Second Total Removal of Right Breast

Rory

Yeah, you read that right. Second. The first was on 3/31/16 when I had a bilateral mastectomy. Within ten days, necrosis had set in all along both incisions, so in April I was back under the knife. In June the left tissue expander sprung a leak in the middle of "Finding Dory" (only relevant because I can't tell my autistic kid we need to go NOW because Mommy's boob broke), bringing us to surgery #3 (tissue expander out, implant in) Finally, radiation could begin. And I got burned. Really, really burned. And then I got horribly sick (staph) as at least two of the burns were openly infected. By September 2016 my right breast became red, hot, and swollen. Given my recent history, my PS immediately put me on antibiotics and the next day I was in the OR getting the right breast thoroughly cleaned and the tissue expander replaced with an implant. For a brief time, all was relatively well. Then last Thursday, when I started running a fever and my right breast (which was always a little tender) became very painful. By Monday (2/13) I was admitted for IV antibiotics and by Tuesday my right breast EXPLODED ON THE OR TABLE. All the doc did was rub at it lightly with gauze. I ask him to be honest, were people replused, and he told me one nurse went, "EWWWWWW!" While the other just asked, "Are you serious?"

The implant is gone. The doc even had to cut away extra skin. What's left is an angry-looking, deep, pit. I regret everything about the reconstruction process.

These kinds of infections--repeated infections--are most common in women who have had lymph nodes removed and radiation. I had both. But I didn't learn that little tidbit until this past Monday morning, as I sat in my PS's office with a 103.7 fever. We only learn about the bad when the bad happens.

macb04

Oh my...... I am so, so sorry to here that. That is just sh*tty. They should have given you more info. I had 2 bad infections, but nothing as bad as that. Its so hard. The rads damage is insidious, just wreaks havoc on our circulation and skin's ability to heal. What are you going to do? I know it can seem impossible to heal, I had a horrible crater for months. They can help fix it, depends on what you want to do.

I will be thinking of you.

Rory

I'm going to keep the crater. And it is a crater. In fact, it looks like something out of a cheap b-horror movie. It looks like it could eventually start demanding to be fed, and in time I'll spend all my days trying to keep up with its insatiable need for fresh meat. Seeing it as my own personal creature is the only way to NOT cry about it. Because I can't seem to avoid infection (this is my third run-in with MSSA since August 2016. It started with radiation burns. The next two times, it attacked my right breast), I don't see any other option but to suck it up and learn to live with it.

If it was just me, and I wanted to try cooking my brain a fourth time, I'd at least see if my PS could make it look a little less "Little Shop of Horrors". But it's not just me. I have an autistic son who breaks just a little more every time I get sick. He really toughed it out through chemo, surgery and radiation. But then the infections started. It's asking too much of him. He's been through enough.

trinigirl50

Rory

That made me laugh so hard, and cry. Maybe in a few years you can go for SGAP or Diep flap. I've seen some pictures of some truly macabre looking breast botch jobs (or failed reconstructions) that looked remarkable after. The Breastcenter.com (Centre for Reconstructive Surgery) in New Orleans does some amazing stuff. I know now is not the time. But maybe in three years you and your son might be able to handle it. At the very least I do know that your personal creature will grow a mask eventually. You sound like one tough lady (and that's a compliment). For now, I hope your body has the chance to heal, and heal well.

macb04

Ah Rory, hugs to you. If you want to deal with infections, I have learned alot. I recognize the fear. I felt that every time I went for another surgery after I had my own nasty pus filled infection that led to a crater. I can share many of the things that worked for me if you ever want to try again. It makes me sad that so many of of us have our misery increased by the bc industry being so bad at dealing with a preventable complication like infection. I work in healthcare and used to trust that the md's knew what they were doing, when that is far from the truth. I learned how to take care of myself and get through without more infections. I never looked at all when I had the crater, I don’t even have a clear memory of how bad it looked, glad I have very little in the way of visual memory of that. I would even close my Left eye in the shower so I didn't even accidentally see the crater. That was what someone recommended to me, and that is how I coped. If you feel better talking about it as a b movie beast, then more power to you. We all do what we can to cope.

I'll be thinking of you.

candles1

macb04, what do you recommend doing to avoid infection? Any tips for those of us about to have surgery? I've never had an infection after many surgeries, but I'd like to do everything possible to avoid that first time

LAstar

Sending a gentle hug and a pat on the back for keeping such a great sense of humor through this all. I'm sorry this was such an awful process, but I think it's important to share the issues with possible complications. A break from surgery sounds like a great idea, and one day you could do something like a flap procedure if you wanted (they are no picnic though!). I hope you will get some rest, heal, and feel strong again. Just feeling good is cause to celebrate.

macb04

Hi, I have had nasty infectons twice. I had numerous reconstruction surgeries, and had IV antibiotics with each surgery, usually Vancomycin. I only got infections when I did not get High Dose IV Vitamin C. I know most people have never heard of it, but Functional/Intregrative Medicine MD's and Naturopath's give it for treatment of infections and for treatment of cancer. It is very safe. You have to have a blood test for a very rare genetic variation called G6PD. Once you get that checked they give IV's of Vitamin C and some othrr Vitamins and Electrolytes in gradually increasing dosages.I paid 250 to 300 dollars for each Intravenous Vitamin C infusion. I was out of work sometimes, so it broke my bank paying out of pocket for all this. I get 50 TO 75 GRAMs of Vitamin C by IV once per month for the anticancer benefits, (Now that I am back to work full time, I can afford it better) When I had surgery, I would get 50grams ,at least, sometimes a week before surgery , but absolutely on the day of surgery for sure. As I said above, even being on tremendous doses of antibiotics did not help me avoid infections. When I couldn't get the IV Vitamin C, because of being broke, I got huge pus filled infections, even though I was on antibiotics by mouth AND Vancomycin IV during surgery. Once it was 300cc of pus taken off my chest. I can not say enough about how safe and helpful my experience with Intravenous Vitamin C has been. I am pretty sure I would not have been able to successfully complete reconstruction if I hadn't discovered IV Vitamin C, might even have died of sepsis because of the resistance that the bacteria causing my infections are developing. Lifetime I have had hundreds of courses of antibiotics, courtesy of my mother's secondhand smoke exposure during childhood causing bronchitis and ear infections month after month.

Now, in addition to Vitamin C I was looking for more,at that time I had alot of reconstruction surgery, and because I was nervous, and too poor to afford to get Vitamin C IV more than once after each surgery. I also read a book called Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Bruhner. I never had MRSA , but usually had Staph infections. I started using Oil of Oregano and Goldenseal Tincture in combination with some other ones following surgery, along with the antibiotics.

I work in healthcare for the past 20 plus years. I never saw MRSA maybe once per year. Now I see people with it several times per month. We can not count on antibiotics being around to save us in years to come. Stay safe, think outside the box.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008JE5K6S/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Essential Oils and Their Components as Modulators of Antibiotic Activity against Gram-Negative Bacteria ..

http://www.mdpi.com/2305-6320/3/3/19

Essential Oils and Future Antibiotics: New Weapons against Emerging ' Superbugs ' ?

Nicholas A Boire1, Stefan Riedel2 and Nicole M Parrish2*

1The Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

2 Department of Pathology, Division of Microbiology, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253567306_Essential_Oils_and_Future_Antibiotics_New_Weapons_against_Emerging'Superbugs'

PDF]Antimicrobial and synergistic effects of some essential oils to fight ... - The Battle Against Microbial Pathogens: Basic Science, Technological Advances and Educational Programs

www.microbiology5.org › book

by H Padalia - ‎2015 - ‎Cited by 2 - ‎Related articlesEssential oils can be individually effective or they may be combined with antibiotics or plant extracts. Traditional healers often use combinations of plants to treat or cure diseases and found that synergy was most

According to a report published in The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, the government of the United Kingdom estimates that by the year 2050, more than 10 million deaths and 100 trillion dollars in global health care costs will have resulted from drug-resistant microbes.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27872555

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28224112

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27895802

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26256994

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25185110

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16085104

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12643856