First Fill

ReelJiggy

Boy, I am full of questions today!
I had my expander put in two weeks ago (see Reconstruction Nightmare for details!)
I am scheduled to have my 1st fill tomorrow. What can I expect. I am still very sensitive and sore from the surgery.
Thanks!

jessiesmom1

Expander fill
I had my tissue expander put in at the time of my right mastectomy. Saline was added at that time. I did not have another fill until 11 months later when my chemo was over. It was done in my reconstructive surgeon's office. I could not even feel the needle pierce my skin since I was, of course, numb on that side of my chest from the mastectomy. What I COULD feel was my right "breast" expanding. I said it was like feeling a balloon get blown up. It did not hurt a bit - it was just a weird feeling. I could definitely feel the difference. I must have had a lot of skin because I only needed that single saline fill beyond the initial fill. I had my expander exchanged for the "permanent" implant a month later (6/13/11). I also had a breast reduction on my left (non-cancer) side. The fill was nothing in comparison what I had already been through.

Good luck.

IRENE

GreeneyedGirl

jessiesmom1 said:

Expander fill
I had my tissue expander put in at the time of my right mastectomy. Saline was added at that time. I did not have another fill until 11 months later when my chemo was over. It was done in my reconstructive surgeon's office. I could not even feel the needle pierce my skin since I was, of course, numb on that side of my chest from the mastectomy. What I COULD feel was my right "breast" expanding. I said it was like feeling a balloon get blown up. It did not hurt a bit - it was just a weird feeling. I could definitely feel the difference. I must have had a lot of skin because I only needed that single saline fill beyond the initial fill. I had my expander exchanged for the "permanent" implant a month later (6/13/11). I also had a breast reduction on my left (non-cancer) side. The fill was nothing in comparison what I had already been through.

Good luck.

IRENE

I am 2 years out~
So my memory of how soon after surgery did I get my first fill is foggy, but I know it was within 4 weeks, and I was nervous, so I took a pain pill about an hour before i had it done. I remember thinking I really didn't need the pain pill~everything was numb from the mastectomy so after having fills for several months it seemed like the only time I felt anything was as we got closer to the end and I was full. You could always take some tylenol or motrin if your doctor will let you, prior to going in.
~hope that helps a little.
Melanie

RE

http://www.youtube.com/user/J
http://www.youtube.com/user/JKKJ12#p/a/u/0/SQ8-f7F9BdI

The above link is to one of our gals you tube page (you will have to copy and paste it) where she filmed each fill and the progress as she went along. It is tastefully done and will give you a good idea of what to expect.

Mine was done about two years ago but I did not have too much pain with it, just a bit of tightness which eventually would go away.

Hugs,

RE

jo jo

I had my first fill about
I had my first fill about 3-4 weeks after my mastectomy/expander surgery. It really wasnt painful cuz my boobs were still numb i just felt pressure when they injected the saline. It wasnt till i started getting bigger that it got uncomfortable at times. It also depends on how fast you do it (my advise on that and i think almost everyone will agree...is take your time with the fills, dont hurry thru it cuz you get more pain and stretch marks ect ect) anyway everyone is different on the amount they put in at one time...me i did 25 cc's each time cuz that was great for me, others did 50 - 100 cc's at a time and that worked for them. You will know what works for you and the docs are usually good at estimating what to start you with. The thing that scared me at first was the size of the syringe...it was huge...but it looks worse than it is. Keep us posted on how it goes!

Noel

GreeneyedGirl said:

I am 2 years out~
So my memory of how soon after surgery did I get my first fill is foggy, but I know it was within 4 weeks, and I was nervous, so I took a pain pill about an hour before i had it done. I remember thinking I really didn't need the pain pill~everything was numb from the mastectomy so after having fills for several months it seemed like the only time I felt anything was as we got closer to the end and I was full. You could always take some tylenol or motrin if your doctor will let you, prior to going in.
~hope that helps a little.
Melanie

I had a lumpectomy, but,
I had a lumpectomy, but, wanted to wish you good luck with your first fill.

Clementine_P

My first fill
Happened about 7 weeks out of surgery. I didn't get filled in the initial surgery when I had my mastectomies and placement of the expanders. I was nervous but it turned out to be totally unfounded. I felt a little tight chested for the afternoon and evening afterwards and purposefully slept a bit propped up because I didn't want to lie flat. I didn't have pain from it just a tight feeling. The actual fill takes about 1-2 minutes per breast. By the next day, I felt totally normal. I hope your fills are easy and painless.

Best,
Clementine

butterflylvr

Clementine_P said:

My first fill
Happened about 7 weeks out of surgery. I didn't get filled in the initial surgery when I had my mastectomies and placement of the expanders. I was nervous but it turned out to be totally unfounded. I felt a little tight chested for the afternoon and evening afterwards and purposefully slept a bit propped up because I didn't want to lie flat. I didn't have pain from it just a tight feeling. The actual fill takes about 1-2 minutes per breast. By the next day, I felt totally normal. I hope your fills are easy and painless.

Best,
Clementine

Well too late for me to post
Well too late for me to post by now since your girls already had their first dose. I must have been one of the lucky ones because I sailed through this. I went every week for seven weeks and had 100 cc's put in (bi-lateral mastectomy). The only discomfort I felt was a slight tightening of the chest but that went away after the first day. I think since your expansion is right after your surgery like mine was, maybe your pain will be minimal because you are still numb from the operation. Four months post surgery for me and my chest is starting to become more sensitive and I can now finally feel my fully inflated expanders. It literally feels like I'm carrying around a couple of water balloons. But they look good.LOL

My implant exchange will be in a couple of months as I am still healing up from radiation.

I hope all went well for you,
Lorrie

ReelJiggy

butterflylvr said:

Well too late for me to post
Well too late for me to post by now since your girls already had their first dose. I must have been one of the lucky ones because I sailed through this. I went every week for seven weeks and had 100 cc's put in (bi-lateral mastectomy). The only discomfort I felt was a slight tightening of the chest but that went away after the first day. I think since your expansion is right after your surgery like mine was, maybe your pain will be minimal because you are still numb from the operation. Four months post surgery for me and my chest is starting to become more sensitive and I can now finally feel my fully inflated expanders. It literally feels like I'm carrying around a couple of water balloons. But they look good.LOL

My implant exchange will be in a couple of months as I am still healing up from radiation.

I hope all went well for you,
Lorrie

Thanks girls. Actually I
Thanks girls. Actually I will not be getting my first fill until next week. Doc wants me to wait, I'm still swollen.
I had left mastectomy in Dec and the surgeon did not want the expander put in at that time as they still did not know if I would need radiation and they preferred not to have expander in place if I needed it. I didn't, so I am now getting around to the reconstruction after 4 rounds of chemo (done end of March. High-ish OncoType DX).
I am looking forward to this part of this roller coaster, as my cousin said, the new boobies are the consolation prize!
I will let you know how it goes next week. I nursed my babies, so I am familiar with "engoregment".

Heatherbelle

ReelJiggy said:

Thanks girls. Actually I
Thanks girls. Actually I will not be getting my first fill until next week. Doc wants me to wait, I'm still swollen.
I had left mastectomy in Dec and the surgeon did not want the expander put in at that time as they still did not know if I would need radiation and they preferred not to have expander in place if I needed it. I didn't, so I am now getting around to the reconstruction after 4 rounds of chemo (done end of March. High-ish OncoType DX).
I am looking forward to this part of this roller coaster, as my cousin said, the new boobies are the consolation prize!
I will let you know how it goes next week. I nursed my babies, so I am familiar with "engoregment".

"Engorgement" - that is
"Engorgement" - that is EXACTLY what I told people getting my fills felt like, towards the end! Looked like I had 2 footballs poking out of my chest, and felt like it too!
*hugs*
Heather

DianeBC

Clementine_P said:

My first fill
Happened about 7 weeks out of surgery. I didn't get filled in the initial surgery when I had my mastectomies and placement of the expanders. I was nervous but it turned out to be totally unfounded. I felt a little tight chested for the afternoon and evening afterwards and purposefully slept a bit propped up because I didn't want to lie flat. I didn't have pain from it just a tight feeling. The actual fill takes about 1-2 minutes per breast. By the next day, I felt totally normal. I hope your fills are easy and painless.

Best,
Clementine

I didn't go thru this, but,
I didn't go thru this, but, wanted to add my good luck to you with your fills!

VickiSam

DianeBC said:

I didn't go thru this, but,
I didn't go thru this, but, wanted to add my good luck to you with your fills!

A little late .. but I am going to add my 2 cents ...
TE insert at the time of my bilateral mastectomy. 3 weeks later, I had my first fill of 120cc per breast. There is a pinch when the needle enters each breast -- and later there is a tightness due to the increase of fluids. Try try try 60 cc first go around to to gage what you will be dealing with. Just a suggestion.

Ibuprofen taken 1 hours before fill helps, as well as frozen peas (lighter than an ice pack) placed on each breast to help with the inflammation due to fill.

Ask Plastic Surgeon staff what they recommend.

Strength, Courage and Hope.

Vicki Sam