Difficult Recovery from Tram Flap

seeknpeace
seeknpeace Member Posts: 259
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I am just wondering if any of you who have had an immediate tram flap reconstruction has had any problems?

I had a double mastectomy on 2-4 with immed. tram flap and the left breast has softened and looks fairly good.

However, the right breast that had the cancer and from which the nodes were taken, is still swollen, hard on the side that is closest to the underarm and into the underarm area, and the skin is purple on that breast on that side and all under my arm. There seems to be some tissue that is hard and not sofening well into the reconstructed breast, and I have a lot of pain on that side. Especially if I use that arm much, and I have a hard time sleeping at night because of the uncomfortableness, even with pillows, etc.

Also, the upper part of my abdomen is very painful, and I have a hard time sitting up for long periods or walking a long way. I have had to get a chair twice while trying to shop a week or so back. The pain was excruciating.

My incisions are a breeze, no pain at all. My doctor used stitches and they healed really quickly and with minimal scars. It is just this pain that I have and at 6 weeks I thought I would be almost back to normal. I read that a lot of you were/are. I would really like to see how many have had trouble like this.

My plastic surgeon says that sometimes one breast will stall and take longer and is not showing concern. The flaps are fine, that took well, so I am not in danger of a flap failure. It is just this swollen hard purple breast and upper abdomen pain that holds me back.

Jan

Comments

  • DeeNY711
    DeeNY711 Member Posts: 476 Member
    #2
    I did not have tram flaps done, but can tell you that the healing process following any type of surgery continues over a period of years before the final result is observed. I do recall others mentioning very painful abdomen following tram flaps. It is still a week and a half until you will be 8 weeks post-op. Hope you see improvement soon.
    Love,
    Denise
  • seeknpeace
    seeknpeace Member Posts: 259
    #3
    DeeNY711 said:

    I did not have tram flaps done, but can tell you that the healing process following any type of surgery continues over a period of years before the final result is observed. I do recall others mentioning very painful abdomen following tram flaps. It is still a week and a half until you will be 8 weeks post-op. Hope you see improvement soon.
    Love,
    Denise

    Yes, I think that I am impatient, but just this week seems better. I just wonder if these ever feel like breasts in the sense of when I stand up they don't feel like weights hanging off my chest, and not part of me. And, the tummy tuck was great for looks but, there is this oddness about it .. this puffy or odd look, and a feeling of constriction all the time. I just hope all that changes. I haven't read many ppls results or after effects from the tram. I don't regret it, I just wish that I knew what to expect. I know that the feeling in my abdomen will slowly return...it is almost like I can track it from week to week. I can feel a little more feeling in the skin closer to the middle of my abdomen each week. I am not concerned with that....just the other things. Thank you so much for sharing your information with me.

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