September 2014 Surgery Sisters

So sorry noonrider - but glad you found the silver lining

NO squeaky toys!

I own 4 border collies so the de-reconstruction would be immediate. :~)

smitty, I'm actually at my PS office right now about to get my second fill. Immediately after my bmx they initially put in 100 ccs in each TE and each fill my PS recommends and will do only 50ccs at a time because I was small (boobs) to begin with and very skinny in the chest area so filling too much at once could cause me a problem.. so I have to take it slow. Once he comes in to do the fill I will ask him what could possibly be causing u this pain. 

thanks for the input you guys. I was a A before surgery and he put in 150 ccs during mast. Which was extremely painful and I had my first fill last week of 70 ccs and than a fill yesterday of 60. My first fill hurt but nothing like this. My skin looks like it may burst and under my arms is really swollen. I wanted my implants by December because I am loosing my good inscurance January 1st so I am feeling awkward about calling and asking about pain because I feel like I may have brought it on myself. But I don't want to ignore something that could be harmful either.

smitty, I asked my PS and of course he wasn't able to give me an answer to what it could be that's bothering you, he said he would have to examine to know exactly, but he did say that you should definitely see your dr. Sorry I couldn't be more help and I hope that your pain eases and it's something easy to fix.

I had a "ripping" sensation after my second fill.  I had been having them prior to that fill though.  I had asked my PS about them and she said it was the internal healing that was happening.  My third fill hurt the worse, the ripping sensation was gone, it just hurt more in my ribs.  After about 2 days it was better. 

I hope your pain eases soon Smitty. 

Thanks for the kind words. I was going to call my surgeon and than I got to thinking that yesterday I could not move with out terrible pain and today I am getting around a little bit better. So I will give it another day. I have had the tearing pain with all of my fills to but this pain was so much worse than I anticipated. Mastectomies are definitly not easy!! I have never had so many pity parties with myself as I have this year! It feels like you keep it together and stay strong as long as you can and thAn your emotions get the best of you and the tears just flow. Than you pull your big girl pants on and get back to life!

Smitty - waiting a day is ok - but don't let it go too long - you don't want to ignore something that can be fixed and not delay your exchange.  How far do you intend to go on the fills and how long does your PS require the TE's to be complete before exchange?

Also - I used coconut oil and Bio oil on my breasts during the fills.  It seemed to keep my skin very soft and supple and my PS was very pleased with that.  He is now telling all his patients to use one of those or both of those to keep their skin soft.  You can get Bio Oil at target.  But as always - check with your doc before you use any of this.

I sure hope that you  get some relief Smitty - but glad you will go see the doc tomorrow - hope all is ok and you can stay on your schedule

oh noonrider so sorry you're going through this.   I'm glad you're having your surgery on Monday.

Re TE's

You might feel like it, but no one has ever fractured a rib with a fill. Remember: 50 cc's is only 3 tablespoons of liquid and it spreads out over the entire TE. Yes, you feel very tight...that's a GOOD thing. That's what you are trying to do - stretch your skin and stretch your muscles. Have you ever gone to the gym and lifted a light weight for a little while? The next day your biceps or triceps are going to be sore. Same with anything you do that stretches a muscle, no matter where it is on your body. It's going to be sore for a couple of days and usually the second day is the worst. (As a fitness pro, I've seen it thousands of times.) The trick is to exercise lightly so you challenge your muscles gradually without causing debilitating pain. Your doctor is going to take it slow for the same reason. He/she wants the muscles to stretch without a lot of pain. He wants your skin to stay healthy during the TE process so he wants to maintain good capillary refill ... meaning when you press on the skin with one finger it goes pale but when you lift your finger, the color comes back quickly. If there is too much saline and it's too tight, it can affect blood flow. So it's a balancing act. All that being said, even if you only got 20 cc's, it can hurt and you can have some saline removed if you need to and try again the next week. There isn't a prize for first one to the finish line. Are you going to get through the TE phase without experiencing any pain? Depends on what you call pain. I can make it through surgical recovery after BMX with no pain pump or pain meds...but if I get my teeth cleaned, it KILLS me for a couple of days. What I might call minor discomfort you might call pain. Some women find themselves in labor and didn't even know they were pregnant. Others find that impossible to believe because they felt everything from the early days of pregnancy and think everyone feels the same thing. They don't. I had no pain at all during the TE phase (even with huge fills of 180 cc's and even 240cc's one time) until the last fill. Then a little 60 cc's put me over the edge (I was at 740 cc's) and I was miserable for 2 days. Ah ha! NOW I knew what others were talking about. What if I'd stopped before that last fill? I would have been one of the women who said TE's were not painful. What about the women who gets a tiny fill and claims to be in agony? Is it all in her head? Nope. It's real. In TE world, one experience does NOT fit all. Some of us have a tougher time than others. Don't fall into a judgment trap.   

Sometimes as the TE expands, it touches nerves that drive you crazy! It hurts sometimes in your back because of what is being irritated by the TE. Remember, it has a hard back that doesn't allow the saline to sag back into your body. I used to feel the bottom edge of the TE digging in between two ribs when I sat down. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Often muscles will go into spasm when they are pushed too far, too fast. Make sure you have some Valium on hand. Works wonders. Skin gets itchy, aches and feels like it's going to tear sometimes. (Anybody remember being 9 months pregnant?)  Help it to stretch by keeping it soft with Bio Oil, Vit E or any number of other products made for that purpose. Along with that prescription for Valium, ask for Lidocaine patches. You can cut them into the particular shape you need and apply it to your skin for some mild relief.

All this discomfort (and yes, sometimes pain) is worth it in the long I mean short run. In a month or two you will be on the squishy side!

Smitty333, I too have heard of women getting a fractured rib from fills.  Maybe not A fill but I've heard of it happening in the process of getting fills. Hopefully you can find out what is causing your pain and get it fixed.   I had horrible sharp pains on my side that my PS said was nerve pain...I almost threw in the towel it was so bad.  I used to think I had a high tolerance for pain but these TEs got the best of me at times.  I am even one of those ladies that had very small fills, only 25cc's but the first 3 were the worst.  I took a little break and the next two I barely felt.  

Praying for all of you ladies in the TE phase...it's a hard road but we get through it.  

Noon, praying for your surgery on Monday!

Thank you mischief, you could be right about the nerve thing because on Monday I went to physical therapy and she told me that she was going to call my surgeon and let him know that she thought something was not right at the area under my arm connecting to the pectoral muscle. When she was stretching my arm it was causing my fingers to close and go numb. She thought there was either scar tissue wrapped around something or they has caused some damage during surgery.  So my surgeon said he would take care of it during implant surgery. Anyway maybe that is were some of the extra pain is coming in. I used to think I had high pain tolerance to but I have changed my mind! 

smitty and noonrider: so sorry for the pain and problems. With this process it often seems like 2 steps forward, 1 step back. Or 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Personally I have had more pain with the fills (after, not during) than with the UMX surgery, but never severe tearing pain and it has always improved with meds (oxycodone/Aleve). So that sounds scary to me, smitty, unless you're trying to be a hero and go without pain meds - which I doubt!

Best wishes for both of you that these are just speedbumps.

Smith, after getting through my fills fairly easily, I also experienced great pain after my final fill and even stayed home from work the next day. The pain I felt the first 24 hours or so after the fill has subsided, but I'm still not sleeping well because of the discomfort. My PS told me that the final fill is often the worst because when the TE is filled to capacity, it's really hard.