Reconstruction

I haven't experienced this delay in care, though I am still in the tissue expander process and about to begin further treatment following a bilateral mastectomy. I'm trying to understand why, if your expander isn't full, you would be at risk of the expander bursting if they added more saline to it/them? Did an infection cause damage to the expanders? Maybe your reconstruction team feels there is enough skin stretched to replace with implants? And are you seeking a larger size than you naturally were? Is it possible you've reached the size you wanted, and they happened to have inserted larger than necessary expanders? I'm just trying to understand the concern that they're not full, and why then they'd keep having you come back in for pre-op fill appointments if they are no longer checking for infection or expanding your size. I hope you are well-cared for and have a very successful final reconstruction without delay.

I suppose there are other risks of infection with tissue expanders beyond radiation (which is the one way I know of). Not knowing enough about the causes of TE infection, I would suggest you raise these questions with another reconstruction surgeon at the facility (if you're receiving answers from a physician assistant - do ask to speak directly with your plastic surgeon directly, first). I'm sorry you're going through this worry. I'm very glad you no longer have an infection.