continued Tissue expander pain!!

Teri, you're very welcome. Like I said, been there, probably worse than you could ever image. My friends say I could write a book with all the crap I have put up with over the last 8 years. But only you know when enough is enough. God did not put you on this earth to just get by and be so-so. I firmly believe we all deserve what we put into our lives. It's like I tell my daughter, treat people how you wish to be treated. Why should you or I expect to be treated any less than how we would treat someone else. If the roles were reversed, and my husband had cancer, he would expect me to be there, and would be hurt if I was not. Was I mad when he left me, you bet....I was so pissed I wouldn't let him come back home! He lived at our office for over 2 weeks and then 4 more days at a hotel. I made sure he stayed away from our home when he came back to Michigan for the same amount of time he should have been with me. When he called, I would let him know I was doing just fine without him. When he asked to help, I politely said no thank you. I never stopped telling him I loved him, but I let him know how hurt I was. I would never do something like that to him, how dare he do it to me! And all over beer as an excuse! I swear the most educated people can be soooo stupid! (he's a PhD) Anyways, get a good night sleep, you don't want puffy eyes for the PS tomorrow. And if you every want to talk you can e-mail me at SunLake@aol.com.

Nite-nite-sharon

Okay I have a really weird question.  Can we fly with our expanders in our chests?  Not literly i just mean in an airplane for vacation.  I have been hurting a bunch and Prince Valium and his buddies hyrdocodone have been helping me sleep in the recliner.  I had my expanders put in on 11/16/07 and getting filled every 2 weeks.  He actually put 300cc in during surgery so I am starting to see cleavage.  One of the expanders moved up on the right side so I have a "high" boob, but he said he could fix that when he takes them out.  We are shooting for 1000cc.  I am starting to think that I am crazy for doing an 800cc implant, but I was a DDD before masectomy.  It makes me feel better that I am not crazy when I tell people how much it hurts and they look at me like how could that hurt.  I just want it done and over with I mainly sleep in the recliner because if I lay flat on my back it just hurts worse.  Here is to a great weekend for everyone.  I just had 50 cc in on Wednesday, so just a few more days of pain hopefully.

Take care!

Janet

I have posted on here but not since I had my exchange, I just wanted to pop in and see what was going on.

Janet, I know that AnneW flew from colorado to NC since she had her expanders put in.

I can't understand why the PS office would let the nurse do the fills, you pay the PS for the procedures. My Ps did all the fills and the nurse was there to lay out the equipment and fill the syringe.

Sheila

Janet, I don't know about other women, but during Christmas I flew from Detroit to Key West. I did have pressure and discomfort from the cabin pressure.  Not so much when we were in the air, but when we were comming down I started to get muscle tightness and shooting pains. This was not fun, since we had a layover in Georiga. When we finally arrived in Key West my boobs were rock hard!!! Not to say they weren't that way to begin with, but this was different.  At the end of this month I have to go to Atlanta with my DH so hopefully it won't be as bad since my expanders will be totally filled.

Terri, speaking of fills, how did your appointment go today? Did you keep on your happy face:)

Today, I think will be my day to be lazy and keep the pj's on. It's almost 11 a.m. and I'm still in bed with of course my Charlie the 100 lbs of Yellow Lab and then there is Ryli the extremely lazy bed hog who is a Puggle. For those of you who are not familiar with Puggles, they are a mix between a Pug and a Begal. Their so ugly their cute. I actually call him Yoda (from star wars). And let's not forget the daughter's cat Simba who thinks she's a dog! I never said my life was dull. If I get any energy I can go outside and clean 3 horse stalls, but I think the dear  daughter is once again in need of gas money, so I'll make her do that! The kids are off from school today, so 3 of the 5 will be around, plus some....all the friends. So like I said, today will be a good bedroom, I have a headache day. I'll talk to you all later. Keep smiling....Sharon

Janet-Your dr put 300cc's in each breast?  WOW!!!!!  I am going on my first fill and I am a little over 300 now.  I know the amount of the cc's look different on different shape bodies.  I am still trying to figure all this out. 

j

I have a strange question for all of you. You all seem to have a different type of expander than I do. My expander's have a decending port, that the ps calls a micro-dome. It is a small round dome, with a flat top, that sits under my skin, about an inch or so from the bottom of my implant. It is attached to a flexible tube that attaches to my expander. When I get injected for my expansions, the ps numbs under my port with lido (which burns like a dickens) then he injects the very top of the port which is about the size of a pea. When he first put these expanders in at the time of my bi-lateral mast. the hospital also gave me a card to hold on to with the serial numbers, manufacture, etc. My expanders are called Mentor's. If you ladies are wondering how big you need to be, find your cards and get on their web site. It will tell you how large you will be with your cc's, etc. It will also tell you your chest sizes when complete. If anyone needs any help, just let me know, since my DH is a Dr. I can excess the physicians site and tell you what your info is. Hope this might help all the questions and wonders. Talk to you all soon.

Sharon

P.S. Just to let you all know, I sucessfully stayed in my PJ's all day, and never even stepped out side. That's a first, in a very, very, long time.

I have flown a couple times during the last 3 months. I have never had any problem with my expanders, but have had a couple difficulties going through airport security. The first time was when I was flying home after the surgery and I had the 2 drains in. I was wearing a hoodie over a loose tee shirt. I was asked to remove my hoodie and then of course the question was "what cha got under there?" I explained that I had just had surgery and I had drains in. I admit it did looked rather suspicious and they do have to make sure I am not carrying contraband or something (I think I discovered the perfect smuggling device!!). I was then asked to go into a room with 3 very tough looking armed women. In retrospect I should not have worried because these expanders are so hard I am sure they are bullet proof! 2 of women stood guarding each door with their hands on their weapons and the third demanded to know what I had under my shirt. I explained. She started looking uncomfortable, but when I said, "You wanna see?". She nodded.  I pulled up my shirt plus the ace bandage. The look on her face was priceless and I felt quite satisfied. I understand that they must be careful and investigate any situation that is odd, but they should do it respectfully and gently. The three of them fell all over themselves getting me out of that room, like my condition might be contagious!

The second time I had trouble was leaving for my journey to Egypt. At Oslo I set off the metal detector (they must have a very sensitive one). They then ran the hand wand over me and it was indeed localized to each expander. I explained that I had a medical device implanted in my chest and they were very polite and happy with this. I was surprised that they set off the alarm, but now that I know that is possible I am prepared for it and don’t worry about it.

For each journey you must go through an initial security check-point. Once through you travel from flight to flight within secure areas and don’t have to go through again. So it really is only a concern once at the beginning of the journey.

Happy travels!

Jani

HannaB of NC--I love little rhymes like that! I want to see your picture, even if it's a dog, so learn how to put in an avatar.

I'm originally from NC, even though the picture of me is in the Swiss Alps, and I live in CO. There are several NC gals here--whereabouts are you?

Back onto the subject of expanders--mine are three months old now, still fairly symmetrical, and bigger than I like. I am aware of them constantly, even in my sleep. I would love to be braless with them, but the muscles ache and get tight when I take my bra off after work. Funny, even though I know it will be uncomfortable, I am still in the habit of pulling off the bra first thing! I guess it's more of a heavy feeling...but the pockets are maturing nicely, and I actually have a fold, not the hamburger bun look.

Three more months, and then I'll swap them out. I am so looking forward to that.

Anne of AnneW of CO by way of NC, FL, AL, CA, and EIEIO 

AnneW

I have not worn a bra since surgery 3 months ago, but today while cleaning the kitchen I got totally fed up with constantly bumping my boobs with my arms. So I got out one of my old sports bras and with a couple snips and stitches modified it from a hold-your-saggy-boobs-up to a pull-your-wide set-boobs-in device. Actually works quite well and I am pleased with it. I think I will continue to wear it for the next 3 weeks.

3 WEEKS TO GO!!!!! I am sooooo excited!

There seems to be a bunch of us approaching this most auspicious date. We should start an exchange calendar (help HannaB - we need a good name for it).  

Jade, I understand the type of expanders you have. That's what most women seem to have on this site. If you go to Mentor.com you can actually see what your implants look like, just look under expanders. Did anyone else (beside's me) get an identification implant card at the time of their expander's surgery? It really is quite interesting to see them outside the body. (Sorry, I love to watch the surgery channels). But like I was trying to describe, my expanders port is way below the implants, the injection port actually site on one of my ribs and looks like a pea under my skin. I will be so glad when their gone!!!

Cheryl, I took photo's of myself before surgery, I actually did this because I wanted my nipples to look like they did before. Someone suggested to me to take a before photo for the tatoo artist and for the PS when reconstruction was being done. Now I look back at those photo's and think, "boy, that's what I used to have!!!!". As for the husbands, yes, I too found that communication seems to the best, when that is they feel like talking:) Have you ever been to a Marriage Encounter Weekend? I hear they work wonders. I'm going to check on one of their web sites to see if they have one near us soon.

Talk to you all soon

Sharon

.

Hello everyone. I'm brand new to this site and am looking for advice and info on tissue expanders.  I had a mastectomy of my left breast a couple of months ago and am in the middle of chemo and then will have radiation. Because of the radiation, my reconstruction had to be delayed until that portion of the 'journey' is complete.  I'm hoping one or all of you strong wonderful courageous women could give me an overview of what to expect with a tissue expander.  I understand everyone is unique, but am anxious to get everyone's input so I at least have an idea of what it may be like.  Does it hurt when they initially put it in?  What is the pain like and how long does it last?  At any point can you sleep on the side of the expander? Anything else you can think of would be greatly appreciated.  Knowledge for me equals less fear and power.  Thanks!

P.S.  I will be having a lift and reduction of my other breast after the expansion is complete and when they put in my final implant.  In the meantime I'm dealing with one sagging DD/DDD breast.  I'm hoping that my journey will end with two full C's.

God bless us all!

Hey All,

I am back from expando exchange land. Had the exchange on Jan 17 very different from the mast. and expander surgery. I just don't do well with anesthesia. All went well with exchange I am finally able to move around alot more today since Thurs. Pain wise you most definitely get relief from the missing foreign objects in your body. I am uncomfortable in the rib cage quite a bit. Not sure if it is due to the bra they make your wear for 3 weeks it really compresses you tight , or the ace bandage I have to wear across the top of the boobs that holds them down. Took vicodin for the first 2 days now  taking Tylenol during the day and at night, I am taking one darvacet and half a soma. The other problem is my butt is just killing from from just laying on my back again.I do miss that being able to kind of turn on your side with the fills. I did go back to the ps the day after surgery I only saw the nurse and they took the dressing off and said everything was great. They didn't look good to me. They are black and blue and shaped oddly . They said that that too will change. I have been so scared to look at them that I haven't taken a shower yet. Today is the day of reckoning my husband will wash my hair since you cant lift your arms up again and I will take a shower before my family  puts me in quarantine . All in all not to bad just alot of stiffness. I too started my crying escapades its just feels like it is never going to end. Just when you feel like a human again you are shot down once again. Today I am trying to put on a happy face . Just cant seem to get out of the pj's just yet. So now that I have depressed everyone...I had to get this out of my system because sometimes you think your family is listening but you know dam well they are not and they are tired of the complaining.

Well please Hanna take it away and make this crowd laugh!!!

Love you all

Stay Well

Love Denise

Hi Birki--

Unless you are planning a flap kind of reconstruction (and maybe even then), you need to have expansion done before radiation.  Radiated skin doesn't stretch well and if you don't have room for reconstruction, you may not be able to have reconstruction done.  Have you consulted with a plastic surgeon yet?  You need to talk to a couple of them (make sure they do a lot of breast reconstruction) to find out your options.  I met with two of them before my mast., and only one of them made clear that expansion needs to precede radiation.  (She's the one I picked, of course.)

Tissue expanders are typically put in when you have the mastectomy, so I don't know how the surgery would go when that's all you're having done, but it would definitely be simpler than a mastectomy.

You should discuss this asap with your radiologist and surgeon.  I would ask your surgeon why reconstruction wasn't discussed before your surgery, if all this wasn't explained then.