Reconstruction group-Nov-07

Thank you

I will be sure to say an extra prayer for 2curvy, cc01 and all the other fab women out there.

j

Thanks for the encouragement Deborah....so glad you are doing well.  What a sweet husband you have!

Thanks for the info Laura.  I might call my ps and ask about the epidural.  I don't remember any mention of it and I'm sure they all have their own ways.  I did call today and ask his nurse if I could start taking some anti-anxiety medicine I have left from last year's surgery/radiation.  She said go for it so that should help with these last 5 days of waiting....I hope!

I had the lat flap on November 12.  Everything is going great, but still having to have the back aspirated every week....I guess that will stop eventually.  Had my first fill last week 100cc.  Only had pain at night when I was trying to sleep, took some ibprofen and was fine.  I go back today for another fill. 

Question for anyone....when my doctor did the lat flap, she took the muscle and skin from my side, so I don't have a scar and anything on my back.  I have full range of motion.  I didn't know she was going to take it from my side until the day of surgery....anyone else ever have this?  Perhaps this is why my recovery has been so quick.  I was back to work 1 week after surgery, and was driving after 5 days.  I can sleep on my side, and can do anything really....anyone else have this?

I had another 100cc put in today, so slowly it is getting symmetrical.  I had the other lifted and had an implant put in, and it looks and feels great.  I went with the saline.  I like it alot.  The expander is being expanded, and was told today I had 260cc in and need about 200-300 more.  Then they will let them sit for 2 months and do the exchange.  So far so good. 

P.S. I forgot to mention that I got a silicone implant, and did not need tissue expanders because my natural breast is large.

Hello ladies - I'm 6 weeks out from having my expander placed and am feeling pretty good.  It took a while to get my rom back but my arm feels fine now.  I was really worried about lymphedema because I was so swollen, but looks normal now.  I saw my bs last Thursday and she said that was pretty normal because of moving the muscle and everything else around.  Also my ps filled 60cc's at the surgery and my bs said that could have caused the extreme muscle spasms I was having.  She said a lot of time the expander is placed flat until the start of the fills.  I go every week for a fill now.  Have had two (90cc's) each time.  I had blood tests, an ultrasound, my bs and my ps all scheduled last thursday during the killer snowstorm, but I toughed it out and made all the appts.  I couldn't stand the thought of rescheduling and having to go through all that preappt anticipation again.

I asked approximately what my time line is.  My ps said another 6 weeks of fills for a total of 800 cc's, then let that settle for a few months, then the exchange for silicone implant.  A few months after that he will do a lift on my good side.  After 2-3 months he will make the nipple for the left.  I asked him about losing sensation on the right side and he said most times they can move the nipple without totally unattaching it, so you usually keep the sensation.  I certainly want things to match, but will give it a lot of thought if he thinks I will lose sensation.  A friend of mine had augmentatiion on both sides and she said eventually she got her sensation back, but it took a while.

Katie - did you have the lift and the expander placed at the same surgery.  My ps only does one side at a time, would have been nice if I could combine some of the surgeries.

Maryanne - sorry to hear about the seroma.  do you need to keep having it drained or does once usually take care of it?  Hope you are feeling better.  Good luck to all - Sandy

Hello everybody - haven't checked in on this board lately.  I am still being expanded weekly - 90 cc's every Thursday after work. 
Originally my ps said 800 cc's., now he's thinking more like a thousand!!  I think I'm up to about 780.  Then he said he will do the exchange and reduction/lift at one surgery.  The fills haven't been so bad after the initial placement.  Right now though, the top seems very full and also under my arm, but not much on the lower part.  I can't wear a prosthesis anymore, so now I'm having to stuff my bra again.  I'll be so glad when this whole process is finished.  I have to have an US, mammo, see my bs and onc before my surgery.  I guess they all want to make sure that everything looks OK on the good side before we start changing that too.

Maryanne - have you decided against implants and to stay the size you are, or are you still considering more surgery?  I find I have my ROM back also, but have noticed that I still don't have the strength back 100% with my left arm.  I had a bad fall about 7 years ago and totally lost the use of my arm from my shoulder to my fingertips.  I worked many months to get the use of the arm back and find it frustrating to have lost some of the strength I had regained.  Right now, I'm not supposed to lift much weight with that arm, so I am limited with my exercises.

Hope everyone is doing well and happy with their results. - Sandy 

Hi Mary-Anne:  I'm still not sure when my exchange will be, I'm not done with the fills yet.  When I ask, my ps just says that I still have a ways to go yet - I'm a 46DDD on the right so he wants to expand me as far as possible.  He says the largest implant is smaller than my good breast, so he figures he'll expand as far as possible, and then try to match me up as best as he can with a reduction/lift at the same time as the exchange.  I was surprised when his nurse told me that he doesn't use the mast/expander incision for the implant.  She said that he will make a smaller incision where the crease will be and slide the expander out and slide the implant in.  If the mast scar has healed nicely, he doesn't like to compromise it with opening it up a third time.  I had told my bs that I wasn't planning on ever doing recon, but she thought I might, so she left a good bit of skin.  The scar was kind of crooked and you could actually grab the skin she had left, which I really hated.  Now I realize I'm lucky she did it that way.  I also have excess skin under my arm -  I hope my ps can neaten that up with the exchange.  His nurse said that he might actually use that skin to stretch the side for the implant.  She keeps telling me that he does great work and that I will really be pleased with the end resuts.  I wish it were done so I could see what I'm going to look like - it's gotta be better than what I have now, right!?!

At my last appt, I realized that my ps always has his hands in his lab coat pockets when he comes in to chat before his nurse does the fill.  I noticed that if I ask a question about size or placement, as soon as he starts to talk, he takes his hands out of his pockets and gestures with them like he is feeling my breasts.  He holds them right at chest height as though he is cupping my breasts.  Gotta find humor in this process somewhere, right??

I'm glad you're a bit happier with your results.  It must have been very disappointing to go through the long surgery and recovery  like you did and the not be happy with the outcome.  Do you have to make a decision soon re the implant or do you have some time to decide what you want to do?

You mentioned that you still have a hard time opeming jars.  I was in the basement doing laundry tonight and decided to have a wine cooler while I was waiting for the last load to dry.  I couldn't get the screw top off.  My son came downstairs and found me at my husband's workbench with a pair of pliers trying to get the bottle open.  He opened it for me because he said I looked really pathetic.

It did taste quite nice.  Anyway...glad you are doing well. -Sandy

Hey Mary-Anne - I finally had my last fill this past Thursday

 (960 cc's).  The last one was a killer with muscle spasms (thank God for flexarill) in my chest and back and even my arm was pretty sore.  Right now my chest is rock hard.  It's difficult to wear a bra because the expander is so high.  I mentioned to my ps that I was hoping that the implant would be lower.  He said he thought I might like my "new look" but if I really want him to bring it lower, he would. Ha, ha.  I will be much happier after the exchange, I'm sure.  My ps wants me to wait 2 months now for the exchange.  My next appt. with him isn't until early April.  He said that he will choose what type of implant and then will schedule surgery soon after.  I woke up half way through the expander placement, luckily only for a moment.  I only remember hearing voices, thank goodness wasn't awake long enough to feel any pain.  The anesthesiologist called me a few days later to make sure I hadn't felt anything and to reassure me that there are other drugs to give me to make sure that I stay out through-out the whole surgery next time.  This was my eighth time to have general anesthesia and I never had a problem before.  My ps also changed his mind and said that he won't do the reduction/lift on the right side the same time as the exchange.  He thinks it would be better to let the implant settle before he tries to match me up.  He said he might possibly do the nipple with a skin graft when he does the lift.  This whole process has been much more uncomfortable than the lumpectomy, SNB, mastectomy routine.  Just can't wait to be finished so that I can feel "normal" again.  Have you had any difficulty adjusting to the "new you"?  I'm excited about the whole thing but I find myself quite apprehensive also.  Wish I knew what I was going to look like after.  How long did it take for you to feel like your new breast was really part of you.  Right now I still get kind of creeped out thinking I have something foreign inside my chest.  I'm sure it's just a matter of time.  Hope you are doing well - Sandy