Nursing mom, age 41, aggressive Stage III, what the f*#k??

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  • thefuzzylemon
    thefuzzylemon Member Posts: 2,630
    edited October 2011

    Howdy - The tissue expander for me has really helped for cosmetic reasons, as well as for planning for reconstruction.

    However - be careful with the TYPE of expander that is used.  I needed an MRI and was unable to receive it because of the TYPE of tissue expander - mine would have melted.  I was able to do several other tests instead of the MRI, so it is possible to work around it.

    It took a little while to get use to the expander and be comfortable sleeping and such.  But otherwise I am very happy it was placed.

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  • SantaCruzMommyof2
    SantaCruzMommyof2 Member Posts: 10
    edited November 2011

    Thanks for your insights, ladies.  My October 28 surgery was a great success (mostly because I lived through it!  ha ha).  First skin test was all clear, so luckily they were able to spare more skin...put in expanders and filled them some during surgery.  Now two weeks later, they feel weird/tight, but I'm managing the pain with 5mg of Oxicodon at regular intervals and periodically let it wear off to see how it feels.  Pretty tight/weird.  Mostly I miss sleeping on my side and vigorously hugging my kids!

    The pathology from what they took out shows almost NO detectable sign of cancer left from chemo, which is amazing.  Only two spots remain: one micro-spot in one lymph node, and one in-situ spot in breast.  Other side was all clear.  My spirits are great!!  So glad to be finished with this big hurdle, so happy to have it OUT of me, and focused on healing...

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  • KakaCathFreeSpirit
    KakaCathFreeSpirit Member Posts: 100
    edited November 2011

    Hi SCM2, I can so relate to the weird tightness feeling of the expander and that pressure against the rib-gage,I was feeling definately very vulnerable to anyone coming too close to me, walking through a crowded environment scared me for the fear of a collision against my chest, also that burning pectoral muscle feeling !. I also miss sleeping on my side too, in-fact on my tummy as well, I had my expander in for 10 months and that was way too long as far as I am concerned, also I refused a second fill because of that, and also there was a small fold to the side of the expander, due to my surgeon choosing a larger size expander  than my rib-contour would cater for, so naturally it folded soon after my surgery. 

    Once the change over to implants happens, it gets marginally better thats for sure. I had the other breast prophylactically removed at the same time as expander to implants surgery, and am happy I did, its now 10 months after that and still content with the decision. Take CareSmile

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