TE TROUBLE
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ouch is a understatement...I just want to be knocked out again please
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I had a double masectomy January 14th. For the last month I've had several issues on right side nipple area incision. I've been on & off antibiotics. Yesterday I went for my weekly checkup. He immediately said we're going to surgery tonight. Of course my 1st thought was fear. He said it's kinda like starting over on right side. I immediately thought gosh I don't want to go thru that pain again. My surgery was at 9:00 last night. I'm home now. He took expander out & washed out area , put new expander in & a drain. This drain doesn't seem as big (tubing part) of my 1st drains I had. Still uncomfortable but not too bad. I feel super right & had constant pain in top of rib area? Has anyone else experienced this?
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Hi All,
It's been awhile since I've been on and just finished catching up.
Lots of positive vibes going out to Vivian, Special, and Purple. For some of us, this journey seems to go on forever. I am planning to return to work tomorrow (teaching preschool) for the first time in 6 months. My visiting nurses have trained me to pack my two open wounds daily and my chemo side effects are improving now that I have been done for almost a month. Looking forward to joining the real world again. A little worried about fatigue, but we will see how it goes. I need a dose of normal.
By the way....still draining.
Take care my friends!
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denise - hoping you are not too fatigued - remember to take it easy. I returned to work 30 days after my last chemo, still on Herceptin. I was OK Mon-Wed, by Wed night really started feeling it, Thurs and Fri were a blur! I fell asleep after work in my scrubs, then woke up and didn't know if it was morning or night, and if I had been to work yet, lol!
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Hey there K! I am not that great. I was just 'talking' to you on the March sx page! Oral sx sounds terrifying. I know you will take good care of your DH. Will you make him soup in the Vitamix?
I am not bouncing back. I am exhausted, and worried a lot about more infection. I'm feeling a little flashback-y. I've been in the hospital a lot. And I went back to work pretty soon this last time. I've got some pain every day by three or so, but I'm not taking anything. Not even advil. I'm pretty sick of meds and SEs.
How are you doing? You are my role model. Are you back to PT? I start up again this week. Many thanks for asking after me. You know, I have this idea that we could go shopping at the next lunch. XXX
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Lisa B, just wanted you to know I had a similar thing -- infection on right, cleaned out, but no TE, and then I had rib pain. For a good while, in fact. I thought I had done something wrong, but PS said it's 'normal.' Wouldn't hurt to ask, though. Sending you hugs.
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SpecialK - how are YOU doing? Are you still sitting quietly? When's your next doc appointment?
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bobo - not at PT, I have two one inch open cuts on the face of the breast, not on the incision line, but in the area where I have had repeated surgery and the skin is super weak. I'm definitely taking it slow right now. Wish I had a Vitamix!!! DH is doing well - he had tomato basil soup and a grilled cheese tonight. He is going back to work tomorrow, stitches come out in a week and a half. You need to be sure you are taking it easy - if you are tired and meh your body is talking to you!
Minus - I'm being fairly good. Next PS appt is Tuesday.
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Praying for all trying to heal open wounds. I hope you heal fast and with little pain.
Hey Bobo! I hope you get more energy soon.
To all much love.
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Lissa... rib pain in normal according to my PS too. The work they do removing and washing out is so close to our ribs that its normal for them to hurt. Glad ur PS took charge and did an I&D right away. Good luck.
Special... still praying for u.
My healing is slow going and very painful. So ready to not hurt.
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purple - back at ya!
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howdy,
I am back at work half time for 2 weeks and then full time from next week (7 weeks post op). I am finding the fatigue amazing. I am constantly tired and grumpy and feel like there is never an end in sight. Snapping at husband and kids and zero tolerance for anyone at work! Feel guilty because haven't had the chemo and tamoxifen that some of you guys have also endured but sooooo tired of it. Also scared that I am going to fall into a blubbering heap at work....
Ok, enough of my whining. Going to have a nap and hopefully snap out of it!
Thoughts are with you SpecialK and Purple87 and bobogirl for quick healing and no more detours. And good luck back at work Denise4603 - watch those Kid germs!! Moonflwr, how do you always seem so positive?
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Special K and purple-take it easy. And pain pills can be your friend. After I had my foot surgery, which was more painful than the mastectomy, since I had a pain pump with the bmx, I used the pain pills for about 4 days off and on. I had forgotten how nice it felt to sit in a lounge chair and doze for a couple hours four times a day, lol.
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fluff - the good news for me is that I have no pain, other than a bit of soreness from the surgery itself - pocket work and new allograft. When I saw the PS last week for post-op he asked how I was doing, and I said great other than the skin issues. He was amazed - his words "I beat you up!" I am afraid that purple is having much more pain than I am, which is a bummer. It would be nice if pain meds worked on worry - that is my current problem!
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specialk, worry likes to sneak in, doesn't it? It's an ongoing battle!
Previvor. I am NOT positive ALL the time! LOL. Just ask some of the ladies on the boards! LOL. However I try to work my way out of it quickly. I recognize deep depression from having it one time a long time ago. I now try to avoid that trap. I needed chemical help during that 2 year period and managed to work my way out of the PaXil. So i am a believer in getting help when needed even if it's in pill form. I have some coping strategies that help. I'll list a few in case they help someone here.
1. Sleep. If you need help to do this please do. This is important.
2. Conversely, if ALL you do is sleep and you haven't had an sx or climbed the Alps, get moving. Or get help. Talking or chemical.
3. Create. Anything. Words are my thing most often, although my jewelry making can help. Especially when I take hammer in hand to forge! Pounding is a lot of fun! If you want I'll post some pics later. This includes knitting or crochet or tearing apart a small engine if that's your thing.
4. If you don't have energy to create or enough focus to create something, look at things you created before and take pride in the knowledge you gained doing them. When I was going through chemo I didn't have enough energy to create anything! But I wore my hand made jewelry to my doctor appointments and glories in the many comments and praises for my pieces. ( yes. Yes. I did! LOL. Don't judge me! LOL)
5. Do only what needs to be done to make you feel relaxed. If dishes in the sink don't bother you, leave them. If it bothers someone else, THEY can do them. But if it's your pet peeve the time it takes to clean it up is to your benefit.
6. Listen to yourself and your body. If it's telling you to sit down do that. We don't listen to ourselves enough. I did my BMX even though they said I could do a lx on one side. But they found the bad stuff on the other sude! So listen to yourself.
7. Try something new. Meditation. Massage. Reiki. Painting. Poetry. Embroidery. Knitting. Crochet. Beading. Forging. Anything to help break up the funk. You don't have to be good at it. Just try doing it.
8. Don't worry this is my last one! LOL. Don't try to hide your emotions. Go with the flow. And if it's tears, let them go! Then take a deep breath and find some tiny little thing that is good or even just ok in your life, like a clean towel. Or a made up bed. We're not talking earthshattering here! Even the fact you made dinner. Take that little thing and realize that you did it. Enjoy the fact you made your life better.
Well you asked! LOL. I told you I love words, right? LOL
We have this Cancer
Something we never asked for
It can go to h*ll!
Join us on the Haiku board if you like words too! LOL
Much love and healing to all.
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I had to go back 2 pages. I know we missed someone new. Pj72? So sorry we didn't say welcome. I am sorry you lost both TEs. We do know how that feels. I'm sure you are dissappointed. Please heal fadt and ask any questions you feel you want, except for the Why me ones. None of us know the answer to THAT! Much love.
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I'm new to this but I did post a few days ago too. I'm wondering how long y'all had to keep your expanders in & did y'all have discomfort in ribs? If so, how long?
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Lissab - As is said many times in here, everyone of us is different, but it seems the 'normal' amount of time between placement and exchange is anywhere from three to four months. Mine was four months. Some people go six months. It all depends on you (and how well your body tolerates the expansion) and your PS. And yes, the rib pain is normal. Those damn TE's push on all sorts of places and nerves as they're expanding. I thought I'd cracked a rib - but knew I hadn't. The good news is, the rib pain goes away with the exchange and sometimes before...
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aw Lissa! Sorry We DROPPED the ball! I'm sure people will be dropping in to help now though!
I had a lot of discomfort under my breasts in my ribs. Felt like a broken rib it was bad right after my BMX and TE placement. Lasted for weeks! After my last TE he had to replace the sling and the Alloderm struck again. LOL. It hurt but not as long. But remember everyone is different. I got my last TE placement on August 14th and my last fill in the middle of November. My exchange was mid Dec. So not quite 4 weeks from last fill. Hope that helps.
Much love.
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Lissab,
Tissue expanders (TE's) have no set amount of time to be filled. Plastic surgeons have their own particular preferences, mine was one month after final fill, but I've heard others wait up to six months for their exchange to implants. So much depends on the particular situation. Did you have radiation? That makes a huge difference. Is your body adapting easily to 50 cc's of saline once a week? Some people get less than that on an every other week schedule, so obviously it takes longer to get to final fill. Some of us tolerate much more saline so we might get to final fill sooner. Others have saline taken out because it is too uncomfortable. Do you see a pattern? No, because there isn't one!
Some people have a harder time than others with aches and pain in certain spots. Ribs are common. Underarms and upper chests have their share of complaints. I felt my TE when I was sitting. It dug into my ribs. At the end, I wore lidocaine patches on my chest at the top of the TE. Before that, I had no problem whatsoever with fills - even very large fills - all the way up to 680 cc's. Then the next week I got a small (for me) 60 cc fill and experienced a bunch of pain for the first time. So much, in fact, that I told my PS to skip the final fill. Other women have a hard time from day one. If we knew why, we would surely share it with each other.
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Hey, Sandra - How are you feeling? So good to have you back - you sound like your normal, level-headed self!
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AZ, this has been the easiest recovery of all four surgeries. I can't credit Exparel enough. This anesthetic is phenomenal. Sure do wish I'd known about it for the previous surgeries. The PS told me he injected A LOT of Exparel into the incisions plus another kind of long acting anesthetic. He said if I was lucky, I might get more than the usual 3 days of pain relief and it could stretch to 5 or 6 days.
In spite of the extent of what the PS did this time, I have nothing more than mild discomfort. I keep Tylenol going every four hours and can tell when it's almost time for more, but it's not real pain I feel. I find myself shifting around in the recliner, trying to find a comfortable position and noticing that the surgical bras is irritating all the sutures from my shoulder down to the left implant. Then it occurs to me to look at the clock, and sure enough, it's been nearly four hours. Once I take the Tylenol, things are fine again. This is wonderful. The proverbial piece of cake! I'm usually in a good bit of pain from the pocket work, but not this time. If any of you are going to have revisions to your pockets during your exchange surgery, please ask your surgeon for Exparel.
Question: I had some lipo on my right mudflap and have several huge bruises. I didn't expect that. The whole underarm and around to my back was stinging at first, but that's gone now. Each time I look in the mirror I am shocked by how big the bruises are towards my back. (And such bold colors!) Those of you who've had a bunch of lipo to harvest fat for your fat grafting have my sympathy. It's scary looking and sore to the touch. Taking it from your thighs or belly must have been a challenge to recover from. How long did it take for the soreness and bruising to go away?
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Sandra - I had lipo from three separate locations in the abdomen and from both hips - I did not bruise much. None of it was visible by a week past the surgery, and my PS was surprised by that. I was back to normal activities in less than a week, including driving. I think it is variable from person to person, but I did not have much in the way of bruising from any of the surgeries I have had, including this last one. I stopped pain meds of all kinds within 48 hours, PS was surprised by this also because he said "I beat you up" with the pocket work.
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thank you all. Mine were filled to 600 ccs during my initial double masectomy. I haven't been able to start fills yet due to my right now healing. I had surgery again last week so I'm praying it heals right this time. I'm thinking I'm a few weeks from my 1st fill but only god knows for sure. I'm not having radiation or chemo. I may not even have to take tamoxafin but I won't know for sure for 3 months. Any suggestions to keep from pulling drain tubing? Did y'all wear bras with it? I went to dr today and he is pleased with progress but I'm still mKing too much fluid to get drain out this time. 1st surgery he took then out at 12 days but he told me today that they would be my best friends for a while. So, with that sAid any suggestions on comfort with those?
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special thats bc you are one tough cookie...lol.
I wish I could give good news but I am still in pain and still have a hole in my right shoulder. Will this ever heal??
On top of all that...my boyfriend and I are having problems.... yep sucks to be me right now.
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Hugs purple. Tell your boyfriend that were all watching to make sure he treats you right.....
Lissa I have had my drains in for 5 weeks or as little as 2. When my drainage was over 120 a day and did not decrease at all my P'S went in to see what was the matter. I had a lymph vessel that had been bothered or pulled or nicked or whatever but he stitched it the lymph vessel and the next day I dropped to 30 and it was taken out 5 days after when it dropped to less than 10 for the two days. So sometimes they have work to do and need to stay in. Sometimes they need to come out too so that's why your PS keeps a close watch on the discharge. Hematoma and seromas ARE NO FUN AND CAN Lead To Bad infections.
Man, Specialk I am praying for you too.
Much love.
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moon he is a great guy with much potential but he has to let go of his past.
Sorry to vent about things other then breast issues. But thanks for listening....dont have anyone else to talk to who won't judge.
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moon thanks for sharing ur list. Its great advice.
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Well it works for me most of the time. LOL. And things are ALL breast issues! In some way or another they are connected! We wouldn't be in half the sh*t we're in if it weren't for the d*me BC! Now try to rest! Much love.
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thank you & I agree. My surgery last week was due to Seroma id been battling for 3 weeks. Definitely feels better. The drains are not my fave but I can deal with them. I'm hoping this time I heal with no more Seroma. They sent off fluid to see what it is. Not sure what that matters bc I forgot to ask lol. Thanks for everyone's input.
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