Expander exchange

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njbaker
njbaker Member Posts: 9
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I had my expanders exchanged to silicone implants on 4/9. The discomfort is no where near the pain I felt with the expanders, but I'm still feeling soreness & pulling. I'm small, was a B cup before surgery, had only 150cc injected during expansion and that was painful for me - the implants are 175cc. How long does it take for the soreness to subside and does weather, especially rain, have any affect. I was so excited to have the expanders taken out because it was rough for me and I thought I would be home free from any pain immediately after. I'm naturally trying to protect my chest area so I don't think I'm doing my back or shoulders any favors.

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  • m-star
    m-star Member Posts: 441
    #2
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    so the silicone implants are
    so the silicone implants are LARGER than the saline expanders which were removed???
    Is that normal???
    I'm not suprised you're sore then.I am under expansion right now too.As yet i've had 210ml in each side and i dont know how much i'll have in total.They're playing it by ear.But my PS did say they would OVER stretch me slightly so as to put a slightly smaller silicone implant in to allow for skin shrinkage afterwards.Aparently this gives the finishes article a more natural look and not so tight.

    I imagine your soreness will go down soon as it's almost like you've had another 25ml expansion really. Glad to know the discomfort has gone some tho compared to the expanders.Cant wait for my exchange,.
  • njbaker
    njbaker Member Posts: 9
    #3
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    m-star said:

    so the silicone implants are
    so the silicone implants are LARGER than the saline expanders which were removed???
    Is that normal???
    I'm not suprised you're sore then.I am under expansion right now too.As yet i've had 210ml in each side and i dont know how much i'll have in total.They're playing it by ear.But my PS did say they would OVER stretch me slightly so as to put a slightly smaller silicone implant in to allow for skin shrinkage afterwards.Aparently this gives the finishes article a more natural look and not so tight.

    I imagine your soreness will go down soon as it's almost like you've had another 25ml expansion really. Glad to know the discomfort has gone some tho compared to the expanders.Cant wait for my exchange,.

    I'm not sure if it's normal
    I'm not sure if it's normal or not. The surgeon had 6 sets of implants before surgery, 3 different profiles of 150cc and three of 175cc - I guess she determined which one was selected on how they looked during surgery. You're right about it feeling like an expansion, I know what you're going through. I had 30cc injected the first time and it was so painful that they only did 20cc each time afterward. It took longer but the pain was more manageable without taking meds, I'm not a fan of taking anything if I don't really need it. I'm an exercise nut and would really like to start stretching to ease the back pain but I was told to take it easy until my next post op appt. in two weeks. I found that going to a qualified physical therapist really helped me when I had the expanders. When is your exchange scheduled?
  • ms_independent
    ms_independent Member Posts: 214
    #4
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    my exchange
    I had my exchange the middle of March and I'm still a little sore. Not sore enough to stop me from most of my usual activities or keep me awake at night. I'll just get an uncomfortable pulling sensation with some movements. My PS also has me massaging the implants at least 5 times daily, I notice soreness under my arms when doing that. He is still restricting me from any "strenuous" use of my arms. I'm not too sure what he means by that so, I am not lifting weights or doing heavy arm/shoulder excercises (like in some yoga poses or push-ups).

    I expected the exchange to be easier than it was. And I expected to "bounce back" quicker than I did. I think I have a tendancy to discount how traumatic surgery/anesthesia is to the body. And I think some of the affects are cumulative with our other surgeries, treatments and swirling emotions. I haven't noticed any difference related to the weather.

    You are 2 1/2 weeks post-op so, I'm not surprised you still have soreness. I wouldn't expect you to be having pain. Having said that---the expanders and implants the surgeons use are shaped so differently---they may cause different post-op pain and recovery. For example; my expanders stretched from way under my arms (almost to my back) to almost the middle of my chest and he filled 100 to 150 cc per visit. They were shaped like fat oval pancakes. I was up to 700cc by the time of the exchange. That was to get me to a large B/small C cup. A friend has expanders that look like tennis balls on her chest and her fills are more like 50cc at a time. Obviously our surgeons have a really different way of doing things. And I don't know how those differences may change our recoveries.

    Have you called his office and asked? I have learned more from the office staff about what it is like to live with things implanted in your chest and what recovery is like. My PS tells me all the technical stuff and gives me general expectations. The staff gives me the pratical day-to-day stuff.

    Hope you are more comfortable soon!

    Hugs, El
  • njbaker
    njbaker Member Posts: 9
    #5
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    ms_independent said:

    my exchange
    I had my exchange the middle of March and I'm still a little sore. Not sore enough to stop me from most of my usual activities or keep me awake at night. I'll just get an uncomfortable pulling sensation with some movements. My PS also has me massaging the implants at least 5 times daily, I notice soreness under my arms when doing that. He is still restricting me from any "strenuous" use of my arms. I'm not too sure what he means by that so, I am not lifting weights or doing heavy arm/shoulder excercises (like in some yoga poses or push-ups).

    I expected the exchange to be easier than it was. And I expected to "bounce back" quicker than I did. I think I have a tendancy to discount how traumatic surgery/anesthesia is to the body. And I think some of the affects are cumulative with our other surgeries, treatments and swirling emotions. I haven't noticed any difference related to the weather.

    You are 2 1/2 weeks post-op so, I'm not surprised you still have soreness. I wouldn't expect you to be having pain. Having said that---the expanders and implants the surgeons use are shaped so differently---they may cause different post-op pain and recovery. For example; my expanders stretched from way under my arms (almost to my back) to almost the middle of my chest and he filled 100 to 150 cc per visit. They were shaped like fat oval pancakes. I was up to 700cc by the time of the exchange. That was to get me to a large B/small C cup. A friend has expanders that look like tennis balls on her chest and her fills are more like 50cc at a time. Obviously our surgeons have a really different way of doing things. And I don't know how those differences may change our recoveries.

    Have you called his office and asked? I have learned more from the office staff about what it is like to live with things implanted in your chest and what recovery is like. My PS tells me all the technical stuff and gives me general expectations. The staff gives me the pratical day-to-day stuff.

    Hope you are more comfortable soon!

    Hugs, El

    Thanks Ms. Independent, it
    Thanks Ms. Independent, it comforts me to know I'm not alone in feeling this way. It seems to me that the medical staff told me thousands of symptoms I could have while going through chemo but the surgeons don't seem to give up too much information until grilled and even that is vague. I did call and the nurse told me to expect "discomfort" for some time, that word can have a wide range of meaning. I never heard of massaging the implants but I will be sure to ask, thanks so much for the suggestion. I'm new to this site and I'm so grateful I found it, wish I had earlier but glad I'm here now. Hope you're feeling better also.
  • SamuraiMom
    SamuraiMom Member Posts: 295
    #6
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    does get better
    Hi!

    Just had my expanders taken out and exchanged for silicone (which I'm not keeping) on 3/11/10. As of today the pain is gone but I have occasional strange nerve tingling just below the skin surface when the skin moves over the implant a certain way.

    I dealt with muscle spasm a lot and still cringe just thinking about feeling the equivalent of a charlie horse in my chest.

    I just started not running for cover every time something comes near my chest.

    A heating pad really helped me a lot.

    Good luck!

    JoJo

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