Nipple Sparing Mastectomy with immediate reconstruction
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jessamine-sorry for the confusion, What I stated was what both of my Dr's criteria was for saving the nipples. I have a read up a lot on the criteria and I realize the final decisions would be in the hands of your own skilled surgeon to make the call. I'm glad NSM was possible in your case! The point is there are a lot more ladies out there would quality and would want the option if it was presented to them. I agree with you about posting pics, I would like to get my pics on the forum of my NSM journey since I haven't seen a lot of these types of pics out there and I think it would help.
Kate33- I could you use you are my house. I have the opposite problem, post surgery I don't feel like doing anything around here! I'm glad you pampered yourself and we'll be thinking of you for your surgery, it's going to go great!
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Thanks for all your concern & best wishes! I had surgery on the 24th, last Wednesday. My PS removed a 6cm X 2cm of skin plus an unsightly mole that I had too. She had to remove the TE too, so that's a bit of a bummer. Now I have to start all over again with the left one. I too have my photos up on the photo forum. It's so great to see all the new foobs forming & what it takes for us all to get there! Now, it will take me a while to catch up with what's going on with you all...
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Kate, hope everything went well.
Irishlass, sorry for the set back of the removal of the TE. Hoping the removal of the skin resolved the skin issue you described. BC colorado, how are you doing?
Hurley girl, so great to hear you were sporting a bikini.
Gagirl, hope you are tolerating the chemo tx. and it won't be long until you have your new set.
Thanks whitedove for the info.
Wondering how Fairport is doing out there. How the dating is going.
For all of us who have celebrated a birthday through all this remember "Your only as young as your implants"!
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Irishlass-I had to have one of my TE removed 4 weeks after my initial bilateral. My wounds on both sides were opening up a bit, but on the right it was just a tiny hole but my PS explained "I see TE" that's not good. He was worried about infection so I went back in and he took it out and replaced it. I had to wait 5 more weeks for my first fill. When I came of surgery I was 250 on one side and 150 on the side he replaced so basically at 9 weeks out I'm the same as the day after surgery. I know how you feel, just be patient, it's for the best to make sure everything is ok from the start before you proceed any further. Hang in there, I'm with ya on this one!
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Kate - hope you are feeling well!!!!
Just had another fill of 60ccs - now at 360ccs. Asked again about exercise - anything is ok including waterskiing. Just no push ups, bench presses or flies, ever - I thought maybe I would get a different answer this time
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Hi ladies, I am beginning to permit myself to hope that I can get this done....oh I SO appreciate all the research and posts that went into this thread!!! Just hope they can sort of match me, tho I honestly don't care that much. I just, with so much taken away from me, want to keep my nipple. I really do. And since I don't have cancer in this boob that is still original, I am hopeful....Kate, good luck sweetie, oh, you'll love this...ahhhh the comfort without the turtle shells. Don't forget, it takes awhile to look perfect, but every day will make you happier and happier.
love to all
annie
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Thoughts and prayers to Kate and Irishlass!
I'm with PB, how are you doing Fairport? Update please!
When I get a chance, I'm going to try and post some of the new links you girls have added up top so they can easily be found.
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Gagirl, you are in my thoughts and prayers too! Stay strong!
Whitedove, Yes, I have noticed how fast our thread is growing! Woohoo, we are getting the word out about NSM!
I want to wish you all a happy and safe 4th weekend.
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Oh, I almost forgot to tell you girls, I got a breast cancer tattoo this weekend. I have been contemplating getting it for a long time, so I finally just went for it. My daughter designed it for me, so that makes it even more special. I think some of my family members think I have gone off the deep end! hehehe I have been trying to post a pic of it on here, but no luck so far.
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Hi everyone! I'm finally home after my exchange. I had some major complications so they kept me overnight. I posted my rant about what happened on the thread "Exchange City". I just don't have the energy tonight to type it again and I know a lot of you are on that thread, too. In a nutshell, though, the nurse in Recovery gave me too much pain medication which caused me to o.d. I stopped breathing and my heart almost stopped. They then gave me something to counteract the pain meds but it took a really long time. They had to keep waking me up every minute or so because I would stop breathing when ever I fell asleep. This went on for about an hour and a half.
They ended up admitting me for the night. The first 8 hours they wouldn't give me anything to eat but ice chips. I went 33 hours total without food.
For those of you who want the longer rant check out the other thread. I am just SO upset. There is no excuse for turning what was supposed to be a simple procedure into the biggest nightmare of my life.
Kate
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Kate,so glad you are alright.
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OMG Kate...this is crazy!!! WTF? Are you doing okay right now consdidering the circumstances? I honestly never would imagine getting a wrong, in terms of amount, prescription of pain meds..that is insane! I am glad everything turned out, but I would be pissed off as well. I bet you are completely freaked out to take any pain med now! UGH!!!!!
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Kate33- So sorry about what you had to go through, but thank God your alright! The same thing happend to my friend when she had surgery and your right it shouldn't! We are thinking of you and praying you recover well. Let us know how you are doing.
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anniealso-are you having a NSM? I'm also from CT and I found a Dr who did it. Pm if you have any questions.
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Kate - so glad you are OK - that is soooo scarey.
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Hi Ladies - I'm jumping to tell you about my sweet sister - Double D. She had her surgery yesterday, and the procedure went well. She woke up in a lot of pain, though. YOu can probably relate. How long did it take before the pain got to be bearable? (As IF pain is bearable! ) I do know that she was supposed to have a pain pump last night, and somehow someone dropped the ball. We just got morphine shots and percoset for her through the night. Poor thing.
I'll be going back to the hospital in a few hours to check in on her - if any of you can tell me about the pain and what to expect over the next few days, that would be great.
Hopefully she'll be online soon to talk to you.
By the way, she looks great. I really expected to see a lot of loose skin, but they filled her about halfway during surgery. In her hospital gown, she looks about 21 years old. Did any of you start out this full?
Tell all, sisters!
And Kate, I'm glad you're OK. Really glad.
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MAGOB, I may be one of the only few to say this, but I never got any pain. I was only filled to 60CCs at the time of surgery. I may have escaped pain because I did take my pain meds (percocet) exactly what was written on the bottle and took them religiously. I had soreness but I wouldn't call it pain in my case. It didn't really feel all that much different than doing a hard workout. Only once in awhile, the drain tube would poke me where it would cause a burning sensation that wasn't pleasant, but it would be a short lived and unless I moved a particular way, wouldn't have that happen. I was fortunate to actually have a good experience and didn't think anything so far, including fills, have been bad.
Where was her incision? I had the inframammary incision and I spoke to a nurse who said to me that from her experience in speaking with NSM patients, that the inframammary tends to cause less pain. Whether or not that is true, who knows!
I know that a lot of the time in the hospital, they won't give you the pain pump at night because they do want you to sleep instead of pumping that thing every 10 min. I had the pump and the next morning when my ps came in and asked me if I had gotten any sleep, I told her.."Well, I slept about 10 minutes at a time because I didn't want to miss a pump." She then said to me, "They are supposed to give you oral meds so you would sleep through the night and wouldn't have to use the pain pump." She was annoyed but I was just glad to not have pain, regardless of not getting any sleep. The hospital may not have dropped the ball...they may have just wanted her to not have to deal with pressing that thing every 10 minutes!
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MAGOB-I was one of the people who had a lot of pain. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest! I felt very tight and I was totally out of it and nothing seemed to help. I had the pain pump. I remember when they made me get up at night to go to the bathroom and I was shaking and in total pain and I felt sick too. It was really bad the first day or two but each day thereafter it gets better. It took me a good six weeks to feel somewhat normal. Some days were better than others,but once I got home the pain was much less and I took the pain meds and med to sleep as needed. They filled me halfway too. Every Dr. does things different, but that's not unusual. You have to remember as my nurse told me, your body has been through a lot. Tell her to hang in there it gets better, and we are here for you and her.
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Good info, Hurleygirley - thanks. Going to see my sis now, and I will tell her. Her incisions were under each breast just a little on the side under each armpit. She looks amazingly good, even there is still some more skin to fill with the expanders.
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whitedove- You're right about leaving the rest until I have more energy. When I do, though, I am going to do some research to try to find out exactly what happened. I requested that the hospital send me all of my records. I was so angry yesterday I wanted to sue the hospital. Now I just want them to at least give me an apology. The thing that really ticked me off was when they told my DH I was sleeping and he couldn't come back to see me. And they told me he couldn't come back because he had gone to get something to eat. So they basically lied to both of us. I think they just didn't want a witness around while they were fixing their mess.
hurleygirly- Despite all of that above, I am doing really good. Very little pain just really tired. I am already very pleased with the results. It's so soft and feels pretty natural. My PS said she tried both size implants, 350 and 375, and said the 375's were definitely the right way to go.
sweetie2040, vmudrow and MAGOB- Thanks for the good thoughts!
Today is definitely R & R day. Chick flicks, reading and BCO of course!
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One bottle of Percocet: $3.00
One very unattractive surgical bra: $47.95
One pair of Yippee Squishees: Priceless
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Kate33- So glad your doing good and that your happy with your implants! You have a great attitude,very funny comment,so true!
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YEAH KATE
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Kate ~ I read your post on "Exchange City" and OMG!!! What a nightmare!!! I am glad that it is over for you, and you can move ahead....so sorry about everything, but glad you are doing well. Hang in there girl, you're doing great! (in spite the scary post op experience)
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Thanks everyone. I am torn between forgetting about it and just focusing on getting healthy or pursue some kind of action to ensure this never happens again. The thing I'm most confused about it why they would give me Dilaudid in the first place. I researched it and it is stronger than morphine. My last surgery at the same exact place I was given Percocet and Valium which worked fine It seems like they would use those first and see if it helped. My DH said they don't even keep records on which pain med and anesthesia they used in the past. Sounds like of fishy to me!
The other thing that happened is I asked to see my DH while I was in Recovery. They told me he had gone to get something to eat. I asked if they would call him on his cell and they said no, that he needed to eat. Meanwhile, in the waiting room they told him he couldn't see me because I was asleep, a half hour later it was I was too nauseous, then they told him I was asleep again. WTF? I think they just didn't want a witness to see their screw up so they lied. If they hadn't done anything wrong why tell lies?
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Kate...this is kind of funny because I had Dilaudid BUT they obviously administered the correct dosage because I was in absolute heaven with that drug! I am sure you had someone who gave you an inappropriate amount. That's probably why I had absolutely no pain! I knew it was stronger than morphine..in fact, my morphine pump was weak if you ask me! It just comes down to who is administering it and how ,uch they are giving to you. Did you get that nurse's name who gave that to you? I would start there because I swear, a lot of them (and no dig on nurses) get things completely wrong. I had to correct the same nurse 3x about taking my blood pressure in my leg. He never got it right!
Glad to hear though that you are happy with your results! (=
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hurleygirly- I did the LE precautions this time and, like you, I was amazed at how often they forgot. It was in my chart, on a whiteboard in my room and I had a wristband on each wrist. I thought it strange they didn't have a LE wristband but had to write it on the band.
The funniest thing was when they asked me what procedure I was there for (to ensure they have the right patient) so I said I'm here for my yippee squishees! The nurse thought it was too funny!
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Hi Ladies,
It is so good to read these posts and realize I am not alone. I had double mx June 10(nipple sparing). The ps filled me with 360 ml immediately and i was in so much pain!! It sounded like a lot to me them and after reading your posts it seems like no one else was filled that much. I also experienced large pores and raised stretching like marks ( almost looks like fingers under my breast skin, the ps says that will go away. I had my first fill (50ml)this past monday. I had a lot of pain from the expanders pressing on my rib cage. it felt like i broke a rib, howerver after this past fill the pressure almost disappeared and it felt better. I have not talked to the ps about size yet but the expanders are 600 ml. Im 5'8" and 145 lbs. THe ps says my "frame" can handle a larger size. If anyone can suggest relief from the pain when I lay down to sleep at night that would be greatly appreciated. I took percoset for two weeks after the surgery and now only take alleve because the ps was worried about an infection, he thought my body was rejecting the alloodem. All seems to be ok now, Im finishing up three weeks of antibiotics. Also is anyone using anything on the scars? my scars go from my armpit to my nipple, im hoping they fade and wondering if there is any cream that will help them fade. Thanks
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Kate, Yeah it's insane how in any field really, people get things completely screwed up. You seriously have to look out for yourself everywhere you go, which sucks and adds more stress to the situation. I had a dang sign above my bed! LOL
Alltech, Welcome! 360ccs sounds like an insane amount if you ask me. Geez, I am not even at 300ccs yet and I am going for my 4th fill up today! I had 60ccs at the time of surgery and had no pain. The next fill was 100, the next after that was 60 and then the next one after that was 50. I have no idea what I will get today, but the amounts my ps chose (which were administered every 2 weeks) never gave me any pain or even made me slightly uncomfortable for that matter. I even sleep on my stomach sometimes and had a deep tissue massage last weekend! You poor thing! Maybe you could ask for some Valium for when you go to bed? As for scars, I smother myself in VitE and cocoa butter but I only started that when my incisions were pretty much healed and for me, that was when the liquid skin finally came off!
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Kate33, If it bothers you I would write to administration and tell them what happened so that they can launch their investigation into whether this error was handled correctly and documented correctly. This is considered a medical error and is an adverse event almost causing loss of life. They have had extensive training on addressing medical errors without retribution, so what you want to achieve is that this wasn't buried and is being addressed internally. It could have been illegible handwriting by the anesthesologist or improper labeling and dispersement, so by complaining to administration they will get to the bottom of which department is responsible and report it to the governing federal agency. With it on record, they will have to have documented their follow up plan for when they are reviewed by the joint commission.
As far as the issue with your husband not being told of what was happening, and your request not being met, I would request from them a followup explanation, isnt that why they ask for the contact person in case of an emergency. Be specific as to the time your husband requested to see you because they will say that he left to get something to eat when in fact he was waiting to see you. Tell them that you will not have confidence in going to their facility for future procedures. At the bottom of the letter put in CC your plastic surgeon so the hospital knows he was notified, he maybe a heavy hitter in the OR, the hospital will be fearful of losing his business. A plastic surgeon isn't going to want to risk malpractice caused by inattentive staff.Put a little sticky note on the PS's letter and say you are happy with his service but you wanted him to be aware of the issue regarding your care. (the outcome could have easily went the other way and your husband would have wondered why).
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