10.20.09
The Valium Story
Posted in Excise, Fluid, Plastic Surgery Disaster, Seroma, Surgical complications, Surgical drains, barter, boob job, breast implants, breast lift, complications, compression bra, cosmetic surgery, excise fluid, implants, mastopexy, plastic surgeon, plastic surgery, serous fluid at 5:46 pm by Herbwoman
One of the more mind boggling instances of the HiQ totally blowing me off is what I refer to as the Valium story. After the initial surgery I did not have surgical drains. Drains allow for serous fluid to leave the body so that it doesn’t build up and cause complications in the tissues.
Serous fluid is the yellow sticky stuff that beads up when you scrape your knee. It’s the stuff that allows a scab to form. It also occurs when there has been damage to the capillaries. Basically your body is trying to heal itself. Mine produces a metric shit ton of the stuff. Unfortunately I didn’t know that THEN.
In the evening some time early during the first two weeks after the initial surgery I began feeling pressure in my chest. It felt like a baby elephant standing on my breasts. The pressure made it difficult for me to breathe.
So I had Ken call the HiQ’s answering service. I took off the surgical bra and laid down on my back because I thought the compression from the bra may be causing problems. I felt better and it became a little easier to breathe but I still felt pressure in my chest.
When the HiQ returned the call about 15 minutes later it was still kind of difficult to breathe. The first thing he told me to do was that I needed to calm down. I explained about the pressure on my chest and he said that I needed to put the surgical bra back on. He implied that not having the surgical bra on would make the pressure worse.
So I handed the phone over to Ken and did that. While I was occupied, the HiQ suggested that Ken should get me a Valium and that there was nothing wrong.
As I have said before, when the HiQ took the implants out he also found about 300 ccs of serous fluid in each of the pockets. That is probably what caused the pressure.
A couple weeks after that incident at a checkup one of the nurses noticed a bubble on the outside of my left breast about the size of a jumbo egg cut length wise.
Perhaps a little of it might have been anxiety. After all things WERE starting to go wrong. I’m still REALLY angry about being blown off like that though.
I also have a vague memory of him telling me that even if he had known about the fluid in the pocket there was nothing he could have done about it.
Dr. Elliott and Dr. Guy excised over 500 ccs of fluid from my back between the two of them. So how is it that someone with supposedly 15 years experience couldn’t do the same thing? It still just pisses me off to no end.
08.11.09
Complexus Inferioritus 2
Posted in Cash fees, Surgery, anchor breast lift, barter, boob job, breast, breast implants, cosmetic surgery, mastopexy, plastic surgeon, plastic surgery at 6:26 pm by Herbwoman
I admit that I was intimidated by what appeared to me to be massive amounts of cutting on my breasts. On the other hand, I hated what I had SO much that, while it was pretty scary, it was something that I could definitely see myself doing.
After the video was over, the PA came in and she explained what the video had just shown and then she asked if I would like to see what I would look like after the surgery. I think this is where they REALLY sell women on the idea of plastic surgery. It was where they really sold me on it.
The PS brought out a couple of implants and hat me put them in my bra. She showed me a mirror and it was love at first sight. I felt beautiful for the first time in a quite a while. As I said, I was sold.
I was given an estimate for the two procedures. And augmentation is still considered a separate procedure from the lift even though they’re usually done in unison. At least they were a few years ago.
I was given an estimate for the two procedures. A total of around $10,000 if I’m remembering correctly. So I brought it home and showed the estimate to my husband. And that’s where the heartbreak of this story truly begins.
He said we couldn’t afford it and maybe in a couple years we’d be able to do it. I cried as though my heart were broken but by the end of the day I had calmed down. I hadn’t accepted that it was over though. I was bound and determined that I was going to make this happen. I just had to find a way to make my husband understand how desperate I was to be beautiful. So, in my emotional state, I reverted to high school. I wrote him a letter. I felt that was really the only way to articulate what I felt that I needed.
After reading it later that night, he told me that if I could find a way to make it happen cheaply, then I could get it done. This is where I admit to having more than a bit of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). This wasn’t a compulsion but it was most assuredly an obsession.
So I was off. I had another consultation about a month later with another local PS. Again, I was quoted about the same price. At this point I was feeling pretty desperate. So I looked on our barter network website for plastic surgeons in Orlando.
Barter networks are different than how many people perceive them. As an example say I have a product or service that I sell within the network for $10. Someone within the network buys that product or service giving me $10 barter dollars in my account. I can then take that barter cash and use it for ANYTHING in the barter network that someone else supplies.
I have gotten handyman work, housekeeping, contact lenses, pre-purchase home inspection and the surgical fees for my initial surgery on barter. There are SO many things you have access to and if your barter club is part of a network with reciprocal agreements, you have access to an even wider range of products and services. Just a couple days ago we bought fudge, jam, wine and dinner on barter.
Yes, I found a plastic surgeon on barter.
Tune in tomorrow when I continue with my story.
