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Well here I am 3 weeks post bilateral mx for ILC Right. Nov7 Removal of left breast tissue and both nipples for symetry. I AM CANCER FREE!!!

Any car bounciness was felt, I goose stepped with tiny steps and much determination to our bed. Once there I demanded my niece and husband to bring scissors to make the surgical bra looser. They banded up against me said I had to wear it and not take it off for a week, per Drs orders. I KNEW it was too applied too tightly, incredibly crushing and smashing my ribcage and the fragile tissue/ and skin left to me. I could also feel the tissue expanders. They are still felt constantly> my own rusty bear traps under my skin….

I was on Oxycodone and was given 3 days supply!!! On Monday I had to remind the pa she'd promised me a refill, so I did get that. During that call I mentioned how tight the bra felt, but was never invited in or told to remove it. The next day I discovered the 18" long drain tubes under my skin and called (Woodland Hills Kaiser Breast Dr Foe-Parker/ Plastic Surgery Dr Kim) Dr FP called me back said they were just the drains, (I mentioned the bra again…). I had thought it was "cording" or worse. So by midweek, I was attempting to scale down on the opioids, in order to please my ps who is "very strict" with them.

My post op at 1 week Nov14was literally awful. The nurse was with me about two minutes and I had to ask her to remove the bra, which she did and left. My whole chest was completely shrunken and there was NECROSIS on both my surgery scars:( This is caused by lack of blood supply. My poor underarms were deeply dented 1" or more by the bra, and my poor breast skin was seemingly suctioned down onto the deflated tissue expanders, which were empty and completely rigid. The ps came in and seemed brusque and rude, but she saw the problem (+ wrote 5 words on my file) which she immediately covered up with hyrdrophillic supersticky dressings. It was unclear if they were going to come off in the shower, or by a nurse in the next days.

My chest skin was screaming out for care so I started using the best most pure oil from my gfs co. called nz glacial clay. The necrosis and pre-necrosis that was visible beyond the dressing retreated immediately. A few days later I peeled some of the dressing back and those discolored areas looked and felt better after the oil treatment. Tuesday Nov18, 10 days out I had a much friendlier nurse who removed my drains which had not been problematic. It was just a sort of slithery very slippery feeling! Dr came in and ok'd a strip dressing with soft pads. You do go through a lot of soft pads<><>. I lightly, proudly told the nurse about my oil use, how it had improved the outlook so well. I was started on Gabapentin after the just passed weekend of trying Tylenol and gummies which put me in bed 24 hrs a day and in complete pain.

The next day they called and chewed me out. The ps is completely non-holistic and disallowed me from using absolutely anything holistic and not approved by her. So , I followed orders and left it dry until the following Sat Dec14 appointment at which lo and behold, it was much worse with the necrosis in the scar lines and beyond.

I was given a look see appt on Dec2, and the following Mon, it was changed to surgery Dec2. They gave me a silver cream that blew everything to hell quickly, so, Given essentially 8-9 days to diy… I HAVE been using only polysporin and very thickly applied dry clay from nz Glacial clay. The scars look very good and dry. The necrosis looks retreated significantly, but i am happy to do a surgery again as one side is worse/ more necrotic area and I hope the new scars are very clean and that they heal perfectly.

Obviously I needed a bit of time to get this out, as I am not a typist. I've had lots of visits from my beloved friends and one just arrived. I salute all of you, my sisters on this crazy journey. Love and Happy Holidays to all.