Daily Dose of Frustration—Tissue Expander Edition

I went in for my first tissue expander fill today.

I almost started that sentence with “I had my first fill…” but that wouldn’t be the whole truth. The truth is that Dr. Criswell was only able to fill my right side because, after 20 full minutes of poking around, massaging, and sticking me multiple times (I think we counted about 7 sticks) with, not one, but three different needles, she finally admitted that she wasn’t able to find the port site and sent me home.

If you are just now joining me on this journey, here’s a quick overview: I have had tissue expanders put in place of my old breasts that have to be filled little by little (50ccs at a time) until they get to be the size I want them to be. They will then be replaced with the “real implants” at a date still TBD.

These expanders are basically plastic bags attached to a port that sits under the skin. They require a needle to access them, but that is how they add liquid to the expanders which will eventually stretch my skin back out.

Anyway, apparently the port on my left side has migrated to… somewhere that it is not supposed to be. That mixed with some residual swelling made it impossible to find today. So, I was sent home, hurting, disappointed, and wondering what I did to deserve all of this, and was told to ice it and massage it for the next few days before we try again next Monday.

I don’t even know how to explain the level of disappointment at this point. Every time I think something is just “the icing on the cake,” something else happens to top it.

So, in today’s dose of frustration, this fill was the cherry on top of this Gigi’s cupcake of a situation.