Now that I’m two and half months post Stage One surgery and am gearing up for Stage Two, I realized that I never shared some “progress” photos. My scars were already looking so much better at the four week point and of course, look even better today. But very soon, I’m afraid they’ll be red and angry again. I’m okay with that, though, since it means I’m on the tail end of my anticipated surgeries! Which means, I’m on the home stretch of this journey. Finally.
This coming week will find us back in NOLA at the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery where I’ll have Stage Two of my reconstruction surgery. This surgery will be much shorter, about half the time of Stage One back in July and should only require a one night in their surgical hospital.
(Hopefully cooler weather awaits us this time, too and we’re super excited to get to be in town around Halloween. If you know me, you know I LOVE me some Halloween and I can’t think of a more fun town to celebrate in, than spooky, voodoo-y, NOLA. A haunted house in an antebellum victorian mansion that was actually used as a mortuary so it’s probably haunted as well the other 11 months of the year? Yes, please! I’m hoping I’ll feel up to visiting at the tail end of our trip, but don’t worry, I will definitely be watching myself this time and not doing too much, too soon.)
I’ve had several people ask what is involved with this phase of my reconstruction so I wanted to share what I know.
My understanding is that basically this stage is for refinement – both of all the scars and the breasts themselves.
You may be able to tell in the photos below that my donor site (abdomen) scar is a bit rougher than the half moon scars under my breasts. Since it’s still feeling pretty hard around the scar, it’s very likely that some fat necrosis will have built up from lack of blood flow to the new tissue so my doctor will open that one back up, liposuction the fat necrosis out and cut out any hardened scar tissue and finish by pulling the skin so the scar ends up lower and lies more flat. With the refinement, it should also be thinner & smoother so it’ll fade away as much as possible over the years.
He’ll also fix the “dog ears” on my flanks where the flaps were removed and the drains were, by smoothing the area with liposuction and extending the edges a bit further back (probably around 3″ or so) and then remove any extra skin & fat so the skin lies more flat. Again, the flatter and thinner the scar, the more likely it will be to fade and be hardly noticeable.
If my does end up needing to cut the entire ab scar, I will get two drains there again, as well, have one with each breast incision, so a total of four again. Yea. The good news is that they usually all come out at the one week mark this time – very rare that any stay in through the two week mark. Fingers crossed!
Fat grafting will also be on the docket (likely from my thighs since my belly doesn’t have much more to give at this point) to add some volume. As I mentioned, he wasn’t able to get as much tissue and fat with the extended DIEP that he had hoped, so we’ll make of for that by taking un-wanted thigh fat and making wanted, uh…boob fat? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
Additional refinement of my breasts include contouring, shaping and likely a little lift. Things he may do include, tissue rearrangement to help with shaping, moving the breast on the chest wall so they’re more symmetrical, and adding volume to the top and sides to achieve a more natural look. These are all small adjustments, but they can dramatically improve cosmetic appearance, which in turn, helps many of us to feel more whole.
As for recovery, I can expect some pain (especially in my heretofore previously un-cut thighs) and to feel pretty wiped out for several weeks. I’m sure lifting restrictions will be in effect, as well. I’ll also have a compression garment again, although this one will be more full body as it will cover my donor thighs (down to my knees) this time and I’ll probably be in it for at least 4, but probably 6 weeks. Lord knows we do not want the fat from the donor site(s) to regenerate. Oh, and you better believe I’ll be reminding them about the Surgical Glue Incident, too.
I know for some people, one of the reasons they’re often afraid to have DIEP flap surgery is because of the scars. I can totally understand that, however to me, it was always going to be worth it. Worth it to have soft, warm, non-foreign object breasts that didn’t look like they belonged to someone who dances on stage and receives a bunch of dollar bills for their efforts. And to be honest, the physical scars that come with DIEP surgery, are pretty easily hidden. Like I’ve said before, I’ve kinda felt my bikini days were over for a while a now.
However, the emotional scars that come with mastectomy surgery are also not visible, but take much longer to heal. No one will look at me the grocery store in horror as they would if the scars were on my face, neck, arms, etc. But we’re all carrying scars somewhere. One of my favorite quotes is “be kind, for everyone you meet, is fighting a hard battle.”
4 Week Post-Op Photos
12 Week Post-Op Photos
I’ll have to get at least a photo of one sometime next week, but in the lobby of the Center, they have a mini shop with some surgery recovery garments, scar therapies, and books written by many of their patients, but the stars of the show (seriously, the bling-y lights are all pointed towards them) are these slightly cheesy rhinestone tee shirts adorned with “Restored by Dr. _________”. I scoffed a bit when I first saw them on my initial consult visit back in May, thinking really – who would wear one of those?! But now…? Now I think I just might want one.