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Do expanders feel more comfortable as they are filled each week?

Posted by lac60 @lac60, Jun 23 10:09am

I am almost 2 weeks post-op with bi-lateral mastectomy and reconstruction placement of expanders. I also came out of surgery with 4 drains, 2 have been removed. The drains are such a pain and they are sore where the bras sit over them but these expanders are so uncomfortable, do they feel better with each expansion? I was told it will be around 4-5 months before I will be scheduled for surgery to swap them out for implants.

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susan7656 | @susan7656 | Jun 24 8:23am

Hi @lac60 - glad that you have two drains removed. Hopefully those others come out soon.

On Amazon, they do have clothes that have pockets for the drains - like a robe and pjs with drain pockets. Those helped me feel more comfortable.

I had a bilateral mastectomy in October 2024 and did get tissue expanders.

The tissue expanders are uncomfortable and hard, but if memory serves me right, they are especially bad at the beginning.

As you get them filled, it coincides with your body healing from the surgery. So the pain is less.

Between surgery 1 and surgery 2, I did reach a point (after drains were out and bruising and swelling gets better), I was able to go out and do things. I wore baggy shirts that didn’t look too bad with the tissue expanders.

I definitely was always aware of the tissue expanders. I took OTC medicines for pain and used muscle relaxers. Sometimes on the days I had my fills, I was a little more sore and would really take it easy on those days.

Hope this helps a little. I’m thinking of you.

REPLY
1 reply
lac60 | @lac60 | Jun 25 5:00pm
In reply to @susan7656 "Hi @lac60 - glad that you have two drains removed. Hopefully those others come out soon...." + (show)
@susan7656

Hi @lac60 - glad that you have two drains removed. Hopefully those others come out soon.

On Amazon, they do have clothes that have pockets for the drains - like a robe and pjs with drain pockets. Those helped me feel more comfortable.

I had a bilateral mastectomy in October 2024 and did get tissue expanders.

The tissue expanders are uncomfortable and hard, but if memory serves me right, they are especially bad at the beginning.

As you get them filled, it coincides with your body healing from the surgery. So the pain is less.

Between surgery 1 and surgery 2, I did reach a point (after drains were out and bruising and swelling gets better), I was able to go out and do things. I wore baggy shirts that didn’t look too bad with the tissue expanders.

I definitely was always aware of the tissue expanders. I took OTC medicines for pain and used muscle relaxers. Sometimes on the days I had my fills, I was a little more sore and would really take it easy on those days.

Hope this helps a little. I’m thinking of you.

Jump to this post

Hi @susan7656 - My remaining drains were removed yesterday, hallelujah! No expansion fills until next week, unfortunately. The past week I have been alternating Tylenol and Advil but getting worried I may need to back off some. Were your muscle relaxers over the counter?

How do you feel about your implants, are you happy with the way they look and feel? May I ask if you did nipple sparing, reconstruction or tattoo?

Thank you for all feedback!

REPLY
1 reply
susan7656 | @susan7656 | Jun 25 9:41pm
In reply to @lac60 "Hi @susan7656 - My remaining drains were removed yesterday, hallelujah! No expansion fills until next week,..." + (show)
@lac60

Hi @susan7656 - My remaining drains were removed yesterday, hallelujah! No expansion fills until next week, unfortunately. The past week I have been alternating Tylenol and Advil but getting worried I may need to back off some. Were your muscle relaxers over the counter?

How do you feel about your implants, are you happy with the way they look and feel? May I ask if you did nipple sparing, reconstruction or tattoo?

Thank you for all feedback!

Jump to this post

Hi @lac60 - woohoo! Congrats on getting the drains out!!

Here are the answers to your questions:

- my muscle relaxer was prescription

- I had a nipple sparing bilateral mastectomy (October 2024)

- My reconstruction surgery with implants and stomach fat grafting was March 2025 (the fat grafting was necessary to fill in around the implants)

- I am pleased with the results. The implants do take some getting used to, and I was told that from 2 other friends who had breast cancer and reconstruction.

I have been going to PT for about 3 months (which has been so valuable).

Hope this is helpful! Sending good thoughts your way.

REPLY
texasduchess | @texasduchess | Jun 27 12:15pm

I had expanders put in during my double mastectomy surgery. For quite a while after the surgery, I felt like I had a bad headache across the front of my chest all the time—I finally realized it wasn't my incisions that hurt, but the expanders. I was prescribed pain meds, muscle relaxers and Valium (for the muscle tightness) and TOOK them. As the months went on, I was always "aware" of the expanders; they felt as though they had been riveted on and I often felt pinching and poking sensations. I described the feeling of the tissue expanders to my friends as like wearing a hard plastic bra under my skin (I also texted them a picture of Brunhilde wearing those two conical metal disks over her breasts). Fills were easy, but I sometimes felt a bit achy later in the day after the fills were done.

My initial surgery was at the end of October 2014; I had to keep the expanders in until my 16 chemo treatments that began early January ended May 20 (my oncologist didn't want to delay my cancer treatment any longer than it took to heal from the double mastectomy). As it turned out, due to scheduling issues with another co-worker on my team, I had the expanders in for more than a year as I could not have the surgery to take them out and implants put in until early November.

Drains are a pain in the .... I pinned my drains to a lanyard around my neck.

I was not a candidate for nipple sparing. Silicone implants were used for reconstruction and I only wanted around a C cup. I still haven't bothered having new "nipples" made, nor tattoos. My incisions are "smiles" under each breast with a straight cut down from where the breast should project (where the nipple would be). I've had to have numerous revisions (capsular contraction from a bleed somewhere behind the left implant, the left implant turned over, the Alcon implants were implicated in a type of rare cancer and replacement was a good idea, the left side would droop, etc.).

I am happier with the right than the left (I had a lumpectomy and radiation on the left side 14 years before needing the double mastectomy for a new cancer and revisions don't work as well on this side), but I look all right in clothes—naked is another story; these would never pass as "real."

REPLY
1 reply
lac60 | @lac60 | Jun 28 1:09pm
In reply to @texasduchess "I had expanders put in during my double mastectomy surgery. For quite a while after the..." + (show)
@texasduchess

I had expanders put in during my double mastectomy surgery. For quite a while after the surgery, I felt like I had a bad headache across the front of my chest all the time—I finally realized it wasn't my incisions that hurt, but the expanders. I was prescribed pain meds, muscle relaxers and Valium (for the muscle tightness) and TOOK them. As the months went on, I was always "aware" of the expanders; they felt as though they had been riveted on and I often felt pinching and poking sensations. I described the feeling of the tissue expanders to my friends as like wearing a hard plastic bra under my skin (I also texted them a picture of Brunhilde wearing those two conical metal disks over her breasts). Fills were easy, but I sometimes felt a bit achy later in the day after the fills were done.

My initial surgery was at the end of October 2014; I had to keep the expanders in until my 16 chemo treatments that began early January ended May 20 (my oncologist didn't want to delay my cancer treatment any longer than it took to heal from the double mastectomy). As it turned out, due to scheduling issues with another co-worker on my team, I had the expanders in for more than a year as I could not have the surgery to take them out and implants put in until early November.

Drains are a pain in the .... I pinned my drains to a lanyard around my neck.

I was not a candidate for nipple sparing. Silicone implants were used for reconstruction and I only wanted around a C cup. I still haven't bothered having new "nipples" made, nor tattoos. My incisions are "smiles" under each breast with a straight cut down from where the breast should project (where the nipple would be). I've had to have numerous revisions (capsular contraction from a bleed somewhere behind the left implant, the left implant turned over, the Alcon implants were implicated in a type of rare cancer and replacement was a good idea, the left side would droop, etc.).

I am happier with the right than the left (I had a lumpectomy and radiation on the left side 14 years before needing the double mastectomy for a new cancer and revisions don't work as well on this side), but I look all right in clothes—naked is another story; these would never pass as "real."

Jump to this post

Your description of the how the expanders feel pretty much sums it up. Oh my, you have had a long journey, hope you’re healthy now. Thank you for sharing your story with me.

REPLY
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