My TE leaked out overnight

Anonymous

My TE leaked out overnight

TrmTab

OMG...I woke up this morning to a soft breast on the left side and then realized my coconut was soft and I could feel the TE under the flesh and then I freeked out!  We had planned to do the exchange in December...but now???

When a TE leaks can it be refilled?  or is this it and I need to move surgery up or live with a deflated TE?  On a business trip so can't run to the PS, but will call his office when it opens and see if they can see me next week...

But also since on a trip don't have supplies to "even" myself out as my L at 800 was nearly as large as my native R...ugh!

Update: my PS is on vacation and I can't be seen until Aug 3rd!

farmerlucy

Oh wow! What a shock! I don't have any answers. I would suspect they'd be able to move the exchange up. My PS waited many months after the last fill to do the exchange, but I've seen many ladies on this forum get their's much sooner. I hope you get some answers soon. Hang in there.

SpecialK

trmtab - not a fun surprise! Depending on if this is a slow leak I have seen some people go to their PS at regular intervals and add saline to maintain the pocket until exchange. If this was a catastrophic leak, that is not really possible, so I have a seen some replace the TE, but if you were in a holding pattern, fully expanded, waiting for exchange - the best plan might be to proceed now. I don't think you can effectively wait for your scheduled exchange in the current state, your pectoral may start to contract down. In the short term, if you can get to a CVS or grocery store, my inner Girl Scout thinks you can make a prosthetic with a pair of panty hose and cotton balls. Good luck

TrmTab

The PS receptionist said I could see another Dr who is covering for my PS...I declined, but now have to wait 2 weeks to see my PS.

When I woke up to this, I decided, yes go ahead with the exchange...had hoped to have it in two weeks (have to be off certain drugs for two weeks) but now I only SEE the PS in two weeks...school starts back for me in 4 weeks, hope to have exchange before then.

???Maybe I should go to the other Dr and have some saline added to preserve the pocket??? 

Beatmon

Be very aware of this area...you may need antibiotics

TrmTab

Just made an appointment with the Locum at the PS office for Monday...

CGG

Very good idea, I'm glad that you're getting seen quickly. Good luck!

TrmTab

Just back from visiting the PS seeing the visiting PS who is covering for my real PS...given I was at 800 and they think there might be 200 still in a sloshing around TE, they didn't refill....visitng PS said to get on the schedule asap, so that the swap to an implant could be made vs waiting a few months and needing to put in a new TE.

Well...when I went to the front desk to schedule an asap date...they moved up my Dec exchange to Oct, but that is the best they could do...REALLY? Very frustrating. If this is really the way it is going to go, I think I will go back to the Dec date as I have blocked time and if I move to late Oct will have to do a lot of rescheduling...I currently have 4 weeks until school starts up again, so really hoped to get it done, but the PS is on vacation for two weeks, back in the office for 2 days before heading to a conference, so he has no time in this 4 week segment. Very frustrating.

SpecialK

trmtab - you might need to pursue periodic fills in an attempt to keep the pocket open until Dec. Do you have an appt with your actual PS when he/she returns from vacation?

TrmTab

Thanks for the quick reply...yes, I see the regular PS 8am Thursday of next week...so 10 days.

The visitor didn't see the point of refilling a TE that is obviously leaking out a lot in a short period of time...but she also thought I would be getting an exchange the week of Aug 7 or at the latest the week of Aug 14. Currently penciled in for Oct 25!

Very discouraging.

My PS does great work, but has two offices that are 5 hrs apart (so not always in my town) and has limited days at the hospital and I haven't wanted to do full surgery in his in office surgery suite!

Very frustrating...but I will try to regain my calm until I see him next week.

SpecialK

trmtab - I feel that when your actual PS sees the situation there will magically appear an accelerated surgery date that will preclude the need to refill or wait. Call it a hunch, lol!

TrmTab

Thanks SK, I plan to keep calm. While I will burn through 2 of my remaining 4 weeks before school, hope for a good outcome when I see the PS next week.

I'll report back when I know more. TT

raven4mi

TrmTab, if it makes you feel any better, I'm in the same boat - except my TE is leaking slowly. I went in for my LAST FILL yesterday - and the intern punctured the TE by missing the mark the first time. Un-freaking-believable. I completely soaked through a feminine napkin last night and estimate at this rate that i'll be completely flat by tomorrow.

In my case, though, I have pre-pectoral implants, so hopefully they just jump right to final exchange. Wasn't really expecting to have to have surgery this week, so that's fun. I have an e-mail out to the PS's office already this morning and will call them as soon as they open. He's usually in surgery on Tuesdays and Wedesdays but I told them in no uncertain terms that he needs to call me about this. This is ridiculous. No intern will ever by touching me again, I can guarantee that.

TrmTab

Well, it doesn't make me happy, but misery does love company.

Hopefully they will move you forward as this is clearly their fault! For me, my PS office (since the PS is on vacation) was looking at me as if I did something, so my emergency is not a panic for them...and thus the Oct 25th surgery date offered! Hopefully when I see the PS next Thursday week we can come up with something better.

Take care, TT

raven4mi

So sorry you're going through all this TT. Would love to know what you hear after you see PS next week. Good luck!

TrmTab

PS back in town, he does want to move forward faster...but in his in office surgical suite...even so he offered Aug 22 or 28 as the only options in office...and said we might not be able to get the full 800 we had planned at exchange. As I plan to be stuck with this implant for some time, if I can't get 800...is 750 or 700 that much smaller that I should say NO, put a new TE in???

I am a UMX and at 800 was getting close to my original size...and I have been losing weight, 40 lbs since MX...so was hoping another 20 might make my natural and the 800 kissing cousins if not soul sisters.

SpecialK

trmtab - a few ccs smaller is an indiscernible difference - at one point I had 150ccs difference between right and left - you would have to know about it to be able to tell. 100ccs is about 6 tablespoons spread across the entire pocket, so it is really not that much. You might discuss using an Inspira implant - it provides more forward projection and could make up the difference in size visually, in light of possible having to go smaller. I originally had a 650cc Mentor smooth round high profile on the right, 600cc on the left. I had to downsize due to skin healing issues and now have Natrelle Inspira implants almost 200ccs smaller and can still wear the same bras. Here is a photo from Natrelle's site that shows the difference between an Inspira and a smooth round:

TrmTab

Thanks SK. I am getting the Inspira, 800 or whatever at this point...so I'll hope for the best, really don't want to have another TE, Drains, fills, etc. But really don't want to have another surgery to do a reduction on the natural side. So many issues, ugh.

Any opinion on in office surgery? You have had a lot of procedures...were some in office? were you okay with that?

TT

SpecialK

trmtab - I never had an in office procedure, but rather a grand tour of all the hospitals and ambulatory centers in the greater Tampa Bay area, lol! I think a lot would depend on your surgical history and how you have tolerated surgery in the past, and how well equipped your surgeon's office suite is - and also how close to the hospital the office is located. I do have a friend here who had a TE removed in the office setting, has your surgeon indicated how often they do exchange or augmentation in-office?

TrmTab

My PS has very limited hospital access....something I only found out after the MX and TE placement. My LXs and MX were with the top BS in the area who is fully vested in the hospital, so the schedule was wide open for surgery every week M-W-F.

After MX, when I started to plan for exchange the PS said he had surgery hours only the 4th Wed of each month...I was like what! He tag teamed with the BS, but his solo hours at the primary hospital are very limited -- I later found out this is so he doesn't have to participate in being "on-call"

So, I have been in this scheduling purgatory of 4th Wed of the month and now it is okay to do this in his office! What gives...

That said, he does do surgery in office, face lifts, augmentations, tummy tucks, etc all day on Mondays every week and on some weeks also on Tuesdays. He has a contract with the same anesthesiologist group that works the hospital. His office is less than one mile from the hospital.

So one side of my brain says he keeps his BC patients in the hospital to maintain his presence in the hospital as a "real" Dr. and does his cosmetic surgery patients in house as it is more profitable for him to do so...but he actually could do the BC work there as well.

My other side says, full anesthesia in a doctor's office, yickes!

TT

SpecialK

trmtab - if he is doing tummy tucks, that makes me worry less - that is a more invasive procedure than exchange. Keep in mind that breast surgery is, for the most part, a somewhat external surgery. I would imagine that he may do more exchanges in his office than he let on initially, and does the MX in the hospital because that is where the BS is. Doing cosmetic work in his office suite may also control costs for his patients, since insurance is not covering any of that type of surgery. This decision is basically a gut check, but having a full surgical suite, the same anesthesia folks, and hospital proximity are good things. Eeesh!

TrmTab

So have finally been given a time at the hospital out patient surgery center...that isn't late Oct as before offered Oct 25, but is Sept 8th. That will be 7 weeks with a deflated TE...can't imagine that I will be able to have an exchange at that point to 700-800...but we will see.

I was told I could/should keep on exercising for general health/well being, but my typical exercise is yoga/pilates and that is a lot of pectoral work, but also lots of stretching, so maybe the two will balance out to allow me to keep the pocket.

SpecialK

trmtab - you might be surprised at how much of your pocket will be preserved. I had my 600cc implant out for 18 months, then had a new TE, but filled pretty rapidly to 450ccs. If your PS can fit the implant into the pocket, you might have some tightness initially, but much like a direct to implant surgery that involves no stretching of the pectoral muscle in advance, the pectoral should eventually accommodate. Glad you will be at the outpatient center, and that you don't have to wait too long. Thinking good thoughts for you!

TrmTab

Thanks for those kind words. I do still have a TE, just deflated, but since it was at 800 for 10 months, it is pretty large and awkward in my chest and is now sort of folding onto itself -- there are ridges, so I guess at some level that is keeping the pocket open, gotta laugh...

SpecialK

trmtab - having your TE for that long will work in your favor, and yes, you have to laugh - or at least, choose to, right? Maintaining a sense of humor has made all the difference for me.

raven4mi

trmtab, I can't really speak to the sizing difference - both my TEs are (or were, before the leak) the same size and they still look so drastically different that it's ridiculous. Sounds like yours were shaping up to look very nice, though. I'm with SpecialK on thinking that if he's already doing some fairly invasive reconstruction procedures such as tummy tucks in his surgical center/office then you'll probably be OK but I'm glad that you got a time at the hospital center - that would probably be my preference. I'm hoping for a final exchange the same week as you, so we'll be surgery buddies!