continued Tissue expander pain!!

Thanks Linda, my PS said he finds that you get better results with silicone. I asked him about the tear shaped implants and he said he did not like those. He said if they shift around, you could end up asymetrical. So he is going with round ones. I can't wait to get these horrible hard expanders out!

Debbie 

Well, I posted that I was doing ok. I went to the pharmacy to get my pain meds refilled just in case. Came home and piddled about the house. Then I laid down to read for awhile and got up and 5 to start dinner. THE PAIN! It was like a severe burning in my right side of my left breast (non-cancer breast). I popped 2 lortab and had to walk around holding my breast. Somehow the pressure made it feel better. My husband tried to wrap an ace bandage around my chest but to get it tight enough, I could not breath. After about 1 hour of crying I took a valium and now I am very drowsy but the pain has been reduced to manageable with some quick burst of burning. If I stay still, I am fine. Moving around is agonizing. Hopefully, it will resolve itself tomorrow. I am sick of pain meds and the valium makes me sleepy. So I guess it is off to bed. Will have to sleep on my back tonite. Bummer.

Debbie 

Debbie,

Sorry about the post, I got you confused with someone else that had their exchange done on Thursday.  Had you just had a fill and the result was the pain?  I never had pain with my fills just discomfort from the tightness and my clothes felt like sand paper on my skin.  I pray for your relief.

Linda

Hi Kerry, My implants feel great! I only took pain pills for th first 24 hours. They look exactly the same size as what I was, and they are soooo much more comfortable than the expanders. Are your implants also the tear drop gummy type?

For those of you with expander pain, just grin and bear it...the pain is miserable, but the results are great. Hang in there,

Michelle

Hi Ladies, I had my last fill which brought me to 600 cc's on Wed., July 9th. It feels like it is pressing even more on my chest.  Between my cleavage area is very tight and this whole experience has been nothing but uncomfortable to say the least.  My exchange is scheduled for Aug., 19th and I was wondering if anyone felt better after having their last fill? I mean do the mucles relax in weeks to come or do the tightness and pressure ever ease up a bit? Aug., 19th can't get here soon enough.  I can honestly say that if I'd known I would feel like this I would have opted to have nothing.  Not only is the pain physical it is mental for me.  I often have melt downs and I know the only thing keeping me together is GOD and my family.  Everyone says I'm a trooper and you can do this but I actually feel like I'm on the outside looking in at everyone else living and feeling great.  I'm going on vacation the end of this month but I'm not looking forward to it at all. 

dhettish I really hope by this date you are feeling much much better. I am sorry you have been having such a hard time, I wish I could give you some words of wisdom but I have only went for 3 fills now and only have 160cc's.

Monica I don't know if I could ever handle 600cc's. Wow. I just have take 50cc's my first time, which hurt me for 6 days. Then he put in 25cc's the 2nd time, and I done well, last week he put in 35cc's and i left there feeling great,but as evening came on my right side was having some pains in there. I ended up taking a darvocet. I feel like such a whimp when I see what you all have gone threw. I just want to get enought to get me to a C cup. I don't know what that is????

Good luck Monica hope you are going to start feeling better quickly also, hang in there girl that due date is coming. Just like having kids there is a due date then it will be done. Take care everyone Hugs.

Well Girls!  I go back to work today 7 weeks post surgery!  Hope it goes well, I am some what comfortable now as I had my PS take me down to 375cc's,on Wed. I still have burning, but I guess it is something we all live with till the exchange!  Debbie, are all fills painful?  I am going to only start with 30cc at a time.  I would rather go slow.  I know only pain since I had these expanders put in.  How many cc's make a b cup? anyone know?  Tami, Is work going ok for you? Are you tired out when you get home?  BEIG, Good Luck with your surgery, WE are all praying for you! Did they explain about the drain tubes?  I found wearing shirts that I could step into [ the ones with the strechy tube top materiel and little straps. Babydoll style} HELPED me alot, that way, I did not have to put arms over my head everytime i changed, Much easier stepping into them! Some how we need to let others know about this support site. If everyone posted it in their PS office it would be GREAT help for alot of women!!  Have a better DAY everyone. Bless you all!  Jeanie

Good Morning,

Sunshine you are not a wimp. I still take Lortab. It keeps me out of pain and allows me to do gardening, housework, bathing 40lb dogs, etc. I do not like taking pain meds, but I also do not like being in pain and unable to do anything.

Jeansbeans, the fills themselves are not painful other than a needle stick. You feel a little tight and there is pain afterwards. I got a very painful burning pain and discovered that the first day I have to be still. Moving from a lying down position to sitting up caused pain. I moved slowly and limited my arm use. By the next day, I begin moving my arms and getting back into my routinew/ minimal pain. I also got a little pain in my upper back. We started w/ 50cc, the first fill was 50cc and then the 2nd fill was 100cc and hope to do 100cc the next three fills. I am going for a small C cup and he will fill to 500cc.

Debbie 

Monica, you and I sound like we're on the same path.  I just had my last fill to 600 cc's and my exchange is scheduled for August 25.  It has been really rough.  Most people don't even know what's going on (except close friends).  The majority of people who know me assume I'm all fine now (not knowing about the weekly fills, the pain, the discomfort, the second surgery).  When I DO tell people, they are absolutely amazed--most people just have no idea what this reconstruction thing is all about.  And a second surgery!!!  Oh my gosh, they are just shocked.  I think a lot of us suffer in silence, particularly at our work places where it just seems too personal to discuss our expansion process, especially with male co-workers.

 But now I have a question--I am only 5'2" and not overweight, yet have been filled to 600. After reading everyone's posts, I am afraid I am going to look too big after the exchange!!  Maybe I need to tell the PS to make it much smaller???  He is trying to match my good boob.  Maybe I need to have reduction surgery.  

Hello Ladies, I want to say thank you to Kerry & Tami for your encouraging words.  It seems impossible for anyone else to feel this way.  I would never tell anyone to have the expander as an option.  I believe whatever they take from your stomache to make new breast is probably the best option. I went into this expander thing blind.  I thought there was only going to be one surgery and the expander was the permanent breast.  I thought this thing would be filled to match the good breast and all is done...but nooooo you then have to have a second surgery to take this monster out after waiting what seems like forever.  When I had my second fill I asked the nurse how many cc's do I need and she said 400.  Well needless to say, everytime I went back my PS said a little bit more and a little bit more turned out to be 600 cc's.  I started out padding the BC side and now I have to pad the good boob side.  Picture that!

Christianne...I'm 5' 2" also but I asked my PS last week what size am I going to be.  I don't want to be bigger than I was and he said I'll be a full B or small C depending on who makes the bras. I don't know if that was a joke or if he was being serious.  I just pray for this to be over very soon and I can look back and say WOW! I really did it.  Aug., 19th seems so far away. I'm praying for you all as well as myself.    

Hi Ladies,

Gandl,  Sorry to hear that you are 5 weeks out of exchange surgery and feeling the same way as me. I am having more tightness and discomfort instead of less. I did overdo it too much on Friday when I took my DD's inflateable pool down and was pulling and rolling the thing up. Better today, but I still feel tight. I am going to ask the PS if I can get back to physio to stretch my muscles. I used to go weekly to get stretched out and it does the trick for me, back and neck. I will let you know what she says and please let me know what your PS says.

Mikki,  No compression or sports bra for me. The PS told me that underwire bras were out for the first month as she does not want the wire digging into the implant. I see her on Thursday so I am anxious to see what she says.

The sizing thing is not an exact science. If you read way back on this thread, this drove me NUTS. The number of cc's do not make the cup size. Everyone is different. I was expanded to 335cc and my implants are 275cc and I am wearing my 2 old bras that are a B cup. Same size as before surgery. Some women say to get your path report and see the amount of grams that was removed with each breast and that  should be about the same size you need to replace with the same number of cc's. Some say that grams and cc's are 2 different types of measurement, but this worked for me. I had 267 grams removed on the left and 254 grams removed on the right (this was the side that had the excisional biopsy done) and my implants were 275cc. I project the same, and fit an old B cup but have a cleavage that I never had before, the implants are wider than my natural boobs, but with everything said, they are pretty close to the original thing.Hope that helps.

Take Care All,

Kerry

Lina do what jean says, I agree with her from my experience. My PS put 50cc's in at surgery time and then after my tubes where removed the week after he put in 50cc's and I want to tell you something I wish someone would of told me before my first fill, sit up slowly and let it kinda settle in and step down from the table easy. I did not do this and it felt like it hit my ribs and broke them, it didn't but it felt like it. I was back on pain med for 6 days after that then the next time i only had 25cc's put in and done great, this last week he put in 35 and again I am doing good. I don't know what to have him do this week 40 or back to 50? Not everyone experiences the same thing. Do take it slow there is no race to getting filled other than getting the exchange surgery date here quicker. I am soooo ready for that but I am not going to walk in pain anymore than I have to. I am back at work and doing all my regular duties. I feel like my ol self again, it helped getting back to work keeps my mind off of ....oh I hurt. I don't have time for it there. I really don't feel any more tired than before all this at the end of the day. I can say I rest better at night now cause I am tired at that time. I have had the burning after the fills that last a while it is only in my right side. I don't understand why it is always in the right.

Jean I work in a hospital setting and our radiologist knows how to do all the range of motion so without having to lay on my stomach for him to pop my back he done range of motion on with my arms and loosened the muscle up around my shoulder blades a world of difference. Made me a happy person again. You might try and find someone that can do that so you can get releif in your back.

Lina you hang in there and do not be scared, we are all going threw the same thing and it is not a pleasure ride that is for sure but as we all say it will get better. Just think ladies we will have to stand on the street corners and show off our boobs sometime cause we will look soooo good. Other women will be jealous of how perky our breast look......lol. Hugs to all

Thanks for the responses about the size thing.  It is confusing.

So he is going to lift and slightly reduce the other side.  How is recovery for this for those of you who have already gone through it? 

You all I still don't understand the cc thing. Like Sneakypie says she had 600cc's and that was a B. I am wanting to go to a full C and i only have 160cc's now it will be Christmas before I am done filling in that case. I can't imagine having 600cc's in me. I figure I will go get a C bra and try and see if that is the size I want to be. I have wondered do you make the expanders go as big as you want or can you stop and they can still put in a C size implant, I mean after you get at least to a reasonable size of stretch? I just don't understand alot of this cause I have a PS that doesn't like to answer questions so I don't find out what I want to know except from here. I am soooo glad to have you all that can give me an idea what to expect or otherwise I would be a mess. Thanks to you all.

Hi ladies

Just thought I'd mention a great website that answers a lot of reconstruction questions

it's breastreconstruction.org