reverse tram flap

McMarty said:

WOW!! You have really been

WOW!! You have really been through it  huh?    If only plastic surgeons told us as much about what it would FEEL like rather than what it would LOOK like!  I know it's uncomfortable and different from the way you looked and felt all your life but that is a BIG surgery and even though a year seems like a very long time, it is not enough to heal and settle in to the new normal. 

I would say, don't do anything as enourmous as TRAM Reversal until you are 5 years out.  I'm thinking it took me about 2 1/2 - 3 years to really 'feel' normal again with regard to strange nerve sensations and being uncomfortable with different touches and the way clothes and seat belts felt.  I'm not talking about mentally, I saying the strange physical feelings of all the nerve damage and changes from the surgery (I had a DIEP Flap) 

You are no doubt in shock, feeling like you didn't get what was promised and I think you need more time.  You need to settle down and make peace with where you are now and give those muscles and nerves more time to settle down too.  Try not to make frantic decisions for sure.  MORE SURGERY could make things way worse or at best there you would be starting recovery again. 

Maybe find a plastic surgeon you really like and work through this over time for the best and safest solution.

Please keep us posted, I'm sure sorry for all you are going through.  I really think it will get better

Marty

you are a very level headed person and i thank you for your advise but i'm not sure i can. i really trusted and beleived in this dummy. but thank you so much for your response.

ideclare said:

tramflap and terrible, loosely worded "doctor"

I can't begin to tell you all the terrible experiences I've had thanks to Robert A Davoudi - so called surgeon who basically talked me into this during a time when I was my most vulnerable. What a terrible man. After the surgery and the very last time I saw that brute, after months of my telling him he's lost his mind if he sees me as fine - nothing he said happened. The stupid tramflap procedure is the bane of my existence - not a day goes by that I don't think of the brute and all of my problems since. How he's still practicing is beyond me...He was "tired" of my shouting about how he left me a mess that he ACTUALLY pinched me underneath my left breast that left a pain for 3-4 days. I was in a different dimension in my reaction, in retrospect, I'm glad as God knows what I wanted to do to him. Since then I had so many surgeries to fix my breast and had to have an implant which I didn't want in the first place. I certainly wouldn't recommend a tramflap after this - the loss of muscle is awful in itself - bowel movements, exercise, simple stretching, and yes getting up from a flat position is a pain in the arse -- I'm grateful the SOB didn't kill me on the table. Flat belly - NOT, left stitches open and the scarring was thick and long and left with dog ears on left & right sides. Belly button off-center; boobs NOT same size and nipple so off the one breast it was staring at me. I still get upset but can't stop thinking about it all. Wish I never laid eyes on this guy. I've since had to have 3-4 procedures on the boobs alone and still don't have nipple on one - gave up. Hernia ops, 2, appendicitis, cyst on ovary, then total hyster...down to knee surgeries - you can't tell me all in one year right after this tramflap it's not related. and yes he was reported and nothing happened! ugh I know about forgiving it ain't easy

wow u have really been thru it. i didnt realize there was anyone out there that was as un happy with this tram flap mess as me. i am sorry for what you have gone thru but i feel i'm on my way. i am truely thinking of removing both breast and the muscle as i am so tired of all of it. the pain, the uglys, the just plain i hate them now. they are not what he promised me. by no means. and no they have you sign your life away before the surgery so you cant file any charges. i am messed up for life. i am single and i will never let anyone see this ugly mess. even if i get them removed i still will not let anyone see. but at least i wont hurt or be so uncomfortable. thank you for let me know i'm not alone. also i have been having some strange stabbing pains in my right side of my stomach. i asked him about it and he said there was nothing there to hurt. i thought that was strange but o well. i have a feeling its not over. i really wish i had stayed with my own instincts and just removed the breast. o well hind sight is 20 20.  what do you think about removing both breast and the muscle.

pat

ideclare said:

Hi Pat, the pain in right

Hi Pat, the pain in right side I had turned into numerous problems starting with my first hernia,then a second. I had to have left removed and the right reconstructed, fromt he inside (part of tramflap) to make it same size as left because he said "they'll pay for both" - my left was the one that had to go. Find another doctor - I sure did. No, I'm afraid you're not alone. I know someone who had them both removed and chose not to have them reconstructed-she was the only one I know. She wears those padded bras - she showed me. Docs and other women I've talked to said "we" feel better to have our breasts back and that it was "best" to have them removed and reconstructed at same time - which is what I did. There are other women who did this - no tramflap but implants - and they're not complaining. But, we are all different aren't we. Do more research as I haven't heard of your particular situation and am trying to invision it. A lot of women remove both afraid bad stuff will move to right or left. I chose to keep my right.

You say the muscle under your breast? If you don't have to have muscle removed, I'm just thinking, I wouldn't remove it. Can you explain further? The tramflap since 2005 has left me still numb in the middle. I found a female plastic surgeon who when she saw me did say ' why did he do this, and he left you with dog ears, and I can fix this and I can fix that - but she wouldn't say anything against him thru a lawyer - go figure. She said she'd wished I'd gone to her first - I suppose me too  cause she did fix them to where they are the same size. This meant I had to have a right b implant - which I didn't want in the first place as I didn't want to have to deal with them popping or having to change them out in 10 years - ya know. ugh. But, when she reconstructed the left areole and the nipple - the darn thing shrunk to nothing. I asked her what happened and she said well it does shrink after surgery - so I said so why didn't you make it bigger so that when it shrinks I'd have a nipple. ugh - I went to another surgeon after her - my third. The third one I had move my right nipple to a more centered position as the first SOB placed it so high and to the left it was staring at me. There wasn't much he could do but move it slightly to the right. I gave up on the left and have no nipple there so wearing blouses and stuff was a pain. I wear padded bras to keep them both NOT showing nipples - ya know. The first SOB also moved my kidney slightly higher, on my right side. The pains I kept having on my right side, again, were two hearnias. Pain came back, then it was a painful appendicitis - thank God I finally complained to my hubby who got me to hospital in time. Then after I healed from that, again, pain in right side was a cyst on my ovary. Had it removed.Pain came back - then had a full hysterectomy. Then pain on left side - GYN had to go back in (one of the best OBGYNs around mind you) cause he had sewn a nerve. That pain was excruciating! and an overnight stay in hospital showed nothing. I finally went back to OB and he went in and fixed it. ugh...We have to love ourselves first. Once we get there then we can heal per se cause I still get so mad at first SOB who started this all. Again, I'm thankful he didin't kill me on the table. It's hard fer sure but know you're not alone and with prayer, faith in trust in God it'll get us through. 

FYI On my next mammo after the surgergies I had to fight to get a mamo on both breast. The woman at the hospital said, "Oh, you don't need a mammo on the removed breast. I said DO IT - by this time I became straight forward with docs and nurses. I had the mammo done on BOTH and thank God that I did cause the crap came back. You've heard when they remove the tissue some of it falls back in right. Well, here we go again. I had to have nodes removed, more surgeries on the left side (the one they didn't feel the need to check right). Now my left has a concaved section and my arm hurts all the time. Can you believe that crap. I have to say part of my recovery was showing anyone who wanted to see them - yep, I became a flasher - well, to my female family members and any close friend who wanted to touch the fake boobs - those who always wondered what implants etc felt like. They are soft and firm - :-)  I showed my son too. I don't care... I would love to stay in touch with you via email outside of here - don't want to post my email here though..mmm will check in again tomorrow to see if you are here -- research and research some more. Unfortunately for me, each time I tried to get them fixed it just made matters worse. The current pain in my right side I'm thinking is gall bladder? but I also KNOW that my bowel movements are a mess and probably sitting up there - and let's not talk about gas - I feel them and they can cause the pain too -- the loss of muscle causes such a slow movement of it all...yep, can be something as simplel as gas - painful yes, but...there you go...crazy man

 

 the muscle i was referring too is the ab muscle. mine is so big bras slide up and onto my boob. being i dont feel alot there it make take a min for me to realize it. and the muscle get sore and swollen due to trying to wear a bra. for a long time i couldnt wear anything with nylon in it so i use an old cotton bra. just made be look smushed kind of like the genie bra does for me now. i saw the 1st plastic surgeon tuesday and he said in front of some dr in training o i will send u a bra i will order for you in the mail free. like i believe him and it would be much better as he doesnt really know what i'm talking about and he had told me he was going to size me for some garmet for my stomach after the surgery but when it didnt happen i asked him about it and he seemed not to remember anything about that. didnt matter i had already for a little girdle to wear. it helps me from feeling like my guts are going to fall out and if i dont wear it i am exhausted by lunch. i have to watch what i eat. cant get full or i feel out of breathe. cant eat the spicey foods i also ate and loved or that three letter word GAS happens and that can make u feel like you want to explose. this pain i asked him about in my side stomach. the man said there was nothing there have u ever heard such a thing. there is nothing in my front side of stomach area. also he told me there was no reason for my problem with digestion and such as he didnt touch any of that but that is not what he said to me several months ago. one of my breast has an indention in it that looks like a butt crack and the other one is beginning to do it. i asked about that and he said he didnt reacommend anything. that if i wanted nipples he would give them to me. i asked about reduction in size and removal of the ab muscle and he said there was a 5 to 10 % chance i could lose the radiated breast if he removed the ab muscle and if he done a reduction they would droop. i am willing to take the chance because if something is not done i am seriously considering removal of both boobs and the muscle so where have i lost if he tried. if he had listened to me in the beginning we wouldnt be near what we are now. he knew it was dangerous to use skin sparing on the radiated breast but at the last minute he decided to use it so i ended up with a skin graph and a wound vac. along with an extra ugly boob. i have to take fiber pills dailey to keep my bowels moving and if they didnt i would loose it. i know i would due to the pain when its slow. i was told that when i did this i didnt have to worry about breast cancer anymore. well they have already done a biopsy... it turned out to be fat but dang what am i surpose to do .. i dont know what may be something to check as they dont do mamo's on me anymore. i wish i had went with my first plan... remove the boobs. then if i had a problem without them i could go back for reconstruction. i'm such a dummy. thanks for listening and understanding and responding.

pat