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POSTED UNDER Breast Reduction REVIEWS

Despite a Life Threatening Infection, This Was So Worth It! Great Doctor - Fargo, ND

ORIGINAL POST

I decided to join this forum now that I recovered,...

WORTH IT$7,500
I decided to join this forum now that I recovered, as it is really hard to find stories of infection out there. They are very rare, so that is partly why. They do happen, though.
I chose the first Doctor I interviewed. She was wonderful and I knew within the first 2 minutes that she was the Doctor for me. I left feeling confident and liked! Super friendly Doctor, and her nurse is awesome, too. I quickly got insurance coverage through BCBSND and proceeded to April surgery with confidence. In the pre-op, I showed photos from this site of what I wanted and didn't want, and Dr. was responsive and realistic in her commentary. She was also honest - I wanted to become a B cup, but she honestly told me that with the amount of belly I had, that I would be unhappy with a B. She said she would make me a C/small D. I trusted her instincts 100%, and am now glad for my C cup size on the side that healed well, and think the B cup size on the bad side looks small.
On the day of surgery, I first had a complication called Venous Congestion. Basically, when she tried to hook op the blood vessels to my nipple (which had been removed and moved up), the blood would pool. She tried several times during surgery and finally had to leave the nipple mostly unattached, except for one blood vessel. This required a second surgery two days later. After 4 days in the hospital, (normally would have been one), I was able to go home. By that night I had a good fever going, and the next AM was sent in for emergency surgery. I had developed a Surgical Site Infection of my right breast. It took a few days to culture and came back as a very, very, very rare bacteria - almost non-existent in soft tissue. It was not staph or anything normal. My opinion is that picked up the infection in the hospital in the first 2 days, when my wound was very open and the nurses were changing packing in it. Several times they didn't wear gloves. I complained and the Dr. wrote strict instructions for them to wear sterile gloves. I think the bacteria were already in there, though, and starting their war, but it didn't show up for a few days.
After the emergency surgery, I ended up needing two more major surgeries, plus a minor one. I ended up with 5 in 10 days. When all was said and done, the best way for me to heal was with a wound vacuumn. I had the wound vac for 3 months. I had 3 appt.'s a week to get the packing changed. The whole experience included 15 nights in the hospital and PICC line antibiotics for 7 weeks total. Total recovery time was a good 6 months. I was off of work for 5 months, at my Doctor's request (she was pretty hesitant to let me go back, as I worked in a nursing home, and my immunity was down due to my body fighting to recover). Of that time, my wound was considered an very open wound for 3 months. After that, it was still ugly, but healing. At the worst, when wound vac was put on, my hole in my breast was 7 cm deep and 6.5 cm wide. She had cut infection out a few times. Right in the middle is some tissue that lived, some aureola. We didn't know for over 3 moths if any of that was actually nipple. Indeed, I have some aureola left, and some nipple, too!
I am now 8 months out, and healed as well as I will be. My back feels much better, and I look better too! Insurance covers bras and a prosthesis for my smaller side. I am 100% glad I did it, and would recommend the Doctor and the reduction to anyone, despite my trials.
I am choosing to not have reconstructive surgery at this time, despite insurance coverage of it, but if I did, it would be with her.

5 feet 1, size 38DDD breasts to begin with. 38C/40B after surgery (measured on good side, other is smaller for life).

IgotAnInfectionFromReduction's provider

Pamela M Antoniuk

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

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Replies (7)

January 2, 2015
Wow, what an ordeal. Thank you for sharing!
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January 2, 2015
Thanks for sharing. I agree that it is good to know potential problems and see that we can get through them. Glad you are all healed.
January 2, 2015
Wow! You were lucky that you had a great and caring doctor. Things could have ended very differently. I had the same surgery in October along with a bracioplasty. The breast reduction was uneventful but ended up with two arm infections and a few incision openings. I'm still healing from them but they are no where near as bad as yours. You are very brave. Glad I didn't need to wear a vac pump. That alone takes patience and persistence. Wish my boobs were smaller though. I'm still wearing the same size bra as I did before surgery. Might ask her about a revision when all the swelling is gone if I still feel too large. I'm going to post some pics soon. I know your surgery was difficult but the reduction in size must make a world of difference physically for you. Good luck with a reconstruction, if you decide to get one in the future.
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January 2, 2015
I had my BR surgery back in March 2014 and I, too, had a rare infection, 8 weeks PO. It was all inside with just swelling and redness that I really didn't notice until I started having Symptoms that I thought was the flu. When my temp spiked I went to ER and was admitted for emergency surgery. Was on a wound vac for right Breast only to go back in with an infection in the left breast, had surgery then added it to the wound vac. As well. Was a long ordeal going to be packed 3 days a week to heal from inside out. All is well now, 10months later, and would still highly recommend BR to anyone who has the issues that come with very large breasts. Hope you are as happy as I am. It's so rare to have the problems we encountered. My cousin went and got her BR in with my surgeon in October 2014 and has had no issues at all. She is "c minor" I am "c major" and we both are very happy with the results! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!
January 9, 2015
How crazy! Well, not really - but it was so hard to find stories of infection when I looked previously, but now they show up. Probably good I didn't know before surgery. ;-) I am VERY happy I did it. And lived to tell about it. ;-)
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January 9, 2015
Well you are right it is good to hear about all the things that can happen out there and how it turns out so thank you very much for sharing. It is terrifying though. I'm going in next week and will be spending the day/night in the hospital and this is exactly what I worry about - picking up an infection! Curious, was this a free nipple graft?
9 months post

A few more photos

That is all - I took some photos today of 8 months out.

Replies (1)

May 4, 2015
you are so positive its a good thing i was surprised they needed to move your nipple as you were not huge thanks for sharing