.  I was mesmerized and actually found two surgeons I follow on Twitter who posted these two pictures.                 I know Dr. Chrysopoulo personally and many of you who read my blog probably feel like you do, too, as Continue Reading →

DIEP Flap Post Surgical Garments

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The type of DIEP flap post surgical garments you will wear may very depending on your plastic surgeon. This is a photo I took on my computer. Keep in mind this is from my surgery in 2015 and what they give patients now may be updated. But it is a page taken directly out of the Breast Reconstruction Planner from my surgical group, PRMA in San Antonio. They are very comprehensive helping you plan every step of the way but I wanted you to hear an experience from a patient’s standpoint and the type of DIEP flap post surgical garments I wore. Are they glamorous? No, but you learn to conceal their bulkiness with accessorizing! Here is a picture with my nurse Denise. You can visibly see the outline of my drains but you don’t see any of my post DIEP flap surgical garments.  Are they comfortable? They’re not uncomfortable Continue Reading →

Postoperative DIEP flap Recovery

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Postoperative DIEP flap Recovery Postoperative DIEP flap recovery, pain management, and progress with movement and activity, are some of the most common questions, concerns, and fears women ask me about. I wanted to share my photos in this blog to give women visual of progress I made during my recover from DIEP flap surgery. This was my recovery time and everyone will be different to some degree. I had very few “hiccups” in my recovery and it went as expected. The most difficult part for me was not pain, which was controlled quite well. My challenge came in lying still for five days. But as I frequently tell interested candidates, you have just been re-sculpted by an artist, your plastic surgeon. Treat your piece of art, your newly built breasts, with respect and nurture it back to health with patience and care. All good art work takes time! My First Continue Reading →

History of DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction

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  The history of DIEP flap breast reconstruction, as with most medicine and surgery, has certainly evolved over the years. Patient recovery and healing, post operative outcomes and efficacy of the surgery has likely played a significant part in that evolution. The first attempts at flap reconstruction date back as far the 1800s. The advantage of using the deep inferior epigastric perforators (DIEP) as a means of breast reconstruction was primarily promoted by two surgeons in the mid 1990’s. Dr. Phillip Blondeel of Belgium and Dr. Robert Allen of the U.S. were the two surgeons who convinced their fellow plastic surgeons of the advantages of DIEP flap over TRAM flap as it did not use the rectus abdominis muscles thereby giving patients a more desirable outcome by not sacrificing their “sit-up” muscle. Many Must Travel to Find a Qualified Micro-Surgeon DIEP flap surgery is complex and involved.  It takes specialized Continue Reading →

DIEPflap Breast Reconstruction: Aesthetic Questions to Ask Your Plastic Surgeon

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DIEPflap Breast Reconstruction: Aesthetic Questions to Ask Your Plastic Surgeon DIEPflap breast reconstruction & aesthetic questions to ask your plastic surgeon involves more than  you may have given much thought to.  You have had a mastectomy due to breast cancer. You have tested positive for the BRCA gene and are facing the decision to have a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy to significantly decrease your chances of getting breast cancer. Perhaps you are even going in for a consult to repair damage done at another practice and are looking for better results.  Now you’re researching and thinking about breast reconstruction options. You found a board certified plastic surgeon with great skill and a high rate of success. The consult appointment has been set up. You write down as many questions as you can and hope beyond hope you will be given the time to have all of them answered.  Your main concern Continue Reading →

DIEP Flap Surgery: Day one, Phase one

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Check-in It was still dark outside the morning we left for phase one of my DIEP flap breast reconstruction surgery. We were told to be at the hospital at 6 a.m. Monday morning following Thanksgiving weekend had to be a good day for surgery. My surgeon had time to be with his family, enjoy a feast and be all rested up. It was a new week and a brand new month, December 1. We arrived at the hospital and signed all the paperwork for check in. The wait wasn’t too long but the room we waited in was the typical sterile, hospital environment, fluorescent lighting with CNN on the TV. They had coffee available but nothing for me, thank you very much. I had been on complete fasting since midnight. They took us up to another smaller and quieter waiting area where all patients were checked in and waiting to Continue Reading →

Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy

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  Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy ~ Is it Right for You? When I read an article about BPM posted on Facebook by my reconstruction surgeon I knew immediately what the letters stood for and so do those in the BRCA and cancer community. Out of pure curiosity I searched on the internet the “meaning of BPM” without adding “medical” to the search. You get some interesting as well as hilarious results: British Prime Minister, Beam Position Monitor, Business Performance Management, Blood Pressure Monitor, Beats per Minute and my favorite, Butt Pumping Music! The Angelina Effect Bilateral prophylactic mastectomy became a popular news topic after Angelina Jolie shared that she reduced her risk by nearly 90% of ever getting breast cancer because of choosing a BPM. She tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation and her mother died of ovarian cancer. I wrote a previous blog on this and completely understand why Continue Reading →

The Perfect Breast Shape and Plastic Surgery

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How I got to the “Breast” Shape Ever Twitter is such a valuable tool for me. A year ago my Twitter account was full of nothing but educational websites. I returned to school to attain my M.Ed. and I used it for the sole purpose of gathering information about the latest “speak” in education. I did not tweet, like, retweet, or DM (direct message). I only lurked and learned. The lurking and learning changed in October of 2014. School ended for me to focus on my health.  My Twitter account went from education to all things breast cancer and breast reconstruction. I entered the world of plastic surgery as a breast reconstruction patient after undergoing a double mastectomy following a second breast cancer diagnosis. It was a world I was unfamiliar with and had much to learn about both on an academic and emotional level. I was now following, being Continue Reading →

A Letter to Secretary Sylvia Burwell

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Dear Secretary Burwell, I enjoyed reading your bio on the HHS.gov website because I found we have a few things in common and I value human connections. We are both passionate about ensuring that individuals lead healthy and productive lives. Your outreach is far greater than mine and I am grateful for your passion and mission. My outreach, smaller though no less important, is to breast cancer patients who have been faced with a mastectomy. We are both former Seattle residents. As former President of the Global Development Program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation you focused your efforts again on health.  I was an educator in Seattle at Sacred Heart School in Bellevue and had a brief opportunity to meet Melinda Gates when she visited our school and came into my classroom.  I was struck by her unpretentious manner and was humbled to speak to her and meet Continue Reading →

Surgical Drains

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A Bit of Self-deprecating Humor Never Hurts Surgical Drains – A Necessary Evil I hope you get a Friday laugh out of this post!  Surgical drains are a necessary evil for many surgeries and they certainly are for DIEP flap reconstruction.  Drains are an important part of your healing but no patient I speak to likes them.  But, hey, they are temporary.  I even had one of my abdominal drains become infected the week I was out of the hospital after phase 1.  But, it was taken care of within 12 hours when my doc upped my intake of anti-biotic.  Things happens when you’re healing and the infection was short-lived, just as the drains are short-lived. You can read why they are so important to your healing at the PRMA website. This #FundayFriday,  #FlashbackFriday post is to hopefully evoke a giggle, smile or laugh.  Just remember to grab a pillow and Continue Reading →