capsular contracture

DebbieNinja

Hello all....  I have not been an active poster here.  I was diagnosed with ILC stage IIB on August 17, 2012.  I had a bilateral mastectomy with TE on September 6th.  I followed this with 5 months of chemo and finally had my exchange surgery on May 6, 2013.  I developed capsular contracture stage 3 around the TE's.  Now that I have the silicone implants, I am developing it again.  I am so discouraged.  My breast is getting harder to the touch, has small areas of "waviness" or indents, especially on each side of the mastectomy incison.  I have recently started getting shooting pains in left breast...this is the breast that has the most areas of deformity.  I have my 6 month follow up with my PS on October 22nd.  Does anyone have experience/suggestions to help with this?

Thank you!

nihahi

Dear Debbie....sorry to hear you are having these problems. I also had multiple issues with implants. Unfortunately, capsular contracture isn't just an issue with a type of implant, it may indicate your body's response to any kind of implant (foreign body). Did your PS inform you that once you have developed a capsular contracture, your odds of it happening again are definitely increased? You may find, that implants are not going to be a good recon choice for you, but don't despair. There are other types of recon that may work for you.

BayouBabe

I do not have experience with this, but some women here have been prescribed Singulair, off label, that seems to help with contracture. Search for "Singulair" here to find the threads.

DebbieNinja

My PS said that since my body responded this way with both the expanders and now them implants that this may just be my body not reacting well to foreign body.  I am calling tomorrow to make an appointment to discuss any other options that I may have.  

Thank you for your repsonses.

BayouBabe

Debbieninja - research fat grafting or read some of the threads here.  It has been known to help with this issue.  Member "Whippetmom" may also have some info for you - I know she is very knowledgeable about fat grafting.  Good luck and so sorry you are going through this.  

farmerlucy

I fell on my implants 3 weeks post exchange and to prevent scar tissue build up my plastic surgeon prescribed papaverine, which is apparently a very old drug that no one makes any more. It is used to increase blood flow. Here is a link I found. http://www.breast-plastic-surgery.org/papaverine....

The only problem is no pharmacy had it in stock and it had to be compounded. 

DebbieNinja

I had surgery on December 10th. My surgeon said that I had stage 3 capusular contracture. He said that he would be re-opening my original mastectomy scars (about 4 inches) to release the scar tissue and would do fat grafting from my abdomen to fill in and give the implants a softer appearance.

He ended up having to make much larger incisions that planned (about 8 inches on each side) because he found that the scar tissue was much more extensive than what he thought. The positive for having all of this scar tissue released is that I can raise my left arm above my head again!!

I am very pleased with the appearance right now. I know that I have some swelling that still needs to go down, but after the fat grafting the breasts look a lot softer and more natural.