And we’re off! We have begun round three of tissue expansions. I initially got 100ccs during the expander placement surgery to which we just added 50ccs for a total of 150ccs. We are going all the way up to 550ccs, so this is going to take a while. Started off slow with only 50ccs to see how I would tolerate it this time around. So far, so good. I’ll be asking for more next time.

What is tissue expansion?

Reconstructing the breasts after a mastectomy can be achieved in a few different ways, including using tissue from other areas of the body or breast implants. In some scenarios chest skin and muscle are first expanded (stretched) before the breasts are reconstructed. A post from a couple of years ago further explains how this works:

Tissue expanders, which are like “pre-implants” (pictured on left), are inserted underneath the pectoralis major muscle. They are similar in shape and size, but are more rigid, unnatural, and uncomfortable. A round magnetic port in the top half allows for insertion of a needle, without compromising the expander. The tissue expanders are slowly filled with saline to stretch said muscle and the skin that covers them, until the desired volume is reached.

The process of filling the tissue expanders is pretty quick and uneventful. First the nurse uses a little plastic contraption with a metal pin at the end to find the magnetic port in the tissue expander. Once the center of the port is identified, the nurse sanitizes the area and injects the needle attached to a syringe holding the saline. She then slowly pushes the plunger until all fluid has been injected into the expander. This takes less than one minute. After completing the fill, she places a little round band-aid over the injection site. The end. This procedure itself is painless.

The hours or days after a fill, however, can be uncomfortable and this will vary from one fill to the next and from one woman to another. Some women have no pain at all, some experience a gradual increase in pressure and pain, and some are surprised going from one completely painless fill to another one that knocks them off their feet. During round one I was fine until about fill 6, which was not fun. Days after 7 were so uncomfortable, that I split fill 8 in two. Some women take muscle relaxers or pain meds before their appointments.

Here are a couple of great videos explaining the process:

Source of Figure 7.1: Steligo, Kathy. Breast Reconstruction Guidebook: Issues and Answers from Research to Recovery. Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012. Print, third edition.