Diep flap breast reconstruction

Ah I remember so well how you feel. I had my diep in Jan 22 so I’m a fair bit ahead of you and I was so scared of going home with the drains in, I had 2 they left. But I was tearful and scared too. My advice is to do the arm exercises regularly, they were fine for me. Do gentle walking in moderation, if you can. I decided that I would try and do laps of my garden around day 7/8. This was not a good idea! I overwhelmed the drain with fluid Just remember you’ve had a really big operation, you’ve had limited sleep so far, the arm exercises are the important bit, the rest will come. Give yourself time to heal properly and rest. You will get there, do it at your own pace, don’t compare your recovery with others. One lady told me she went to dinner with her husband 6 days after the op. I didn’t get out of pyjamas for over a week, there’s no way I’d have been able to go out in that way and I think I’m quite stoic!! But I was teary, emotional and recovery took too damn long. Now I look back and think I was bloody amazing and how did I cope so well. Lots of love x

Hi Jacks0027, I have recently had a mastectomy with diep flap reconstruction. When they told me after 3 days I could go home, I told them I wasn't ready and stayed in for 2 more days. I ended up having my drain removed before leaving hospital,  which I was really pleased about. Did all my exercises and my arm mobility is now pretty good. Think maybe I started to do things around the house a bit too soon though, as I dislike sitting around for too long. I have a little section of tummy wound that hasn't healed yet, so have to go back to have it checked each week. Apart from that I'm doing reasonably well. I wish you well moving forward. Xx

Thank you. That’s very helpful. I was doing laps around the hospital floor and that probably didn’t help so will just stick to the basic arm exercises and slow walks. I’m definitely not going out for dinner for a little while goodness me! I’ll be watching daytime TV for a bit! Xxx

Thank you. It’s so nice to have such helpful advice and support from you both and others.  I think I will also struggle to sit still but it seems the strong advice is to do just that! At least in the first few weeks anyway! Xxx

Funny! I appeared at my room door in hospital and said I wanted to walk, like you two, I’m not a sitter. They laughed and said they couldn’t believe I was out of bed  so we sound like similar characters. First couple of weeks are hard but after that I went from strength to strength, SLOWLY!! I was told, recover slow, recover once. Was good advice. Do too much too early and you’ll set yourself back. Good luck in your recovery both of you x

And do the arm exercises for months afterwards, longer than they tell you to. I too have full arm mobility which I put down to that persistence x

Hi Anna12345, you are certainly right on taking it slowly and recover once. Not sure if doing too much is what caused a small section of my wound to not heal very well. It's only about an inch and a half long, but is now going to take a good few weeks I think. How are you doing now? Xx

Hi Daisy24. I was thinking of your wound this morning. I hope that this week it will be better. I hope it wasn’t the abdominal binder. Those things a tricky to get in place and I worry about their effect on our tummy. I’m sure you have done everything right and it’s just one of those things. The side effects list for our type of surgery is so long! X

Hi Jacks0027,  I didn't have an abdominal binder, just tape over the wound. Unfortunately since chemo I am very sensitive to quite a few plasters and dressings, which really doesn't help. I had also had a hysterectomy, with scar in the same place, so not sure if this was anything do with it. I think healing is just going to be a slow process. Hope you had a good weekend. Xx