Tram Flap Surgery

I have had two failed implants over the past three years. My only options are wearing 2 prosthesis, or tram flap surgery. Surgery is scheduled for 11/28/01 if I choose to do so. I am leaning toward surgery at this point. Wondering if anyone can share any advice, experience, etc. I have another consult w/ the Dr. next week and am looking forward to discussing it further with him. His nurse told me that he 'tunnels' it which I assume means the pedicle or diep flap. Not sure if they're the same or not. I have gone through numerous surgeries without incident, but for some reason I am extremely anxious over this one. I feel that I should give it a shot. I'm only 39 and will hopefully be around long enough to make it worth it. The tummy tuck part is a big plus, I am wondering if your stomach really is FLAT afterwards. If so, there's no doubt - I'm doing it! I have tried using the prosthesis, although I went to Cancun last week and lost my prosthesis more than once on the beach, and once in the water. It was just about gone out to sea when a friend rescused it! (I couldn't find a bathing suit with the pockets before I left). Thanks for listening to me ramble. I would sincerely appreciate any advice, thoughts, experiences, etc. regarding this surgery. Thank You.

They are not the same. The diep requires microsurgery and only a dozen or so plastic surgeons in the U.S. do it. This site gives a description:
http://www.breastflap.com/diep_flap.htm

Hope this helps and good luck to you.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I had the pedicle flap. One interesting thing is that now my navel is no longer centered. My husband says it doesn't look off center but looking down at it from above, I can clearly see it's no longer in the middle. I guess this is because they blow up your belly by putting a tube through your navel so that they have space to work. (Sounds yucky.)

I guess I should also add that my sister, who is a nurse, was not at all happy with my deicison to have the TRAM flap. She had seen a film of it being done and didn't think that it was the right thing for me to do.

Guess it's just a personal decision that only you can make.

Again, good luck.

It does all come down to each individual woman's perspective. I'm relatively young (42), single, and there is no way on earth I would have agreed to reconstruction surgery. There are very nice state-of-the-art lightweight prostheses on the market, very comfortable, and I have minimized the amount of surgery, hospital time, and pain in my life. My stomach muscles are where God put 'em, and I have no abdominal incisions or an offset belly button. I have an athletic friend who would give anything to be able to go back in time and NOT have her tram flap.

jwooton asked:

My plastic surgeon has been in practice since 1982. I did not ask for many statistics on his results. I already had complete confidence in him. You see, my husband has run the Sports Medicine Clinic at this hospital in Boston since 1976. All of my physicians have always been associated with this hospital. Due to family history, I have been seen at the hospital's breast clinic yearly since I was 35.

When I needed the biopsy, I asked my ob/gyn of 21 years who she would recommend. Her mother had been diagnosed with bc and she had sent her to the surgeon that she recommended. I confirmed this as a good choice with the breast specialist who I had been seeing for 10 years. When I decided on reconstruction, I asked the general surgeon for a recommendation. He had sent his mother (it seemed like a pretty good bet to follow these physician's mothers around) when she had bc to the plastic guy to whom I went.

In addition, I checked with OR nurses. My husband knows many of them quite closely, having worked with them all these years. They applauded my choices and that added an element of confidence to my decisions.

You ask about the navel. In the large picture, that's a very small thing. It's silly to ask to have it 'fixed.' I don't want any more surgery if I can avoid it and that's simply just too goofy even for me. If I was truly vain enough to want it done, I have decent insurance that would pay for it. (I'm curious about this question, though, since this would vary widely depending on insurance coverage.)

I don't think that a surgeon stating the truth is lofty. I saw before and afters, checked with people who had had this procedure done with him, talked to the breast cancer folks in the breast clinic, and accepted the word of the OR nurses with whom he had worked.

Perhaps others have months and months to spend researching their choices more than I did, but I felt completely comfortable with all the physicians I have seen and would not do it any differently.

jwooton also asked:

I have two teenage sons, both delivered by c-section. I never was particularly concerned with future complications, just as I didn't ask about it when the emergency c-sections were done. If you make your choices well, you have to have a certain amount of trust in the physician.

I know that many people will not have access to the medical community that I did and perhaps that's why some folks do not have good experiences.

All I can do is report on what happened to me and how I feel about it.

It's up to each individual to make their own decision. I feel very strongly that they have the right to see both sides of the story. Yes, there are some people who report terrible experiences. There seems to be an inordinate amount of scare mongering lately about this. On the other hand, there are those of us who are happy with their choices.

Greetings! I am the TRAMflap cheerleader of the group. I had one done Oct 2000, and like lisa, I would do it again in a heart beat. But I had mine done at the same time as the mastectomy. The first surgery lasted about 2 hours and the reconstruction lasted about 6. I was out of the hospital in 3 days (surgery on Tues, home by Fri.) By Tues I could get up and walk around the house by myself, which meant I didn't have to have anyone 'babysit' me. Recovery was a lot faster than I thought it would be. My daughter was in a play 2-1/2 weeks after my surgery, and I was able to go see that. Her choir talent show was the following week, and I drove to that (although my left arm was still a bit weak and I didn't really feel comfortable driving. But in case of an emergency, I knew that I could do it!)

I was ready to go back to work 4 weeks after surgery. As for how I look and such, with my clothes on, you can't tell which side I had the surgery on. If you look real close without my clothes on, you can see that the reconstructed side is a bit bigger than the other side. (But if you're looking at me that close without my clothes on, you had better be married to me or have an M.D. after you name!) 99.99999999% of the people would have no idea I have had surgery.

There are some negative aspects

Peg,

Thanks for the input

You'll do just fine. Stock up on frozen dinners and button-up shirts. I'll tell you what one of the hardest parts for me was

Oh, just one more suggestion. My plastic surgeon outfitted me with his own version of the sports bra after surgery. He cut the crotch in those knit surgical 'panties' and it became a dandy bandeau. It was so comfortable that I asked hiim for extras.

The OR nurses all think it's a pretty nifty idea, too.

Good luck and let us know how everything goes.

Take care.