Non-Mommy Mommy Make Over - Raleigh, NC

Yesterday was 2 months post-op. This has been an experience! When considering having plastic surgery make sure you are well informed about the procedure, the doctor, recovery, and the possible complications. Going into this process I had the most anxiety about the tummy tuck procedure and the cutting around my areola. SMH!!

My tummy tuck is practically completely healed. I have 2 little spots where I had spitting sutures still healing. I can feel two or three sutures just below the surface of the skin that may or may not come through the skin. My belly still swells most days, some days more than others. All of this is 100% normal for where I am in recovery. I love my flatter belly.

The incision around my areola was more visually disturbing that anything else. My right breast has healed perfectly with no problem.

My left breast has been the only area with any issues. During my mastopexy lymph nodes where cut and for some reason my body has not healed them and has responded in a less than positive way. Lymph nodes are not like a vessels that show an immediate response when cut i.e. bleed. I have battled with major swelling in my left breast from the accumulation of lymphatic fluid and the impaired drainage of this fluid. My last post documented returning to the OR under local anesthesia to drain this area and insert another drain tube. That drain stayed in for a little over a week, until the output was very minimal.

Over the next few weeks I had swelling that came and went. I was told it appeared that I had surgical lymph edema. The mastopexy I had performed included a bra roll incision and it was felt that there was some trauma to some of the lymph nodes in the bra roll area which caused the lymph nodes not work correctly but they should heal on their own in time. I was given antibiotics and had a third drain tube put in last week, when the fluid started coming through the skin on the healed incision line. The drain was ineffective because I was draining past the drainage tube and the fluid was very viscus. The drainage tube was removed after two days, I continued to drain excessively over the next few days and surgery was scheduled. The Doctor decided to take me back in to the OR to clean out the affected area, remove the implant, and verify there wasn’t anything else going on within the breast.

SOOO yesterday I was in the OR for the third time this time IV sedation (twilight sedation) and local pain meds because I was under for only about 30 minutes. I do not remember talking to the doctor after the procedure but according to my husband, the doctor did not find any infection in the breast (PTL!!!), he said that some of the lymph nodes were cut during the mastopexy with bra incision and were causing the lymph fluid to not drain properly from my body. He removed my left implant and will replace it in a few weeks once I have healed. From what I understand this type of complication is very rare but the body rather than heal the lymph node, attacks the implant causing the delay in healing and fluid buildup issues. I will find out more at my follow up next week with my doctor because I know my husband’s hearing comprehension is not 100% and I have no memory of any discussion with the doctor after the procedure. LOL

I was really freaked out about looking deformed with just one implant but unless you really study my breast it isn’t that noticeable and if being a little lopsided for a few weeks facilitates me healing quicker it is worth it!!

I went back at work today and was able to work a full day. I have mentally become worn out over this slow healing. I want to be active and show off how great I look but this complication is limiting all of that for now. I know this is temporary and God bless my husband who has to listen to me whine and watched me shed a few tears out of frustration and impatience.

This is why it is so important to know the risk of any procedure and trust your doctor. I knew under the best of circumstances complications happen, I was well educated about my procedures and I trust the skill and expertise of the doctor I chose. If I had a doctor who was inexperienced or further away (outside the country) I know I would not be receiving the excellent care that I have received by the entire staff at Raleigh Plastic Surgery Center. Everyone at RPSC has taken excellent care of me. Minus the little set back with the left breast my results are amazing.

Update on complication. Yesterday (Monday) I returned to see the Dr. He was concerned with the very apparent differences in the size of my right and left breast. He tried to remove fluid which he felt was causing the extreme swelling and discomfort in my left breast. The other concern was the infection that I appeared to have had, which is most likely a sinus infection, but could be an infection from surgery which is very serious. All indications it is my sinuses. I will spare you the details about how he tried to remove the excess fluid but trust me I didn't feel a thing other than a little pressure and movement. After not being able to find any fluid with this first attempt the Dr asked if I could return the next day I work 5 minutes away from his office so this was not a problem.

I returned to the Dr today (Tuesday) and he examined my left breast and felt he should take me back to the OR. That sounds so much worse than it is. The OR is a sterile environment, a larger area, and all the supplies are more accessible. Again not one tiny bit of pain. My Dr reopened an area on my incision line and immediately I flooded the table and floor with fluid! OMG I am talking geyser!!! I did feel the warm liquid soaking the table, my side, and back. Even though I was numb I could already tell I was going to feel so much better. My left breast was 1 1/2 time larger than the right, it had been sore and extremely uncomfortable. Now my breast are almost the very same size. Amazing!

I have a drain for at least the next week, not fun but it is just part of the process. During the first week after surgery the drain tube in my left breast was a little less productive than the right but appeared normal. There were no signs that the tube had any sort of blockage and we were diligence about "milking" the tubes. Apparently the pocket of fluid for some reason just did not drain out through the drainage tube. The day I had my first set of drains removed my left breast was visibly larger than the right but it was still too soon to really compare.

Most people who have Mastopexy don't require drains I had an additional bra roll incision to remove excess skin and tissue. Some of the bra roll tissue which is actually auxiliary breast tissue was incorporated into my augmentation. Seromas are not an uncommon complication in many plastic surgery procedures. I do have some fluid in my belly but it is not excessive and this is completely normal. As the lymphatic system rebuilds the fluid will be removed naturally from the body. It usually takes 3 or 4 months for the lymphatic system in the areas you have plastic surgery to regenerate. I did massive amounts of research and knew the risk. So if you are considering PS of any kind educate yourself.

Please keep me in your prayers for continued healing. I already feel better! This is just a bump in my road to recovery. Today solidified I made the right choice in surgeons and practices. Dr Lyle is wonderful and his nurse Catherine has just been a God send. Everyone at Raleigh Plastic Surgery have been amazing Dr Mertz, Audrey, Alex... and so many others I don't know as closely.

I haven't posted in a week because I wanted to remain very positive in my post but I have had a little set back in recovery. At the same time need to share all of this experience so everyone knows the risk and potential complications.

Somewhere around Day 16 postop. My incision on my left breast started weeping past the Steri Tape. It was the weekend so continued to wash with antibacterial soap and I placed gauze over the tape. First thing Monday morning I called my plastic surgeon's office. I was instructed to use antibiotic ointment and change the dressing twice a day. Eventually the drainage and the ointment lead me having to remove part of the steri tape from the left breast incision. I knew from research that this sometimes happens with incisions but you need to be diligent about taking care of the wound and communicate with your PS and follow their instructions.

Thursday was 3 weeks postop I woke up crying. I thought to myself yeap I'm right of track a lot of people get the blues about 3 weeks out. Soon I recognize the my head was hurting really bad in the brow area, behind my eyes, and ears my crapy feeling was not the blues. This being the time of year my sinuses give me grief I decided to take some sinus medicine and go about my day. I took a shower about midday and it completely wiped me out. So I laid down and took a nap. When my husband got home from work I had a temp of 99.6 not high enough to call the doctor. I wrapped up in the recliner when the chills started and I took some more sinus meds. I slept for about an hour, when I woke up my temp was 101.8 and my dr office was closed by then. Believing this was a sinus infection I continued with fluids, sinus meds, and acetaminophen for the fever. My temp lowered back down to 99.8 over the next few hours but in the middle of the night spiked just as high again. I repeated the meds to lower my temp.

First thing Friday morning I called and left a message for my Dr's nurse explaining everything going on and asking should I go to urgent care for my sinuses. I was concerned that if I went to urgent care they would be more concerned with my plastic surgery incision on my left breast than addressing a sinus issue and I wanted no one to touch my left breast incision but my plastic surgeon. Dr. Lyle was in surgery but his nurse had me send pictures of my incision so he can look at them and decide what he need to do for me. He was concerned that even if I had a sinus infection that the weakened area from surgery could become more infected due to the infection in my body even though the main infection appeared to be in my sinuses. Another indication along with my typical physical symptoms that led me to believe that this truly was a sinus infection was ever since I had anesthesia in surgery I have had issues with my nasal passages being extremely dry, the day after surgery my nasal passages were bleeding. I had to use saline nasal spray for several days.

During Friday I just felt so poorly and achy. My abdomen felt a little more swollen than normal the compression garment I was wearing became extremely uncomfortable. I decided to change into a different garment at which point I noticed the lines on my belly and sides and under my ribcage were from how tight the previous garment was from my swelling. My left breast area especially the bra roll incision and arm was really sore. It extremely was very painful to move my left arm even just a little. I was completely miserable and worried!

My PS called in prescriptions for antibiotics and told me to call the on call service if anything got worse. He moved my appointment up a week. So I will see him Monday morning.

I started on the anabiotics Friday night. Saturday I was still feeling fairly miserable but a little better, less of a fever. Today is Sunday and I am feeling much better I haven't had a fever at all today the soreness in my left breast is barely there but I am still extremely swollen on that side. My left breast looks to be 1 and a half times the size of the right breast. My belly is also really swollen so I pray the the left breast swelling is just fluid buildup and can be addressed with minimally invasive means.

I posted the pics of my left breast incision. It has some active drainage but it is closing up slowly but steadily. These pics were taken about 6 days after the draining started.

When I started using the gauze and Neosporin I had the Steri Tape still covering most of my incision but I ended up having to remove most of the tape because it became really gross looking. I was using the standard gauze and when I went to clean and changed the dressings the gauze would stick to the incision and cause bleeding when removed. I read here on RealSelf that some people had skin irritation from the sulfur in the Neosporin. I then remembered I have had an issue with long term use of Neosporin in the past. I had also read about nonstick gauze pads. Thursday I had to go get more sinus meds I also got some nonstick gauze pads and an antibiotic ointment, Bacitracin. In just a few days I can see a difference when changing my dressing.

Please continue to say a prayer for my healing and relief from swelling. I hope my doctor is pleased with the healing at my appointment Monday.

I will let everyone know the outcome after my appointment tomorrow.

I also returned to work tomorrow, physically I may not be ready but I promise I am past being at home mentally. My boss has said not to push it too hard and if I can't stay all day or make it tomorrow she understands.