Day 166 - Tissue Expanders (and pictures)

Today I had a follow up appointment with the reconstructive team. The appointment was for the removal of the last drain, but since I had that taken out on Monday, it became my first Fill appointment! I decided to keep the appointment just in case and to have the doctor or whoever it was look at my incisions and stuff. Lucky me, I got Jason again. Jason said that my wounds look good and everything is healing nicely. I did have some questions for him.

1. There's a place on my chest wall (near the cleavage area) where on the right side it feels awful, dull ache or pain... is it normal? He says that it's normal. It can be from the tissue expander and that with a fill, it can get better or it can get worse. However, there is a drug that can help with that soreness. It's called, Gabapentin, and what it does is blocks the nerve receptors by blocking the sodium. This drug is something that I would take on a regular basis three times a day for several weeks.
2. Are there any specific excercises I should be doing with the shoulder and arm because I am dealing with cording or Axillary Web Syndrome (AWS)? He says that I should be walking my fingers up the wall. When it starts to hurt, I need to back down and then stretch the arm/shoulder that way. Then the next time, I can go a little further. It should not hurt when stretching.
3. Chest wall tightness, how long will it be that way? He says it is normal for the chest wall to be tight for several months. He says that the swollen chest area can last for several weeks and it will take time to heal. For the next 6 weeks I shouldn't be doing any heavy lifting. He says that after 6 weeks, my incisions are only 70% healed and strong enough. That's amazing!
4. Shower facing front? He says that now that I am two weeks past surgery, I can face front and let the water hit my chest. Before, I showered with the nozzle pointed at my back. It's a little hard to wash off the soap that way. :-)
5. Muscle spasms - He says that I could have muscle spasms. They can bet treated with valium or ativan. Interesting... ativan. I had a big one last night as I was walking into a store. I thought there was a bug crawling on me or in me. It freaked the heck out of me!

Then it was time to get my first of several fills. So my tissue expanders are 350cc's. They expand them even bigger than that... about 20% bigger after I say "Done." When I was reading my pathology report, I did see that the weight of my breast tissue they took out was about 220g or so. But breast tissue goes under the arm and up the chest. So who knows how much breast tissue would have made the "cup" size. Basically, it looks like my tissue expanders will be going to about 420cc's when all is said and done. I am just going for a full C cup. That's all I really want. I liked my B, but it didn't fit some of the clothes I had. So my first fill was 25cc's. Jason used the medical "stud finder" which has a strong magnet on it to find the port. He searched for it on the vertical and horizontal access. I told him where it will most likely be because I can feel the port area through my skin. I was right on the mark too! Then when he found it, he was going to disinfect the area with betadine... um, no! That's a derivative of iodine. He laughed and said, "That's right. I saw you were allergic to it." Then he used alcohol. Next he took a long needle (like the needle for an epidural) and poked me. I didn't feel the poke, but the poke was uncomfortable because it was going right into the tissue expander (TE). Then he retracted some fluid - it came out blue. Dr. Thaker likes to put a dye in the expander so when they expand, they know they've hit their mark. Then he started the fill very slowly... one cc at a time. Finally he was done. I could feel the TE getting ever so much bigger. My breast does feel a bit heavier. Then it was time for the left side. Again, I hit my mark with where the port was. He also looked at my little blister on my chest. He said it's healing nicely, but wants it to be a little more healed before they start injecting 100cc's into the TE. That's fine by me! So while he was injecting the saline in the left breast, I could feel my skin expanding a bit. So far, my boobies feel good. But we'll see what tomorrow brings. Jason says that tomorrow I could be feeling sore. But today I feel great. No pain, no gain right?

And as I promised, here are a few pictures:

Getting ready for surgery (I had my boobies!)

Post mastectomy (the very next day).
You can see the drains attached to the side of my gown.

Here's my pain ball, which became a pain in the neck.

These are the little "soaker hose" tubes that were wrapped in my breast cavity.
About 12" was inside of me and if you looked closely, you could see the little holes!

This is what the tissue expander looks like. The round port is metal.
That's where the saline is injected. This demo one is 750cc's.

Here's a silicone implant.
They now have "gummi" implants which are now being used in Europe.

Here's the medical "Stud Finder".
Magnet is on the right.

Here's how much hair I have... I actually have more.
This picture was taken just a few days ago, if you can believe it.

So, there you have it. My mom left on her flight today back to Arizona, so it's nice to have a quiet house. I can relax and take a nap! :)

Until next time... oh yes, my next appointment for an expand is next Thursday!