Bilateral “exchange” surgery on WEDNESDAY!

sweet_pea175
sweet_pea175 Posts: 4
in Surgery - Before, During, and After

Hi all,

I’m getting my question in very late in the game, I know, but I’m feeling very overwhelmed in several areas of life and I just wanted to ask for some help knowing what to expect.


In a day and a half, I’m having a bilateral reconstruction. On my left side, the expander got infected 6 weeks after a lat flap reconstruction. I was I no the hospital for 13 days with the infection (staph. aureus) and then on antibiotics for 5 months.

**Another day I’ll write a warning to women whose plastic surgeons might be weary of taking the expander out (esp. when a complex reconstruction turns out to be a work of art!) if the patient responds well to antibiotics.**

On the right, my plastic surgeon will replace a silicone implant I had inserted in 2018 as the 2nd step in a 2-phase immediate reconstruction.

The left (expander) breast has quite a capsular contracture going, but I seem to react that way to expanders—this is my third and I’ve had pretty bad capsular contracture in all three cases!

My question for you: what should I expect in terms of limitations and what do you recommend for caregiving as I’m now having my first bilateral procedure?

I’m from the US but have lived my whole adult life in Madrid, Spain. I have no family here except for my teenage daughter who just started her senior year of high school—and some chosen family. 💚

I found out about the surgery (i.e. got off the waitlist in the public health system) 7 days in advance of the surgery. I’m suddenly afraid I will need someone with me the first few days at least to be my arms. I’m just so unsure of how much help I’m going to need!

Suggestions about what would be the ideal time per day? I’m looking at combining a caregiver from an agency with friends and other people who’ll be able to help here or there.

Thanks!

SweetPea Take II.

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Comments

  • moderators
    moderators Posts: 10,640

    @sweet_pea175 Hi SweetPea, and welcome! So glad you reached out. 💚 That is a LOT to have coming at you with only a week’s notice, especially after everything you went through with the infection.

    I think your instinct to line up some help for those first few days is a good one. With both sides being operated on, you may be sore and have limited arm movement at first, so things like getting dressed, showering, reaching, lifting, meals, and household stuff may be harder than you expect. Having someone available, especially the first couple of days, could make things much easier.

    Hopefully others who’ve had a bilateral exchange will jump in with what those first few days were really like and how much help they needed. And definitely ask your surgical team what restrictions they expect for you, since the left side has a bit more going on.
    And please come back and let us know how you’re doing after Wednesday. We’ll be thinking of you! 💚

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