continued Tissue expander pain!!

Kathy,



Thank you sooooooooo much for the back pain helpful tips! I am definately gonna take your advise! I am glad to know that I am not alone in this. This diagnosis makes you question every pain...it sucks!! Thanks again you have helped more than you know.



Jean, Yes this convention is one of the hardest things I have ever done. It is emotionally draining. I thought I could handle this but clearly I was wrong. I am counting down the minutes before we leave. It is all just too overwhelming for me at this place in my journey.



Love ya ladies!!



Tracey

Tracey...I have also taken Kathie's advice and used the heating pad on my back (low heat) and it is very soothing.  My back pain is from having to lay on my back all the time while sleeping, I think or I guess it could be from the muscles pulling after each fill. Either way it sucks!  Hope your back starts feeling better! :-)

Tracy - So sorry you are struggling.  I also had back pain.  Came to realize it was the way I was "carrying" myself.  I think I was trying to protect and hide my chest and hunched forward and  raised my shoulders.  Also being a stomach sleeper prior - I found sleeping on my back very tough.  I found a great massage therapist who had worked with other BC patients.  She had me sit in a massage chair that she had taken the chest pad off for me.  It very much helped to get the knots massaged out.  I also took a muscle relaxant when it got to where it just burned.  

Pslamist - Just a couple more days for you - right?  Hope your exchange goes well!!

It is so good to lurk here and get the reassurance that only someone that is going through this can give.  I am glad that despite the spasms and pain, I know there is an end to this with the exchange.  I can't wait to join the exchange city group.  I am up to 450 cc and I think I am done with the fills, but won't know until I see the Dr. in 10 days.  I don't know how long I will have to wait until the exchange.  The muscle spasms are the worst right after the fill for 4 to 7 days, for me, last fill was last Tuesday, he topped me off with 50cc,  I had 200cc at the time of surgery, 100cc in mid January, then 100cc at the beginning of February, then a final 50cc last week.  I should be a B+ when all is said and done, this was what I was before surgery, so that is fine with me.  Work is going better, I am getting back into the swing of things.  Tomorrow is 9 weeks since I have had the mastectomy, so I am doing very well.  TracyZ thank you for going to the breast cancer convention, it means a lot to see women of all walks joining together for a great cause.  I hope to do a walk later this year, maybe not the full 3 day one, but something.  Minevicp, hang in there, the ladies here are so amazing, the advice they have given has been so helpful to me.  Jan

Jan - As Laura said, you are most welcome. I added you to the list w/o a date. When you get a date we will update you! You are joining Warrior! Welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Tracey - I have to give you so much credit for going to that convention and hanging in there for the duration.  I don't think I would have bee ready for it either.

I don't have many back pain issues anymore but I still have trouble sleeping on my back and I dig out my heating pad just for the warmth and comfort it brings. It is almost getting to be a habit...guess now grandma has a blankie to sleep with too. LOL

Looking forward to seeing you over in Exchange City Jan. Lots of humor to get us through until our exchanges!

So I'm going back and forth between exchange city and expander pain!!! My PS filled me to 710 cc's last week and my exchange is on 3/18. My pain is usually in the front of my expanders but since my fill I have been having pain...sometimes extreme in my my ribcage and under my arms. Now that I'm back to work I can't take any tylenol and codeine until I get home and settle my son in for the night...dinner, homework babysitting (gotta make sure senioritis doesn't settle in till the last quarter) etc....

Any alternative suggestions or do I just "suck it up" for another 15 days. I do see PS next week for pre op and thought about asking him to withdraw a little saline. I'm just scared to mess with things because he has done such a wonderful job. You'd never know my expanders weren't real unless of course you felt them.

Thanks ladies

 Kathie 

Kathie!! I will talk to you shortly! However, I had the exact same thing after my last fill, very uncomfortable, but remember you are maxed out now and with no breast tissue your expanders are pushing into your ribs.  I just happen to have my CT scans after my last fill and they came back clean thank God, but they did mention severe trauma to the ribs, no kidding!! So hang in there, mine did take a couple of weeks to feel better, but it does get better!

Lorraine ox

Lorraine...I know we just talked....but remember...I'm right there with you...and if anyone gives you trouble you say "because Pete and Kathie said so"...LOL

Just remember us giggling in the dressing room....so giggle in the recovery room when you wake up to find out you have 2 beautiful breasts...that are the size of the left one   :-)

Love ya....talk to you tomorrow sweetie..Kathie 

It is so exciting that you met Kathie and Lorraine!  I often think it would be nice to meet some of the great people that I have been sharing stories with here.  Giggling in the dressing room is so much more refined than what I did.  A girlfriend of mine and I went for lunch at Chili's after she had her abdominoplasty and I had my mastecomy. Of course we told each other horror stories for an hour or so and then had to go the the ladies room to share.  The cubicles were too small so we just did a show and tell right there in front of the sinks!  Every few minutes somebody else would come in and we would pull our clothes back down until they next person came in.  We laughed until we cried!  When we came out we could see tables pointing and talking about us but we didn't care! 

Yvonne - Your story is cute. I cannot imagine the finger pointing and stares! I am glad you were able to have a few laughs!

Hi. I also am having my exchange surgery done on 3/19. I had to switch Oncologists b/c my old oncologist wouldn't give me pain meds and my reconstruction doc wouldn't either. My reconstruction doc didn't agree with me when I told him I had back pain. He said, "Didn't you have back pain before surgery." All of my pain is from the expanders. I now have Percocet and the oncologist put me on Neurontin which is for nerve pain and helps tremendously.



Good luck.

Nancy

Nancy...my PS only deals with "acute pain"....so he left it up to my PCP to prescribe "long term"pain meds...needless to say my PCP is very comfortable doing that and put me on Neurontin too.....what a lifesaver!!! Plus....once my exchange is complete,I can taper off the Neurontin. Make sure you taper off it afterwards because it can cause seizures.

Jean....as usual...you are awesome to keep track of all our exchanges!!!!

 xxoo Kathie 

Kathie,

My doctor switched me from Percocet to Vicodin.  The Vicodin has made me very nauseous every time I have taken it even though I make sure I eat plenty before I take it.  I was doing just fine with Percocet.  Do you know what would be the alternative to this??  Now I feel like I have nothing to take that is "strong" when I have terrible pain after the fills!  Motrin and Tylenol just don't cut it the day of the fills or a few days after. 

Baths have been a savior for me.  The hotter the better.  Oh, and hydrocodone too!!!  I have the same left side pain that you have.  My right is just fine.   Funny thing is, is that my left side only had one tumor in it, and it was thought to be benign.  Had five on my right - at least three malignant.  Yes, I had mammograms every flipping year!!!  Opted for a bilateral mastectomy.  It's strange that my "okay" side is the side that is giving me the most problems.  Go figure!!!!!!