TE TROUBLE
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Emerson...I am a runner, and a very active person. I had a problem about 6 weeks ago, started accumulating fluid after jogging and doing step aerobics. I had to have the fluid drained off, and they sent it for a culture. No infection, just an accumulation of fluid. PS said to just walk, bike, anything with no impact. Try that for a while, and just get through the exchange surgery. You're so close, don't do anything to compromise all of your hard work. It will probably go away on its own, keep on a tight fitting sports bra around the clock, and take it easy for a few days. That was the hardest thing for me to sit still, but it worked.
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One more thing...went to PS today and got another fill. I think I am up to around 400cc's now. She said the TE holds 520 (omg). I only want to be a full B/small C. I told her I want to stay fairly small since I'm so active, and she said I have 4 fills left. Maybe I can stop it at 3. Also, after I get filled next week, I want to ask for a week off so we can go to St. Augustine for my son's baseball tourney. I don't want to be all uncomfortable and lopsided while we're away. Another great Friday! Have a good weekend everyone!
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V-well...welcome to the leaky boob club!
SpecialK-Ugh Ugh Ugh
My fill has left me uncomfortable enough I took an Alieve. Off to sell Girl Scout cookies at a gas station for 2 ours. Just what I need.
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Hi all - no phone call from the doc at the base, so no antibiotic for me over the weekend. Dang. Now I am worried that an unchecked infection will become systemic and reach the TE's - not sure what to do. Any thoughts? On the culture report the Bactrim is intermediate, so between working and not working at all - I guess I should just keep taking it until I can get answers on Monday, and hope for the best. And you better believe I will be outside someone's office on Monday looking for answers, just don't know who yet!
momof3 - my TE's hold 550cc's - I know, hard to believe. My PS reminded me about how much projection you lose when you go to implants, so even though it sounds like a lot of saline, in order to get the size (I am looking for same as you, full B, small C) we want they have to put more in than we think sounds right!
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chiluvr-OMG I know what you mean. Had saggy A's after breastfeeding three hungry boys and had talked for years about getting a boob job. Yes I did have a little talk with God that went something life this..."Now I know you have a great sense of humor, I've seen the size of a newborns head in relations to the size of the vaginal opening, but this is really going toooooo far."
SpecialK-I'm so sorry that you have another one of those little roadblocks we seem to encounter through this crap. Hoping they get something back to you on Mon.
You know I've thought about all the different antibiotics I've been on in the last 5 months and I'm afraid that later on after all this BC crap, when I need an antibiotic, I'll find that the sneaky little organisms will have found a way to mutate so no antibiotic will help, then I'll become the human petry dish-yuck.
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My foob is just a cheap bra insert I bought at Target.. My boobs were small enough that one of those inserts you slid into your bra to make your boobs look bigger was big enough to match my non-boob to my other boob... and yes, I popped my foob, and yes, it is funny... SpecialK - I am glad it made you laugh, girl... And when you said 'not medicating the problem' and Mich_M said 'waiting to find an antibiotic', I totally read antibiotic as alcoholic! Oh my ... what does it mean when 'medicating' to me goes immediately to drinking!? LOL.
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Chick-my ps did the same thing last time when we were hoping to do implants instead of removal due to infection. He thought I would end up at 525,medium plus, but tood in 450-550. He will take in 350-400 this time, although if I have him fill to 400, I may ask him to take in a 425. He said he is using high profile this time as he feels with the smaller size I will like the results and look better. I told him I am all about cute and perky, not big and wide. And I agree it is funny that we can customize our boobs. In my case, I am having a tough time "moving on", so it is nice to worry about something vain, instead of a recurrence.
Mich-In the last 6 months I have pretty much used all the antibiotics. I think they like me to only use them one time so I don't become resistant. LOL. I have had three kinds of iv antibiotics (two of them with the pseudomona infection), cipro several times, keflex, bactrim, etc. They finally hit one that makes me sick...doxycycline. It took four days for me to realize it was the antibiotic as normally I have no problem. It was bad. If you have a port, the iv antibiotics are a piece of cake. I had Home Health Care set it up and did it myself, or my husband would do it.
Special K-I don't know how you can wait 72 hours with a UTI. I would be pounding on doors!
Chil-my ps filled during the reconstruction surgery also. I started with 240. I have to admit that while it wasn't pretty, it felt mentally nice to see something there when I peeked. And then when they were removed seeing nothing, that did not work for me.
Just V-I am lmao. That is a funny story! In a car wreck once, I got out of the car, and as I was walking around I noticed I was wet, then saw a brownish color. Freaked out and went racing to the medics thinking I was bleeding to death. As a calmed down and looked a little closer, I realized the iced tea I had in the car had flown all over and landed on me. That certainly gave the medics a chuckle.
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Just_V, I like your idea of medicating better than the medical establishments.
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SpecialK - is there any OTC medication that will help? Cranberry juice, olive leaf extract?
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Hi all - My solution is to wait it out over the weekend by continuing to take the Bactrim they gave me earlier in the week. On the culture report it is listed as intermediate, so it will have some effect but not maximal. The problem with the drugs that are indicated to work against this particular bacteria is that I am either violently allergic, or they have to be given in an IV. My center can do the IV but they close at noon on Fridays. Never got a phone call from the base, MO ordered a drug from the list (same as they gave me when I had a UTI after chemo#2) that is completely ineffective. My hands are tied unless I want to go the ER route. Fortunately, the urgent care did give me the drug that takes away the burning feeling and the Bactrim has worked enough to take the edge off. I felt pretty bad on Wednesday and yesterday.
I just went with my daughter to visit her friend Mike in intensive care who was bitten by a large rattlesnake. He is doing well but has received 24 doses of anti-venom over the last few days. So I am trying not to be whiny about the UTI!
just_v - you may be on to something - screw the antibiotics, if we're drunk we won't care about UTI's or foobs!!!
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SpecialK-hope you continue to feel better. Sending best wishes to Mike-his situation is one of the reason I decided that I didn't want my kids running around a yard in Tampa, bles his heart.
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He is lucky to be alive, the snake bit him on the leg and pierced the blood supply. He was already going blind and tongue swelling, BP with diastolic and systolic both below 100 - his boss drove him to the hospital and the lady in the ER wanted him to fill out forms before he could see the doctor. WHAT????
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Hi all - I've been up since 3am. Couldn't sleep, couldn't get comfortable. I'm really getting sick of these stupid TEs…feeling very sore. I'm itchy too. Have some rashing at the site of the saline injection. Hubby and I are leaving for Vegas Monday morning….hope they feel better by then.
Re TE size - mine are 300s, width is 12. I'm now filled to 420. PS says TEs can hold a lot more than their size.
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Mich M... I get a red area underneath the expander everytime I get an expansion. I was diagnosed with "shingles" (not really sure that's what it was, but whatever) about 6 weeks ago. Had fluid buildup and had it drained off, culture sent, no infection. The rash started to go away after that. Now every darn time I get a fill, it gets red again. The skin is smooth, just a red patch. If it was shingles, I think it's just getting irritated as the skin is stretched? No idea, but it seems to slowly go away as the skin gets stretched. If it's not one thing, it's another. I'm so over it!
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Momof3: I hear you - one worry to the next...not sure why some of us have so much more to go through on our way to trying to get to the new normal. Yesterday I started itching and thus seeing red skin on the side where my TE was removed 3 weeks ago. Total paranoia set in...but it was just from where the bra I had been wearing was rubbing. Today I am going bra-less (I try to only wear the foob thing in the bra when I go out in public).
SpecialK - I can't believe they wouldn't be sure to get you on an antibiotic b4 the weekend set in! Those UTIs can be miserable. Did they give you the little red pills? those really help on a temporary basis until the antibiotics kick in. Unbelievable about your daughter's friend. I have never known anyone who got bitten - where was he? Hope he is going to be okay.
JustV - thanks for the laugh, I'm glad it was just an inexpensive foob because these prosthetics are expensive! I need to check those out at Target.
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SpecialK-Not trying to scare you but I have friend whose mom's (so older) UTI got into her blood stream and she died. Please keep an eye on it!!
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jblcsw10 - DD's friend was walking out of work (Osbourne and Armenia) and the snake was next to his car! Apparently it didn't rattle until after it bit him so they think he might have stepped on it and scared it. It was just hanging out in the grass, being a snake. He looked pretty good last night, but he came very close to death and is alive because he is young and strong. They were also concerned about kidney damage but he seems to be doing OK. He still may have some nerve damage in the leg and foot in the area of the bite. His reaction was more severe, more quickly, because the fang hit the vein.
I did get the little red pills. They do help. I was pretty uncomfortable this morning but took an antibiotic and one of those - I am feeling marginally better now. We are supposed to go to the USF football game this afternoon, not sure if that is a good idea. I think the problem with getting treatment for this has to do with the fractioned doctors. My primary care is at the base but you can't reach them by phone. You only leave a message and they have 72 business hours to respond. Urgent care did the culture but I don't trust them to properly handle the antibiotic allergy problems. And some of the appropriate meds are by IV only and they can't handle that. I faxed the culture report to the MO office but they clearly didn't fax it to the doctor (he was at another office) because he said to just give me what I took the last time, which will not work on this strain of bacteria. They can do the IV but I need contact with the doc first, and their office closed at noon on Friday. Frustrating! I am going to try to make a same-day appt at the base on Monday at the butt-crack of dawn. Also, on a TE note - this puts my already postponed fill off again because PS can't fill until I have had 5 days of antibiotic, and because the one I am taking isn't really appropriate I will have to cancel Tuesday's fill. This is turning into a saga.
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SpecialK what is the name of that base in Tampa? Is it Tindall? My military ID expires the end of this year and if I can't get it renewed locally this time I will be heading to Tampa in the next few months. My aunt said she got hers renewed over the phone but she is over 75. Maybe they make an exception for the older folks.
SK do you have to use the base hospital? I remember when we were in Goldsboro, NC we had to go to SJAFB or Champus wouldn't pay unless you had a referral from the base hospital. What a PITA that was. I have to say most of the doctors there were pretty good. It was the first time that my fibromyalgia was diagnosed properly.
Rattlesnake bite! Don't know anybody who's ever been bitten by one. This wasn't even in the woods? I read somewhere that they lose their rattles once a year so you won't hear them for a period of time. Don't remember where I read it.
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chi - Tyndall is up by Panama City. The base here in Tampa is MacDill AFB. They are quite restrictive with the ID process - definitely not over the phone! I do have to be seen on base first for pretty much anything - then referred off. Sometimes they will process the referral directly from the MO if it is a service they can't provide, like a PET scan. I have to have echocardiograms while on Herceptin, that is a prescription from the MO but they do them on base. It is all a little confusing and sometimes very frustrating.
Yes, this snake was apparently a city snake! The location of the parking area he was walking in is not out in the woods or anything. Our house is at the edge of the preserve and get them in our yard every now and then. My DH ran over one last weekend with the lawnmower, so maybe they are thristy or restless or frisky. Clearly, I am not a snake expert!
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SpecialK, I wish you the best! and if in doubt, just go to the ER! And don't worry about your fill, it can wait! ((hugs))
V: how funny! I keep thinking I feel wet spots too! l'm just imagining it, because of the past few months of implant-necrosis-TE-troubles.
Well, I'm off to spend the afternoon shopping and maybe some Starbucks with my 13-year old Jenny. Have a good weekend!
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miasanta - I have considered the ER, will try to hold out until Monday. I am not really worried about the fill - I am not in that much of a hurry anyway, definitely don't want to jeopardize the progress I have made. Have fun this afternoon shopping and going to Starbucks!
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How are you feeliing Special K?
Miasanta-Starbucks and shopping sound a whole lot better then selling girl scout cookies!
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SpecialK-last time I had a bad UTI, I didn't realize that was what it was, and it tracked into my kidneys where I also ended up in the ER with a terrible kidney infection, so please take care. If you have a port, the iv antibiotics are easy to do at home, if you have to have them for a couple of weeks.
On the TE's and rashes...I had a rash when they put the new ones in. Used oral antibiotics, and iv antibiotics at the same time, as well as a topical steroid. Finally, it went away. Now, every time there is the littlest itch, I am pulling up my shirt looking to make sure it isn't red. It is pitiful
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SpecialK - hang in there, girl... you are getting your share of excitement, and not the good kind. We have snakes here in Texas, too, but not a lot of city snakes.... yuk.... Keep us informed on your daughter's friend... and your infection.
Mich_M - I swear the hardest part (other than the damn drains) about all of this is knowning when to worry and when not to worry - weird things happen in our bodies and with our skin, and the PSs are like, 'well, that happens'... well they should let us know BEFORE it happens if it might happen and is 'normal'...
Mia - my 22 DD is home for training in her new job for three weeks (well, they put her up in a hotel, but she is near by)! I am loving it! We've been for a facial (friend of mine won facials for herself and four others) and, of course, I dropped a bundle buying my DD face stuff, and tonight we go to the opera house with my friend and her DD to see Hair. And yesterday my DD's BF came up from Austin to see her, so they spent some time with us... Fun fun fun!
FluffQueen - Iced tea... Really? - Totally funny - but when you are in a situation like that, it is easy to imagine the worst! and the treatments for BC certainly lend themselves to all types of weird imaginings, so be aware that you may end up with more Ice Tea Situations! LOL....
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Thank you all for your concern, I am hanging in. The thing saving me is continuing to take the intermediately effective antibiotic I was prescribed by the urgent care doc, and the med that takes away the burn. I only have one more of those, but I will take it in a few minutes since I am going to the Bucs game this afternoon. I think the anitbiotic will keep things from getting worse, just won't completely fix the situation. I will tackle this tomorrow, because by then it will essentially have been a week!
DD's friend Mike has been moved out of the ICU into an area down the hall that is in prep for him to be able to go home. He will not receive any more anti-venom (yay!) which means that his labs all look good and kidney function is normal. He will probably have to do rehab because he can't really walk - his poor leg and foot are a mess, but he is making progress.
just_v - sounds like you are having fun with your DD, mine is 22 also - we went to a tailgate and the USF (she is a student) game last night. It was fun but she is mid-breakup with her Navy Seal, so she is not handling it very well. As a parent it is hard to watch them get their heart broken!
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Yikes, SpecialK! Sounds like you have had too much excitement for one weekend!
Had to LOL @ Just_V popping a foob.
I am home. Yay! Everything went well & my PS was able to get 500 CC style 45 implants in there. My skin in the center of my chest is still irritated, so he is saving the scar revision for down the road. (I had 1 big scar from armpit to armpit after BMX.)
Hope everyone continues to do well!
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dll66 - you sound good! Too much excitement and too many football games! I feel like I live at Ray J. Make sure you are taking it easy!
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Glad you're home, DLL -- with implants!!! Wow! Sounds like we all have a few more operations to get through...
SpecialK - I have yet to experience a DD breakup with a real BF... this is her first serious (1 1/2 years now)... she's gone through some with short term, but if this one breaks up, it will be awful... so not looking forward to anything like that...
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DDL - yay for you!!! Glad to hear that everything went well
I have a 20yr old DD also in a relationship for 1.5 years now….her longest and most serious. I also think it would be awful for her if they broke up, especially because she's away from home at school.
I hear ya about the paranoia and worry…it's hard no to. I still have the rash on both sites from Thursday's injection. The rash is a cluster of red bumps about the size of a dollar coin at the injection site. I've never heard of it, but wondering if it could be a reaction to the needle itself? Sounds crazy. It also happened with the previous injection but not as bad (only about 5 bumps) and only lasted a few days. I've only got 2 more fills to go, but seriously thinking about stopping now. I feel like I'm pushing my luck.
I'm packing for Vegas…can't wait to get away.
Have a good Sunday afternoon all.
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Hi I had my TE removed last week after 4 weeks due to an infection. The wound is not healing well and continues to leak fluid and is not closing properly.I am so disappointed it looks awful.
I cant be allergic to to Alloderm as I had a TE put in when I had mt left breast removed in November last year. I had this removed and a LD flap reconstruction at the same time I had my right breast removed and a TE put in. This is why I am so disappointed as everything went so well last time. The LD flap has been great with no problems. I am just upset and feel it must be something I have done. I have four children so it is very hard to take it easy. I was being so careful with my LHS that I think I have done too much with my right. I know that the sooner I can get rid of the infection and the wound heals properly the sooner I can move forward with my recon. I was really enjoying having two breasts the same size with or without a bra and prosthesis in the last few weeks. I am having Herceptin every three weeks and have had chemo and radiotherapy so I think they may be having efect on my wound healing. Any tips on how to help the healing would be great.
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