Scar still ozzing 4 months after direct to implant surgery

My entire lower incision opened up so I was able to get a wound vac to help the healing process.  I had a small area on my abdominal scar after an earlier surgery and they had us swab it out with a saline soaked q-tip and cover with a bandage.  

Hope something can be done to save your implant.  

You might want to inquire about doing a hyperbaric chamber too, to aid in healing. It is possible that your body will not heal with a foreign object stressing your skin. This happened to me with both the first expander and necrotic skin, and again recently after a allograft repair surgery. One possible option if your incisions are on the front of the breast is to remove the implant for a period of time and allow the skin to heal, then put the implant back with a IMF incision which is fed by the blood supply of the skin on the torso.

theda - it is certainly worth a discussion.  I would also ask about the hyperbaric - you might be able to do it after the implant is removed to get the skin to heal more quickly, so as to possibly  avoid having to expand prior to the reinsertion of the implant.

My alloderm was removed along with the implant, and there may be a question of whether or not you will be able to go back to an implant without an expander first.  Another option that was tried as an interim measure for me was a swap to a smaller implant for less stress on the skin.  I was pretty surprised how little size difference there was with an implant 100cc smaller - maybe that is another option for you?

I have only ever had problems with the non-cancer side and only in that one particular area, which stems back to the necrosis.  My PS and I were both quite surprised when I developed healing issues with the March surgery since it had been so long since the original problem.  Unfortunately, I do have quite a problem trying to match a completely flat side with a 650cc implant, it is a daily challenge, lol!

Originally I had thought that the PS would put in a new expander in Oct (90 days was up in Sept but I have been out of town much of the month) but now he wants to do some preliminary fat grafting to help with the skin. We will start on that in Oct but it remains to be seen how many he does and when. I'm betting a year will elapse from the removal to the next exchange.

Theda - you are welcome, and I hope the same for you. I am hopeful for a replacement that I can live with, as I have learned to manage my expectations after twelve surgeries.

hi...i havnt had reconstruction but had similar problems getting my lumpectomy incision to heal. At day 8 I developed eshar tissue which sounds like the yellow tissue you are describing. My doc said it's very common and is basically tissue that grows without blood supply. I was told to use a wet/dry bandage system that helps remove the eshar but you want to do whatever your surgeon or wound care specialist advises. We were unable to get one small section out but didn't worry since a re-excision was necessary to get clean margins. Murphy's Law...three days before surgery the eshar fell off in the shower and on day of surgery I had a perfectly closed incision! Of course all that had to be cut out and I am now day 3 post op and hoping this time will be different!

talk w your docs to see what they recommend. What worked for me might not be what they recommend. Hoping we both get great healing!

zha-an