HI everyone, following mastectomy Sept 2008 I am now preparing for nipple to be ‘created’ on Monday along with some lypo to flatten out the ‘dog ears’ left behind after the diep tummy tuck and to even out the reconstructed boob a bit,as its a little bit bigger than the ‘ok one’ . I am pretty concerned about this - I am petrified of any sort of surgery - and having had 11 hours on the last op I know this next one is a walk in the park in comparison, but was wondering HOW much pain and discomfort I can expect to be in after the op.
Can anyone give me an honest idea of what to expect… how long after this op should I feel able to move around ok etc? what should I take to wear home in - Im expecting to be able to go home the same day. Any answers gratefully received , thanks
Jenny
Hi Jenny
I read you tread from ages ago when you went in for the op so remember you well (you story helped prepare me for my DIEP op last May - I shared so many of your fears). I’m now waiting for nipple recon too (my surgeon said wait 1 year although I know many ladies who have had them sooner but guess this is different from person to person). As far as I’ve found out, it seems like the actual nipple op is relatively simple and is ususlly done under local anaesthetic (not ure about whether you’d need to ‘go under’ due to the lipo revision. I’m going to have a little lipo too and desperately want this under local as don’t really want to risk another GA.
Anyway, I’m rambling now. What i really wanted to do was wish you every bit of luck for an excellent result and can’t wait to ‘hear’ how you get/got on.
Lots of love. Cathy x
Hi Jenny,great to hear from you.I hope all goes well tomorrow and I look forward to hearing all about it.I have a few more months to wait due my second op but hope to get a new nipple and some lipo later this year.
Love
Dot
xxx
Hi Jenny
We’ve communicated on fb - good luck with the nipple reconstruction. I had my Diep surgery at the end of October and on 1 March am having my nipple reconstruction and dog ears from tummy tuck removed. Mine will be done under local anaesthetic as Cathy has mentioned, and I’ve been led to believe it will be quite straightforward. I was told that I will have a mixture of dissolving stitches and some that will need removing and that it shouldn’t take long for everything to settle down.
I will be very interested to hear from others who have been through this.
Good luck tomorrow Jenny … will be thinking of you!
Gill x
Hi Jenny
I had nipple reconstruction, lipofil and breast reduction on 3 Feb 2010. I went in on the Weds and was allowed home on the Thursday.
Cant say I had any major problems with pain more a soreness if that makes sense. I have been wearing Tankini tops as they give support without being too tight cant wait for swelling to go down and get measure properly for a new bra. Where I had the lipofil taken from I had a reaction to the dressings and came out in blisters so my tummy is probably more painful than my boobs.
A week after the op I went back for my dresings removed and that night was one of the best in the last 2 years I felt “normal” if thats the right word whatever the word it was a good feeling.
Good luck hope everything goes well for you.
Karen
hi ladies
i had nipple reconstructions done last week and some lipo on the left side, sort of under my arm, to even things out as it were. I have implants in both sides, following a bilateral mastectomy last may. I went into hospital monday morning and was home tuesday tea time. They gave me pain meds to take, but as one of the other ladies said, it’s not really painful as such, but sore. The area where they did the lipo feels quite tender/brused, so that is worse than the nipples. I had to have a general because of the lipo. I wasn’t really looking forward to that having had 3 GAs last year, but i was ok. I get my dressings removed/changed tomorrow. I have two big blue foam circles with a hole in the middle over my new nipples, so they don’t get squashed, so can’t wear a bra and am living in baggy tops at the moment, cause they show!!
good luck with everyone having this done.
Theresa
thanks to everyone for your post - Dotchas and Gill lovely to hear from you! I don’t come on here much anymore I’m afraid - it was a HUGE help to me when I was going through the mastectomy but I had to just ‘crack on’ with living after all that, so sorry for not updating our long thread I started back in Sep 2008!
Anyway, I’m back home - surgery was at 10am yesterday and I was dressed and out by 6pm
I too have the blue mini ring donut over my new nipple ( I am so excited about having a nipple after 1.5 years without one ) and there is no pain from that area
The tummy flaps/ dog ears area is really sore though - burning and bruised and I’m shuffling about a bit . cant roll over or lie on my side in bed which meant I didn’t have a great nights sleep last night.Other than that its great to have had it done finally. I had a cold in November last year when I was supposed to have it done - they sent me away!!
I hope this info helps those due to have the surgery - if you have any questions please ask - as its very fresh in my mind at the moment!!
Jenny xxx
few days since surgery now and Im not sure that the lypo on the tummy tuck has been very successfull. I still seem to have a ‘corner’ on one side.
Has anyone else had this done and found it doesnt seemed to have flattened out properly?
Thanks Karen and Theresa for your comments which were very helpful prior to my … er … I think I’ll call it procedure yesterday!!!
And Jenny, I’m following your journey closely!!!
I was done! I had the dog ears removed from my scar line and I was nippled!!
It was all done under local anaesthetic but one side was dreadful - this was one of the dog ears on my hip. The local anaesthetic wasn’t enough and I really cringed and clung to the table! However, they sorted it and all ended up being fine.
I now have this blue sponge on my new nipple with dressings over it. The nipple is huge but will reduce in size gradually but with the protruding dressing looks enormous. My scar lines are dressed, itchy and very sore, but otherwise fine. I have no real pain - just a bit of discomfort.
My dressings will be removed on Friday 12 March but I know I’ll be changing them before that because I’m so allergic to most dressings and can’t keep them on for longer than a day or so. The Marsden have given me plenty of new ones to use!
Jenny, once I have my dressings removed I’ll see how flat or otherwise my scar line is and will let you know. I would imagine that if you’re not happy you could go back and say so although going through another procedure cannot be welcomed!! Aside from that, hope you are okay and feeling good!
Gill
Hi ladies
Me again … well THANKFULLY the hairy toe ( as it looked liked when the dressings were removed… it was HUGE and there were stitches hanging from it) has shrunk right down to a far more acceptable and nipply like lump
I am going back for a follow up consultation on Thursday this week… supsect he wont be overly pleased as the dog ears are still there - and its still very sore and bruised feeling where they allegedly lypo’d. I will be suprised if they actually did anything as apart from the pain in that area and the big purple bruises which appeared afterwards… nothing looks any different.
I have decided I will live with my corners as I am not going through any more surgery … in the name of vanity!