Argh. So I apparently have an infection of some sorts. Yesterday I noticed my right boob looked a little red, so I was keeping an eye on it. Then both of them started feeling a little squishy compared to how they're normally fairly hard (I never quite understood the hard boob thing until I had hard boobs)
This morning I woke feeling rather crappy, which isn't so unusual these days. Figured it might be more than usual because I kept waking up (numerous times) thinking I heard footsteps in the house (which really had me freaked out), so I was pretty tired, but then I had a lightheaded moment in the shower, and then was feeling a little clammy as I watched The Tudors with my mom.
It was after my mom had left and I got to thinking - It's friday, and going into the weekend, I should probably just give my surgeon a call to see if the squishy boob was a concern. The nurse recommended I come in and just have the surgeon look at it. My sister inlaw just happened to stop by and I asked her to take me into the surgeons office.
After examining both of the breasts, SQUISHING them (because they're squishy not hard), he had me lay back on the chair and asked the nurse to recline it so that I was laying at a slant with my head towards the ground (it really felt like I was going to slide off - he laughed and said the nurse would catch me if I did, but he hasn't yet had that happen). I don't know what all the different feeling from different angles really told him, but he determined I have an infection, and that it looks like I got in early, and so we're going to jump on it and hopefully get it under control with the antibiotics. Then he wants to see me again Monday (instead of waiting until my next appointment on Thursday). He also said that if I end up with an emergency situation over the weekend he would be available.
He said worst case scenario is that we do surgery and I lose the expander and cant replace it right away...(delayed reconstruction) which really seems pretty terrible... He said there are other potential scenarios between the antibiotics and the worst case, so for now I'm going to just really focus on the antibiotics working.
So right now my left boob is squishy and red and bigger than the other and I have a fever and my back hurts, and I'm a little clammy, and I'm really just not too happy about it all. Blah.
Welcome to My BRCA Blog. I'm Amanda, I'm 30. When I was 28, I tested positive for the BRCA2 gene mutation increasing my risk of Breast Cancer up to 84% and my risk of Ovarian Cancer to 27%. I recently had a prophylactic mastectomy to reduce my risk. I am using this blog as a forum to express my feelings through this journey as well as to keep others in the loop. Newest entries are on top, scroll down or use the links on the side to see older posts.
Ahh! Deja vu! I lost my expander due to infection and had to wait three months to get it replaced :( It completely sucks, but now that I'm almost done (I'm going to the doctor this week to "talk about my implants") I know now that the time FLIES by. I used to say that it happened to me because I used to tease my grandmother who had an unilateral mastectomy with no recon about being lopsided. Just hang in there..trust me if it's infected and doesn't clear up you want it OUT. Take care!
ReplyDeleteMichelle, I am happy for you that you gave completion in sight, I've read your blog as well as many of your posts on force and you've really had a rough road with this. I admire your perseverance. I realized there was risk for complications but had been optimistic that I wouldn't have any, as I'm sure you were as well. It is what it is I guess. We will get through it.
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