post implants and liposuction pain

freshstarter
freshstarter Member Posts: 8
edited October 2017 in Pain

I am 6 months out from a double mastectomy, had a tough time with the tissue expanders, and had them removed and implants inserted and some fat grafting (liposuction on my belly) this past Tuesday. In so much pain...especially from the lipo. Interested to hear about others' experiences!


Thanks

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited September 2017

    Bumping for freshstarter. Can anyone offer advice/experience?

    freshstarter, there's a forum with a lot of info and experiences on all types of Reconstruction that you may want to take a look too. Here: Breast Reconstruction

    Hope this helps!

    The Mods

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • freshstarter
    freshstarter Member Posts: 8
    edited September 2017

    Thanks! I will check it out. When I first signed up for this group, I was overwhelmed by all the topics and posts! You just gave me a chance to exhale!


    x,

    Freshstarter

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Lisey
    Lisey Member Posts: 1,053
    edited September 2017

    FreshStarter,

    Many women don't have crippling pain with implants, but I certainly did.

    My experience with the pain was just too much with the TEs. I realized my body and muscles just did not want foreign objects in them and were trying to tell me to remove them. I ended up removing the TEs and decided that I can rock the flat. At the time, I had no idea how many women were explanting, but it happens all the time. Many women suffer effects from implants including pain and sickness and decide it's just not worth it.

    If you would like to join Flat and Fabulous on Facebook, you can see thousands of women rocking being flat and ask for their experiences with pain and sickness due to implants. It's a safe place to explore all your options - they welcome people who are trying to decide what to do. If you decide to keep the implants and carry on, then you just unjoin F&F.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ravzari
    ravzari Member Posts: 277
    edited September 2017

    I can't speak to implants, as I never had those, but I DID have lipo on my mastectomy site as they left too much fatty tissue and I had big ol' bra rolls and a dog ear that I wanted removed.


    Straight up: Lipo recovery is painful. The lipo recovery, for me, was worse than the recovery from the initial mastectomy; I was bruise filled in the area for probably 2 weeks, the swelling was awful (I wore a compression vest for 6 weeks after the lipo), and it stung and ached and hurt like crazy for a good 3-4 weeks. I didn't have anything remotely close to that from the mastectomy, but the lipo recovery was horrible in comparison.

    I'm glad I had it done, and the dog ear and big bra roll are not missed, but the recovery was pretty ick. The first few weeks were really painful; compression and sleeping elevated helped, but it didn't make it go away.

    I can only imagine abdominal lipo would be similar, if not worse, since you can't really avoid having to move that area to lay down, sit up, stand, walk, etc...it sucks, but it's normal pain, especially a few days out.

    If you're not using a compression garment, I'd highly recommend looking into it; check with your surgeon first to see if they can provide anything or recommend anything, otherwise, you can get an abdominal binder or a faja with lipo boards or foam included (which is what a lot of women wear after having lipo done).

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • freshstarter
    freshstarter Member Posts: 8
    edited September 2017

    well, went in for my post-op Monday.... I have the implants (silicone) now. As usual, 'they' never quite present it to you completely while you are 'going in'.... but here's the scoop...

    Apparently, there was SO much scar tissue around the T.E. on the left (which was the only breast that had the cancer) that the surgery took 2 hours+ longer! She (surgeon) said she had never seen anything like it. now I am sitting here with 'spanx' on my bottom half (necessary from the liposuction, swelling and bruising quite severe on my abdomen, and the 'hospital bra (very tight) and lots and lots of extra gauze padding her the left breast to maximize compression. Very tight. My left breast is MUCH larger than the right...don't think it is all do to swelling) and so bumpy and much more bruised ... red spots... I have a feeling that this is what I will be stuck with. And even though I asked them 'if so much scar tissue encapsulated my tissue expander on the left, what's to say about the same happening to the implant? I don't thing 'my' pal on the left likes ANYTHING in there that does not belong : (


    ugh


    TBC



    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • freshstarter
    freshstarter Member Posts: 8
    edited October 2017

    it's been 4 weeks, the pain from the liposuction is dramatically less, even my right breast feels like it is getting back to normal. But my left breast is so sore, somewhat lumpy, and I can barely stand to touch it, particularly along the bottom edge, where I can feel the rim of the implant. I wrote my plastic surgeon's office yesterday via the patient portal, and missed a call from them later. We will talk this morning. I have no idea if this is normal. There isn't any infection, but it really is sore.

    I am more concerned about the thought having to have her 'go back in' then living with the pain for longer, or a somewhat lumpy breast.

    We have a trip planned for our 25th anniversary November 11th, first vacation in 25 years. I really don't want to prolong this.... maybe theleft side is over producing scar tissue as it did with the tissue expander....?

    Has anyone had any similar issues?


    Thanks!



    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ravzari
    ravzari Member Posts: 277
    edited October 2017

    It's certainly worth bringing those concerns up, but it's likely that the PS will tell you that you're still early on in healing (which you are) and to give it 3-6 months minimum before you'll be seeing what your final results are; if you're still not happy at that point, they should be willing to discuss options for revision or possibly additional fat grafting to provide better cover if you can still feel the implant or notice it rippling or being obviously visible under the skin.

    Most PSes want a minimum of 6 months of healing before considering revision anyway unless something is critically wrong, like infection of the implant, the implant becoming exposed, the wound opening, major things like that.

    Fat grafting can also take 3-6 months to fully settle and stop feeling hard/lumpy, though if you still have hard lumps at that point that's likely fat necrosis (most of the time, fat that dies after a grafting procedure will be reabsorbed by the body, but if large pieces die sometimes they go necrotic and get hard instead) that will need to be excised. It's not dangerous to leave it, but it tends to be hard and lumpy and, in some cases, painful.

    At 4 weeks out from an implant exchange, especially if they had to do extra work due to extra scar tissue on the left breast, it doesn't sound abnormal for you to still be pretty sore on that side.


    Unfortunately, there's no guarantee that you won't get a capsular contracture (thick, hard scar tissue) around the implant on either side, it sometimes just happens even if you're diligent about care; if it does happen, you'll have to make the call as to whether you want to have it taken care of and an implant put back to try again and hope it doesn't happen again, or just explant and either stay flat or try a different method of reconstruction.

    It's possible that it was the shape/texture of the expander that your body didn't like and encapsulated like that, and that the implant will be fine.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories