January 18, 2010
Posted in Anxiety, Bra Fitting, Bras, Cash fees, Depression, Drain, Drugs, Excise, Flashbacks, Fluid, Healing, Hospital, Hospital fees, Hosptial Costs, Incisions, Infection, Insurance, Invisibility, Latissimus flap, Medical, Medical Insurance, Nausea, Nipple prosthetics, Nipple reconstruction, Nipples, PTSD, Pain, Pain Management, Plastic Surgery Disaster, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Post surgical depression, Prescription Drug Addiction, Prosthetics, Reconstruction, Recovery, Scars, Seroma, Sex, Sleep, Surgery, Surgical Fees, Surgical complications, Surgical drains, Ta Ta Tuesday, V.A.C. machine, Vacuum assisted wound closure, anchor breast lift, barter, boob job, bra sizes, breast, breast cancer, breast health, breast implants, breast lift, breast reconstruction, breast size, breast volume, checkup, chemotherapy chemical, clogged surgical drains, communication, complications, compression bra, compression dressing, cortisone, cosmetic surgery, cryotherapy, debreiding, debridement, deformity, dehiscence, emotional healing, emotional scars, excise fluid, fear, flourouracil, granular tissue, granulation tissue, implants, interferon, keloid, keloid scars, laser, latissimus flap reconstruction, malpractice, mammogram, mastopexy, memory, necrosis, negligence, plastic surgeon, plastic surgery, podcast, radiation, serous fluid, silicone sheets, situational depression, slow healing, suicide, wet to dry bandages, wheelchair at 1:47 pm by Herbwoman
As the title says, this is the 200th installment of BoobCast. Today I am writing about you, dear reader. Today’s installment is all about the support and the stories that people have shared with me since I first started this blog on Oct. 11, 2008.
When I first started writing this, I was also fairly active on a website called All About Plastic Surgery (http://www.allaboutplasticsurgery.com). When I posted what had happened to me it didn’t take long before I was inundated by questions about various aspects of the surgery. You can find that entry here: http://boobcast.net/2008/10/14/questions/ People expressed a great deal of concern about how well I had checked out the surgeon, what indications I might have had and what legal recourse I might have taken. During that period so many people gave their support and I am grateful for it. So my thanks goes out to the women of the All About Plastic Surgery forum. They were the ones who inspired the idea for BoobCast.
Now you’re probably asking yourself, “Gee Maria, why do you call it BoobCast? Were they wrapped in plaster or something at one point?”
No, dear reader. There are reasons this site is called BoobCast. In 2007 the podcasting community lost a precious member by the name of Joe Murphy. He died of a vicious type of cancer that took him quickly. During his medical treatments he talked in vivid detail about what was going on, the testing and all of it. His strength inspired me. I wanted to be as strong and as brave as Joe Murphy. So I planned to podcast what was going on with my breast necrosis. The name of that podcast was going to be BoobCast.
I never met Joe but his life inspired me. It just turns out that I’m not that strong or that brave. To honor that bravery I have kept the name.
I also owe thanks to a very dear friend, Tee Morris. When I was trying to find the strength to create BoobCast, He was there for me. He gave me mental and emotional support by letting me know that I *could* do it. I’m sorry I disapointed you Tee but want to thank you for being a friend when I needed one.
In the time I’ve been writing BoobCast I have had people email me directly for advice. Of course, after reading the email, my advice was always “Contact your PS (plastic surgeon) and ask for [fill-in-the-blank]. Whether it was about bruising, skin texture or pain, I advised talking to their doctor. If they couldn’t get a decent answer from that doctor, talk to another one.
The one that really broke my heart was the husband of a woman who, a few days previous the email, had the same procedure I had. According to her husband, the pain pills her PS had given her weren’t doing much and she was in constant pain. She couldn’t eat or sleep and she was suffering. I told her husband to call her PS immediately and insist on different pain meds and not take NO for an answer. i explained that, right now it was his job to advocate for his wife since she couldn’t do it herself.
A couple days later I got an email from him saying that her PS had changed her meds and she was doing MUCH better. It’s emails like those that made BoobCast well worth the emotional pain of writing those early posts.
I also want to thank everyone who talked to me about BoobCast at DragonCon last year. Being told in person that I’m making a difference means the world to me. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.
Finally, my thanks to Carol Montoya, Lolly Daskal and the Woman At Denny’s. I promise that once I’ve had nipple reconstruction and recuperate from that, I WILL write the book. The foundation is in the works already.
My thanks to you all for reading, commenting and talking to me. Here’s to another 200!
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January 12, 2010
Posted in Anxiety, Fluid, Medical, Plastic Surgery Disaster, Surgery, Surgical complications, anchor breast lift, boob job, breast, breast implants, breast lift, breast volume, checkup, complications, compression bra, cosmetic surgery, emotional healing, emotional scars, implants, necrosis, negligence, plastic surgeon, plastic surgery, serous fluid at 12:34 pm by Herbwoman
This is another BoobCast Flashback episode originally dated Oct. 8, 2009. There are a few more drafts that I will continue to flesh out and post over the next week or so. Then I will really start more on the medical aspects of plastic and reconstructive surgery.
As the days passed, I saw that there were places where the bruising was getting lighter. There were other places that the skin just got darker and turned black. In the black areas, the skin felt a bit like rubber. It was slick but firm, a bit like what a dolphin’s skin feels like. It’s rather like thick, slick rubber if you’ve never petted a dolphin. Normally my skin has a slight grainy texture to it. These areas didn’t.
It was also about two weeks in that I noticed that my chest felt heavy. Yeah, I know. It seems obvious that my chest would feel heavier with two big water balloons shoved under my skin. My chest was insensate though. It wasn’t weight. It was pressure. For those of you who have read previous installments, you know what the cause of the pressure was.
For those who are new, there was a build up of 300ccs of serous fluid in each pocket. At one checkup one of the HiQ’s nurses even pointed out a place about two inches long on the outside of my left breast where it looked like there was a big bubble.
There was also another point where I took off the post surgical bra because I was having difficulty breathing and it felt better without the bra. So my husband called the after-hours line. When we explained to the HiQ what was going on, the doc actually had the nerve to suggest to Ken that I needed a Valium rather than try to figure out what was REALLY happening.
This person had all the bedside manner of flesh eating bacteria and most assuredly suffered from MDiety Syndrome.
HiQ stands for Hack in Question since I can’t legally reveal the doctor’s name who has a practice on Dr. Phillips Blvd in Orlando)
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October 20, 2009
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.
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October 8, 2009
Posted in Anxiety, Fluid, Plastic Surgery Disaster, Reconstruction, Surgery, Surgical complications, anchor breast lift, boob job, breast, breast implants, breast lift, complications, compression bra, cosmetic surgery, implants, negligence, plastic surgeon, plastic surgery at 7:29 pm by Herbwoman
October 2nd was my two year anniversary. I keep trying to write posts about the first two weeks. Every time I get to the point that I start talking about the pressure, I look back on things I wrote back then and I start to tear up. I still don’t know exactly how I muscled my way through the ordeal. I guess I’m just tougher than I look, eh?
I also spent a good deal of time trying to block out and forget the things that happened. I didn’t keep written records and I wish i would have taken photos in the first two weeks. But I didn’t. Even Hubby’s memory is pretty sketchy.
Neither of us can remember if the following incident is in the second or third week after the initial surgery. It DID happen some time within the first three weeks though.
One night I felt a great deal of pressure in my chest, as though there was a very heavy someone standing on a board across my chest. Hubby called the HiQ’s answering service because I was having problems breathing. The only thing that seemed to relieve the pressure was to take off the surgical bra and lay on my back. Even then that only worked for a little while.
Hubby had to call the answering service TWICE before the HiQ called back. When the HiQ called, Hubby explained the problem. I was promptly told NOT to lie down and to put the surgical bra back on. It was also suggested that Hubby get me a Valium and that nothing was wrong and I was just having an anxiety attack.
And that’s enough for now.
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July 29, 2009
Posted in Drain, Fluid, Healing, Latissimus flap, Medical, Pain, Pain Management, Plastic Surgery Disaster, Reconstruction, Recovery, Surgery, Surgical complications, Surgical drains, boob job, breast, breast reconstruction, complications, latissimus flap reconstruction, plastic surgery at 11:42 am by Herbwoman
I found this old draft and thought I would revisit some of the more pertinent issues I dealt with during my process. This post was originally started on 4/27/09, 11 days after my latissimus flap breast reconstruction surgery.
It seems as though practically over night, the color of the drainage has gone from Ruby Grapefruit to Apple Juice. I’m taking that as an encouraging sign. Although when I wake up, my back still feels like there are rocks under my skin.
Moving definitely helps. Though I’m not sure how much is too much. I don’t want to over do and hurt myself that way. But it seems that under-doing is just as bad and has the potential for lengthening my recovery. So I’m doing something I hate to do. I’ve told Ken that when he sees fit, if I’m not in pain, he’s to take me for a walk.
Poor Ken has to do so much. Not only is he taking care of me but he’s also keeping up with the household needs and the business. I’ve been so out of it, I’ve actually had to ask him on numerous occasions WHEN I need to take my meds.
The pain meds are really helpful but they’re draining me of the ability to think. It takes me about 30 minutes to write one of these daily entries. Granted, I am a lightweight when it comes to intoxication of any sort. But it’s still frustrating. I feel disjointed and I have no memory.
Eleven days after surgery I’m guessing that’s to be expected. It’s just really frustrating not being able to remember things that are really important. Like how long ago I took meds that could REALLY mess me up if I forget and take a double dosage. If I wait TOO long though, then there’s real trouble with the pain. Once the meds start wearing off, my options are 1) Take more or 2) Sit very, very still until I CAN take more.
The bad part is that if I wait, the it takes longer for the meds to kick in and they’re not as effective because they have more pain to battle. So I’m walking a very fine line here. And this is a line that my dear Hubby is in charge of because my brain is about as useful as cottage cheese.
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July 24, 2009
Posted in Excise, Fluid, Healing, Latissimus flap, Nipple reconstruction, Nipples, Reconstruction, Scars, Seroma, Surgery, Surgical complications, boob job, breast, breast reconstruction, complications, cosmetic surgery, excise fluid, latissimus flap reconstruction, plastic surgery at 10:28 am by Herbwoman
Since we had to be in Atlanta anyway I got an appointment with Dr. Elliott. He ended up excising about 100 ccs of fluid from the same general area on my back. No big deal. It’s common with this type of surgery. I’ve gone over that before.
Something else he mentioned after doing the medical groping to check my progress was the revisions. He’s really good at what he does but sometimes skin doesn’t knit together quite the way you’d expect so there are little places that could be nipped and tucked to improve the overall appearance.
One of the things was smoothing out the corners. In my opinion there is a spot on the right inside next to my cleavage that looks a bit squared off. That should have smoothed out by now but it hasn’t.
Another thing he mentioned is possibly doing a lift. I sort of froze like a deer in headlights for a few moments there. The lift was one of the reasons I lost my nipples last time. Of course I know there are no nipples to lose this time, I have to wonder HOW he’d do the lift without making them smaller. I’m also not too excited about the possibility of more scars.
Time to do some research on that.
Either way I let him know that I would most definitely NOT be opting for another surgery any time soon. Right now I don’t care about the oddly shaped corner or the slight pendulous appearance. I love my new breasts and I’m happy with what I have.
Right now I’m even happy with what I DON’T have. I’m content with not having nipples. That may change again as my mood is rather changeable. Dr. Elliott told me in our first consultation that there would come a time when I would be ready and I’ll know if or when that time comes.
In the mean time I’m protective of what I have and I’ll keep the Twins just the way they are for the time being.
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July 21, 2009
Posted in Excise, Fluid, Latissimus flap, Plastic Surgery Disaster, Reconstruction, Recovery, Seroma, Surgery, Surgical complications, boob job, breast, breast reconstruction, complications, cosmetic surgery, excise fluid, latissimus flap reconstruction, plastic surgery at 6:04 pm by Herbwoman
I had an appointment at Dr. Guy’s office today to check on the seroma issue. Unfortunately, we got an emergency business call from Atlanta this afternoon and we’ve got to be there by tomorrow night. Because we have two orders on the table and a dog that desperately needed his shots and heart worm meds, I had to reschedule for next Wednesday. So far it doesn’t look like anything has developed again though.
It also occurred to me that since we have to make an emergency run to Atlanta tomorrow as it is, I should make an appointment with Dr. Elliott’s team for while I’m up there. So I emailed Suzanne since I didn’t get to call before 5. I’ll call again tomorrow to make sure she got the email and find out when they can fit me in.
As usual, I’ll update when I know more.
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