Breast Reduction Issues.

[Tam Li Hua]

I finally had breast reduction surgery a week and a half ago. I'm thus far very happy with the results, except that there is a weird smell coming from that area.

I have already called the doctor, talked to the secretary at the plastic surgery office, and am waiting on a call back. I have heard that this could be a sign of infection, but that it could be easily taken care of with antibiotics from non-medical sources, but am anxious to hear what the doc has to say.

I'm a little frightened. Has anyone else experienced anything similar, or can shed any light on this subject?

[As for why I went ahead and got the surgery, it had been medically necessary for a long time. The only reason I didn't get it before was mostly because of lack of good insurance. The insurance I have now paid for it all, since it was medically necessary.]

~Lady Tam~

[honeythorn]

From what I understand it's pretty common, but geting some proper strong antibiotics from the doctor should perhaps help it clear better than ordinary ones.

Are you not allowed to change the dressings or have a nurse do it for you? Surely things like that have to be changed pretty much daily to keep the area clean and allow a bit of air to get to it when changing the dressing. I'd ask about that if I were you.




I'd love to have mine lifted but 1 - I can't afford it and 2 - I lift loads at work and would need a ridiculous amount of time off before being able to do so again .

One day perhaps...

[Tam Li Hua]

honeythorn: After my surgery, they pretty much told me to keep them on until the doctor can take them off himself; he didn't seem overly concerned about it.

I can take showers, but due to the nature of the surgery, I have to keep my back to the showerhead and just let the water flow over me, and wash that area delicately.

I talked to the nurse, who talked to my doctor. My doc said that it was likely the tape making the smell, and that I should take it off and take a shower and see if that helped things. I did that, and it seems to have gotten rid of the smell. They said that I should be fine without the tape until my next appointment on Wednesday, as long as I keep wearing the medical bras they gave me.

I imagine that the glue + this heat & humidity did a -lot- to cause the odor. I didn't see any place that looked infected in the mirror. The spotting they said was normal for those with my kind of surgery as well.

I have to tell you, this is one of the best decisions I ever made! I can actually stand up for longer than 2 minutes now! XD If you come to the point where you can, try to have insurance deem it medically necessary. [Though I think you're in Britain, so insurance may work differently there..?]

I'm very much looking forward to being healed up enough to get some good exercise and lose this extra weight. I'm eating healthier now than I have in a while, but while I'm healing, I can't do anything too terribly strenuous. Walking outside and pedaling machines are the best I can manage right now. Running is out of the question.

[Sorry for the long post. ^_^;;;]

[Saya]

Glad to hear it was just the tape! Heal fast!

[Tam Li Hua]

Thanks Saya!

[honeythorn]

Originally Posted by Tam Li Hua

If you come to the point where you can, try to have insurance deem it medically necessary. [Though I think you're in Britain, so insurance may work differently there..?]

I don't know a single person who has it. Because we have the NHS here which means you get medical care free basically, but some people pay for private healthcare ( the ones who are relatively wealthy or with well paid jobs anyway ) But there are monstrous waiting lists for such NHS funded surgeries and you have to have a pretty bad case to get on such a list.

Mine's not bad to that degree , I just don't like them and would have to pay privately which would cost roughly 4-6 thousand... which I simply do not have.

[Tam Li Hua]

UPDATE: [I do this so that anyone who is considering the surgery will have as much info from a layperson as possible.]

So it turns out that the infection I had was a community staff infection, meaning it was the kind you get out in the world and not the kind you get in the hospital. My doc gave me some new antibiotics that will help this kind of infection specifically. He also cleaned out the affected area as much as possible.

[WARNING: This next part isn't for the squeamish.]

Yesterday, while shopping for a beach umbrella, I sprung a leak. I felt wetness on my shirt, looked down...and I was soaked with the liquid the doc had been draining from me last week. So this morning, he gave me a good cleaning out. It hurt...boy howdy, did it hurt! He had to use a giant swab to get all the gunk out. I let slip a curse word in front of my older Christian mom-in-law, but considering the circumstances, she only fussed a little, and let it slide. [It's just easier to try and not use such words in front of her and my dad-in-law than to cause a big row about it.]

I tried to reach him last night, but apparently there's been communication problems between the answering service and the doctors. They have a new system in place or something, but that's no excuse for ignoring a patient's plea for help. [It's not my doc's fault; he had both his pager and his cell turned on and right with him at all times, but for some reason messages just aren't getting communicated from patient to answering service to doctor. He was as upset about it as I was, which made me feel better.]

Anyways, that's the latest in this terribly disgusting saga, and hopefully the last almost-emergency I'll have to deal with where this is concerned; tired of missing work, and REALLY tired of the doctor's office. [Though I -am- continuously grateful for modern medicine and medical practices.]

[JCC.]

PICS!!!


An infected titty would be a great album cover. I'll send you a bunch of copies if you send me an infected titty photograph. And whatever shit I find lying arounf my room. And some hair.

[Tam Li Hua]

Heh heh. It would indeed.

Honestly, it's not that gross-looking up-close; you could find grosser pics on t3h Interwebz. It's really just a little red.

If you send me hair, I'll send you toenail clippings.

[JCC.]

So long as those clippings are wrapped in an infected titty photo, OK.

[Tam Li Hua]

lol mssg2short