continued Tissue expander pain!!

Tracy

I had my first fills - no problems and NO PAIN. I hope it doesn't develope later tonight.  My PS uses only 60cc the first time, and never goes more than 100 - 120 at a single fill. My "breasts" (?) feel much softer after the fill and not hurting as much as BEFORE the fill...strange

Traci, nice to see you back in the land of the living!!! I was worried about all the surgeries for you. Glad to hear the exchange was good...I'm right behind you on the 18th!

, I had itching as well while the skin stretched. I had a skin sparing mast but it still needed to stretch a lot. I used Palmer's cocoa butter about 5 times a day to help. I saw a PT the other day about the muscle spasms and pain in my upper arm; she said it was the nerves trying to wake up. She also said it could take up to 2 years for the brain to get the message it needed to reroute things because of the lymph nodes removed (only 6). 

Yall have a good one...I've got to grade final exams.

Margaret 

Hey Ladies!

Hey Margaret!!!

....thanks for the compliments. I needed them today. I've been working at the computer all day long having "issues" and I finally just broke down. Not sure what's wrong with me.

I called my Dr again because blood was coming through the new bandage. He just said to take off the special "bra" and put an ace bandage around it to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. I get to take the bandages off tomorrow and see what's there.

I'm a little anxious because it's my right breast and that mastectomy incision was perfect compared to my left incision. I think my surgeon hiccuped when he did my left.

Jani, I have relief from the concrete but no...I am not happy right now. It looks like I'm going to be smaller than I was and I was already small.

He gave me a special "bra" that reminds me of a male jock strap. Same type of material. It's suppose to push the implants down and together. Well, it doesn't seem like it's doing that. I keep pushing them together myself.

Hopefully, it will all be o.k. in the end. I just can't wait for the end. I'm sorry but I'm just down today....I don't know why....my Cowboys pulled it out last night!! I should be totally happy. I think what it is is the pain pills. I don't like taking them but I think I will need them for at least another day. And, being behind on work and having to work a full day sucks. In about 4 minutes I'm going for a nap!!

Margaret, good luck to you girl. My little sis is having her other breast cut off and doing a tram-flap to make everything even on 12/13. She tested positive for BRCA 1 and has been lopsided for years since her BC. I think her seeing me go through it has given her the courage to go ahead and get it done. I'm happy for her but, I know that recovery is rough and she has a jerk for a husband and to of the most spoiled rotten bratty kids ever given birth to. Not really but close! lol!!

Sorry to write a book.

I hope all you guys are doing o.k.

Hugs, Traci

Hey Teribear

Nice to hear from you. Sorry this expansion was not easier than last. Massage (on the upper pecs), hot water bottle at night, gentle resistance exercise, and gentle stretching has cured my muscle spasms. Try different things and find what works for you. It is so much more managable without the spasms!

My fill on Thursday was still very, very tight though. I realize now that I will be taking more time to complete this phase - even if I have to go down to 20-30 mls per with more time between, and if I have to stop before I reach where I was before then that is okay too. We will live with these new boobs (and we mustn't ever forget -breast cancer free) for the rest of our lives. So patient persistence will pay off and you will know when the time is to stop.

Hang in there - one fill at a time!

Vitamin K is a blood clotting agent, not a blood thinning agent. It's the "antidote" for too much coumadin or heparin. So foods with Vitamin K won't make you bleed. In fact, the foods with Vit K are rich in cancer-fighting anti-oxidants!

The very best thing for my pec/chest tightness and discomfort has been exercise. Initially, my PT did intense massage around the tight edges under my armpit and at the sternum.

Then, I got with the personal trainer at the PT clinic (they only work with cancer patients!) and started a pretty rigorous regime of stretching and strengthening. The next day I felt like my expanders were almost like breasts again, and I've had no discomfort since. Maybe it's just me--my body thrives on exercise--but I think the physical work I did opened up space and got the expanders out of my armpits!!

Anne

Hey Jean,

TOOOOO funny! You should just whip out the boob and rub it whenever you need to...that'll show folks what some us us really put up with on our road to recovery!

Traci, so very happy all's going well with both ends of surgery. Your sister is is my prayers. Going through a rough patch myself these days...just bitchy and ready for this stuff to be done with!

Gotta shop...yall take care!

Margaret

I used kotex pads under the parts of the bra that were hurting and pressing on the skin.  They are very clean and cheap and do a great job, esp.  if you have some drainage.

Margaret, My exchange surgery was Nov 2. I came home the same day with no drains . I was put in a light weight bra, compared to the bras after my lumpectomies/mastectomy. I had script for percoset but hardly needed to take any, though I did get nauseated that evening from the anestisia. And yes the perm implants (saline) do feel 100% better than the expanders.

Sheila

Hi!  I had pain right from the get go (I couldn't stand even the lightest shirt over the mastectomy area even before the expanders.  My PS wa sympathetic, but said if I wanted the recon to live with it and take hydrocodene.  Finally, my Onc saw me and said he could take care of it and put my on gabapentin, which did help a bit and I wasn't out of it as I was on the hydrocodene.  I've stopped taking it and am learning to live with it.  I,too, am nervous about having silacone, as my PS said that if the saline somehow ruptures, the saline will just pass thru the body, but the silacone is forever.  I'm not having my implant until April  or May when I return home to Maine (am in Florida for the winter).  Can anyone recommend a comfy bra (am currently wearing a walmart sports bra that is just so-so) and filler for the empty side?  Thanks.  Barbara

Jerri,

I really took your email to heart and am taking your advice.  I did not schedule an appt this week as I am still havinig spasms, just like Jani was describing.  This morning I went into spasms just lifting my coffee mug to have a sip!  I will go back next week IF I am out of pain.  If not I will wait another and will stay with the low fills!

 I do stretch quite a bit as I try to keep up with my workouts.  I love pilates and what it does for me, and it is a lot of stretching.  Jerri,  I even shared your email with my best friend out in Iowa who feels left out of my journey since she is so far away (I am in Ohio) and she said now I understand more!  I was told I couldn't get my surgery for exchange until the end of February anyway so there is plenty of time to expand since I am almost to the size I want anyway.  Since I finally have lady bumps and they show under my clothes, I do not feel so all fired in a hurry to get expanded anymore.  I can slow down mentally now too.

Jani what a great question you brought up about the type of implants!  I have decided to go with silicone as well after talking at great length with my ps.  I have a very narrow chest so I will probably do the high profile myself, yeah, tennis balls but you are right, I think the cleavage will be better and I really want that as I never  had it before!  That's my bonus!  HAHA!  I look forward to hearing from the ladies who have their implants already and can give us some wisdom on the topic!

btw, Jani, what is voltaren?  My ps put me on flexiril (muscle relaxer) and I take motrin with that but it makes me so sleepy I can barely function.  I hate having to decide whether I want to actually get anything done during the day OR be in pain. I work 3rd shift here at home so at least I don't have to struggle working outside my home.

What a blessing this board has been.  I appreciate all the support.  Thank you.

Teri.

I had a unilateral mastectomy two years ago and just now had my implant put in a while back, it is a hybrid combo implant/expander and when its full, PS will pull the line and put a bandage on me.  It is very soft and natural feeling filled with saline.  I got my "cleavage" back, yeah!  As a massage therapist I have felt what you ladies have under your peck muscles, no doubt it hurts, there has to be something to but on back to buff from pain, it seems wrong to put those rigid things in.  I have felt them thru clients tissue on chest area, pecks don't adjust to hard instuments very well, so sorry ladies.  I got off easy on this part, Sherry

Hi Jerri:

Thanks for your comments some of them are very helpful, however, you have made errors on a few points.

Most all augmentations and many post mastectomy reconstructions are done in a single surgery, that is, the pocket is formed and full implants placed and voila instant breasts! So this is not an old or archaic procedure. I have read some women who had this done on this very website and they were happy with the procedure. 

Capsular contracture is not caused by too tight skin. Anytime a foreigh object is placed into the body the body automatically forms a capsule around the object. In some cases the capsule contracts very tightly around the foreign object. No one knows why this happens in some people and not others, but there are a few things that may increase the likihood of this happening including a transient bacterial infection at the time of placement, subglanular placement as opposed to submusclular (maybe because the milk ducts can carry bacteria), ongoing infection in the surrouding tissue, seroma, hematoma and smoking cigarrettes. Submuscular placement, textured implants, and apparently saline implants are less likely to experience capsular contracture. I found an excellent website that describes what CC is and ideas on how to prevent it (like possibly taking oral vitamin E beginning 2 wks after placement), and how it is treated if it does occur. I looked at a lot of websites and this one seems to be the most comprehensive and informative and if you haven't done so I strongly recommend taking a look at it. Best to be informed about these things, right?   http://www.justbreastimplants.com/risks/capsule-contracture.htm

From the research that I have done on the 'tennis ball' look it seems to be a very real possibility for most of us. We all have had our breast tissue removed. In normal augmentations the breast tissue is what soften the edges of the implants and makes them look more natural. All we have left is skin and not all that pliable muscle to cover the implant. My PS said that the muscle will somewhat soften the edges but it will still look like an implant. I have tell you that I have obsessivley looked at every recon using implants that I can find on the internet and literally hundreds of augmentations done on women who are AAA going to C or D - which is kind of like us, and this does seem to be true. 

Many PS over fill the expanders and then leave the expanders in place to set. My PS says there is no reason to do this -- but I wonder... so I have tried to look up the evidence for doing this or not doing this. I have come up with no research that looks at this issue so I am thinking that the docs are relying on the idea that it makes intuitive sense.  I am thinking that there are muscle experts in the world who have studied the nature of muscles for their whole adult lives and will probably be able to anwer some of these questions. So I have put together a series of questions about the breast expansion/implant process like how much and how fast can muscle stretch and will it maintain its shape once stretched, and how best to handle muscles that spasm, and such. I sent it out yesterday to 2 people that I found on the internet. One was identified as a muscle expert who was hired onto a goverment panel. I will send it out to a couple more today (maybe an expert in sports muscle injuries) and see if any respond. I will post what ever I learn that is applicable to our situation if anyone is interested.

Trying to tackle these issues in this way helps take my mind of how uncomfortable I am!

Hang in there everyone!

Jani 

Terri – Voltaren is a powerful anti-inflammatory, it’s usually taken for arthritis. It is prescribed to be taken in conjunction with acetaminophen. Flexeril works in the central nervous system to actually stop the signal to flex the muscle. I am not sure why Flexeril was not the drug given to me, but I asked my PS (who is in San Diego) and he recommended Voltaren with massage. Then my general physician is heavily into some sport and takes it himself for muscle spasms – so I guess that is how I got it. It does work very well for me. Neither Voltaren nor Flexeril is recommended to be taken for longer than 2 weeks though. One interesting thing about Flexeril is the long half-life of 2-3 days. This means that it takes 2-3 days for half of the drug to clear the body. So if you are taking the full dose of 40 mg daily this will build up over 3 days (there are some nasty side effects of both of these drugs by the way), plus the effects will still be there for a couple days after you stop taking it which is probably a good thing with the kind of spasms we are dealing with.