TE TROUBLE
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Momof3 - Yes, it seems like it's always something with our reconstruction! Has your PS recommended not doing certain activities to see if that helps with the issue? Wishing you the best....
I hope everyone else is doing well.
Feeling better with each passing day. Swelling is going down with the foobs but my tummy is still puffy from the lipo. See the doc this week and next for post op appointments.
T
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Well, I have to have my TE removed in the next couple days. I will try again! Third times the charm. Anyone have success on the third try?
Breast reconstruction is like climbing Mount Whitney and you get to the top and someone kicks you in chest knocking you halfway down the mountain and then says, "wait a few months and try the climb again". Not a big deal...just be tougher next time.
I thought I was already tougher than most!0 -
Curly - I am so sorry for you
Wish the outcome had been better.Hope all is well MT:)
Tatina - I need a good garment - will check out Spanx.com
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((( Curly ))) I pray third time IS the charm for you. I'm sorry this has happened to you.
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So sorry, curlyfry. (I am on my third implant. Does that count? It's an adjustable saline that functioned like a TE. If it matches well enough it will be my permanent implant; if not, we will swap it for a silicone implant.)
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Tatina - I think you're right - I've been too active. I even told my PS yesterday that I've been walking everyday and she said that it was fine. But when I take it easy it doesn't bleed. So, much to my disappointment (and sanity), I'm going to try to take it easy. Not taking that walk today and will see what happens. No bleeding so far in the last 24 hours. When it does bleed, it was like a drop. I'm pretty confident that it will heal up this week. If not - oh well, I'll get it drained.
Curlyfry, so sorry! But your determination and positive attitude are amazing. Don't ever lose that!
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Mine is my second implant. I had 4 failed diep surgeries.
My first implant incision opened exposing implant.so I had t have it removed, I was so close the end. I was very happy. But I'm on the route again, another implant, slowly I see a bulge and this time we are using allerderm. It's all good. Honestly as. Long as the cancer doesn't come back i am happy.
Hang in there it will get better.0 -
Ladies, I'm so exhausted. I slept last night for the first time in who knows how long without waking up! I fell asleep sometime before 10p. I put the sleep timer on the tv at 9 and had to have been out a few minutes after. I woke up at 6:30a only because the alarm went off. And I always wake up at 6a regardless. It took me an hour to get out of bed. I've been like the Tasmanian Devil the past couple weeks.
Curlyfry - Did you have an infection or was it something else? I was looking forward to my surgery but when I saw your post, it hit me that it's not a guarantee. What if my body rejects the new TEs like the last time? Ugh...so glad I'm busy right now to not really think about it. I hope you are feeling ok. It will all work out. (((hugs)))
Michelle
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curly - man, that is a bummer - but we are all hoping for success for you on the third try. You know all of us understand what you are feeling. I only had to do two, but it did take 16 months from start to finish, so I had to learn to do "one day at a time" which I don't always feel I am good at, lol! It is all we can do though, and offer each other support.
DM - you can get Spanx at Nordstrom too. They are good for general smoothing under anything form-fitting or light colored. I have used them for years - they have a variety of different garments for both upper and lower body areas. They are the bomb!
momof3 - it is pouring at my house - a good day to stay in and remain quiet
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Curly -- Uuuuugggghhhh! We're here for you.....
Mom - glad you are taking it easy today. Like SpecialK said, the rain will help you stay home and lounge around.
My SPANX body suits came in yesterday. I ordered a bunch of sizes. DH helped me squeeze into them. He was in a state of shock that somebody would sausage themselves into one of these things. Ended up going with the smaller, tigher one because I hear my belly swelling from the lipo will go down quite a bit in the next week or two.
And I don't know what happened, but within a 24 hour period I gained 10 pounds after my surgery. Thankfully, I'm 5 pounds down. What the????
Take care,
T
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tatina - your gain sounds like fluid retention, you cannot have eaten enough to gain, lol! I am thinking that the sterile fluid they introduce with the lipo procedure also stays for a little while, compounded by the swelling and fluid retention from the trauma to the tissue. Hard to accept though when part of the goal is to remove the fat, right?
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I'm home, feeling incredibly well. I didn't have to spend a night in the hospital, have only taken two muscle relaxers so far. I have two drains, will live with them through the weekend. One of the silicone implants that was removed was backwards. Not sure how it could have flipped around in the pocket...weird.
I got a sneak peek at the new girls today when my dressings were changed. I'm already impressed and it's very early. And I absolutely adore my new PS.
Curly, I'm so sorry! BCavenger,you must have really needed that sleep. Mom, keep taking it easy! Hugs to all of you and my thanks for all the good thoughts.0 -
Awesome MTnester. I'm glad you are pleased with your new girls -- and your new PS. hahaha
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MT - yay - finally! So happy for you!
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MT - EXCELLENT!
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MT - so happy for you
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Alright, MT! Way to go!! Glad you're feeling so good. Those drains will come out in no time.
By the way...no bleeding/spotting at all yesterday or today so far:) I think when I was walking and sweating, the scab was having a hard time forming. So I'm going to keep laying low, as hard as that is for me because I feel so GOOD. More storms coming today so that will help:)
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First fill today and I am a little nervous! When last saw my new PS, about 3 weeks ago, he told me that skin is very tight over TE and that I am to massage lotion all over TE twice a day... well given the fact that my nerves feel like they have been tossed in a salad on that side, it has been to creepy to do twice a day! I hope once has been enough.
Later in day I meet with my new Onc, he should have the biopsy results from my last OB appt, and we will discuss the hysterectomy option.
Tomorrow, I finally meet with LE therapist and start working on frozen shoulder. I worry I will be having pain from fill, but excited to finally get a plan in place. Then, I shall be looking into this Spanx situation, lol.
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Back from fill, had 75cc's added. Pretty sore in the cleavage section of boob... glad I pre-medicated. My next fill is scheduled a month out
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Hey DM. I have some organic massage oil, and massaging the TE sounds like a great idea to me. Are there any precautions regarding the incision line? I guess mine is healed by now. It just looks so weird. I barely touch it. So, is the main idea to keep the skin well lubricated?
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DM - any stretching your PT does will help you not be as sore from your fill - even if it feels tight while you are doing it.
dune - yes, lubricating the skin allows the expansion to take less of a toll. I used cocoa butter. I used it during both pregnancies (a long time ago!) and never got a stretch mark. A TE is much like pregnancy - an unusual amount of stretching in a short period of time. When my left TE was out for 7 months my PS wanted me to massage it daily to try to keep the skin supple and cut down on scar tissue if possible, and I continued this throughout fills all the way to exchange.
momof3 - yay on the no blood! I am feeling like we live in the rainforest the last couple of days!
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Had my TE removed last night. Staph infection again. What are the chances of that? I actually feel better mentally this time than I did after I lost my first TE. I guess I've figured out I can live without a boob and it is not the end of the world. Not saying I'm happy about it, just that it is not as much of a shock to my mental state!
I have no idea how to prevent this on my third try, but I'm going to an infectious disease Dr to see about options. Maybe there are things I can do differently.
Im so glad everyone is doing so well! All the progress is very exciting.0 -
DM - Yippee on the first fill. I always had a muscle relaxer in me when I went. How was the new ONC?
Mom - Excellent news on the no spotting!
Dune - I felt the same way. But SpecialK gave this advice a few months ago and it did help a great deal with the massages.
My post op went well....so far, so good. Special K, you were right. The PS blasted a ton of fluid in my stomach before the lipo. Swelling takes 6 months to go down.....
GM - how are you?
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tatina - bummer on the swelling, but the upside is that injecting the fluid (it is called tumescent lipo) improves the procedure, both from a safety and result perspective, from what I understand. The fluid contains both local anesthetic and epinephrine, to numb and control bleeding.
curly - is it at all possible that you had residual infection, and this is not a "new" one? I am hoping that the infectious diseases doc will have some words of wisdom. Keep your chin up!
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Curly - so sorry you have to go through this again. Please let us know what happens with the infectious disease doc.
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Curly,
Just noticed we posted at the same time and I missed your post. So sorry you had your TE removed. I had a staph infection, too. I was on the IVs for 5 days and 10 days on oral Bactrim. Going to an infectious disease doc is really good to see what your options are.
Take care,
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Curly hope the ID doc can help. I hope it won't happen again to me when I get my new te, hopefully soon.
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Curly...hope the infectious disease doc can help. I had pseudomonas when my infection had to come out. Ten when they were put back in after three months, he cultured fluid and it showed mrsa. Fortunately, he thinks that could have been something on the skin or the instruments as it never turned into anything. The infectious disease doc kept me on antibiotics to make sure thouh.
Tatina....that tumescent fluid freaked me out. I had not read up on that, so when I got home, I had a lot of fluid leaking through the gauze pads through my compression garment . I tried to calm myself before I called him, and looked up some info. Reassured me enough that I decided to give it another 24 hours and all was fine by then. Lol
DM...look up the Veronique compression garments. That is what my PS uses. It feels like the girdle material from the old days, but it zipped on the side and was much easier and less painful than trying to pull a Spanx like garment up and down over the bruising.0 -
OOOH Fluff - will do, thanks. I plan on shopping after I meet with my new PT in about an hour, and a zipper would help me I'm sure! I am so excited to finally get to see someone! Kaiser really turned out to be a godsend!
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I have a question ? the PS told me not to worry about this right now , but do they cut the whole original scar back open during the exchange surgery ? just wondering thanks girls .. Hope all is well
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