Can't Wait to Get Rid of This Stomach! - Miami Beach, FL

I'm almost a month post op and been having the absolute worstttt swelling in my stomach. I'm hoping it's JUST swelling. My abdomen protrudes, it's not completely flat. I want to believe it's swelling because it was pretty flat the day after surgery. The cultures from my infection came up positive for Klebsiella. Dr. Alvarez has been amazing at being reachable whenever I have any questions. Lena called me today and said that I wouldn't have to pay for my implant, so that's a good thing. I would have to pay facility fees though which is $850. I thought that was pretty steep seeing that when I got it removed it was only $450. Dr. A also said that if I get the implant put back in at 6 weeks I'll be at higher risk for infection. But if I do it at 3 months, 6 months, or even 6 years I'll still be at risk since I've had an infection before. I have planned to go back out to Miami at 6 weeks because I've had such a hard time walking around with one breast a lot bigger then the other. Esp trying to stuff it to look normal whenever I need to go somewhere. It's so sad and pitiful. I am second guessing myself though since I've read everywhere that I should wait a minimum of 3 months. The way everything has already been set up this year, it would just be very, very hard to do it any other time because no one would be able to watch my kids. Lena has told me that she's been getting a lot of calls from people booked at spectrum and getting a lot of complaints from potential clients because of reviews they read due to coordinating issues, surgery dates, etc. let me just be the first to say that when you're booking with spectrum, don't be surprised to have all of these issues because the coordinators don't really care about you! They're dealing with so many other people. When reading reviews, you really have to take into consideration where this person is going for their operation with dr. Alvarez. The doctors have no control over what these coordinators are doing and what they're scheduling for Dr. A. Lena doesn't either since she works with his private practice! Pay the extra money and go with his private practice because it ensures that you'll get the best care. Not saying that dr. A only cares about patients he operates on at his private practice, but Sometimes the coordinators at spectrum also won't relay messages to the doctors so that's another thing to keep in mind.

I had an appt with Dr. A this morning to get another dose of IV antibiotics. He also talked to me about my infection. He said it was really bad and the implant was swimming in pockets of puss. He got his colleagues to come in and take a look at it while it was still open and they said it was bad and he shouldn't replace the implant. I appreciate him doing what was safe for my health. I've been crying since yesterday and feel so depressed because I damn near went broke to be able to get this surgery done and now I'm going back home broke, with one boob with an implant and one without, sick with an infection... Ugh, I'm just so depressed now. My throat hurts from being intubated. I hate that I had to get that all done at spectrum. I feel like the staff at spectrum doesn't care how they treat their patients. Getting my initial surgery at the operating room Dr. A uses for his private practice I didn't have a sore throat from the intubation, but now I have a sore throat, my neck hurts, and busted up top lip???? smh.

Dr. Alvarez said that textbook says that he shouldn't put another implant in until 6 months but his colleagues say they've done it as soon as 6 weeks. He said we will play it by ear. He said I'll have to pay for facility & anesthesia fees, and he was going to try to get the implant free... I didn't think I'd have to pay all of that but what choice do I have? I can't walk around with a messed up boob for that long ???? now I'll have to save all over again for flights, accomodations, etc.

On a positive note, I love the way Dr. A handled everything. He truly showed genuine concern and handled everything promptly. He has been very responsive as well anytime I text him. He's such a great doctor, I can't say enough good things about him. I'm just so sad this had to happen.

I just landed at Baltimore airport, about to drive home. I can't wait to see my babies and be in the comfort of my own home.

So.. I wrote part of this Monday when I had my post op. I had my post op appointment today with Dr. Alvarez. It was supposed to be at 5pm but got moved to 3pm at Spectrum (blah) lol because this morning my right breast was in a lot of pain again and he didn't want to wait to see me. It felt like the day after surgery again smh. My right boob is always giving me [RS bleep]!! I took two Advil and a perc and it didn't do anything, I didn't even wanna move this morning. Then when I was about to shower, I took my bra off and notice some yellowish bruising that wasn't there before so I started freaking out. Lena face timed me to see the bruising and said she was a little concerned. When I went to spectrum dr. A said everything looked fine.


So an update from then... I've been really in a significant amount of pain which is why I haven't even had the patience to update on here. This morning when I woke up my pain in the ass right boob... Smfh it was red underneath, swollen, big, tight... And just didn't feel right at all. Last night I had the chills for like 6 hours but all this time I've had chills it was probably a fever the entire time and I thought it was a side effect of the anesthesia. So I sent a picture to Lena and Dr. A and she said that it was concerning to her. Dr. A was at spectrum again today (smfh) so I had to go up there, Lena also came and met me up there. So he said that my boob was definitely infected. He said he needed to take it out, wash it, and put it back in... Or he may need to leave it out if the infection is that bad. Of course with my luck, I wake up with a drain coming out of my right breast and no implant ???? he told my husband the infection was really bad. I'm so sad and devastated. I've been crying ever since I got out of surgery. I had to also pay another $350 for facility fees. I feel like I wasted my money on the breast aug. I could've saved a couple thousand if I would've just gotten the tummy tuck. I honestly just don't even wanna go through this again after I'm healed from the infection. I wish he would've just taken both implants out because now I have to worry about travel expenses all over again and they're probably going to charge me when I come back and get it re-done. I'm sorry but for the ladies getting their surgeries done at spectrum.... It's really a hit or miss on if you're going to have a good experience or not. It wasn't bad when I went and got my bbl until I had issues. But let me tell you, when I woke up from surgery today.... I wanted to smack the [RS bleep] out of the nurse. There was a girl next to me moaning and in pain and she kept rushing her to get dressed. The girl kept telling her to hold on. She was in a lot of pain and I felt so bad for her because I know the feeling and it doesn't help when you have someone that doesn't give a [RS bleep] about you and just wants to get you out of there. So I was telling my husband about it and he said he saw her too. He said her ride wasn't there and they wheeled her to the parking garage and just had her sitting there looking crazy until her ride came. Smfh. Thank God I felt pretty normal (still in pain but normal) enough to tell this [RS bleep] to let me get myself dressed. Cuz I have three drains and she was being really rough. I don't want to be in anymore pain than I'm already in. I just hate that they treat their patients like [RS bleep].

Anyways, I'm just ready to get home back to my babies and put this [RS bleep] behind me and recover. I'm so sick of the whole situation.