What is a good moment? Managing Tissue Expander Discomfort at Home. My incision sites on both breasts stung pretty badly. Elevation of the heart rate and blood pressure should be avoided for the first 2 weeks to minimize swelling and bruising. I have read that many women struggle with pain after a mastectomy! Breast skin and nerves are usually numb after a mastectomy, so the pain is caused by the stretching of the muscle. For more information, read Nipple and Areola Reconstruction Using a Skin Graft. Later, I would find out my surgery finished early, but there were immediate signs that something wasn't right. Cancer Breast Cancer Living With Causes and Management of Tissue Expander Pain These may be used in preparation for breast implants or reconstruction By Jaime R. Herndon, MS, MPH Jaime R. Herndon, MS, MPH Jaime Herndon is a freelance health/medical writer with over a decade of experience writing for the public. When they got there, there were signs that the nurses had struggled to get me to a stable point.
Board-Certified Plastic Surgeons Serving Denver & Lone Tree, Colorado. Ask your surgeon when you may resume your blood thinning medications. Capsular contracture may reoccur in one or both breasts. Talk to your healthcare provider before using them because they can sometimes cause skin irritation that increases the risk of infection, especially if you're undergoing radiation therapy. Tissue expanders are the best choice post-mastectomy when an implant will be used in order to stretch the skin around the breast and chest wall muscles when the skin is taught.
Prior to having breast cancer, I naively thought a bilateral mastectomy consisted of removing old boobs and putting in new "permanent" implants. Please keep in mind that the final appearance of the tissue expander reconstruction will not be evident for a few months. I kept thinking it wouldn't be that bad. You may remove the bra to shower.
To go through a double mastectomy and reconstruction is tough mentally and physically. Your surgeon will replace the air in your tissue expander with liquid about 2 weeks after your surgery. A small scar can develop at the surgical drain site. You can immediately feel a huge difference, and it's such a relief! Infections that are diagnosed early are easier to manage with local or oral antibiotics. You can take pain medication and a muscle relaxer when you need it, You'll get these when you're discharged from the hospital. My blood levels were very low due to the blood I lost in surgery. After reading the discussion below, please contact your surgeon if you have questions. The doctors and nurses worked with precision and speed to get the problem resolved. You can sleep with 4 to 5 pillows positioned under your back and head, or in a recliner. However, many women find that it is more comfortable to sleep in a recliner chair for a while. You can also line your bra with soft gauze.
However, after the tissue expanders were filled, I found the stretching of my skin to be painful. Journal of Breast Cancer. Aim it at your upper back or your arm. Replace the gauze every day to make sure it's always clean. In general, this technique is best used in women with small breasts with good skin tone and the utilization of AlloDerm® is critical to provide complete coverage of the implant. I still couldn't get out of bed or up from a chair without assistance. Side note, if you want a brow product that will last through surgery and days of recovery, get the new Brow Definer Pencil from Anastasia Beverly Hills. At the end of the 3-month period, I will go back into surgery to have the inflated tissue expanders switched out for the permanent implants. Though the distance was less than a block between buildings, the only way to get me there was an ambulance (woohoo, my first ambulance ride).
Small plastic drains, called Jackson-Pratt® (JP) drains, below or near each incision (surgical cut). 190 Testicular Cancer. We want you to tell us about any discomfort you feel so that we can offer solutions that are appropriate for you. Do not use deodorant until after you put your bra on. As the suction searches for liquid, you feel the painful pull against your dry muscles, tissue and nerves.
Fluid can be added to the expander until a volume is reached that the patient is pleased with. Your drain site(s) may itch. They'll use a small needle. Call your plastic surgeon or nurse if you have any of these: - A fever of 100.
Why did I think I could do this? Do not aim the shower stream at your reconstructed breast. They aren't the most comfortable things to have attached to your chest, but luckily they are temporary! 2017;2017:1791546. doi:10. How long is surgery to remove expanders and put in implants? You'll be able to go home once you've recovered from anesthesia (medication to make you sleep during surgery). It pretty much looks like a deflated breast implant.