Hi
I had a Mx and immediate DIEP flap reconstruction 8 days ago at CXH. All that week, and until yesterday, something in the flap - the artery/vein I imagine - would periodically flutter/buzz which felt very weird, but certainly let you know it was alive! However, that has now stopped and the flap feels warmer and fractionally more swollen than before, but that could be the weather.
I wondered if anybody else had experienced a similar sensation and, if so,how long it lasted.
I don’t want to start rushing back to hospital if the above is perfectly normal. Have no colour changes to the flap and it feels about the same as before i.e. like an alien has taken root, but
I imagine there’s a certain ebb and flow to that.
Any reassurance gratefully received! Thanks.
Hi .
I am on the waiting list for DIEP FLAP . I am so so scared for to have this surgery , Would you mind if I asked you some questions about your surgery . I pray that all is ok for you
THANKS Anita
Hi gaplet
I had my DEIP April 2009 and still sooooooo pleased with it. Don’t worry about the flutterings/buzzings, this will continue for a while. My surgeon told me that you have so many stitches inside that cause all manner of strange feelings and that its all ok. Just keep an eye on any signs of infection, but if in real doubt just phone them.
Well done you - I am absolutely over the moon with mine, worth every minute… ask any questions, either you or Anita.
Cheers
Anne
Thanks Anne. Good to hear you are pleased with yours. Despite ringing ahead, I spent over 2 hrs at Charing X failing to see a surgical resident and had to leave. I eventually went via my GP’s out of ours service to A&E at the Chelsea and Westminster who said both abdo site and flap were infected and I am now on antibiotics. They also said the dressings were “a mess”. Feel like I’m going to burst as have so much fluid retention at sites, but have to hope for the best. Buzzing/fluttering stopped a few days ago which I think was probably a bad sign.
Hi Anita
Hard to be reassuring when things aren’t going that smoothly, but I am sure I will be pleased in the fullness of time. The surgery is scary and there’s no point telling you otherwise. The first 48 hours you’ll be in a haze and barely sleep as they have to keep checking the flap. However, you probably won’t remember much about it and by day 3 you really will feel almost human!
There’s a very good diary account on the forum which I found pretty accurate. Good luck. You just have to hold the thought that as soon as you wake up after surgery, you are a step nearer putting it behind you.
Best wishes
GAP
I am now 11 weeks post DIEP and I must say I had a very strange thing going on with the recon boob to begin with, I could hear fluid inside the breast. This all settled down quickly but I am told it is normal.
I also had an infection in both the tummy wound and the breast wound which 4 weeks on AB cleared up.
I am now down to just one plaster dressing on the tummy, can’t wait for it to be plaster free.
4 weeks on antibiotics?? That seems excessive. I must be very naive in not actually expecting to get any infection whatsoever! I didn’t 15 years ago when I had a WLE and axillary clearance of ex-breast. I’m on a 7 day course of flucloxacillin which I assumed would sort it out entirely, but it appears that may be optimistic. Oh dear.
I’m interested that you call yours a breast as I can only think of mine as ‘The Flap’ and feel no affinity with it whatsoever. Perhaps that will come in time.
Good luck with flying plaster free in the very near future.
Hi Gaplet
I had a mx in February, with no recon so different to you all there. From the second day I had the fluttering, buzzing sensation you describe. It felt like a mobile phone was under the skin and was just on vibrate-very strange sensation.
My son reckoned the surgeon had dropped his phone in by mistake, and the sensation would stop when the battery ran out!
It actually did stop after about 5 days, tha same length of time my phone lasts without being recharged…
Good luck with everything
xxx
Hi there
I had a double Mx and DIEP at the end of Jan at Charing X.
I can only shout their praises. Fab surgeon, fab nurses, fab care and fab boobies. Fab tummy is a bonus.
Funny buzz disappeared quite early on. I’m fully healed up but had a very slight issue with reactions to stitches for which I had antibiotics and a small amount of wound necrosis which all settled down at around the 8-10 wk stage.
The worst bit was the anticipation beforehand.
Have just had surgery on my ankle for unrelated problem and now have leg in plaster for 2 weeks. This is so much harder for me to deal with than the DIEP recovery was! Hope that puts things in perspective.
Nicky x
Reading all these comments has really uplifted me. I had a left mx in 2009 followed by chemo and rad. Now am due to have reconstructive surgery in 2wks(diep flap), am so looking forward to it, well minus the pain of course.
Hi all
I am having a mx and diep flap on the 14 july in london however i live in brighton and due to travel home 14 days after the surgery can anyone tell me if i be able to travel by train or will this be to soon hope you are all doing ok just hope i do not get infected has had bad case of mrsa at my lasted breast op in june 2009 only clear up early this year and now got to face mx and diep real scared about it all sue