Just come out of hospital after right side DEIP Flap. I wasnt given any physio??? Just wondered if anyone had any good tips for me in these early days?? So far terrible back pain and the usual soreness round wounds. Oh and scared to cough!!
Many Thanks Julie59 XXX
hHi dont come on here very often these days but just saw your thread and had to comment, just had reduction of right breast so had info re physio out.
I had Tram back in July, when coughing hold a pillow or cushion over tummy and huff rather than cough takes a bit of practise but works.
If you send me your email I will scan my info and send it through to you
Karen
Hi Julie
I’m a fellow ‘DIEPee’ from last year (May). I could bore you with 100’s of tips and you’re welcome to ask anything you can think of, no matter how stupid or trivial it may seem - it won’t be - (my favorite was to get a ‘grabber’ stick to reach for things and really obey the ‘don’t lift anything heavier than milk bottle for a few weeks (to avoid staining stitches)’. Coughing was a no no for me and I too adopted the ‘huffing’ method. More challenging for me was sneezing, no that WAS scary!! Only tip I can give here is that if you have time(!) when you’re about to sneeze, lie down and bend your knees (and support tum if you can). I sneezed standing up in the early days and boy did I know about it!!
Have you got help or are you going this alone?
Good luck with your recovery. Lots of love. Cathy x
Hi
i’m sure there’ll be a leaflet on BCC re physio. There’s certainly one for physio after breast surgery. You might already have it but it’s at:
breastcancercare.org.uk/upload/pdf/bcc_exercises06_web_0.pdf
I had recon with implants so only had the breast area and arms to worry about. I’m sure others will be able to advise you on the tummy.
One thing that might help. I found it difficult to sit up and used something from pilates - bend your knees and put your hands behind your knees/thighs. Move your legs away, and be pulled up by the movement. You sometimes have to rock back and forward a bit, but it uses the tummy muscles less.
Be kind to yourself and let everyoone else do the work.
Hope you begin to feel better soon.
Love, River
Oh Julie, one more thing (re back pain)
This WILL go. A lot of people I’ve ‘spoken’ to have had this and it’s due to the unnatural ‘bent’ position you’ll be adopting for a while. At first, I could only manage 5 of so steps around the house before having to almost slump against something just to relieve the middle back pain. Mine eased a little over 6-7 days. We’re all different but I’d strongly advise anyone to take care of that tummy scar and resist doing anything that could pull on it for as long as possible. Oh dear, starting to waffle now! Lots of love. Cathy x
Why were you not offered physio?
11 weeks ago I was in hospital (for an LD flap) and a fellow patient was in for a DIEP, and immediately after surgery until her eventual discharge she received extensive physio.
She was out before me! (but that was because one of my back drains was still discharging quite a fair amount of serum)
Hi Julie59
I had a diep recon in Oct 07. I didn’t have any physio whist I was in hospital, but I had my 1st appt for physio 2 weeks after the op. He assessed how much movement I had and then gave me exercises. I think I then had 2 follow up appts 2 or 3 weeks apart. It would be useful and in some cases crucial to have it. It also depends where the surgeon attached the new blood supply. Mine did it in the centre of my chest but a friend’s surgeon did it in the armpit. This had a huge effect on her movement and she ended up with a frozen shoulder. Perhaps you could ask at your 1st check up (mine was a week after the op) or speak to the breast care nurse.
I didn’t have back ache. When coughing or sneezing I used to hold my tummy. The support girdle helped too. I did manage to pull the stitches in my tummy closing the car door and was left with intermittent sharp pains for 6 weeks after so please be really careful. I slept with a pillow under my knees for a couple of weeks as my tummy was particularly tight! (Not enough there to start with)
My new boob is a cup size smaller but I am soooo pleased I’ve had it done.
Good luck with the recovery and take thing easy.
fantan
Thanks everyone for the advice. not sure why Ididnt get physio but will ask at my next appointment. Julie XXX
Hi Julie
I think it’s worth questioning why you didn’t get physio because it’s so valuable after such an invasive procedure.
I can only echo what others have said about coughing - I had my diep done at the end of October and laughing, coughing and sneezing were very painful. The best thing I found was to double up and stick a pillow or cushion against my stomach. It does ease after a while though.
Good luck with everything.
Gill x