Topic: Latissimus Dorsi Breast Reconstruction

May 17, 2012 09:36 PM AbbyM wrote:

joan888 - My drain that came out Monday, 5 weeks post-surgery - was indeed harder to get out than the others as it had made itself at home.  But it didn't hurt coming out as much as one that came out more than a week earlier which was pulled out of a very irritated entry hole. 

I don't know why some of the drain tube entry areas are extremely irritated and unbearably painful and others (like the one remaining drain, thank goodness) can barely be felt at all. 

I am still on antibiotics until the drains come out.  The Keflex made me sick by week 2 - I wasn't eating much back then - but the Doxycyclene I have been on since then has been fine.

Jen78 and jo1955 - I also had a bout of depression at 3 or 4 weeks and I think I did attribute it to feeling ready to get up and  move but feeling like I couldn't because of the miserable drains.  But maybe something physiological is also going on at that point.

My drain fluids have jumped, sometimes doubled, after a steady decline and it felt like starting over again .... what a disappointment.

Can't wait to look back on these posts in a couple of weeks and "remember when"

May 18, 2012 03:12 PM AbbyM wrote:

Jo - I got a drain pulled last Monday, exactly 5 weeks after surgery.  The nurse pracititioner did have to pull harder to get it out but it still didn't really hurt.  Is your back still numb?  I hope the numbers keep coming down for you.  I am about 45 ccs in the last 24 hours ...

May 19, 2012 05:42 AM justagirl wrote:

Marnie,  thank you for your response.  I did everything you suggested and was allowed to start PT and massage (done by my pt) six weeks after surgery.  Within 4 weeks my ROM was much improved and in a few more weeks I could stretch my arms as well as I could before the surgery.  I continued with PT and did gentle strengthening exercises.  If I am remembering correctly this constant daily  pain along the incision line (scar) didn't start until a couple of months ago.  I began to get twice weekly massages by my PT, who by now has become a good friends, as she didn't just want me with anyone.  No improvement except relief from pain for a couple of hours after the massage.

I am going to see the PS and one of the main things I was going to ask her was about my wandering left boob, my fat flap under the LD arm side, wrinkles in one implant, etc, etc, but really my  main concern now is to get rid of this constant pain and I totally agree with you that it is adhesion's.  I was just wondering of the PS could use the arthroscope machine to go in a loosen up the adhesions.

Thanks for your guidance.

To Jo and the ohter drain ladies: they will come out and sometimes it's uncomfortable for a few seconds because the tissue has actually adherred to the tubing, but it's sooooo much better out.  On my last drain I had to go in a couple of times weekly to have her needle aspirate the fluid from the base of my LD scar, but it didn't hurt , even when the fluid was in there.  Much better than having the drain int.

May 20, 2012 04:41 AM justagirl wrote:

it does come jo.

May 20, 2012 01:13 PM jo1955 wrote:

24 hours from now I will be drain free (it is 3:15 CDT).  Yipee!!!!

May 20, 2012 03:20 PM jo1955 wrote:

May 20, 2012 04:40 PM jo1955 wrote:

May 21, 2012 02:38 PM, edited May 21, 2012 02:39 PM by AbbyM

Me too!!!!!!!!  re: the last drain out!  Congratulations Jo!  Doesn't it feel so good?

May 21, 2012 03:27 PM Jen78 wrote:

Congrats, Ladies!  So glad to hear that more drains came out today.  Such a relief, right?! 

I saw my PS today for my weekly follow up (wound check and drain fluid from my back).  She thinks I've still got too much fluid going in my back, so she referred me for physical therapy.  I guess they'll handle it like Lymphedema.  It's good timing, too.  I threw out my back this weekend and have had horrible sciatica.  The PT saw me today and I already feel a bit better. 

Thinking about all of you - hoping that you're feeling good.

May 21, 2012 06:08 PM westieluv wrote:

Jen ~

The implants do seem to weigh alot.  I was a solid 34D prior to surgery and I am now a 32DDD.  I don't have projection like a normal breast and the implants are very wide.  I have a 450cc on one side and a 400cc on the other.  I wouldn't want to be any bigger.  Because they weigh so much and my tissues are fragile, I would think it would be crazy to go through all of this and not support them in a good underwire bra almost all of the time.  I want to stress that even though my cup size is bigger now, I definitely don't look as large as I did pre-BC.  I wear an x-small in most shirts.   

I can see my implants moving down on my chest when I take my bra off.  Gravity is not our friend, whether you have implants or not.

My PS keeps telling me I look like a C cup, but I definitely don't wear a C cup. 

May 21, 2012 08:09 PM Jen78 wrote:

Thanks, Westieluv! Getting some different perspectives helps!

May 22, 2012 06:01 AM jo1955 wrote:

Joan888 - Congrats on being drain free.  I could not sleep in my bed because I would automatically roll on my left side and that is where the drains were.  Plus, I figured out that by sleeping in a more upright position the output went way down.  

When I saw my PS yesterday he looked at my log and said to me "You didn't believe me when I said it would come out today - I should have bet you and I would have won some money."  We both laughed and I called him a smarty.  He is so nice and easy to get along with.  Once I am finished with my bit of revision work and it is time to part ways, I am really going to miss him.  Felt the same way when I finished seeing my BS.  I guess I have gotten lucky in that both my surgeons are down to earth people and leave their egos somewhere else.

May 22, 2012 09:49 AM DLL66 wrote:

jlmg, sorry to hear about your TE. I had a thin spot on my rads side that just wouldn't heal & caused me to lose 2 implants after a lat flap. I now have an adjustable saline implant that served as a TE. It was overexpanded & I had the overfill removed last week. Now we are trying to shape it up with a tight underwire 24/7 so it will hopefully match the silicone implant on the other side. (I have lat flaps on both sides.) If that can be achieved, the saline implant will remain as my permanant implant. My PS moved my lat flap over a little when he put in the adjustable saline implant & the thin spot healed up & behaved itself during the expansion process. I'm not finished yet, but this route appears to be working.

May 22, 2012 04:57 PM Linda54 wrote:

wahooo to the girls who are now drain free :-)

I am reliving the relief I felt when all the drains were gone.....felt better than sex...lol

I am a 34C and have had my implants in for 3.5 yrs.  They seem to still be in the same place...no drooping.  I agree with Beth about always wearing a good supportive bra....just because we "can" go braless is not always the best thing to do with these girls.

May 23, 2012 08:54 PM AbbyM wrote:

Joan888 - 

Congratulations to you as well. 

I'm in the same boat.  My last drain came out at 6 weeks even though I was still draining 45 to 50 ccs and not going down.  My Nurse Practitioner thought maybe it was the drain itself irritating the tissue and causing the continued flow so removing it may slow it down.  In any case, we are watching for fluid build-up but nothing yet.  I just hope it doesn't happen over the long weekend.