TEs. A Beginner's Primer
Comments
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lmkopy, thank you so much. I am glad you are happy so far.
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Imkopy2, thank you for the words of wisdom and encouragement! My RO said I should be able to swim this summer providing I have plenty of sunscreen, a shady place to sit and a top that will cover the entire radiated side. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
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Well, PS said no more fills for me. I am at 475 in a 450 TE. Tomorrow will be one week since last fill and my skin is so tight I can barely stand it. It almost feels like sunburn under my skin. Anyway, I wonder if any ladies could chime in whether a heat compress may help? I saw horrible pictures of a woman who used a heating pad and fell asleep. She had deep 3rd degree burns on her chest requiring surgery. So I won't be trying that!!
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Lori- I almost forgot make sure you don't get the fitted UV shirt...my hubby bought me one for Christmas and after gaining 34 chemo pounds it wasn't a good look. I think it's in the back of the closet somewhere lol! I found a roomy one which is nice.
Shoregirl- Beware of using heat, your skin can be really sensitive especially because its been stretched. I took prescription strength Motrin and did stretches in a warm shower it helped out a bunch. (Shoulder rolls, also put hands behind my neck and stretched my elbows as far back as i could, then I did a back stroke movement. It really helped stretch things out.) If the pain is too much your PS can take out some saline which will relieve the pain and then go back and add it when you feel more comfortable.
Cyber hugs to you all
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Imkopy2 thanks for the tip! I was doing my stretches but have been neglecting them the last couple of weeks. I have been so busy building my 1st ever website, hunched at the computer from the time I wake til late at night. I know that is making my need for stretching even more necessary. I will do them in the nice warm shower, I am looking forward to it!!!
Take care, Shoregirl
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Hi, I had my TE MX surgery Friday (3/10). The PS filled one of the TEs with 400cc. The other one was 100 or 200cc, can't remember because I was so shocked when he said 400cc. They had told me they would probably fill 100-200cc during the surgery so I was shocked when he said 400cc. Has anyone had that much filled at their TE surgery? My pain is what I would expect when I'm laying down but it gets much worse when I stand up, I wonder if the 400cc is why. Now that I know I can swim after 8 weeks post op--May 15th yay--I want to go low and slow like so many advise so I don't know why he added so much. I was thinking of asking to have some saline removed from the 400cc but afraid he'll get angry with me. My PS is not nearly as nice as he was before surgery, he has a very short temper. So many wonderful doctors and nurses out there, but some real lemons too. Wish I had known because I never would have gone with him and now I'm stuck with him and scared to even ask if he can remove some saline or put me on a different muscle relaxant to manage the pain because he may blow up again. I'm usually real strong and good at standing up for myself but I feel so vulnerable with him and dependent on him doing a good job finishing this up. This is all so depressing
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Lisbeth- is there another PS you could go to? There is no reason why you can't change doctors at any stage of this process, so please don't think you are stuck with this guy.
Best wishes!0 -
Thanks grandma3 but I think it would be hard to find someone to take my case midway so to speak and I'm not sure how insurance would handle it as part of the surgery bill covers the after care I believe, so it would cost insurance more and me too. I just can't believe he put in 400cc but maybe that is not causing the pain, I don't know. My left side has a hard rigid thing in my armpit which might be my TE, and my right side has a protruding rigid thing above and a bit to the right of my sternum--I can almost touch it with my chin. Could those be my TEs?
The reason I'm scared to ask him to remove some of the saline is the morning after my surgery, I told him how much it hurts when I stand up and he went into a rage and said the only thing he could do was remove my TEs, he said we'll just remove them right now, right now he kept saying in an obvious temper tantrum.
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Lisbeth, you should not have to tolerate being treated like that. You can have another doctor take over. Even if you have to explain to your insurance company.
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Lisbeth:
My surgical PS is in Houston. I live in NC. My local PS is doing all the fills and will likely do my exchange, too. That is up to me. You can CHANGE doctors right now -- and frankly, from what you have said, I would. Go to a woman!
My local PS said she would help in any way. Did not care that she had not done the surgery, nada. Was actually fine to only do the fills. Explain your situation with a new doc.0 -
My PS only filled 50cc at a time. I had very little pain up until my last fill, I think I have only a total of 450cc. I am scheduled for my exchange on 3/30. Anxious to be done!
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Shoregirl, I too have been neglecting my stretches. I need to get back at it ASAP
Lisbeth, OMGOSH! Are you sure you can't switch PS?! You shouldn't have to put up with being treated like that! If the PS can't handle the after care of his procedures then he shouldn't be a PS in the first place! My TEs were filled to 440ccs during my surgery. Do you happen to sleep sitting upright? So many here on BCO recommended for me to sleep in a recliner or with stacks of pillows behind me. I slept in my recliner for the first 3 to 4 weeks and I didn't have to worry about the shifting from laying down to standing up.
Lollipop, I'm so excited for your up coming TE Exchange! I'll be in your pocket for your entire procedure! Good luck!
Hello to anyone I may have missed! Hoping everyone had a great day
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Lisbeth, I agree with the other ladies.....I would be RUNNING from that doctor so fast!!! What a creep, he should be reported to the AMA. I really feel for you, its terrible that you were treated so badly by this doctor on top of dealing with cancer and mastectomy!! You should be free to ask anything, report anything, and receive a COMPASSIONATE, professional response. SMH. And what WenchLori said, sleeping propped up was the only way I could sleep for the 1st 4 weeks. I used one of those "reading pillows" that has little pillow armrests, with my bedpillow in front of it. I hope you are feeling a little better after reading all these posts of support and love.
Lollipop, I see you have been on a long journey, congrats on having your exchange surgery coming up soon!! I bet it is going to be such a relief to get the exchange!!
WenchLori - love your username!!
It has been so cold where I live I have just gone into hibernation mode, and gotten lazy. Today was a much warmer day, but stuck inside working on my fiance's business website. I am going to have to get tough with myself, and get back into a good - for - me routine. I didn't start P.T., figured why start it and have to stop after the exchange anyway. I have pretty good range of motion0 -
Lisbeth- I advise you contact whippetmom, or Special K they are very knowledgeable about this whole process and can advise you how to proceed. There is no way I would deal with that you have enough going on you don't need added stress.
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Thank you for all your support, you all make me feel sooo much better. I'll contact whippetmom and special K, good idea. My BS told me that surgeons are required to provide after care for their patients for 90 days post surgery as part of the surgery charge--without additional charges. She is wonderful so I'm going to talk to her too about switching my PS.
That wasn't the only thing my PS did. Once he was done threatening to take out my TEs, he blamed my pain on my not walking even though it was the morning after my surgery and the night nurse wouldn't let me even go to the bathroom alone let alone had time to take me for a walk in the middle of the night but my PS would not listen and kept ranting "how can I help you if you won't help yourself?" Then the next night, I developed a fever of 103 and my PS refused to order any tests to see what was causing it. It's a bizarre feeling to be in a hospital and feel like I have to leave and go to an ER to get medical help. When I had my hysterectomy in December, I had a fever of 102 and they took it very seriously.
Then the next morning I woke up with a terrible sore throat, I doubted it was from the intubation as it was two days post surgery and I hadn't had a sore throat until now. It felt like something was stuck in my throat and it kept making me choke and gag and even made me throw up. The PS looked in my throat and said it looked fine. After he left I asked a nurse to look at my throat and my PS came rushing back in before she could look and told the nurse he had already looked at my throat and it was fine. That was the last straw for me, I told them I'm leaving, check me out now. When I got home my husband looked at my throat and my uvula, that thing that hangs down the middle, it was horribly swollen and had a big white patch on it. It was impossible to miss. My husband was so mad, he took a picture of it and wants to send it to the doctor.
I have know idea what motivates this man to treat me the way he does, what could he get out of it?
Anyway, that's the end of my venting, sorry it's so long but it sure felt good to get it off my chest.
I am sleeping in a recliner, never thought I could sleep in one since I'm a side sleeper, but I love it. I'm snoring like a sailor though, lol! Thank goodness I'm in the living room so no one to hear me except I wake myself up, lol!
Thanks for all your kind support, it gives me strength to stand up to my PS and find a new one. I see him on Monday, thank goodness my husband will be with me.
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Hi gals. I'm a newbie, recovering from my bilateral mastectomy plus TEs on 22/2. I have TEs that are fillable from 600-720. I had 200cc saline put in intraop and 110 put in on the left and 120 on the right last Tuesday. I have bilateral seromas, one anteriorly on the right and another laterally on the left. I'm having my next fill on Wednesday.
One question for the veterans please if I may. Can any of you tell me how high the TEs are actually palpable once they start to be filled. I'm feeling the superior surface around the level of the axilla just below the clavicle. Is that normal or high?
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BringOn, welcome! Sorry you had to join us but glad you found us. A lot of good advice and caring people here on BCO. My TEs are also high and they go into my axilla too. My PS tells me he can fix it during my exchange process. I had previous implants so PS was able to use my existing pockets. Thank goodness! I've had my TEs for 9 months now with no exchange date in sight. But all is well 😊
Shoregirl, thank you, I have so many people tell me if their DH/DW called or was called a Wench they'd be in big trouble. They ask me why I allow it? I always ask if they've seen the modern day Wench? She's usually gorgeous! lol
My DH and I talked about my going to PT and we have decided that I'll skip it also. It's just another appointment to go to.
Lisbeth. WOW! Even more abuse from your horrible PS! I'm so happy that your DH will be with you tomorrow! TheReal Self website has an area where you can go in and give a rating for your PS, I'd give him a really bad one if it were me. I'd wait until after I got a new PS though.
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Lisbeth, I am so distressed to hear about the way the PS has behaved. Completely unprofessional and I also agree he should be reported to the AMA, maybe in a month or so when you are feeling stronger and have some distance from it. You owe him absolutely nothing and if you could cancel the next visit with him I think it would be easier for you to disengage from the relationship. I also suspect you would not be the first patient to switch on him. If he behaves this way with you, he has likely been abusive to other women as well. Your departure for another plastic surgeon is probably nothing new for him. And I suspect there are other plastic surgeons in your area who have had to step in to take over after care. Keep us posted. We are all reacting so strongly because you definitely did absolutely nothing to deserve this. You are objectively reporting your symptoms and it's his job to help you.
Bringon 2017, my TEs also quite high, but saw my lovely PS this week and all is normal. I also had a large fill during initial surgery, 380 cc. Apparently this had something to do with my skin and nipple sparing surgery which required that the TE placement be not entirely under my pectoral muscle. I knew I was having less pain than other women, and it turns out that I have an allodurm sling that is holding it a bit closer to my breastbone then they usually like to place it. Anyway, it was a bigger fill than expected.
Some of the pain I was experiencing last week has completely abated after just one physical therapy appointment!My therapist did a bit of shiatsu massage in armpit and at breastbone and I feel almost normal now.
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lisbeth - your plastic surgeon is behaving unprofessionally and I would advise seeking someone else to complete your reconstruction process. All of this is difficult enough without having any confidence in receiving warm and compassionate treatment from the doctor charged with your care. You might want to have a conversation with your breast surgeon about this particular plastic surgeon, explain what has transpired so far, and ask for a recommendation for someone new. Patients change plastic surgeons in the middle of treatment all the time, for a variety of reasons, I did as well. My initial plastic surgeon was a caring and capable doctor - no complaints about bedside manner, but I needed a new approach to a complex set of issues so I made a change. At the time I had one implant and one flat side due to implant loss after a number of surgeries with my first PS. My new PS had to pick up where the first one left off, and it was very challenging - but ultimately a great decision to make the change. You deserve to have a doctor you can rely on, to be caring, steady, and reassuring over the course of your reconstruction. Nothing less. Please consider making a change even though it may cause a bit of anxiety finding someone new - you are worth it.
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Thank you WenchLori and Pamela 2016. That was reassuring! I had my second physio session today. Last week she also did massage at arm pits as its possible I had some cording and I too got instant relief. After that my husband did daily massage and it all got much better. ( The hubbie is a sports medicine doctor, so am lucky in that. ) Today she was pleased with my progress, did some stretching and said I can go again in 2 weeks time. Tomorrow I have my next fill. Not looking forward to the discomfort again but decided I'm going for eterocoxib prior to rather than after the fill.
Good luck Lisbeth. Tend to agree with everyone who told you to change docs. Not very sure I could face being treated by a PS who dismisses all I say and is arrogant.
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Also, for lisbeth and others - it is not that uncommon to have differing amounts of fill in expanders at different times, and to also have different sized implants after exchange. I had two different sized implants when I exchanged the first time, and while I have different model implants now, and 200ccs smaller - they are still about 50ccs different. The sides of our chest are sometimes not symmetrical, sometimes breast surgeons leave a larger margin of tissue in a prophy mastectomy. A 400cc surgical fill is somewhat larger, but I have personal friends who started that large at the time of surgery, and it is generally done when a larger expander is used. The plastic surgeon is looking for a degree of tension of the skin to the pectoral muscle in order for a new blood supply to form. If it is too tight, or too loose, you can have areas of necrosis and tissue death. It can be that two different fill amounts were needed to achieve this skin tension. Lisbeth - do the sides of your chest look the same size, or totally different? You had mastectomy surgery at different times, correct? This can also account for the difference in fill amounts - if you had a flat side that was healed from initial mastectomy your PS may have been able to fill with more on that side, and the new mastectomy side with less because of the need for healing. He may be planning to even out later in the process. Which side has the larger fill? It is important to keep in mind that there is no one regular size of fill at the time of surgery, but often it can be about half of the max fill for the expander used - all of this is dependent on a number of factors, and comparisons to what others have experienced is good for general knowledge but not always applicable to our own individual situation.
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I am doing well so far. I am home in my recliner with specific instructions to lift NOTHING. Anesthesiologist use bilateral pain blocker because I am very sensitive to pain meds especially morphine and dilaudid.
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Molly, yay! Take it easy, relax and get your rest 💜
Special K, my PS told me the exact same thing you just told us. I have 8 or 9 rad treatments left to get thru. I have this intense stabbing/burning under my left TE, my radiated side. My TE feels normal and my RO's not sure if it's radiation related. I'm wondering if I should just muddle through and see if it goes away soon or make an appointment with my PS? There's no redness or pain there due to radiation... hhmmmm
Hello to everyone! 💜
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Molly Im happy you're home and resting, please pay attention to your PS's orders they are all different. i also have lifting restrictions but he encouraged me to move when I felt up to it. As crazy as this sounds I was feeling ok enough to do a little walking (cotton head crawling) nothing fast, nothing strenuous. Two weeks out Im feeling really good. Rest up sweetie, oh yeah and if you start itching take Zyrtec or benedryl it really helps.
Cyber hugs!
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I am glad you are home resting too Molly50. How long does the "pain blocker" last, just curious as i hadn't heard of it before. I hope you are doing well!
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shoregirl, it wears off fairly quickly but you don't end up with post anesthesia haze. I had it for at least three surgeries now and the outcome is much better for me.
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LisbethS:
I have been on these boards for nine years and have the Breast Implants 101 thread. I can assure you that your PS is an idiot and that you do not need to continue with him if you are the least bit intimidated or concerned about his expertise, much less his very unprofessional demeanor. I am pretty shocked and it does not take much to shock me these days. I maintain a list of doctors and if you want to private message me, I can help find someone for a second opinion. You are describing placement of tissue expanders that seem to be malpositioned. I would not go back to this PS for any fills at this point. You can send me photos privately, so that I can get a better idea of what is going on. Some of us, by the way, were filled rather significantly at the time of tissue expander placement. It is not uncommon, but in your case, with what you have described, I would like to chat with you a bit more about what is happening. I am glad to help. Private message me and we can start helping you out of this morass.0 -
Hi! I'm a newbie, just signed up for these forums. I had BMX on 2/22 with TEs placed during surgery and 400cc added. I just had my first fill yesterday, 3/23, 100cc on each side. I was told beforehand that it would be painful but I thought "it's just adding saline, how much could it possibly hurt?" ... I took the fill just fine, a needle stick and the feeling of pressure - but afterward the muscles started spasming and I was about in tears from the pain!! The pain is a little better today, making me conclude that the first 24 hours is the worst. OUCH!!!!!!!!
I start chemo next week, having a port placed on Monday and I'm just praying the port doesn't somehow move and damage the TE.
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Hi mdbailey, I hate to see you join us but I'm also glad you found all of us! I never had much pain with my fills just felt like they ate to much. My PS only did 50ccs at each fill so maybe that's why I didn't have to many issues with pain. My port sits right on top of my right TE and so far I haven't had any problems with it. I've had mine for 8 months so far. I know how scary all of this can be but we are all here to give you as much support as you need and lots and lotsof love!
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Hi mdbailey
I too had my bmx on 22/2 and TEs got filled to 200 at surgery. I've had 2 fills so far - 120ccs in first fill, which was painful, as you describe not so much the actual filling process but the severe muscle aches afterwards. They only lasted 3 days though. Had a second fill if 80 this week, and pain was less. Pressure on muscle is more with bigger fills. You may want to either discuss with your PS re smaller fills or taking a good effective painkiller like eterocoxib or celecoxib instead of just tylenol. I find eterocoxib a dream, but you need to discuss meds with your own doctor. I have my next fill this week and am definitely taking my eterocoxib before leaving home!
Take care. It's good having this group as a sounding board. I feel so less alone!
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