TE TROUBLE
Comments
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Char! The cheering section has arrived. You are NOT whining!! Personally, I don't have the answer for your question but did want to have you feel like you've not been left hanging.
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Char66,
There will be ladies chiming in...I haven't had the same issues, but I know some have been in similar situations.
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Char,
The most important thing is to get that infection under control as quick as possible. No, you are not whining! You've been through an awful experience and have every reason to be afraid to go through it again. I've had a bad infection, and know of a number of others here who have too. Some lost TE's, some didn't. Some lost implants. I had immediate placement of permanent implants at the same time as my double mastectomy. Someone in the OR gave me their gram-positive staph infection so within a few hours, I was running a fever. Although I was on an IV antibiotic, it wasn't strong enough to stop the infection. Two other IV antibiotics were tried in the next two days with the same results - nothing worked. Finally after 3 days of destruction, I was switched to the antibiotic of last resort, IV vancomycin, and started to see results. After 11 more days on it I went back to surgery to have all the dead muscle, skin, and soft tissue removed, along with one implant. An empty TE was put in because there wasn't enough skin left to cover an implant. I stayed on IV vancomycin for another couple of weeks until the doc was sure I was ok, then began fills. So yes, I had a TE and an infection at the same time and kept the TE...but it was put in during the infection. Three months later I went back to surgery to trade the TE in on another implant.
I'm worried that you might need a change of antibiotic. Sure do wish you would go to the ER. They could put you on an IV antibiotic which is SO much more effective that a pill. The sooner you get the infection under control, the greater chance you have of keeping the tissue expander. Please stay in touch.
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Char,
Hope that your infection is under control by now, but if not, I'm with Sandra. Maybe a trip to the ER is in order
When I had my infection (sorry to say lost TE) I was on many iv ABX including vancomycin, linezolid, fluconazole
Good luck to you!!
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Char, I agree that for many IV antibiotics is what it took to get an infection under control. For that matter, I agree that perhaps an ER trip is in order if things are not improved.
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Thank you ladies for the responses-saw the PS today and thought it was under control "tissues looked good" -it has improved about 1/3 size of area and lighter color but still having my doubts about his advice. Did pull the drain (thank you) and the incision is actually intact-another thing that never happened Jan-April. Still on the Cipro, he cut it down from 1000mg 2x day to 500 2x days. I will give it 24-48 hours and see what happens. I so do not want to loose my left side again. I got the impression he felt I was overreacting-wish he was inside my body! Thanks again Char
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For those of you who have had to have te removed dour to infection, how long did you have to wait to try again. My PS is saying 6mos and I'm so flipping upset at this. I know I shouldn't be etch but this is really hitting me soooo hard. I mean I have jot other risk factors. I. Relatively young. (46)the other side healed amazing. My cancer was very very early. (no radiation, no chemo, no tamoxifien- though that is my choice oncologist is ok with it)So what is the average wait? Ive read many start over at two to three months. Even he said he can see huge difference in my skin.
Oh and yeah just found out that with my crappy medi-cal insurance he is leaving and I will get third surgeon!!!!! I have to go to resident clinic.. I LOVED the first one. Second one like Though think six mos is unreasonable. I'm tired of focusing on my boob. Trying to find a job is plenty stressful enough(jeez medical billing should be stable but as usual I digress lo.)
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zandersgirl...I think all insurance companies need a punch in the face. Sorry...Just a little tiny vent.
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yeah I agree. I'm on freebie insurance that I got put on only because of the breast cancer. I paid for it on my own for years and years and one day I HAD to pay by the first, and honestly I was so excited when my check came in that I went grocery shopping and I forgot! I begged them to take out of check etc. but nothing was like screw you! And since I had pre existing no one would insure. me( funny thing is the main thing that disqualified for I paid for that specialist out of pocket)0 -
There is probably no medical reason why you have to wait so long Zandersgirl. Most of us who've been through this only have to wait until the infection is gone before another TE is put in. I didn't even have to wait that long and actually got a TE while I still had an active infection. (I lost the implant and a TE was put in instead.) Three weeks later the infection was gone, the drains were all out, and we started fills. Easy and fast. Perhaps the delay has something to do with insurance red tape.
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OK - am I a big baby..TE were placed almost a month ago. I ended up in the ER with an infection in the left breast ( I had a double mx. 5 years ago) my right is fine so I can tell the diff.
While the infection seems to be clearing up I feel like I have knives in the center of my chest..have turned to ALEVE but think I am overmedicating...every 6 instead of 12.
Tommorrow I go for my 1st fill after surgery....help !
Cheryl
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Zandersgirl I don't think it is uncommon for them to want u to wait. I have waited 9 months since my last surgery and will start again with the TE on october 7th. I had a masectomy with TE but got and infection while doing chemo. Infection was cleared up. PS put the implants in and I got another infection. This time the skin would not heal. Had surgery and ps cleaned the pocket and fixed the skin and put the implants back in. Things were going ok so he went in and I had some dog ears fixed. We thought we were good and got yet another infection and skin opened again. Tried eveything to get the skin to close did packing, the healing chamber nothing worked. So had surgery to have the implants taken out. It has been nine months and a long time waiting and I hope it works this time. I know i am probably the exception but allow your body to heal. Best of luck to you!!
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Cheryl...you're not a baby. When you go for your fill explain the feeling. Instead of pain meds, they may prescribe muscle relaxes or valium to calm contractions. It may be nerve pain, there are meds for that too.
Even though it hurts, it might not be a pain treatment kind of thing...
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For those early in the process - sometimes fills actually help with pain because as the TE fills it lifts up and out a bit and can alleviate pressing on nerves and structure in the chest.
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Hi Ladies...just wanted to say hello, just found this thread ! I wish I had found this weeks ago but never the less Im glad I found it. My pain from the TE's has been good the past 5 or 6 days but OMG was it bad before that. Some days it felt like (and still does sometimes) like a round knife scraping up the middle of my chest, other times it feels like a contraction, like when giving birth, ...its strange because the pain is almost always different. Daytime is finally getting better for me, I can actually do some light housework now. But, I haven't even had ONE fill yet..and some of my august surg sisters that had surg same day or even day before/after me are almost done with their fills ...soo happy for them. But what about me wahhh ! Lol...going to see the PS tomorrow and praying he says Im ready, I feel ready. The only pain I really have that affects me is at night..of course, when Im trying to go to sleep..thats still difficult. The only thing that Im afraid of is when I do get my first fill is that I will be in pain again...I have a serious fear of that horrible crippling pain coming back. Do the fills hurt ???
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Just your post special...so I think you said sometimes the fills actually help the pain ??? Oh good lord I hope your right ! It's funny that my fiancée would even know this, but a few nights ago when we were talking about all this crap, he said he thought maybe fills might help too. At first I dismissed that statement because I thought..your a guy, how would you know that ? How ignorant of me lol.
Cheryl..I know that knife feeling all too well
hope you get some relief !0 -
ganzgirl - I am an advocate of low and slow on fills. Generally speaking, smaller fills will be less painful, but others have been able to have larger fills without too much discomfort. Also, many times once you have some saline added the expander lifts off the chest a bit and you actually have less pain. Many don't have increased pain until they reach the end of fills and they are just uncomfortable. One thing to keep in mind is that for many plastic surgeons the fill process, and the office visits, are included in the cost of the surgery as far as insurance reimbursement goes. Many docs fill fast because their recon patients are not generating office income with fill appointments, so they just want to get the process done quickly.
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Are you kidding me SpecialK ?? Wow...that explains ALOT about the falling out I had with my PS a couple weeks ago ! I didn't know all the fills and post op visits were included in the payment for surg ! But..what your saying about the fills makes a lot of sense..I realllly I hope I can get my first one when I see the ps tomorrow
The ps put 120cc's in each side during surgery...I really don't care if I have to go slow, especially if it means less pain, but IM ready to start...I just want to get on with this nightmare and put it behind me !
Boy...you've had quite the journey..jeesh
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ganzgirl - the fills usually are included as they are part of the same process, up until the exchange surgery, which is a separate procedure. This depends on your doc though, and how they billed for the recon portion of your initial surgery, but this is consistent with many others I have spoken with. I have never paid any separate charges for fills - or the office visits for them, my PS does them himself, he has no nursing staff - and I have never paid any co-pays either. I had a similar amount of surgical fill, then did 25cc weekly fills. I didn't have any pain that required more than OTC Tylenol, and didn't use any muscle relaxers, but I was fortunate in that regard. Yes, my recon road has had a few bumps, lol!
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Zander girl,
I lost a TE due to infection in June and my PS also says I need to wait six months for another
Lynn
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Low and Slow is the way to go, IMHO. 60cc when fills are done. Almost every PS I'd consulted wanted to do 75-120 fills weekly. Oh HELL no! So I went with the one I have now. Every now and then he has suggested doing more fill but then changes his mind when it comes around. It's simpler to keep it low and slow than to risk rocking the boat. I'm not maxed out on fills now but got to that uncomfortable stage for the most part.
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How long should one wait to start the fills after surgery. I think that was part of my problem.....everything went waaaay to fast!!
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I did not start for at least a month, and then had quite small fills.
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I woke up with 300cc. I started fills three weeks after and had four fills of 50cc every 2 to 3 weeks. It went pretty smoothly for me, just a little tightness for a day or two.
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ganz, I didn't start fills for over a month after surgery. I was filled to 100cc at surgery and did 40-50 cc' s every two weeks. (I had plenty of time...I'm still doing chemo) Gotta say though, the low and slow kept me from having and pain. If my chest got a little tight or twitchy (sometimes the night of the fill) I took a valium.
I am now done with fills. My bmx was in April...I'll have squished this November!
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After I lost one permanent implant due to an infection, the PS put in an empty TE. Other than muscle spasms, it was not painful. After 3 weeks the last drain came out and I was off antibiotics so fills began. I got 180 cc's (3/4 cup) and a week later got 240 cc's (1 cup). No problem whatsoever. Subsequent fills were either 80 cc's or 100 cc's. Tylenol took care of the tightness after each fill. By the time the TE was up to 680 cc's, the upper pole had a shelf I could sit a full Solo cup on. Ouch, the skin was tired of stretching there. Lidocaine skin patches helped. I got one last 60 cc fill and all of the sudden there was PAIN. Everybody is different.
25 cc's is very small, only 1.6 tablespoons. Spread out over the whole TE, that is barely noticeable. Towards the end when you are filled almost to the brim, a small fill can upset the apple cart though. My 60 cc fill was only 4 tablespoons but caused a lot of pain.
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ganz,
When you posted that some of you're August sisters were almost done with fills, I was surprised...I'm sitting here reading my trusty "Another Step Forward" book published by Allergan, INC. And under tissue expansion, they say tissue expansion typically takes 4-6 months when done correctly....so maybe it will ease your mind to hear low and slow is what the makers of our products recommend as well!
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Right side finally got another fill. So now they are equal in terms of cc's at 400. Projection of Right is pretty close to Left. So long as no problems, then next Tuesday both will get a fill, which may well be the last one before exchange surgery since the TE is 470cc size. Starting to get excited yet at the same time praying Right stays good.
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I got my first fill today !! I got 120cc's in each side at surgery, today I got 60 cc's in each side. Im such a wimp lol. I thought it was going to hurt but I didn't feel a thing...till I was driving home. Mostly on my left side (cancer side) but its definitely sore. But, nothing an oxycodone and a nap wont fix, I hope. Thanks for all the feed back ladies..I LOVE this site, such great women on here
Nap time....0 -
usually bothers me, driving home after a fill. likely from using the arms.
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