Discomfort after nipple saving bilateral mastectomy

taiga said:

bilateral with tissue expanders
I had my nipple sparing bilateral mastectomy with expanders May 1st. I pretty much weaned down to pain pill(s) at night at 3 weeks. But I still take one at bedtime. I had to go back to surgery June 20th. Shortly after the May 1st surgery, I developed a fluid pocket in my armpit where 14 nodes were removed. Then the tissue expander on that side started shifting towards the armpit. Between the drains, which were in for 3 weeks, and the fluid and the shifting expander, I was miserable.

I had surgery on June 20th to move the expander back and also put a drain in the armpit, so I left with 2 drains which stayed in a little over a week. I haven't even had a fill yet - my first one is tomorrow. I really feel more comfortable not wearing a bra - I don't really need one, it more for cosmetic purposes depending on what I'm wearing. But the insides of my arms down to the elbows are sensitive. It does take time and everyone is different. I don't like taking pain meds but my plastic surgeon has no problem and isn't surprised at all that I still need one at night. Give yourself a major break - we've been through a lot! Make sure you do your exercises, you don't want frozen shoulders. Stay strong, this too shall pass.

Starting physical therapy and massage tomorrow
I told the doctor it really hurt even when i walked and she recommended a more snug jog bra that clips and recommended Lululemon Athletica. Nothing is comfortable all the time and I take a pain killer about 4 times a day. I do not feel any euphoria but the skin is not so sensitive and the physical therapist recommended I give myself a break. I found a bunch of exercises on youtube for breast augmentation and preventing capsular contraction is a big thing. One of my friends ultimately had her implants removed because of that. Her doc did not recommend therapy for almost a year. Mine are sort of rock hard. I am doing mild stretches and mild yoga. since I am a yogi, I know that yoga means "letting go" of muscles that are holding you and sometimes just going into a stretch and waiting and breathing I can feel my chest lets go a little more.
The therapist said it will be a long time for me because I am thin and my chest wall is so firm. She said heavier out of shape women have an easier time. Ah well.
I had my first fill last week and it was okay. I am happy to be on my way to getting bigger. I found one youtube video from a girl who just had implants and she said she was having what she called, "the boobie blues". She said that is what happens when you think, "they are not as big as I hoped", "I should have gone bigger", etc. thank goodness for all these women who share and doctors even who post post op exercises. I will wait until my first time tomorrow to see if any of the ones I found on the internet are ones I should be doing or not.I hope you are feeling a bit better and wishing you no more complications.