_ Hello ladies I my mastectomy on Thursday last week and I have a temporary Expander implant that gets filled up with saline over the weeks has any of you had pain from it as it feels so hard and alien. Also Im fighting with how I should be feeling as I had just a week to digest I had cancer then a week later cancer free ??? _
Hi - I had a right mastectomy on 24th September and have a temporary tissue expander in place at the moment.
They had put a small amount of saline into the expander at the operation so I wasn’t completely flat and then I went weekly for about 7 or 8 weeks to have more saline added and gradually expand the skin.
Each time I had the expander filled it felt uncomfortable - but a couple of paracetamol done the trick to help.
I had my last ‘fill’ in November then had to leave it for 3 months to ensure the skin remains stretched.
I went back for a check up in February and have been given the go ahead to have the temporary expander replaced with a permanent silicone one - I am on a list now waiting for the operation. It should have been this month but I was told due to Easter and some urgent cases I wouldn’t be getting it done in April now.
I have my pre op assessment on 8th May so that as soon as a slot becomes available I will be ‘good to go’.
I really can’t wait - the temporary expander feels quite hard and a bit bumpy and I can see and feel the port they use for injecting the saline into it. I’ve been told by the surgeon that the permanent implant will feel much softer and rounder, so I’m not ‘stressing’ about it.
I don’t know if you’ve had a ‘fill’ yet - if not don’t worry about it - its completely painless (and very clever), although you might feel a little discomfort afterwards due the the skin being stretched - but as I said a couple of paracetamol will help. Good luck and let me know how you get on and if you want any further info about this topic, as I’m quite a bit ahead of you, I’ll be more than happy to help.
Love, Helen. xxx