May 2016 Surgeries

Hey Raven sending healing thoughts your way, and to all others anticipating surgeries.

raven - wow! I am so sorry that happened - I did not have that experience with any of the four FG I have had, I had no drainage from the donor sites at all. I can imagine that it was frightening since they didn't warn you, or give you any additional dressings. Sorry also about the pain - did your PS tell you what the volume was that was removed? Pain level should be proportional to volume, but even for my largest volume (which was an aesthetic FG after exchange) the acute pain only lasted a few days, then subsided to the too many sit-ups pain, or only hurt when getting up or down, but not when stationary.

So I thought a prophylactic mastectomy would put an end to the drama. But I broke a rib a few weeks ago that should not have broken ( I guess it's a pretty substantial break). Left rib, posterior break. The radiologist who read the CT scan, my surgeon, and the oncologist are all concerned. I go for a whole body bone scan on Monday.

Momof6 - that sounds painful. I hope everything's ok and it'll heal up fine it's not more cancer-related awfulness. We've all had enough awfulness!

Grandma - Can't believe you're posting with surgery this morning! It sounds like it went well for you. They tell me it can take 2-3 months for the swelling and capsule to "settle" before you see what shape it actually is going to stay. I hope you have a smooth recovery and, um, enjoy having a nice perky replacement set? Is that too crass?

I'll keep the phycotoxins in mind, but won't be pursuing it at the moment. Quite frankly the medical crowd is relying on the referred nerve pain and numbness to pinpoint various points of impingement or damage, since there are/have been multiple spots on a dozen+ nerves. Blocking the pain would be lovely for me but ultimately I don't think I

would be able give them useful feedback anymore. Thanks for thinking of me, though. If this becomes a hopeless affair then I suppose it would be worth bringing up then, along with other measures, but the PT guy (who believes firmly that sympathy is a detriment he can't afford to practice in his medical service!) is still acting confidant.

Happy recovery!

The CT did not show a lesion with the break. Which is very good. I'm hoping this is just precautionary because of my family history. I really thought it would have more to do with bone density and the fact I have nursed 6 children, so I was shocked when he said bone scan. My onc didn't think with my age I should have bone density issues.but if this comes back negative I'm asking for a bone density test.

Thanks for all the updates, ladies! I'm more 'with it' this morning, so I can have more coherent responses than I could last night.

Raven - Hope the oozing got under control and you were able to make it to the band concert. We did that on Tuesday night, too. My kids are blessed to be at a school system with phenomenal instrumental and jazz programs - one of our band directors is actually up for National Teacher of the Year. As someone with a couple of music degrees, I feel like we hit the jackpot moving to our town and I LOVE going to their concerts! Hope you are finding the pain from your donor site manageable, too! Just keep reminding yourself it was worth it for that successful outcome! Glad your DH was home with you....you had mentioned he might be traveling this week. Sounds like you really needed those extra set of hands!

GreyKat - You know we never get tired of hearing from you...we'll take the good AND the bad! You deserve to have a safe place to vent, and we're your gals! Sending supportive hugs!

Grandma - I can't believe you had the grandkids over yesterday. I was soooo tired/wiped after the surgery. I never did rebound - I couldn't stay awake for more than 10 minutes at a time. Feeling much more 'human' this morning! PS lipo'd out a fat pad from under my left armpit during the surgery, and I had a surprise when I opened my top last night - totally blood soaked through my bra, binder, and the dressings in that area. Going to have to keep an eye on that. I have to wear a binder above and below the foobs, in addition to a tight surgical bra, for at least a week in order to keep the foobs from moving up - particularly rightie. No shower for a few days either. I'm experiencing a ton of pain on my breastbone between the foobs - again wondering if he really had to work hard on getting that pocket for rightie. It was still 50/50 when I was being rolled into the operating room if I would wake up with an implant or a TE. It was a nice relief to wake up and hear there was an implant in there. Curious - did you ever check in with Whippetmom? What size had she recommended for you? She was spot on for mine - 650 cc high profile Mentor. She's definitely the implant-whisperer!

Momof6 - So sorry to hear of your new troubles! Ouch! Glad that your results from the CT were favorable! Prayers for quick healing and continued good reports on future scans....better safe than sorry!

GreyKat, blast away. Where else can you go to be "heard" these days, right? Sorry you're still in so much pain.

Momof6littles, that rib break sounds positively scary. Good luck with the scan on Monday.

grandma3x, glad the surgery went well! Keep getting that rest!

myToyStory2, glad things went well and hooray for two implants and no drains, indeed! The music program for your kids sounds awesome. We also have an amazing band director. In fact, she's arranged that the entire band will be marching in the New Year's Day parade in London, England on 1/1/18. We're going to make it a family trip, then DH and I are going to send the boys home and stay in Europe for another week to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary (which will actually be in July, 2017, so we're just delaying it a bit.) She's an amazing mentor to our kids and we're so very lucky to have her.

As for me, things are improving. I'm now at the point where the pain has subsided if I'm stationary, but getting up and down and moving around is still painful, but not unmanageable. I'm off the Norco and on to extra strength Tylenol, but only as needed if I know I'm going to be moving around a lot (like this afternoon when I make my son drive me to the store - gotta get out of this house!) I did end up "drugging up" and going to the kids' band concert on Wednesday night - I had a bit of an "I'll be damned if this shit's gonna keep me down" attitude going on that night - although it was tough to stay awake because of the Norco, but I made it! DH took me to the holistic center for a post-op high dose IV Vitamin C treatment yesterday and that pretty much wiped me out for the rest of the day. I slept 10 hours last night and still felt exhausted when I woke up.

I was so afraid to really take a good look at things and have just been sponge-bathing around the bra and binder they put me in post-op, but this morning I finally removed everything and had a peek. Things don't look as bad as I thought they would. There's some slight bruising here and there all over my belly and some really heavy duty bruising near the cannula sites (it's more like "black and black' than "black and blue"!) but otherwise not as scary as I thought. They told me I could remove the dressing on the breast after 24 hours and go ahead and shower but at this point I'm so freaking gun-shy on getting another infection that I've chosen to stick with sponge baths for now, making sure to keep the dressing nice and dry, and washing my hair over the sink. I have a post-op appointment with the PS on Monday morning so I'll remove the dressings then and take a proper shower that morning.

I will say, though, that once I'm back to exercising and can re-lose all the weight I had regained after my TE removal my belly is going to be freaking awesome. Although, no offense to those who have done it, but for the life of me I can't imagine why anyone would deliberately put themselves through this kind of plastic surgery!

Looking forward to a nice quiet and restful week-end here to build up more energy.

GreyKat - I agree...FG procedures sound like a necessary evil! But anything that can give us a positive outcome seems worth it at this point! Raven - sending you more healing vibes! And GreyKat - your updates just make me so frustrated for you. More HUGS!

I'm as anxious about my bacteria returning as you two ladies are! I can't shake the feeling that these implants are short-term.

Finally had a chance to unwrap everything and take a peek. Not too bad. Sisters, for sure, not twins....but honestly a better outcome than I was expecting. Also about 100 ccs bigger than I was hoping for, so I'll be curious how they take shape in the coming months. Bandaged up so tightly I'm not experiencing that relief others have mentioned after their exchange surgery either. Tender ribs and breastbone. So I keep on popping the pain pills....

Go Cubs!

So the sponge baths/washing hair in sink thing just wasn't cutting it for me anymore, so I finally removed the dressings and took a good long look before taking a proper shower this afternoon. Let's just say I have the perfect Bride of Frankenstein costume, just in time for Halloween. Guh!

Surprised how much better I'm feeling today. No pain meds, ran some errands with DH, no napping. Still very tender between my foobs, but able to manage without Tylenol. Have to keep my steri-strips on until Tuesday's appt, so I won't get to see what shape the scars are until then, but so far no evidence of infection or weeping. I can already tell troublesome rightie rides a little higher, and leftie sinks a little lower. I've heard my PS is a perfectionist, so I'll be curious how concerned he'll be about it. Wearing the ace bandage 24/7 above and below the foobs until my appt....wondering if he'll extend that when he sees they aren't completely even?

Grandma - I would have freaked out, too! And that's exactly why I love this board....you can almost always find someone else who has already been through it! So sorry to hear about the swollen leg issues again. Ugh!

Raven - Bride of Frankenstein....ha! Just remember it's all going to be a distant memory when you celebrate Halloween next year....fingers and toes crossed!

Happy Halloween, everyone.

Grandma and ToyStory, glad the healing is coming along for you both. Grandma, sorry about the ankle swelling. This BC crap is just the gift that keeps on giving.

Had post-op follow-up with PS this morning and a huge hematoma had developed since surgery. He tried just draining via syringe but then ran into some clotting, so they had to do a "sterile" procedure right there in the office to suction out all the build up so as not to let it sit there and fester and possibly develop an infection. I'd guess that he removed at least 300 CCs of blood and - BONUS! - I'm now sporting a JP drain again. F#$*! I go back on Thursday; hopefully the drain will come out then. i swear I'm so petrified of another infection. I stopped on my way home and bought latex gloves and alcohol wipes for when I have to empty the drain. Seriously considering investing in a box of sterile gloves. Then, on top of all that, I kept wondering if he was sucking out all the fat that he just grafted along with the blood??? I'd be seriously pissed if I just went through all this misery for nothing.

Just out of curiosity, I asked him exactly what volume of fat he removed from my tummy and he said it was around 2,000 CCs! Whaaa???? That amount certainly didn't go back in the breast! I'll need to get more specific details at my next appointment on Thursday but, good lord! No wonder I'm so freaking sore! Prior to my surgery I had said I only wanted him to remove as much as was needed - sounds like he decided to "gift" me with a nice tummy. For all the crap I've been through I guess I may as well get something good out of all this.

Oh, Raven - I would have clocked the bastard right then and there.

MyToyStory - glad you are doing well! I also am surviving without pain meds except at night (tylenol PM just because I hate sleeping on my back).

I got my "pathology" report back for the exchange surgery (apparently they send the TEs to pathology too!). I kept telling my PS that my left was not expanded as much as my right, even though they claimed to have added the same amount to each side. Turns out my left TE weighed about 80 grams less than the right one! Either I had a slow leak or they didn't add the amount they claimed. Anyway, my left side is now swollen more than the right, so it gets to be bigger for a while until the swelling goes down.

GreyKay - Please don't give up. ((here's my unsolicited advice ....Maybe you should have a heart-to-heart with your physical therapist about whether your nerve problems may be beyond his capabilities to fix. Sometimes we do have to do their job, so please find a way to see a neurologist - go to the ER if need be, but don't leave until you are seen by someone who can actually help.)) Sending more hugs.

Grandma - yeah, my PT visit today was the last straw - we discovered I still (5 months after the surgical drug toxicity) can't balance as I should be able, and what with how I've had trouble walking for a few months since one of the drugs attacked the nerves of my leg, and with everything else that I won't go into, I called the neuro clinic. I need someone who can see the big picture if there is one and has the capability and *willingness* *cough cough surgeon* to order tests.

They are booked out 4 months and I'm on the wait list. So I tried. Maybe someone will cancel around the holidays.

I do love my PT though. Really. It's not his fault he got to me five months late or that he's got a few fires to put out before the building can be gone over in an orderly fashion. I would have gladly handed him all my worldly valuables this morning for his ability to knock the nerve pain down a notch. Turns out when he realizes I've spent the night sleepless and crying from pain he's worth his weight in gold.

Lots of updates going on, ladies! Keeping all of you in my pocket! Raven - Ugh.....and ugh.....and ugh! Of course you would get a hematoma.....and of course you would end up a new drain....and of course it would randomly break.....some of us just have all the 'luck', right?!? Here's to good news on Thursday! (2K g of belly fat? Maybe I DO want FGing after all! Ha!)

GreyKat - Hope you can get that appt and maybe come at this from another angle. Great suggestion to point her toward neuro, Grandma! I've said many times before that I'm a 'passive' patient - not one to take the bull by the horns or to be terribly reactive to my own situation. I can totally understand how months can go by without being laser-focused on dealing with the issues and instead trusting the medical professionals to get us to where we need to be. But we all agree your situation is so far beyond trusting the docs any longer....time to make that forward progress you deserve! Glad you're loving your PT though! (((Hugs)))

Grandma - I'm faithfully taking my 4 antibiotic pills daily since surgery! Like Raven, I'm terrified of getting that dreaded infection again. Surprised you weren't given a prescription for one. Glad you got to feel validation from your path report! That size discrepancy is one you've suspected for quite some time!

DD hosted a group of kids for an impromptu Halloween party last night. Between the house prep, the chatting with parents, the handing out candy to TOTers for 2 hrs, the feeding of the group, and the clean-up afterward - I'm fully aware that I waayyy overdid it yesterday. This is that difficult balance between caring for yourself, but not making your family's whole lives revolve around your cancer dx. It was a great group of kids who had a ton of fun, so no regrets....I think. (Will see if the PS notices anything out-of-whack at my appt this afternoon.) Today the dog turns 7. It will be much a more low-key affair than last night's celebration. Lots of napping and snuggles and treats on her agenda today - which works great for my agenda, too!