Hair loss and DIEP

[drdspg]

Thank you for your replies. I'm now just about 2 weeks post op. My anaesthetist suggested that I used a moisturising cream on the back of my head, my heels and elbows. I didn't lose any hair.

[sherrifh]

I had a diep in 2011. never had any hair issues. The drains are one of the biggest pains ever!! Do be prepared. I am four weeks post op following second mastectomy they took tissue from hip area. This I found a whole lot harder than the diep and am still fighting infection. Got my results back have to have node clearance b chemo 😞 happy 40th!'! X

[Duffer56]

The thing that I think helped me recover quickly was drinking loads of water after the surgery to flush the anaesthetic out. Mind you - I was quite happy for them to leave the catheter in for an extra day as the prospect of getting out of bed and getting to the toilet so many times was daunting.
My anaethestic advised eating healthily prior to surgery - lots of iron rich food such as brocolli, liver etc. i also gave up booze for a month beforehand to give my body a bit of a boost.
I wrote a bit of a blog after my surgery if you would like to take a read pm me your email address and I will send it over to you.
X

[drdspg]

Thank you for your replies. It was the consultant anaesthetist who said this to me. He seemed to be saying this in all seriousness. I think he wanted to be sure I was aware of every potential side effect of a long anaesthetic. Good to hear that so far no one seems to have experienced hair loss.

[lespen]

I also had diep 8 weeks ago no problem with hair loss. I think they are pulling your leg.  Babies are on their back all the time whereas this is for only about 8 hours. X

[Duffer56]

I had DIEP 18 months ago and was under anaesthetic for 11 hours - no problem with my hair X

[jillybee]

Never lost any hair!!!!!you are on your back for a couple of days.Was hot,but no hair loss.

[drdspg]

My anaesthetist told me that people who have a DIEP ( because of the long anaesthetis time) are likely to lose hair at the back of their head- similar to babies who lose hair at the back of their head when they are too tiny to move around much. I'm having a bilateral DIEP in a couple of weeks and wondered if anyone had heard of this/ experienced this?