Explantation due to cellulitis

Well I may be right behind you having the implants removed. I had cellulitis in October with tissue expanders was in the hospital for 6 days. Then had me exchange and implants put in nov. 5th and a few days later second bout with cellulitis. I was on antibiotics for a month and now off for a week and guess what is back cellulitis....... Ugh! So frustrated. Go in Monday to PS to discuss what is next!! I am afraid he is going to say remove them and then I will have to start from scratch later..... Ugh! What options did they give yoy? Stay strong!!

Hi: I had reconstruction surgery on Dec. 11. I have had breast cancer 2x in same breast so last October I had a double mastectomy. I was not sure about reconstruction so I did not have it done at the time . After much thought I decided to go ahead. I am now on anti biotics for cellulitis and it has been 4 days and it is still very red and hot. However it is not spreading. The cellulitis is on the side that did not have cancer. After reading this forum I am questionin wether I should have left well enough alone. I see some of you were hospitalized. Was that immediately or after being on anti biotics.

Hi all,

I developed cellulitis of my right breast hours after getting my last two drains removed on 4/5. I ended up in the ER due to sepsis and was put on IV antibiotics for 4 days. My labs all look good now and I'm free of any fever, but my breast still looks about the same (red, inflamed, nipple pulled in, porous).

For those who have dealt with cellulitis, how long did it take for you to see its appearance begin to dissipate?

I'm worried about it not healing and needing to have my right implant removed. I had direct to implant following my mastectomy on 3/16.

Thanks in advance for any info!

Hi, Melmcbee! Thanks for your response.

My PS saw me in the hospital and I followed up with him today about it. I am taking augmentin now, on day 4 of a 10 day regimen of it. I'm finally seeing less redness and tenderness, and PS agreed that it's looking better, but wants me to do an additional 10 days of augmentin once I'm done with the current regimen. I'm glad my PS is being cautious.

Hoping it heals and does not come back, but I am really worried. I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. When the cellulitis returned, did you first notice the return of it by its appearance on your breast, or did you get a fever, or both?

It really is a stinky situation. - c

Hi DebraDee- it sounds like you’ve been thru the ringer. Just thinking out loud here with 2 different trains of thought...

1) Have you tried a round of the antibiotic Levaquin? If so, how long was the course? There is another chronic condition that causes recurring abscesses typically in the creases/bending spots of the body that presents as infection, responds somewhat well to typical antibiotics but recurs within a couple weeks of stopping the antibiotic. Some researchers did a study with the idea that there was possibly an endospore bacteria causing the recurrences (basically the bacteria kind of goes into a self-protecting hibernation and is protected from antibiotics and the immune system during this time, then comes back out of hibernation after the antibiotic is done causing the symptoms to recur.) So they looked at using a heavy duty antibiotic for 3x the standard course of therapy to try and cover the timeframes for active-hibernation-active life of the bacteria. They were able to put it into remission using Levaquin for 30 days and clindamyacin lotion on any visible/surface abscesses. I was not in the study, but talked with my doc about the study and he agreed to give it a whirl for that condition and it worked!

2) have you tried doing the autoimmune protocol diet (or a variation of It) to rule out an autoimmune response causing the abscesses and inflammation? I know it sounds crazy, but it could very well be why the abscesses keep recurring. The AIP diet entails discontinuing all dairy, egg, gluten, nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, tobacco), and nuts from your diet for 4 weeks. Then add 1 food group back at a time for 2 weeks and see if the symptoms return. A modified version of the diet that’s easier is to discontinue 1 food group at a time for 2-4 weeks and see if it makes a difference. If eliminating one or more of them clears things up, then you’ve identified the culprit and can continue to avoid that food group.

I would try these two options first before moving forward with mx personally. If You do need to move forward with mx and this is truly a duct issue, all the ducts will be removed during mx, meaning it should not recur. Yes, recon has come a long way. TEs and implants aren’t the only options for recon anymore. They can use your extra fat in your tummy area or hips to recreate a breast mound that looks and feels just like the real deal. I would think that if the infections were to recur after mx, they would recur regardless of whether you had recon or not. Either way there’s still the same number of microscopic breast cells left behind. Feel free to reach out with any questions!