TE TROUBLE
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mena - glad you have some progress. Keep us posted, and stay vigilant - if you don't see continued improvement let your PS know
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I havent heard on the appointment for the CT. Guess I will call and ask about it tomorrow. Aggravating that I have to do that for every single test or referral I need. Felt not so good today, maybe the Herceptin along with the infection. I am determined to feel better tomorrow. Have a good night all.
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Mena4911, we all understand your frustration with having to ask for particular treatments. I could write a novel on the crap I've been through trying to get the best outcome post-infection! Hang in there and keep fighting the good fight - you do whatever is best for YOU! Hoping you're feeling better today.
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The order for CT to be done ASAP was written on Tuesday. Called and left a message today. I am going there with my sister for her appointment on Tuesday. If I still dont have my ASAP CT appointment set I am probably gonna throw a fit. From now on I am going to have them print the order and make the call for the test myself. This has happened every single time and i have to call and call. i realize they are busy with other patients but playing with peoples lives is not ok! scared and frustrated!
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Raven thank you for the encouragement ! is it common to have to call and call to get tests scheduled? This only happens to me at the cancer center.
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Mena, My heart is with you. I hope you get things resolved today and begin feeling better.
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Mena, it sounds like there's a real lack of communication between the office ordering the CT scan and the radiology department. I realize you've called but maybe if you offer to fax or scan/e-mail the order to them? Yes, I realize you shouldn't HAVE to do this, but something seems amiss here and you absolutely have to look out for yourself, for sure. Good luck! I hope you're feeling better today.
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Good morning, This is the first morning that i have not woke myself up crying in pain. My range of motion is starting to get a bit better. Thank goodness for antibiotics! Still no CT scheduled....... Everyone enjoy the weekend
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Hi ladies, I'm hoping I am posting in the right area. I currently have TE's in place (my bilateral mastectomy was mid August so about 12 weeks ago). I had my last fill 4 weeks ago. In the past two weeks, I have started doing some very very light/careful exercising and stretching which has felt good to get the body finally moving again. However, my left "breast" has been aching a bit for over a week now. It feels like the "burning" sensation I did experience with all of the fills (as everything was stretching) but the main pain is on the outer side of my body. I believe it may be where the TE is sutured in place. If I take a deep breath in, it feels like there is pressure being put on the area and its quite tender to touch. My armpit aches a bit too, and just moving about, I am well aware it feels different to how it was feeling. I do not have a fever or feel unwell, and it is looks no different to how it has looked all along (ie no redness or anything unusual). I can feel where I believe it is the suture tab and it does feel a little "lumpier" than the other side. I put off ringing the recon surgeon thinking it might settle down (as I have had aches here and there along the way as things settle into place, but this tender/sore feeling does seem to be sticking around). I will call my surgeon after the weekend, but I wonder if anyone may have any clues for me (or indeed have felt this themselves). I was fortunate not to have any previous complications thus far. Thankyou, Jo
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CT scheduled for in the morning. Now in a panic and want to back out! I am never satisfied! aussiemum I hope you got in touch with your doctor and i hope you feel better soon!
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HHello lovlies! I have been reading this thread with interest, as I too have The issues right now. I have had a small rash on either side of my scar for about a week. It started off just red and itchy, and now a sore has developed. It hasn't grown any bigger. My MO said it was not a cancer reoccurrence. My PS saw pictures and said it didn't look like infection, but started me on an antibiotic to be safe. I'll see him in person on Tuesday. Meanwhile, I have an open sore on my boob! Someone on another thread said it sounded like a fungal infection. Man, I really don't want to lose this expander. Any advice would be so, so welcome. Thanks so much!!!.
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littleblue - can they do a culture? It would provide valuable info
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Hello,
This is my very first post on my very first BC board...
I am a newbie- clearly, just had bilateral mastectomy on 4/4/17 with TE placed and still have 2/4 drains but the discomfort from the surgery bra is driving me insane. can I ditch it at least for sleeping? I plan to wear a cami still because I have never been a free sleeper but i just cannot take the riding up with the increased sensitivity in my armpits much longer and I don't get my second set of drains out until next Thursday.
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I had more comfort with a zip front sports bra. Would your PS approve that?0
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It is not surprising that you have similar problems to what I'm having at present. I had a bilateral mascetomy two months ago and put in TEs at the time of the surgery. For the most part, I have had some pain, but lately, I have woke up to moderate pain in my left breast. I am to see my PS on Monday but don't think this can wait. I went back to work a week or so ago and my left chest feels painful. If I take some painkillers, it helps somewhat but get drowsy. I would really love to some advice in how to deal with it.
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Savvy, if you are running a fever, dont wait. Or if a red spot is visible. If that happens, an infection could be there. So go in the morning if those signs are there. Good luck, I hope thats not it for you, though!
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Hello! I've been reviewing this thread and I am learning a lot. I have had a couple of problems. I had BMX on May 18th with tes placed and filled to 240ccs each. About a week and a half later I noticed the skin was raw and pink under one of the steri strip. I called ps office since it was the weekend and the Dr on call talk to me about symptoms (no fever, redness only in the area of my incision junction. My incisions from an upside down t) she called it a superficial skin breakdown at the incision junction. The Dr checked it the next week and had me treating it with antibiotic cream. It is finally almost healed over. We resumed weekly te fills. On June 9th they wanted to do a larger fill and I got 120ccs in each. I spent the next 3 days very uncomfortable with tightness and pain every time I changed positions and having to take pain pills at night to be able to sleep. On June 12th I noticed my incision had opened back up in the mudflap area (about 3/4 inch) Saw ps on June 14 and she said yes incision has come open and formed a small hole but no necrosis or infection. She said normally she would just have me pack it and wait for it to heal but since I am supposed to start radiation in a few weeks she wanted to perform a procedure where she cut the skin back and sewed it closed. I had that on June 15. She covered the incision with a steri strip. She put me back on clindamycin (post opera antibiotic). I did not have a fill last week. I go in tomorrow for a fill and for her to check that area. I am only going to let them fill 60 in each. Do you think having the one large fill could have opened my incision up? I have radiation coming up so I know that is why we are rushing the fills but now I want to slow things down. I don't think a week or two delay should effect the radiation since they think I had a complete metabolic response to the chemo and they found no cancer cells in the breast or lymph nodes. Do you think I should slow this down? I have 2 to 3 more fills to go at 60 each. I am almost 5 weeks out from bmx and am already at 480. I guess I am just feeling frustrated and scared. PS had no real answer why incision opened.
Dizzygirl
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DizzyGirl - It's your body, you get to decide. Whether or not the large fill was the cause of the rupture, you can slow things down. I am willing to bet they can also complete the fill after the radiation.
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DizzyGirl, I agree completely with SummerRain. Your body, your treatments. You do have a say in what they do. It might be worth waiting until after rads to finish the fills. What size TE did they put in? How much do you have left to go?
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Thank you both. I have slowed down the fills to 60cc each time. That has made the pain much more tolerable. I am currently at 540cc and want to get to 660cc. My expanders are Natrelle Allergan 500cc. My PS overfills a little bit. I see her tomorrow to see if the incision has completely closed. It looks good to me. I see the radiologist oncologist today and will schedule mapping in about 1 1/2 weeks.
Dizzygirl
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Hey ladies, just joined this thread Had mastectomy and double lat dorsi on weds..got air expanders..one on the right (rad side) feels very tight and like rubbing on rib or maybe muscle when sat up..is this normal? When does the pain usually subside? Pt has given me early exercises to prevent build up of scar tissue
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Happy Fourth of July everyone, I am inquiring into implant issues because in November I had a BMX with TE's which were filled to 800 cc's and exchanged for 800cc high profile smooth round silicone implants. I have been fortunate so far with no issues of infection Etc however I don't know what to expect from these boobs it has been 8 weeks and I've noticed that the right implsnt has now softened around all the edges so it no longer feels like firm foam rubber and there's a bit of an indentation on that side .I'd had a previous lumpectomy in 2008 with a very large seroma however I don't think that has anything to do with this.I saw my doctor, plastic surgeon two weeks ago and he basically said everything was fine but this softening just started to happen this week can anybody tell me is this normal part of what they call drop and fluff is there anywhere that I can read about what to expect with implants over the next few months, I can't afford to run to the Dr. unless of course it's serious.
Linda
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Hey all have not posted in awhile!
I had my BMX 3rd week of Feb. had my 33 radiation treatments ,doing excellent no complications. 3 weeks after my radiation I had pain in my bilateral breasts, more on the radiated side which was the right. Had my Herceptin at hospital, had a temp of 100.8 that went up to 102, oncologist was informed and blood cultures performed.Nothing grew from those cultures. A couple days later Started 500mg Levaquin x 7 days. My exchange surgery was moved up to a couple weeks sooner. I ate 800 mg ibuprofen every 6 hours otherwise my temp would shoot up to 102-103! The PS examined breasts he felt that I did not have infection, I asked him why does it hurt so bad, and why is my temp up. My WBC were normal but elevated for me due to past chemo treatments. PS took out 50 ml from my right breast, I felt much better. 2 days later my left prophylactic side I felt llike something was crawling on me, after closer examination I had a green/yellow drainage. A culture was done and I was scheduled to have surgery 1st thing in the AM. I was so desperate to feel better, I hoped the TEs would be taken out.I was given Vancomycin 1 Unit of blood, both breasts cleaned out washed, and all Alloderm was removed, along with a deep culture. Went home with Bactrim. My PS said he will let me settle down, then 5-6 months down the road to start again. I have 2 drains but they are cleanand both only have10-15ml each. Most likely the doctor will remove the drains this Thurs. PS was so disappointed because I was so close to exchange, not to mention my disapointment I can't even begin to think about starting again! I will not give up, but I am only human and can't help feeling so discouraged. I will temporarily use the knitted knockers so my chest does not look so concave. I must say I feel great being infection free no temps at all! I have run out of my vacation and sick time, so I have to get back to work soon. I must say how long does this journey have to be? Looking at the brighter side is I am NED and am happy to be alive, but it definitely comes with a price.
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Bravenurse13, I'm so sorry you're going through all this. What was the result of the final culture? Did they identify the infection? I am now 17 mos. post BMX and I'm still fighting my way toward a final exchange due to infection. Hang in there. Believe me, I know how disappointed you are because I've been there.
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Thanks raven4mi, right now I feel so tired thinking about it...
Have not heared anything about the deep culture as well as the one last week.
Today will call My PS office see if there are any results.
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I'm hoping someone may be able to provide some input as I'm concerned I may have done something to impact my TE. I'm about 1 month out post UMX with under pec TE and Alloderm ("former" R breast). I'm not sure if the PS put any saline in the TE at the time but if he did it wasn't much. I haven't had my first fill yet as I had skin necrosis that developed all along the incision line so that was cut out and re-stitched during outpatient surgery a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday I bent over and felt something almost like a suction cup releasing in the R breast area (it didn't hurt). I thought afterward that I felt the TE move but not sure if that could have been any potential saline moving in the TE (but I hadn't felt this before). Is it possible to have a TE detach (I'm assuming they have a couple of hold stitches to keep them in place)? I have an appt w/the PS in a few days to check the stitches from the outpatient surgery but I'm concerned. Has anyone had a similar experience? Thanks.
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My infection was staph infection right breast not resistant to doxycline the left was resistant. PS now feels that it all came from my extreme radiated breast on the right. He now wants to play it by ear to see what the next step is.
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Sorry that I just noticed your post. How upsetting it must have been that you had complications with your incision. My story is somewhat similar to a point. I had a hysterectomy this year and they decided to drape a huge bandage over my long bikini incision. Almost all of the steri strips caused a redness underneath not to mention the paper tape that they used to hold down the huge loose bandage. Where they placed the 1 1/2" tape on my upper left thigh, when they tried to peel it off in the hospital, (sit down for this), it took my outer layers of skin off and looked raw and angry. It took weeks to heal and now, 6 months later looks like a faint large birthmark.
Like I said, most of my steri strips when removed revealed painful redness. Yet they keep using that awful stuff. That thigh tape removal was more painful than the surgery, IMO. Stayed raw for days.
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OG - keep an eye on things. When is your next check-up with your PS? This could be swelling that is subsiding and your implant taking its more long term shape, not sure.
bravenurse - I have been to this rodeo - more than once, but did not lose my TE or implant due to infection, I had wound/skin healing issues. Sorry you are dealing with this, but you can eventually get there if you stay the course. What does your PS say?
raven - hi! How are things?
lovek9s - it could be that the suture tab holding your TE popped internally, and this is not unusual and does not need to be fixed. Also possible, if your PS did not use the suture tabs, that you had a shift of the TE, or a slosh of the saline inside - hard to say.
sweetp - sounds like you have an adhesive allergy - I do as well. There is a long thread devoted to this on BCO, but I have come down to only being able to use Medipore dressings, and paper tape, and then only for a minimal period of time. I can't use tegaderm or most other sterile dressings at all. I also can't touch the linens in pre-op - need special "hypoallergenic" linens or to have chucks between me and the sheets - the folks in pre-op LOVE me! Not! Here is a link to the tape thread:
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/91/topics/767669?page=1
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Hi, SpecialK! So nice to hear from you. I'm doing OK. Had what they thought may have been another infection that started back in April that has - long story short - since resolved itself into a persistent redness that has a very well-defined rectangular shape, clearly the shape of the top of the TE. Almost finished with fills though and with no other explanation for the redness my MO has sent me to a therapist for lymphedema. The swelling has gone down somewhat but the redness persists. At this point I'm hoping for successful exchange surgery no later than October of this year with no further issues, infections, or complications so that I can be all healed in time for a planned trip to Europe in December this year. Fingers crossed! I hope you're doing well too! I know success is possible because of all you've been through!
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