40 Years Old with 10 Year Old Son, Encapsulated (Painful) Left Breast and Lots of Extra Skin - Miami, FL

OMG... this plastic surgery roller coaster... when does it end??? 4 weeks post-op and my right breast is still quite firm and has not dropped yet (but it will!). The left breast looks amazing.
My tummy... oh, my tummy (sigh). After 10 days of the antibiotic Clindamicin the infection is gone. (Thank God!!!) I am still deriding the wound (that just means stuffing clean, sterile gauze into the wound 2-4 times per day and when I pull it out any dead or unhealthy flesh comes out with the gauze) I will continue to pack the wound with gauze until it closes. The Dr says that I need to keep the wound packed with gauze so that it heals from the inside out. The last part of the wound to close should be the skin. Dr Hunsaker says that if the skin closes first I will be at risk for reinfection. As long as there is an exit for anything that needs to come out I will be fine. I never thought I would get comfortable with packing a one inch deep wound in my abdomen but I have become a pro, with my little "mini-hospital" set-up in my mom's bathroom.
I had my last visit with the Dr two days ago and he is happy with the progress so far. I did point out my concern with my right hip & the "muffin-top" but he did not seem to be concerned. He said that healing happens from top to bottom and the last place I will see the final result is down by the incision line. He also said that I have extra swelling in the lower abdomen due to the wound. Since this is my second surgery with him and I was extremely pleased with my results 17 years ago I am choosing to trust his judgement and look forward to a continued healing process with phenomenal results.
I have been in Miami for a month at my mom's house and it is finally time to go home. I am driving to PA with my mom and if we go straight through it is a 19 hour drive (but I think we will have to stop for the night). It will be interesting having to change my wound dressing on the road!

After seeing my surgeon on Monday I felt better. He cleaned out the infection site (leaving a one inch deep hole in my abdomen) and packed it with sterile gauze. While cleaning the infection site out there was this really odd noise (it sounded like the guy from Silence of the Lambs when he made that weird slurping sound). At first I thought it was the doctor! But it was the drain. He said that the drain had lost suction so he removed it. He wasn't going to remove it just yet but there was no sense in leaving it since it was no longer able to suction out fluid. So now I am draining through the hole. There is not a ton of fluid coming out but there is enough to have to change the outer gauze 3 times per day.
I had an appointment yesterday to see the surgeon again. He was going to teach me how to pack the wound and even give me a special medicated ribbon gauze that couldn't give me a prescription for because it is difficult to find. Well, I am here out of town and while my mom works during the day I am at the mercy of my sister-in-law to get me to my appointments on time. She was an hour late picking me up on Monday (thank God the doctor could wait for me) and yesterday she showed up to get me an hour and a half late. I was crying, on the phone with the patient coordinator when my sister-in-law finally arrived. It was too late and the doctor just could not wait for me as he has a medical procedure for himself Wednesday morning. Now he cannot see me until Friday. So I had to go to the urgent care center and pay a $150 co-pay to have them teach me how to pack my wound. My mom is going to leave work early to get me to my future appointments on time. Go mom!
On a positive note the nurses were so cool and they actually gave me all the supplies I would need for the next few days... stuffing gauze and gloves into my purse and even sending me home with a big bottle of sterile water to irrigate the wound. I was so nervous taking care of the wound today for the first time that I dropped almost all the gloves on the floor and used up a majority of the gauze. I'll be making a trip to the store with my mom tonight for more supplies! LOL
In all this the doctor has been really great. He did explain the risks if I needed the inverted T so its not a total surprise this is happening. He is very detailed in his explanations of what he is doing and what is going on with my body (sometimes a little too detailed and I get grossed out, but better more than less in this case). We are keeping in touch through text and I see him again on Friday at 5:30pm.
Dr Hunsaker says it will take between 6-12 weeks for this to heal. There are a lot of people praying for me and I am looking forward to a quick healing. I have faith in that. Thank you to all of the amazing ladies here on realSelf.com for your support and well wishes. I really need them!

I was taking the Cephalexin (Keflex) as prescribed but the infection was getting worse, much worse, and I went to the emergency room yesterday. They prescribed me a stronger antibiotic, Clindamycin HCL. The emergency room doctor hesitated to admit me for IV antibiotics because my surgeon could not attend me in that particular hospital. This morning I woke up and noticed that other parts of my TT incision are beginning to show signs of infection. I also have a spot on my left breast. I have an appointment with the Dr today. I hope this infection gets cleared up soon. I'm scared.