continued Tissue expander pain!!

TaminMO-

I find your writing very entertaining!   I did a search on stomach-sleeping, as I have having a pre-surgery pity party thinking I am never going to be able to sleep on my stomach again!  I have been a stomach sleeper since the dawn of my time.  So you went back to sleeping , back in your bed, and were able to go to sleep on your side and woke up on your stomach?  That is just 3 weeks post-op?   I know they felt like rocks but is it ok, if we are comfortable, to sleep on our stomach?  We can't very well control what we are doing during sleep but I thought stomach sleeping was something we should avoid if possible.

Also, and this is wicked silly (!), can we ride rollercoasters?!   I suddenly realized I probably can't go on the ones with the harness-type enclosure anymore?!   A few days to surgery and this is what I am pontificating! 

Liz

Yes,the Bio Oil is not cheap, but i was told by my PS that actually MASSAGING the scar and above and below it,reduces the build up of scar TISSUE which 'grows' below the scar. This can cause thickening and if there is alot of it built up,it has to be removed during implant exchange and you can lose some shape through it. The Bio Oil is just a good tool to massage with and it reduces the scar intensity  and stretch marks also. But a good,firm massage (ideally 10 mins each breast believe it or not!) is the key to less build up of scar tissue.

Well i had my 4th expansion yesterday. I told my PS about the pain i was in last time and said maybe i'll go for a little less in this time. She put 40ml in then asked me if i wanted her to stop. i said i could stand a little more and before i knew it,the full 60ml was in!! LOL. It felt very tight,but as soon as i was walking back to my car,i started to stretch it out. i bent my arms and brought my hands up to shoulder height.The pushing backward with my shoulders-as if stretching with a yawn-i pushed and held it for 10 seconds. When i released it it was instant relief!!

I kept doing this about every 15-20 mins once i got home-all through the evening-even through the night when i kept waking up. It really has lessened the pain and tightness.I will continue to do this until the tightness stops fully.

So i now have 330ml each side. Thats a can of Coke!!LOL. I have another fill in 3 weeks and POSSIBLY 1 more after that.They will see what its like after my next fill. I'm hoping i can stand 60 next time too (bringing me to 390) then if i do have 1 more after that,i'll tell them to go for it with another 60!! If i can reach 450 that will be GREAT!!!! Not sure how much smaller they go here with the implant.Whether they'll go down by 50ml or 100.(hope its only 50)

I also asked about the teardrop implant and how firm it will be.It seems there are 3 different levels of firmness with the cohesive silicone gel.They don't use the firmest one.They tend to use the mid-range one.There is a softer one but i was told it doesn't hold it's shape very well. I have to make an appointment with a breast nurse to see the implants.I also asked if i could see some photo's of women who have had the teardrop cohesive gel,and ones of the round implant~so i can compare the overall finished look. We also talked about getting a round implant if i really wanted one.She said it was possible,even though they put an anatomical expander in.

SOOOOO much to think about now!!!! If i stick with the teardrop,i wont get the fullness and width i have now with the TE(which i quite like).But if i choose the round one,i wont get as good a projection and they will look more fake as the cleavage will be quite high and i have a bony chest.I think i'll wait and see what the photo's look like and then decide. I need to ask about the possibility of the teardrop one shifting in the pocket as i do martial arts and it can get real physical! I dont want to look lop sided.

I put my 4th expansion on youtube a few mins ago.Not much diff from my 2nd one really,but if anyone would like to see it,here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nyJh8-9sIY

Kay

Yes i noticed the Bio Oil doesn't contain any parabens either,so women who are bothered about that,it would be ideal for them.

I'm so glad to have this thread to read.

I had a mastectomy of my right breast on Feb 23 and had a TE inserted. I had the usual pain that everyone has for several weeks after. I took pain meds and that helped. I started getting fills~3rd week out and the first 3 or 4 were OK. I'd have muscle spasms for a day or two, but I'd take valium and that really helped. I only took it at night, though, because of the driving thing.

Three weeks ago, I went in for a fill (120 ml) and the pain started immediately. It wasn't the same as the spasms and stretching that I'd had in the past. I tried Valium and Ibruprofin and nothing helped. I ended up going back to my PS and having 30 ml taken out. It helped some, but continued to be painful. I had another fill two weeks later and told her that I'd been having a lot of pain. And she reminded me to massage it and take my valium. This time she only put in 60 and we thought it might be the last because, frankly, I don't care about size anymore!

I went in on Tuesday for another fill (my last for sure!) and told her that I was still having a lot of pain. I showed her an area on the right side just below the TE where it was most painful. I thought it was where I'd had the drain in after my surgery. She said it's actually below that and she thinks it's nerve pain. She thinks the TE is pulling on a nerve. So she gave me an injection of a numbing solution, which she said sometimes helps trigger something where the pain will go away. If not, she said I could get another injection next week. NO THANKS! It hurt like @#%@ and it didn't really help. As soon as I left her office, the pain was back. 

I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience. I also have pain that feels like it's coming from within the expander, which I don't think is possible. Right?

Unfortunately, I can't have my exchange surgery until October because my chemo treatment goes till September, but, I too, can't wait to get rid of this thing!!!

Lizzymack-

I love that you are asking about roller coasters!  You should find out and we can start a new thread- "Can I Ride a Roller Coaster and Other Do's and Don'ts of TE's and Implants!"

m-star-

So jealous that you can have the teardrop implants!  They're not approved here, yet, except for surgeons participating in clinical trials.  It's so dumb!  They've been used for decades in other countries.  My DH said I could swap mine out when they become approved but another surgery will be the last thing I will want to do.  Maybe if or when I need to have my exchanged down the road as they don't last forever.

Glad the fills are going ok.  Mine are too, finally!  My DH is going to "pump me up" tonight with another 25 cc's.  

codavis-

I was having a difficult time with my fills, too, until someone recommended Flexerile which is a muscle relaxant.  It made all the difference in the world.  It's pretty inexpensive, too.  You might want to ask your surgeon about it.  The nice thing about it is it doesn't seem to affect me the way Valium does so I can take it and still drive.

Your fill of 120 seems really high.   You were smart to have some taken out.  The pain you were describing sounds a lot like what I was having.  It felt like the TE was pressing on the top of my ribs.  Also, the pain you said felt like it was coming from inside the TE is probably either nerves regenerating right below the TE or could even be "phantom" pain which a lot of women get.  It's like when someone has a limb amputated but it felts like they still have it and it hurts.  All these things are very common from what I've read.  Just wish the doctors would warn about such things so you at least know nothing is wrong.

If you can't do your exchange until October can you slow down the fills by doing them less often and with less cc's or do you need to finish before chemo?  I didn't have to have chemo so not sure of the order of things.  If you can I would think about that.  I was doing fills at 100 cc's and it was too much.  Now I just do 25 at a time.  It'll take me a little longer but it won't be so uncomfortable.

Kate 

Good Morning Ladies,

Last night I was posting on a different thread was sharing with Lizzymack1 and Limegreen.  This morning I wanted to see the comment about my shirt.  But.... I can't find them.  Help..... I'm not very good with this computor.   It was something about lizzy asking questions before her surgery.

It's a rainy, nasty day here in Missouri, Now all of our Saturday plans have changed.  No Baseball practice for my boys.

I'm Thankful that someone sent me here.  You girls have been most helpful.  I'm very eager to try this Bio Oil.  I can't believe that I had not heard of it before.

This process of softening the scarr tissue inside of my foobieis V   E   R   Y     S    L    O   W.

I may have to crawl a while, but I will get there.  My PS told me if this don't work out, she can always try another procedure.  But I'm trying to go for the less painful procedure.

M-Star

I know we have soooo many choices ahead of us.  Please try to Pray that God will guide you in the decisions that you make, and for the 2nd guessing, it will just slow your healing process.  March on Christian Soldier......I am a Precious Moments collector also so I love any encouragement. 

Best Wishes to all for a PainFree Day. 

Good Bless and Prayers to all Persons healing form cancer.

Tammy

TaminMo-

This site does take awhile to get the hang of it.  If you are posting on a thread and you know you'll want to come back to it just add it to your favorites.  While you are on the thread click on "Add to my favorite topics" which is up at the top.

You can also click on and add anyone to your favorite member list.

If you're trying to find a particular member, and you haven't added her to your favorites yet, click on Member List in the upper right hand corner.  Put in the members screen name, enter and her profile will come up.  If you scroll down you will be able to see all her recent postings.  If you put in lizzymack1 or limegreen you shoud be able to find your way back to the thread.  Once there just remember to add it to your favorite topics.

Then after you log on next time there is a section called my favorite topics.  Click on that and it will show you if anyone has posted anything new on the thread.

Let me know if you have any questions.  Wishing you a pain free day as well!

Kate 

KATE~~ i was getting pain from beneath my TE too but my PS said this was normal. She said it was just where th muscle is being stretches as its still attached around the outside of the breast shape,and it pulls. Also the added weight/pressure of the TE pusshing down onto your chest (and the muscle wanting to pull back down toward you instead of being stretched away from you)can cause the pain underneath too. I still get it now but its minimal. if i layed on my back all night i find i get it the next day.

Yes i will see if my post 'allowance' goes up once i reach 50 posts and if not, will contact admin.

Hi Ladies!

I am new here, (Thanks Kate for sharing this board with me.) I had my MX on April 15th, 2010 and had the TE put in at the same time.My PS wants to wait at least two months before he starts the fills. At first I was a little disappointed in that, but once he explained that when I heal up better it makes such a big difference. But I did not know about some of the other things you all have talked about. Like the massaging your breast, I think now I remember reading something about that before my MX. I am taking notes so when the time comes I will be prepred.

.....

You're welcome Kate,but if you notice any redness to the skin or start running a fever i would contact your doctor.

I am very aware today,of my TE's pushing up into my arm pit! They 're not hurting,im just very aware of it. Especially if i flex my pec muscles!! ha ha It's such a bizarre feeling!

Well i had a mishap yesterday.

I was just driving out of Asda (Walmart) car park,when a taxi driver pulled out on me without looking!! I had to slam my brakes on, swerve and my car skidded sideways! Of course, my seat belt locked up across my chest,pinning me into my seat and i was in agony!!!

I wont repeat exactly what i screamed at the taxi man,but it went along the lines of...."are you f***** blind???" lol. He just sat there in the middle of the road and casually waved me on! I felt like getting out my car and putting my foot through his windscreen!!! AARRGGHH!!! 

The 2nd incident was later that day when i was driving out of town. A woman pulled out on me from a side road without looking and again i had to brake hard but she got a BIG,LONG handful of very loud car horn!!!!!  I made it home in 1 piece thankfully with just a sore boob. Needless to say,i spent the reast of the day indoors in the safety of my own home.

It must have been idiots day out yesterday

Valium rocks!  Was a life saver for me along with hydromorphone!!

God Bless!

Do you not have a family doctor that can prescribe you the drugs? I would keep asking! What right does your PS have to refuse you!! Its not HIM getting the pain!!  sheesh.......

m-star-  Glad you're o.k.!  Two near misses in one day!  I guess it was a good thing your air bag (if you have one) didn't deploy.  

Thanks for the info.  I saw my PS yesterday and she said everything looked fine.  She said the same thing you did that it's just the pec muscles stretching.  She gave me a date for my exchange- June 29th!  Much sooner than I  thought it would be!  She said right now I am in between sizes of implants so I have to decide if I want to go a little smaller than I am now or a little bigger.  If I want to go bigger I only have to do 25 more cc's in each size.  I can't decide.  My DH actually wants me to go smaller.  Shocking!  (Of course he's never really been a boob man or he wouldn't have married me in the first place!)  Either way I'll be a full B so I'm happy with that.  How are you doing?

Lillies4Laurie- I haven't heard of any bleeding issues from anyone on here from the Flexerile.  Interesting.  The Valium works, but for me it made me sleepy so I didn't feel like I could drive while taking it.  Everyone is different, though.

I would say that if you aren't comfortable with your PS it's not too late to change doctors.  The first PS I went to came highly recommended but when I met with him I just didn't get a good vibe from him.  He seemed very distracted, rather abrupt and just didn't seem to take the whole thing seriously.  I kept looking and found a female PS who seemed much more compassionate.  When I told her that a lot of women were having good luck with muscle relaxants during fills she didn't hesitate to try it.  Anytime I've ever needed pain meds they were given to me.  She gave me Percoset for daytime and Valium at night. 

Have you discussed with your PS what size you want to be when you're done because that will determine what size TE he uses.  The pain from TE's isn't too bad.  The worst for me was when I woke up in recovery after having the TE placed.  There was a lot of pressure on the chest wall and it almost felt like I was having a heart attack.  But they gave me pain meds right away both orally and through an iv and then I was fine.  The TE's are more uncomfortable than painful I think.  If you are apprehensive about it I would say start out doing very small amounts of saline at each fill and spread them out until you see how you do.  I think the problem is a lot of doctors start out adding too much too soon.  It kind of depends on how big you are to start, though.  I was quite small.  They put 100 cc's in during surgery and then an additional 100 two weeks in a row.  It was way too much!  

Don't let your PS intimidate you too much.  You are the "customer" and you need to tell him what you want.  And like I said, it's not too late to switch doctors if you are really uncomfortable and feel he won't listen to you.  Good luck! 

Hey Strongboard,

I had pinkness under my mast site from the date of the mast until  I had the implant removed. I had lots of pain with the expander (as most folks do) but with the implant as well. It got to the point I was going for cortisone injections every few weeks until my ps FINALLY agreed to remove the implant. The pinkness was not an infection but as a precaution, I was on antibiotics for a LONG time. Best of luck.

Margaret

Hi Ladies,

M-star, I'm Glad you came away from that day with only sore foobies, sounds as though it could have been alot worse. 

Girls, I'm just trying to read a little here and there, but..... I read that alot of you are taking antibiotics,  from years of taking many for many, many reasons, my body was it trouble.  NO ONE NOT EVEN A DR. told me to take probiotics after.  I now that them twice a day and will continue them for the rest of my life. 

Yogurt is never enough.

God Bless and Wishes for Pain Free days!!!!!!

Tammy