Tissue Expander removed due to bad infection.

I don't have experience going through exactly what you are going through, but I hope I can give you some hope. I had proph mast on right side in May with TE over the muscle. I got infection in July. I tried fighting it in hosp with strong antib and then made eye at home. I could never fully clear the infection, so m PS took it out. Turns out I had serration bacteria, so Inf dis doc put me on Cipro. I finally cleared the infection and the PS put the TE back in over the muscle on 11/11. I am almost done my fills and things are going so much better this time. My Ind dis doc said that this past infection would probably not strike again. Knock on wood, so far so good. I'm hoping for exchange in early spring. In august, I felt defeated and hated the way I looked on that side, but both docs gave me hope to try again.

I hope I am giving you a bright light at the end of the tunnel! My friend gave me a small turtle with a saying... never ever ever give up. I look at it and say it nightly!

Hang in there!

I dealt with the same infection and the only thing that corrected this problem was removal of TE and IV antibiotics. The big thing I think is making sure you are taking the correct type of antibiotic. I was seeing an infectious disease doctor during that time to treat the infection as well. I have yet to go back and finish my recon and I'm not sure that I will, but that is just me. The process was a nightmare and I never knew that could happen. Make sure you are taking the correct meds though, because it will not go away. It was so many for me, it took forever. I was hospitalized for it a couple of times as well.

((good luck))

ugh... another pseudomonas drain queen here too.. after 5 weeks post bmx I developed pseudomonas in my non cancer side. Boob got giant and deep red. Got TE out mid march, 50 days of IV antibiotics and then the TE put back in June 15. Prophylactic iv antibiotics for a week and 4 days after stopping, I spiked a 102.5 fever and was back in the hospital. White count went from 20 to 12 to 7 in just two days, so they let me go home with another 8 weeks of IV antibiotics. I finally got the last drain out last monday, and by wednesday, part of my breast was turning red. Now they say I have cellulitis and fluid around my expander, which is most likely still the infection.

On the suggestion of someone here, I am now doing high dose vitamin c infusions, and my PS has agreed to do a betadine flush if I get another drain, which I most likely will if the interventional radiologist drains the fluid.

My ID and PS have covertly mentioned that I may never be able to have an implant on that side, so I am VERY happy to see that there are some people who have had this nasty bug and got to the other side of it. I hope I can add to the ranks.

Stef

Hi

I had a double mastectomy in January of this year, in March my left TIssue expander got an infection and had to be removed. Was getting ready to go back to plastic surgeon to discuss date to put another one back in and the right one got an infection out of no where had to have emergency surgery to remove it 2weeks ago. So now I have neitherand it's got me so lost, depressed I just want to sleep all the time get anxiety at the thought of leaving my home. I miss my old self , I know I did the right thing I had the Chek C my mom, younger sister, moms sister and cousins had BC so I always felt I was doomed to get it. I am very depressed to the point I couldn't work anymore. Now have to wait till sometime next year to start over, I have had three surgeries in 7 months. My body is depleted. Lost in how to dress don't want to go anywhere or see anyone. I know I am very blessed to not have cancer but I feel as though I'm losing myself during this process. Anyone feel this way ? And if so what steps did you take

UKlass-

We want to welcome you to BCO! We're so sorry to hear of the setbacks you've had. We hope you're able to move forward without any more complications!

The Mods

I am now in the same boat as several trying to save the TE on my non cancer breast. I had dead tissue along the incision that opened and had to be debrided and closed. Now back on antibiotics again hoping this heals. I still have so much pain in my sternum and right breast area just wondering if that is normal? Was planning on returning to work until this happened and ps afraid to release me. Wanting normal life again

quick question please - how do you know when the TEs are infected? My ps keeps saying mine are fine, but they are very warm to the touch. I had a fever last week of 100.9 and was put on one abx that I had a very bad reaction to and am now on doxycycline. My ps took the last two drains out at three weeks, even though the one on the right was still producing 40-50 mLs every 6 hours. My right side just does not feel right and no one will listen

My BMX with immediate TE placement was on 1/4/18. I have had zero problems up to now. About 3 weeks ago my left breast started to feel hard on the outer portion of the expander. I mentioned this to my PS and he said it was typical but should not cause a problem. I had my last fill 2 weeks ago, now just waiting until my exchange on 4/19. I have had a low grade fever since last Tuesday, around 99.5-99.8, at first with no other symptoms. I called my PS and he prescribed me clindamycin and I began that on Thursday. Friday night my left breast began to hurt, but no redness, I took tylenol and the pain went away. Yesterday my right breast began to feel sore, and again I took tylenol which relieved the pain. Then I noticed some red blotchiness of my skin on my neck yesterday, which has been itchy. I am still very tired, and just don't feel well. I feel that I should be feeling better by now, just worried that there is an underlying infection just waiting to progress. What are your thoughts? It seems weird that there is no redness on my breasts.

itsstillme yikes!! My temp is low grade, feeling overall yucky but I don't think I need a trip to the ER yet. My breasts are just uncomfortable at this point. Did you start on an antibiotic at home first before going to the ER?

itsstillme thanks for the info, I hope you get to feeling better soon!

I had my mastectomy with TE insertion on 2/6, three weeks later my breast began swelling and turning red, along with low grade fever. I ended up with a staph infection under/around both expanders. According to my surgeons, this infection came from exposure during the surgery. This infection resulted in another surgery to remove both expanders, a 6 day hospital stay, and 10 days of IV antibiotics that had to be administered at home. At 33 years old with 2 children this is something I NEVER want to go through again. I am now facing the decision of if I want to have the expanders put back in (of course I will have to wait at least three months) but I have so much hesitation due to the results of my initial surgery. How do you decide if it's worth it? My plastic surgeon assures me that this time would be less of a risk for infection due to the surgery time being shorter (original surgery was 8 hours due to them doing the mastectomy first) Has anyone gone through this and had a successful return the second time around? I am very nervous and would love some feedback.