First Fill-Up

Day 15 Post-Op
In my morning appointment with Dr. Doezie he added 100 cc of saline to each of my tissue expanders. The tissue expanders have a metal port in them, and he uses a magnet to locate it so he knows where to guide the needle. He did apply a local anesthetic, but my skin in that area is still numb so I'm not sure that was needed. During my operation, when he inserted the tissue expanders to start the reconstruction process, he had put in the first 100 cc of saline (which is between 1/3 and 1/2 cup fluid for those of us not used to the metric system), which wasn't enough to make me look like I had any kind of breast, but which was enough my make my chest muscles object. Before he started I said "It doesn't feel like there's any room," and he just smiled knowingly. It most definitely increased my discomfort level, but a muscle relaxer and some ibuprofen were all I really needed to manage it.

My chest is still very lumpy & bumpy, and and this stage I cannot visualize what the end result will be. I know that I have to be patient and not worry about what I look like at this point, but still...

I knew from talking with other mastectomy patients going through reconstruction that the tissue expanders are hard and unyielding - and they were not exaggerating. I have been having to sleep on my back ever since surgery, which is not what I like to do - I normally sleep on my side. But I don't think I'll be able to do that again until after the tissue expanders are replaced with the silicone implants.

Dr. Kushner
In the afternoon I had a follow-up with Dr. Kushner, mainly to discuss the pathology report. It turned out that both my breasts were what he described as "fertile breeding grounds for cancer." They had "proliferative fibrocystic changes", "sclerosing adenosis," "ductal hyperplasia," "radial scars," and some other stuff. The combination of all these things happening in each breast, in someone under 50, was, in his mind, cause for serious concern. Obviously there is no going back from the decisions I made, so in a practical sense it doesn't matter what the report says. But I do find comfort in the reassurance it gives me that I made the right choices for me.