Expander Spacer fill pain...or is my body about to fall apart?

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Carley
Carley Member Posts: 3
edited September 2020 in Breast Reconstruction

I am a little over 3 weeks post op from my Bilateral total mastectomy with expanders. On Monday of this week the plastic surgeon removed the air that was pumped in at time of surgery and I was filled for the first time with saline. It was totally painless and for the first day or two I was confused as to why so many people I talked to told me the spacer fills were the absolute worst. Early Wednesday morning I woke up in a puddle of sweat and every...single...part...of my body ached like I had the flu. My fingers & toes, my legs, my chest (obviously)...if I had hair at the moment that would be aching too! Ha! I immediately got up and took my prescribed Gabapentin and Cyclobezaprine and laid there until the glorious feeling of relief radiated over my body. I then searched frantically for ANYONE with the same experience. I searched forever on this site. I found no one. So here's my questions:

IS IT NORMAL TO FEEL LIKE I HAVE THE FLU AFTER I HAVE AN EXPANDER SPACER FILL?!?!?!?!?!?!? (and yes, I am yelling this questions!! Ha!!!)

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited August 2020

    Hi Carley! We're so sorry to hear about what you're experiencing! How are you feeling now? Any improvement? Everyone responds so differently to treatment and recovery, so it's hard to say if this is common, but if it's happened to someone here, you'll hear about it! It's also a good idea to check in with your surgeon about any changes or issues that seem out of the ordinary following a surgery like this, and make sure to monitor your temperature and surgical site for signs of a possible infection. Please keep us posted on how you're feeling!


    The Mods

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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited August 2020

    Carley - you are totally in control of how much saline is put in your expanders. Lots of docs push fills every week with large volumes. I went in every other week or every 3 weeks and refused to have the standard fill. Darn'd if I haven't totally forgotten the volume but I'll try to look it up.

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  • LiveLoveLaugh2020
    LiveLoveLaugh2020 Member Posts: 322
    edited August 2020

    The expanders (bricks) are the worst! I'm sorry you feel that way. I was in bad pain for months with them but never felt flu like or whole body pains. Maybe you are coming down with something? Hopefully not, but if it continues call your doctors just to make sure nothing is going on.

    Are you feeling any better? Hang in there!

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  • Carley
    Carley Member Posts: 3
    edited August 2020

    Thank you!! I do feel better after taking medicine but I definitely have to stay ahead of it! I am amazed this is more painful than the mastectomy itself. In fact, I have always had amazing surgery recoveries so the mastectomy surgery recovery has been a breeze. I will definitely speak to my Surgeon about this. They have always kept me well informed so I am surprised they didn't give me a heads up!


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  • barbara4
    barbara4 Member Posts: 61
    edited September 2020

    I had a mastectomy on Aug 13/2020. I had TE placed at the same time. I had my first filling yesterday. Yesterday I had pain and feeling tight on my chest. Today I have back, arm and bod pain too.

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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited September 2020

    You don't have to accept such high volumes of fills. Once I told my PS they WOULD drop back and take is slower, I was much happier. If you are in serious pain, they can take out some of the saline. But it's easier to tell them to slow it down.

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