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DIEP flap reconstruction swelling

Ellen85
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Hi all,

 

im just looking to see if there are any ladies out there who can tell me a bit about how much swelling they had post DIEP flap surgery and whether this goes down well over time.

im 7 days post op and my boob/flap feels massive. I'm aware it's early days yet and swelling can come down but I don't really know how much I can expect it to come down? My surgeon has also offered to take it down when he reconstructs the nipple if I like but I'm just feeling a bit self-conscious about having this massive boob and also the heaviness is uncomfortable so it would be good to know that some of this might just go away of its own accord over the coming weeks.

 

thanks :-) 

  • Offline

    Hi Ellen,

    I had a double DIEP reconstruction, so I am not sure I could see so much of a difference between the two! Rest assured the swelling will go down! It takes time though. Did you have a skin transfer from your stomach so they could check circulation? I had this removed 5 months later and it thankfully reduced the size of my breasts too, so you should definitely ask for this.

    Give yourself time! 7 days is so soon... I was told 2 years before they would look like they would permanently.

    Katrina :)

  • Offline in reply to katrina78

    Hi Katrina,

     

    Thanks for your reply! I kind of wish I'd had both done like you because at least then they would look uniform!

     

    I know that there is a second surgical step to be taken with my reconstruction in about 6-9 months but I'm not 100% sure exactly what they do in that. What exactly did they do in yours? They mentioned nipple reconstruction and perhaps adjusting size. I know part of the reason that my surgeon chose to make the flap big is because I'm going to be doing radiation and radiation can cause the flap to shrink. He told me that it's much easier to correct later if he starts larger than if he started small and we lost too much volume during radio.

     

    today I'm almost feeling a bit teary though because my flap just feels so heavy. I'm petite so to suddenly have one large boob feels jarring. I'm not doing much sport right this minute because I'm post-op but I can't imagine jumping around or running with a breast this big. Feel like my posture is suffering and it's only been about 8 days hahaha.

    question - did you notice a big different in appearance of you boobs between the first and second DIEP operations?

     

    thanks :-)

  • Offline in reply to Ellen85

    Dear Ellen,

    Absolutely! I was also disappointed with my breasts. I had both done as I have the BRCA1 gene mutation, even though my tumour was only in the right. I was very upset as my left, healthy one looked like someone had pinned a squashed orange on my chest, my right one was just massive....when I had the corrective surgery (they will only do one normally, but might do more if you are having radiotherapy) they removed the transplanted skin, which in itself made my breasts appear smaller and more rounded (rather than long/oval!) they also did some lipo infills to make them more symmetrical. 
    I think the thing to do at the moment is be kind to yourself! Let yourself heal. In a few weeks write a list of what you would like corrected so that you can give your wish list to your surgeon. Hopefully s/he will be as accommodating as mine. 
    I was very lucky because they managed to save my nipples but I have seen the molded /tattooed ones and they look amazing! My colleague was very jealous as she had mastectomy and she really missed her cleavage (crease) when wearing low tops etc, so at least you will still have this.

    Good luck with it all. It does get better, I promise. You should be able to resume some light exercise at 8 weeks.

    I am about to go through treatment all again so hoping the radiotherapy doesn't change mine now I have got used to them!

    Take care,

    Katrina

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