TE/Implant OVER pectoral Can exercise, comfortable &NO RIPPLES!
Comments
-
Raven, just wanted to let you know you are in my thoughts and prayers, too.
Sorry you had to deal with TDG
(Typical dumb guy)
Sounds like the ID is socially inept.
I'm impressed with your determination to take control of this with and without the doctor's help. I'm also rooting for the vitamin c and/or oil of oregano to work so you tell him, "I told you so!"
Best wishes for asuccessful resolution fast!
0 -
NotVeryBrave, I didn't really have any pain after my skin/nipple sparing direct-to-implant/over the muscle BMX - but I did have the tight feeling you describe. It had largely gone away by about 6 weeks, and today (9 weeks or so later) I don't even think about it. I feel completely like it's all "me."
0 -
Raven- thinking about you and hoping things are improving. Sorry you are having to deal with so many complications and arrogant physicians. Glad you are proactive in pursuing alternative treatment options. Please keep up posted on your progress.
Alli
0 -
Raven. When I had my expanders in during chemo, I had a strange allergic reaction which none of my Drs could figure out. My PS thought it was some kind of chemo allergic reaction, my oncologist thought it was cellulitis. My breasts went purple and red, they were not painful to touch but were clearly inflamed. They looked very scary. My PS put me on Augmentin (antibiotic) for about 3 weeks and monitored me daily (via photos I sent to him on cellphone). They eventually calmed down and returned to normal. No one is sure what it was exactly. Here is hoping that yours will resolve as well without having to lose the implant.
0 -
Raven, I'm sorry you are having to deal with another complication.(and the dr.) Thinking of you and praying that they are able to accurately and quickly resolve the problem.
0 -
Oh Raven - so sorry you're going through this. It sucks all around - the breast issue itself, the emotional stress, and dealing with the attitude of the surgeon. Keeping you in my thoughts and hope it resolves even if you never truly know what it was. Weird stuff happens, but you can still recover well. - xo
0 -
My left anatomic implant keeps rotating. *sigh* If you recall is was exchanged out from a 310cc to a 250cc 8 weeks after the TE>implant exchange - a significant drop for that size range (wouldn't be as significant if was dropping 60ml in the 400-600 range for size). It was part of the risk, but I just couldn't stay that large. The 250s are just right. They are anatomic shaped, so the fullest part of the implant keeps rotating to be at my sternum, the most tapered part at my axilla likely because that area is tighter from scar tissue (and it is my radiated side). The opposite side was exchanged out from 285cc to 250cc and does not move, but it was also changed 10 days after the TE>implant exchange. I can coax it back with some manual skill, but it doesn't stay. I really don't want any more surgery (I've had enough!) so I don't know if there is any long term solution for this. See my surgeon again on the 22nd. Going to try some PT taping techniques - glad we have a lot of tape in my clinic to try. You can't tell that it's rotated when I'm wearing clothes, only when I'm naked.
0 -
Thanks to all of you for your kind words of support.
macb04, I'm having a 150 cc/75 g does of IV Vitamin C as I write this. I am already taking liposomal vit c and will be starting essential oils of oregano and cinnamon when they arrive in two days. I have started documenting with pictures, for sure.
trinigirl50, your post was just the dose of "hope" I needed. Thank you so much for sharing that information.
Andraxo, I'm so sorry that your new implant is rotating. It must be extremely frustrating. Hope the PS has a non-surgical solution (but when do they ever, really?)
I had a wonderful, relaxing Mother's Day week-end camping with my husband and sons. It was lovely and my attitude is a bit better today - more determined than ever to knock this thing out.
0 -
Shoot Andraxo! That's truly a bummer about the rotating. Our body sometimes does what it wants to do despite what the surgeon does. In my case the implant on my right sits lower despite her efforts to keep it up. Certainly not as big of a deal as a rotating anatomical.
I'm so curious, though, about the use of alloderm (or other material). My PS said my implants are completely covered in that. I *assumed* that as I healed that the alloderm sealed my implants into place. I could so completely be wrong about that. I just had this vision of scar tissue forming and the implants being trapped in there. I know your surgery was very recent so it would be too early for that to have happened (again assuming!). I know I've read on here of others having rotation of anatomicals but I never paid too close attention at the time. I do yoga and I often wonder if this far out (8 months now) if I could be causing any movement of my implants. I can certainly feeling a more tight stretching across my chest for certain poses and I don't always fully extend my arms for over the head things. I should probably just ask...
I'll be curious to see what your PS says. Maybe the taping will be the trick to allow it to heal in the right place. It kind of sounds like when my PS told me to wear an underwire to help my implant from slipping down while healing.
Good luck!
0 -
I thought so too Jessie. Even littleblueflowers/Jen had commented on another thread that because of the alloderm sling it is not expected that these implants move. I think my pocket is simply too large now. The pocket/envelope, and I imagine the alloderm too, were stretched by the expander and the larger implant that I had for 8 weeks. He didn't want to exchange it sooner because the breast looked beat up and is slow to heal on the radiated side. Maybe I'm rotating the alloderm with the expander but I thought the alloderm meshes with your skin/soft tissue over time.
I'm sure it doesn't help that I run, lift weights a few x/week, and do heavier yard work.
- xo
0 -
my PS said most implants do rotate. I got back into a yoga class, and my TE has rotated. The port was at the top, now it's at the bottom, and it is irritating, not painful. I'm still having a lot of pain at my drain site. I feel like my ribs dont move when I bend, and I get sharp pain. I've been doing mobilizations, just wonder if anyone else has had that experience. I guess I'm just 10 weeks post surgery.
0 -
2FUN - I used to get sharp pinches in spots that had adhesions - which included the drain hole sites. Did manual therapy on the soft tissue as best I could myself one handed but had another PT really free it up (this was at the same time I had cording). Hoping yours stops bothering you soon!!
Yeah...I knew I was high risk for rotation on the L, but hoped for the best (the right seems to be staying put). It just rotates to the same spot and then stays there until I move it back.
I'm surprised your expander rotated much. Mine were anchored down with tabs sutured in place - I could feel the tabs. Even then though, they seemed to expand me unevenly - much more medially. My implant rotates the fullest part to the place that was expanded the most...makes perfect sense. My sternum is sore from me trying to move the implant. I have it taped now with leukotape!
0 -
I just can't catch a break. Pretty sure I'm having an allergic reaction to the bactrim - severe muscle pain in my left calf muscle. Came on rather suddenly today. Skipped tonight's dose and will call ID first thing in the morning.
~sigh~
0 -
Raven4mi, do you think the redness has decreased any? Sounds really good about the IV Vitamin C and it is a great idea about starting the Oregano and Cinnamon Essential Oil. I am crossing my fingers that this all resolves for you really soon.
This a great article -
Essential Oils Might Be the New Antibiotics
That is a shame to have a problem with your Anatomic Implant moving around. I really hope the taping helps stabilize things so more healing occurs. Would going back to 24/7 supper supportive bra in addition, be any help to keep the implant from shifting?
0 -
Very interesting article, Macb.
Here's one a friend sent me yesterday on Vitamin C: Virginia Doctor’s Cure for Top Killer Raises Eyebrows in Medical Community
0 -
Hi 2fun and Andraxo, on the topic of rotation
Huh, I'm surprised about the comment from your PS that most implants rotate. With anatomicals, if that's true, it seems they wouldn't be a very good option. As Andraxo mentioned, my TEs were tacked into place and never budged. Eventually those "basting" stitches dissolved or whatever and I assume scar tissue or something took over. With my implants, I had my window of time for restriction I assume to allow the alloderm to be integrated, but gosh, I hope, that is the "glue" holding these guys in place.I didn't start yoga until maybe 6 months out from exchange. I still feel pulling and don't have full ROM, but it's minor. I need to call my PS's office to ask about that. I've had some aches after yoga where I've really pressed the stretches across my chest. I simply don't know if it's ok or not. Alloderm is supposed to be so integrated into your system after so much time, but the pull I feel is not what I had before all this. It's just interesting, isn't it?
Again I'm echoing Andraxo, but the weird pains I've experienced during this process are mind boggling. At this point, 100% of them have turned out to be no problem so hopefully the same for you. I even got hot flashes across just a portion of my right breast area for some time. Nothing, my PS said she'd heard of it form those with sub-pec implants so she was surprised to hear me talk of it.
What a ride...
0 -
Hi ladies! Apparently my body reacts to supposedly disolving stitches by creating tiny abscess. I had to go in and get each one stitched with permanent stitches today. 5 in all. PS said by the book would be to excise the scar and. Start over, so im really hoping these extra stitches do the trick. Anyone experience similar?
0 -
Hi littleblueflowers, I discovered that one particular type of suture that was supposed to dissolve, never did well with me and had to have them taken out. Finally, the PS started to only use the one that worked. He also used this special glue/tape combination instead of regular sutures. That healed the best of all.
Hey raven4mi, I had actually seen the research articles on that before. It is pretty damn amazing. It is almost enough to make the NaySayers start to pay attention.
0 -
me too Jen - my body hates dissolvable sutures...found that out when I had a fibroadenoma removed from my left breast in 2007. For my cancer related surgeries in the past 1-2 years (all 6 of them) they used dermabond and tape/steri-strips, no sutures at all. The last surgery he even used a new kind of tape and it was great! - didn't start to get itchy like steri-strips do when then they are starting to peel off.
I remove a lot of sutures for patient post-op in my clinic, and I always ask the surgeon to use regular sutures instead of dissolvable (except for pediatric cases)because in addition to them creating little abscesses for people, I also find the knots don't dissolve well and end up having to be removed anyway.
- xo
0 -
Appt. with my PS again today. First of all, I love him because when I told him that the ID said "I feel you'll have a failed outcome so it doesn't matter what you do", the PS said that the ID was being completely insensitive. He's willing to take the wait-and-see approach too because he agrees that we're kind of throwing darts at what we're actually treating. He said for all we know the redness could just be a by-product of the radiation. I think that's a bit optimistic as I did run a fever briefly and was very sick over that first week-end, but I appreciated the effort nonetheless. He did explain that the reason that the ID wants the TE out is because typically, with an infection, the bacteria "clings" and forms a thin layer on the "foreign object" and so never really goes away. He even had a medical term for it but I can't remember what he said it was, so if any of you med-types know it I think I would recognize it if I saw it again. Regardless, I've only been on the new abx for two days so, obviously, there's a long way to go before making a decision. And even then, if they tell me it has to come out, I may consider seeking second opinions. As I explained to both doctors I obviously won't take any chances with my health – if I get a fever again or otherwise feel my health is being compromised I'll agree to have it out. But I feel great right now.
After my adverse reaction to the high dose bactrim the ID switched me to both Omnicef (which is in the same family as Keflex which I've had in the past without problems) and doxycyclene hyclate, which I've also had in the past. My new doTERRA essential oils arrived yesterday so I've started those, and I'm going to be having Vitamin C IV infusions every Monday and Thursday for now until this is resolved one way or the other. I'm not giving up!
Thanks for hanging in there with me, ladies.
0 -
raven. Glad to hear you have a viable plan, and a PS who is in your corner. Are you seeing any improvement with time? I've been thinking a lot about you! Did your PS call it a "biofilm" ? That's the only thing I can think of
0 -
Yes! Biofilm. Thank you, 2FUN. But there was another piece of terminology he used to describe the nature of a biofilm, too. I'll ask him next week when I see him again!
I was seeing improvement initially on the bactrim but had to stop it. It's gotten just a teensy darker since I've switched abx again but I'm hoping I see incremental improvements from now on.
0 -
I'm curious what he has to say about biofilms. My DD has lyme and 2 co-infections that have been harboring in her gor a decade. She is seeing an integrated medicine doctor to try and get her immune system to fight the viruses.
0 -
Raven, forgive me if you've already checked the possibility, (I didn't look back into older posts to double check) but hace you or your Drs. considered Red Breast Syndrome? If it is, then corticosteroids may be the answer. I hope this helps. Best of luck & good health to you, and everyone here.
0 -
Well, here I am in the hospital. They think its cellulitis. Planning to operate tomorrow and keep me until Monday. I am so bummed. I don't think I can do this.
0 -
((((((little blue flowers)))))))
I'm so sorry. What are they going to.do? It may seem like you can't handle this. But you are stong, and you will get thru this! My friend gave me a mantra that might help for you to say " I have everything I need inside of me to be healthy". You are stonger than those cellulitis cells! You have made it through the cancer surgeries, don't let this one bring you down!
Keep posting while u r in hospital.Healing and peaceful thoughts to you.
0 -
Honeybadger, yes, RBS was considered and then discarded. Pretty sure it was an infection, plus the redness is all over the entire breast and into the surrounding area. From what I've learned about RBS that doesn't seem to happen.
littleblueflowers, I'm so sorry! What are they doing during the procedure tomorrow? I know how disappointed and discouraged you are, but hang in there. You have it in you - you can do anything!
0 -
Raven, for better or worse, it sounds like you are correct. My redness was only on the southern poll where the dermal matrix was. However I didn't have an RBS diagnosis. I think it was less well known and my PS was mistaking it for cellulitis. We'll never know for sure. As for you, Little blue flowers and everyone here I sincerely hope that your issues are resolved, that you heal beautifully and that you can move on from this difficult chapter in your lives.
0 -
little blue - I'm with u!!!! All weekend
U got this!
0 -
Thanks ladies!!! Update, the redness is responding to IV antibiotics. Just got out of surgery to wash out cavity, replace with new implant. So here I am confined to the hospital, with drains, until at least Monday. If it isn't all cleared up by then, they will remove the implant and wait for it to heal. If it is all better, then hopefully I get my drains pulled and get to go home on pills! Keep your fingers crossed for me! One fun thing, I asked to not be knocked out so I was tripping the whole time. Felt great! Now I'm a little hung over, but k do see what the kids like about drugs now lol. Thank you so much for the good wishes. I need them. Raven, thinking about you too!
0
