Hi. I had a nipple sparing mastectomy in October 2024 and did get tissue expanders.

In my own experience, the tissue expanders do hurt and are uncomfortable. Especially as you are healing from the initial trauma is mastectomy and lymph node removal.

Have you tried the post mastectomy chest pillow from Amazon? You can wear it around the house. It cushions your tissue expanders. I also sleep with mine on top of my chest.

I’m sorry you’re having so much pain. One thing I found out very soon was that I was doing too much and walking around too much. It would tire me out greatly and increase my pain. My surgeon told me I was the most active patient she ever had and to stop it. Resting is a proactive thing to do for your healing.

So I did what she said and 3 months later I’m in a much better place.

The muscle graft portion of your surgery sounds very painful. I’m not a medical person, but I would think that your level of pain is probably normal given what you’ve gone through.

Getting the tissue expanders filled can be painful, especially in the first month or so.

For size, I was a D before and I am a full C now, and that’s where I’ve decided to stop. I’ve talked with 5 other patients about size with tissue expanders and implants and learned about the risks of going “too small” and the discomfort of going “too big.” My doctor and I paid attention to my body type and together agreed on what looked and felt appropriate as the tissue expanders would get filled.

My doctor recommended I go get commercially sized as I was getting closer to the volume amount that seemed appropriate for my body type. So after my last 3 fills, I went to get commercially sized.

For pain in the beginning, I rotated Valium, tramadol, ibuprofen and Tylenol. My husband kept detailed logs of when I took medicine.

I have used the Waking Up meditation app since 2019. And using it multiple times a day during my healing has helped tremendously.

Ask your surgeon about your concern of one being overfilled. My guess is that they have a plan to even them out over months.