Exchange City

I searched "tissue expander pain" and landed here. Helpful info. I'm only 2weeks from UMX with TE. Very sore, occasional jabbing pains... still taking pain meds everyday. Felt good enough 2 days ago to go for a short walk--- maybe half a mile--- by the end, each step brought discomfort and the day after was very sore and my intake of pain meds went up. Mightve over-did it.

I start chemo sometime in the next month (see onc Friday), so I'll have this baby in for a few months at least. I'm worried about getting addicted to pain meds.

questions: my PS said I didn't need to wear the support bra, could wear camisole. Since camisole's don't have much support, Ive been wearing cotton tanks with no support,since I have a ton of them. This might be a mistake. (I wore support bra from hospital when walking). I want to wear something to see if it will help reduce TE pain. I found a lot of info here on what to wear with new squishies.... and suggestions for TEs? Looking for lots of comfort with some support. I wont be supporting more than a B cup at most... right now less since I've had no post-surgical fills yet.

Cant wait to exchange.... but I'm just gettin started

Shera,

You will improve each week following your surgery.  After each fill however, you may feel alot of pressure or pain as your muscles and skin stretch.  My PS never told me to wear a sports bra with my TE.  The morning after my 3rd fill I was crying over the pain from the fill. I needed to drive my kids to school so I couldn't take any narcotics for the pain and tylenol wasn't helping.  A friend of mine who had a BMX (like me) a year ago asked me if I was wearing a sports bra.  I wasn't so she had me put one on and I'm not kidding you withing 1 hour I was so much better.  The sports bra supports the TE and really helps with the pain.  So try wearing one that's comfy and snug but not too tight.  Good luck! 

rubalou- I'm sorry that you are feeling so sore  I know I had more discomfort after exchange for longer than i was counting on.   At the point you are at I was still very sore as well. It has been a very slow (but sure) improvement as the weeks and now months have gone past.  I hope that you improve faster than I did!  It actually took me a while to not feel like I had tightness going on constantly and always being aware that they were there.  I was starting to feel like I had exceeded my allotted tme for complaining about the tightness. It should get better and I hope it does soon...

sweetbean- what is your non-profit for?

The squishies do take some time to get used to. For me the TE's were really painful so I was happier right from the start. But I still feel the implants and wonder if they will ever feel normal...I am always aware that they are there. I had exchange 3 1/2 months ago.

Friday will be 7 weeks post exchange for me.  I am so happy to hear that others are still experiencing some discomfort. (I'm not happy for your discomfort.)  I thought I was the only one too.  My implants do feel better than the TEs, but I am still constantly aware of them.  I too have that tight feeling.  I guess from reading other posts, I thought the exchange would be really easy and I would feel normal again. 

I just went back to work last week.  I am only working two days a week for the first three weeks. I am a respiratory therapist in a neonatal intensive care unit and work 12-hour shifts.  I am on my feet most of the day and do a lot of pushing, pulling and lifting.  So far it hasn't been too bad.  But I am sore at the end of the day.  

I advise everyone to judge how you feel before going back to work. Only you can know that.   

Rubalou, one more thing about your soreness; is your desk and computer at a comfortable height for you?  Maybe if you make some kind of adjustment to your desk or chair height you can find a way to ease your discomfort while working all day on the computer.  I hope you find relief soon and try to rest your arms as much and as often as you can. I think you probably needed another week or two to recover.  Can your Doctor extend your time if you report your pain to him?

sweetbean- I bet they will soften up with time.  One of my friends felt my upper pole area after exchange and told me they still felt hard so I know it wasn't just me.  This isn't a scientific fact but I feel like they are about 80% softer.  They now will push in more like typical breast tissue.  I think that you will probably follow the same pattern.

jbennett38- that is a long day by any standard.  I hope with time you will be feeling great!

sweetbean -- my implants are still pretty hard (not as hard as the TEs though).  I just hit 4 weeks post and my PS told me this week to start manipulating them to get them to soften up.  His nurse told me to be as aggressive as I can stand and they will soften up and get a little bouncy.  They also told me that doing the manipulation (pushing together, pushing down and pushing up) in the shower or our hot tub would help too.

I had my exchange surgery Jan. 16 on my right side and a reduction/implant on my left (the healthy breast). The implant on the right is so much more comfortable than the HARD TE and havn't had much pain but the left side on the other hand has been so painful. It's more painful to wear a bra than not because of the stitches around the nipple and the bruising still hasn't gone away. My PS said if it's more comfortable to go with out than don't wear one. Everything I'm reading on here seems to be that I should be wearing a bra. I'm able to wear  one most of the day but I still can"t sleep in one if I do I wake up in a lot of pain. Anyone have any advice on this? 

Thanks, Cathy 

Hi everyone,

So I had my two week post op visit with my PS and while my new boobs look great I have a hematoma in the right breast.  They don't know what caused it but they want me to really take it easy and they are stressing no lifting or carrying anything more than 5 lbs.  The hematoma is like a quarter size lump.  Has anyone heard of this happening?  They are hoping it just goes away on its own and most importantly I am supposed to call right away if it gets larger. Great.

Christine - I got a second PS opinion because I don't think the first one put in big enough implants. I sent pictures to WhippetMom and she agreed that they do not look good. Although the drop & fluff has helped shape them (along with wearing an underwire bra almost 24/7), the foobs are too far apart and I have a large dent above my left breast.

The second PS I saw said they didn't look that bad to her. When I told her all the "after" pictures I have seen look much better than what I have she blew me off saying that all PS's are going to post their best work. Well I WANT THEIR BEST WORK! If I went through all this BC crap, I at least want great foobs!

Denise

Hi jaysmommy, I had problems with hematoma too. Mine got really big and was all across my breast. I saw my surgeon after a couple of weeks and he said we will leave it, but it got worse and I had to have another surgery to relieve it. I think I was probably worse case though, I had to stay in hosp for a week after my mx because i was draining too much fluid. I think maybe the drains came out too soon for me and that was why the hematoma got so bad. I think mostly hematomas disperse by themselves, and yours sounds a lot smaller than mine started out. I hope it sorts itself out for you. (and the surgery to have it removed was fine, really quick and the relief from pain was instant for me).



Chiluvr, sounds like a third opinion is needed? Honestly, you have to wonder if she would have said the same if it was her breasts... Good luck.



And bludaizy, I got really sore with each fill. I ended up with I think eight smaller fills over a longer period of time so it was tolerable, and just kept up the painkillers before and after. I found a heated wheatie pack helped, and just resting it. My PS was happy to take it at my pace. I think all the problems Ive mentioned above didnt help as the whole area was still painful, so if you think Thursday is pushing it, it may be worth talking to them? My eperience may be a bit at the extreme end of the scale. Lots of women have no problems at all and the muscle gives a bit more quickly.



Good healing everyone xxx

bludaizy- i would say to spread them out longer if you are still sore. My PS only put in 60cc at each fill but I did have my last fill only 4 days after the previous one and it set off a whole chain reaction of muscle spasms that stayed with me till exchange 2 months later. Better to take it slower if you are still sore.

What caused the "divot"? I've developed a bit of a "dent" in my right one over the last couple of days. Have a little stronger sports bra on now and hope things will round out. See the PS on Tuesday. My right breast was my "good" one that had not had the lumpectomy.

Christine47: Good plan. My dent seems a little better this morning after following the advice in this discussion group about wearing a better bra at night. Things just look a little more even today. Knowing that my PS might be able to fill it in like yours will fill in the "divot" helps a lot. Thanks for responding.