Plastic Surgery Or Elective Surgery With Pots?

[Stace915]

Hi all, so since I was 16 I have wanted to get a breast augmentation. I went for a consultation years ago before I got sick and decided to wait because I didn't have the money for it. Shortly after that I got sick and assumed it meant I would never be able to do it. Well I haven't stopped thinking about it (I am 28 now) and finally decided to talk to my electrophysican about it. He said it was ok for me to do it and gave me the green light. He said the only issue could be that I might not find an anesthesiologist willing to work on me because it is general anesthesia and my BP could swing dramatically. I have an appointment Monday with the plastic surgeon to find out if his team is willing to work on me, if he says yes I am ready to go, if he says no... I will drop the subject forever

The procedure itself takes about an hour and the recovery (as I am told) generally takes anywhere between 3 days and a week... if I get the ok from the plastic surgeon I would wait until Sept/Oct to have it done since the Summer heat makes me much more symptomatic. I am guessing that my recovery will just be longer but when I have really bad days I am stuck in bed and can't imagine that I will feel any worse than that.

Have any of you had any sort of elective surgeries requiring general anesthesia? How was your recovery?? Do you think I am crazy?

(And this is something I want to do for myself, to feel better about myself, not for anyone else... so if you don't agree with my decision and think the procedure is silly, please keep it to yourself)

[janiedelite]

One thought that I have is that most plastic surgery procedures are done in the surgeon's clinic nowdays. I'm not saying that it's substandard, but if you are a higher-risk patient for anesthesia their resources to help you in a crisis are limited. You could probably ask to have surgery at a hospital where he has privileges, although it would be more expensive. Once the surgeon hears your health history, though, he might want to do the procedure in a more monitored setting.

I haven't had the procedure, but from what I know it's as you say... relatively short and with a pretty quick recovery.

[erikainorlando]

I think that this illness has taken so much of our lives that it is important to do what makes us happy and contented (within reason of course).

I have had autoimmune problems before (severe bout with Guillain Barre) and i did elective surgery after that with no problem. Now that i have had two autoimmune responses I would really think about it...but if it was that important to me and the doctors said ok...I would l do it.

I have people tell me all the time to not do this or that because I will get sick (feel worse..). Sometimes they are very right and I should not have gone on that long of a walk etc. but I have to live. i have to try....we can't live in a bubble.

Good luck...keep us posted.

Erika

[april abbott]

I have to say that I'm glad you brought this up because it is something that I have considered for years. I had my daughter 9 1/2 years ago, and although I don't mind being small chested, I breast fed, and gained and lost weight rapidly. This left my breasts saggy and I have severe stretch marks.

I want a breast augmentation, but of course, my health is an issue. Right now I'm doing very well, but I don't want to risk going down hill again. I've never had any type of surgery, so I have never had general anesthesia, which can be risky for even healthy people. Another thing to consider, although implants are of a high quality now, there is no implant guaranteed for life. At some point it is a good possibility that one or both will leak or sag and need a replacement. I know most manufacturers have warranties, but still that is going to mean yet another surgery at some point in the future. Really research how long they are expected to last, different brands and warranties, and inquire about replacements. My sis had it done a few years ago, and even though the implants are under warranty for several years, the actual cost of surgery will still cost money, and she will have to go under again if one does leak.

I think if I knew it would only be one surgery for the rest of my life, then I would do it, but I don't want to have them replaced in a few years(more anesthesia and more risk), and I certainly don't want one big boob and one small boob if one decides to rupture. LOL.

Another thing, don't underestimate the level of pain that can occur from surgery. My sis has an extremely high pain tolerance, yet she described the day after as having a car slowly roll over her chest and crush it. She couldn't even lift her arms for two days, and her husband had to feed her. Believe me, she had a good doctor, so that wasn't the issue. A few days later though she was doing pretty good.

She had to be on pain meds, so consider that too. Can you tolerate pain meds? Talk to people that have had this done to know what to expect.

Research the cosmetic surgeon very carefully, and I agree to prefer this done in a hospital setting under very close supervision of vital signs.

Please let me know how the consultation goes, as this is something I am looking at myself. I totally 100% support your decision and I understand, just be safe.

Good luck!

[potsgirl]

Hi Stacie~

I recently went to see a highly recommended plastic surgeon about a breast augmentation. Like you, after pregnancy and a large gain/loss of weight, my breasts are rather sad and forlorn, so as I get older, they get worse. My plastic surgeon would do it, but only at the hospital with an anesthesiologist right on hand. Our blood pressures can go all over the place while under anesthesia, so they need someone to be there to monitor it any time we're 'under'. In fact, when I had my gallbladder removed 4 months ago, I had to wear pressurized boots, too. I have a colonoscopy coming up, and I have to have that at the hospital instead of at the office..

My doc also told me that the pain is usually incredibly bad the first couple of days, and then it slowly lessens during the next 2 weeks, as April wrote about. I would love to have this done, but right now am too scared to try it. Please let us know what you find out. I'm not trying to be discouraging, just factual. If it works for you, you have to let the rest of us know!

Cheers,

Jana

[Stace915]

Thanks for all of your responses, I know plastic surgery is a touchy subject with some people so I was a little nervous to post about it but like I said its not something that I just woke up yesterday and decided I wanted to do... its been many years.

I will definitely let everyone know how the appointment goes on Monday and what the surgeon has to say. My feelings are that if he leaves it up to his anesthesiologist and the anesthesiologist seems hesitant at all when discussing it with me then I will take that as a sign that it is not meant to be. If on the other hand they seem completely comfortable with the idea and offer to do it in the hospital etc.. then I will almost definitely go through with it (my EP also said he would be willing to talk to them, maybe they can figure something where he would be on hand during the procedure??) At this point I just want the appointment to be over so I know one way or the other!! The good thing is if I do go through with it my Mom offered to come stay with my boyfriend and I so that she can be home with me while he is at work. I got this surgeons name from a few co-workers who have gone to him. Both said they had no bruising and very little pain, but I guess that is all relative and depends on my body and is different for everyone.

Time to attempt to dry my hair... thanks again for everyones input

Till Monday!!

-Staci

[maggie]

Hey Stacie,

I had plastic surgery after giving birth to five children, one set of twins. Needless to say I had some extra skin on my tummy left over,especially from the twins! My husband gave me a tummy tuck for my Mother's day gift after all the kids, before I had pots. I had the surgery and all went well. In three days I was up walking around and doing great. Ten days after the surgery I noticed I wasn't feeling well. I just laid around that day and in the evening we went out to visit with some friends. By the time I returned home I was misersable. I took off the binder they give you while healing and immediately the left side of my tummy rose and inch and was rock hard. I called the doctor and thankgoodness he lived close to me and he drove over to see for himself what was wrong. For some unknown reason I had begun to bleed internally. My husband rushed me to the hospital with the doctor right behind us and I had to have surgery again. This time it wasn't so easy. I had lost a lot of blood, they didn't want to give any infusions because of all the new information in regards to this, and put me on meds to help mend. It took me so long to recover this time around, too many surgeries too close together. My skin now was so sensivtive I couldn't let clothing touch me. I had to go through 6 months of therapy to be able to wear clothes that would lay against my skin. I hope this gives you something to think about, even under the best cirumstances things can go wrong. When my close friends saw what I went through to get a flat tummy to this day not one of them have opted for plastic surgery. I know my story is not the norm, but things do go wrong. Just some food for thought,

Maggie

[tinkerbella]

Hi Stacie,

I recently had to have some cancer related surgery done quickly as possibly. My cardio wouldn't let anyone touch me around here because of my vitals signs and as my mom wouldn't wake up once after anesthesia. we were all called to her bedside as they thought she was never coming out of it. I really think she had POTS.

I know i mentioned this before, but he said, "that he would want a Dr. anesthesiologist for me always." I thought they all were and he said, "no there are nurses also, but I would feel best knowing you were safest at MASSGeneral Hospital where they could handle both of your issues safely." there they could put in an arterial central venous line in my wrist and monitor my BP at all times and make me safe at all time with medications. They just needed to know what I was allergic to and not. My cardio would always be a phone call away.

My cardio had sent me there for all my stress tests which were far superb to the ones I had had elsewhere. I felt if anything had gone wrong they had every thing about me at their fingertips. Also before surgery my doctor called my other new doctors and anesthesiologist and explained all about my case along with my notes.

I wish you the best, and just be your own advocate along with your doctor's help and advice to guide you to get the best and safest care. I'll say a prayer for you that all goes well and you make the right decision.

Blessings and love,

BellaMia~

[Stace915]

Hi all, so here is an update. I went to see the plastic surgeon and we discussed everything about my health and he was very thorough and shockingly had heard of POTs and EDS. We discussed everything for over an hour and he said that due to me having EDS the implants could move very slightly because my skin is stretchier.. but so slightly that it would not be noticeable not that they would end up on my back lol.

We left things that he was going to speak to the head of anesthesiology at the surgery center and was going to read up on some of the recent POTS info but that he didn't foresee it being an issue. He said I was a challenge and he liked challenges. I assumed that he would want to do the surgery at the hospital so a cardiologist would be on hand if necessary, he also said that instead of general anesthesia an epidural was an option. Generally the anesthesiologist doesn't know anything about the case until they walk in the day of surgery. In my case he said he would first get approval from the top guy and then hand pick the anesthesiologist and explain everything so they could give him an okay and be very familiar with my case. I told him that if anyone had any hesitation than to please let me know, and in that case I would not go through with the procedure, and that if everyone is 100% comfortable with it then whatever they thought was best I would do (hospital or surgery center, epi or general).

It took 3 weeks for me to get a call back from the doctor but they finally called this week! The doctor himself got on the phone and he said that the head of the surgery center and everyone else was ok with me having the surgery done!!! They said to do it in the surgery center because there is much less chance of infection and that they recommend general anethesia because the epidural effects the flow of the blood or something along those lines and they thought that would be riskier.

SO I was going to wait until September when the Summer heat and humidity had passed but based on my schedule and the doctors vacation I scheduled it for August 13th! OMG... 3 weeks!!

So I am all scheduled, I go Friday morning for all of my pre-op stuff, they will give me a prescription for anti-biotics for after the surgery etc.. and they just asked that I have my cardiologist send over his notes from my most recent appointment and they may call him.

I am really really excited but nervous also, not so much about the procedure but about how weird it is going to be to wake up having my body look different than it has my whole life! My Mom is coming in from out of state for a few days to help take care of me so my boyfriend does not have to take too many days off. I will keep everyone posted after the pre-op appointment and after the surgery. Yay!!

[potsgirl]

Stacie,

I'm glad to hear that everything worked out for you and that you can go ahead with the procedure. Please let us know how it goes!

Cheers,

Jana

[MightyMouse]

I had a bilateral breast reduction a few years ago--perhaps some would consider it "elective", but to give you an idea of how much I needed it, my insurance covered the surgery in full. My recovery wasn't all that bad--but I do want you to know I had to 1) stay in a major hospital and 2) I DID have some complications.

re complications: Like you, I have a collagen defect that makes me hypermobile and more prone to pooling, and or rupture of blood vessels, and bruising. More than one week after my surgery, I ruptured an artery in my right breast and required an emergency surgery to fix the artery, clean out the mess it left etc.---essentially, the entire right breast got redone.

All this said, I don't regret having it done. I can sleep better at night b/c I can actually sleep on my belly if I want to , or sleep on my back without having apnea episodes b/c of the literal weight on my chest.

Whatever your choice, wishing you the best.

Nina

[Stace915]

Hello all, sorry its been a while but I am back with an update. So the week before my surgery was scheduled it just happened that because of canceled appointments I finally got to see the geneticist 5 days before my surgery for a full genectics counseling etc session.. about my EDS and I was just told to go for an overall workup. Well I am still waiting to her about the fabray test (I posted something on here the day of the appointment about that). Anyways I found out that my bleeding times where abnormal and in order to have surgery I had to get this very specialized medication to reduce the risk of me bleeding and brusing too much.. well I found this all out the day before surgery VERY long and stressful story short, I ended up almost canceling the surgery and last minute got the drug that was supposed to cost me $816.79 out of pocket for $60 delivered to my door at 7pm the evening before surgery!!

The surgery itself went PERFECTLY! They gave me an extra iv bag of fluid before and after surgery and they said my BP and HR both behaved perfectly!! So great, I was so relieved that everything went well... of course I spoke too soon. The following day all day I was in a lot of pain my right breast and right arm, later that evening my Mom and boyfriend were looking at me and said the right one was swollen 50% more than the left! I was completely out of it and on pain meds plus in so much pain that the next few hours are a bit of a blur. I know the doctor said to get to his office asap and we went and the minute he lifted my shirt he said get her to the hospital ASAP. I will met you there... I vaguely remember walking into the ER holding an ice pack and when my mom told me to sign in I said something stupid like didn't she know this was the ER and we would have to wait there for hours until they looked at everyone else (I was really out of it!). Well I signed in and the nurses responded, she is her..get her back!

Within 5 minutes of walking through the door I was hooked up to an IV and being wheeled into emergency surgery! It seems that 1 in 500 breast augmentations have a blood vessel burst after the surgery, it has nothing to do with how the surgery went but is basically a freak complication and guess who the lucky winner was!! They had me in surgery for about half hour (or so I am told). they had to clean out all of the blood etc, take the implant out and then put it back in when everything was cleaned up. They sent me home that night and due to surgery two days in a row and anethesia two days in a row, I was in an awful "pots hole" for 3 days with the worst migraine of my life that imitrex and furicet couldn't even touch, and I could barely lift my head! It was a terrible 3 days... but I am writing 7 days after the second surgery and I am doing MUCH better!! Tomorrow I go back to work (not driving myself just to be extra safe), and I am back where I should within the healing process and just sore now.

What a week!!! Thank goodness everything is ok, and now I have a perfect new chest Was it worth it... ask me once I am all healed!

[MightyMouse]

Stace, that's pretty much what happened to me as well (except my bleeding times are always normal)--I had a ruptured artery in my right breast which happened nearly a full WEEK after the surgery. It started to swell a little before bed, and the morning I showed Teri and she called the surgeon, met me at his office and said "this is a surgical emergency" and I was in surgery within the hour.

Even so, I'm happy with the result of the reduction. Less back and shoulder pain.

Hope the remainder of your recovery goes well.

Nina

[MightyMouse]

Oh, and TAKE IT EASY!!!!

No lifting...be careful about sneezing/coughing too. It was an asthma attack/coughing that probably blew my artery even though it was already a full week past my surgery.

Nina

[tinkerbella]

Stace,

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, that"s a lot to go thorough. I'm thinking of you and sending you lots of gentle hugs and prayers for a quick recovery.

It really seems like those of us with Pots seem to go through the worst case scenarios or just plain get hit harder with anything that we go through. I wish all of us lived closer so that today I could drop by with a hand picked bouquet of flowers from my garden. They give me so much pleasure passing them on to everyone who touches my life. So Stace, if I was magiical today or I really should say tonight I would deliver you a special bouquet in a fancey tea pot to cheer you up. Please take care and follow the rules and to geet back in working order in no time at all.

Be well~

BellaMia~

[Sophia3]

WOW! I missed this original thread but i am glad you got through things ok! hope you have a speedy recovery!

I had a hysterectomy 2.5 years ago, laparoscopically and the anesthesiologist just asked lots of questions as i was outside the surgery area...then I had to get up to go to the bathroom (my doctor had a delivery so my surgery had to wait!) my HR went up to about 150 which was normal after fasting and bowel prep..ugh (like things clean for abdominal surgery)

The anesthesiologist came and checked my pulse and did an EKG. He said "how do you feel"...I said ok..he then commented how high my HR was...i said usually it's just 120 to 130 when upright. "He said I guess you get used to it huh" I said yes but I lie flat every chance I get...he said they are ready for bp drops and Hr drops in surgery as general anesthesia is working on the ANS...so they are familiar when things bounce around.

Anyway mine went great and I was in the best mood for 3 days from the anesthesia cocktail! That had never happened in the two previous surgeries I'd had in the last 9 years....always was nauseated too...so anyway...it pays to talk to the anesthesia and give brief synopsis..so I am glad things worked out for you.

Keep us posted...and show us a before and after picture..with clothes of course! Ha ..just kidding.

[ajw4790]

Wow, sounds like quite the ordeal! Glad you are doing better and caught it early! Take an easy and rest up. Hopefully you won't have anymore of those migraines since all the anesthesia etc. is working its way out of your system.

Take care of yourself! Can't believe you are already returning to work!

[potsgirl]

For those of us not having breast augmentation, but other less invasive procedures, I thought I'd post on what happened to me when I tried Botox shots for some lines around my mouth. One of the injections hit a small blood vessel and I had a huge bruise on that portion of my lip/upper mouth for a good week. Interesting, huh? Not sure I'll do it again, but I might try a filler. Anyone else had shots done?

Cheers,

Jana

[MightyMouse]

I had botox 1x in my forehead last year--and interestingly, I didn't have migraines for 6 months after that! They've returned however, so I'm thinking of getting the shot again.

Nina

[It'sMyLife]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I think about having this surgery almost daily. I have always had a very small chest and then I breastfed my DD for 19 mos. So, I was left with even less! The biggest challenge for me is finding bras and my small belly sticking out farther than my chest! I just want to feel feminine and be able to find bras. I don't want to be big enough that people look at my chest or wonder if they're fake-just average! Thanks again!

[ramakentesh]

Ive had serious surgerys with POTS without experiencing any difficulties what so ever. But I didnt do this during a serious relapse. The only trigger for my relapses is long term flight so I might not be typical.

[Tealeaf17]

Hi Potsgirl,

Many years later but I had dysport injections this morning and it hit me pretty hard.  I definitely have dysautonomia.  I guess it's POTS but my BP and HR went way up along with feeling weak, shaky, a bit headachey.  It's the evening now and I'm better but still not feeling right.  I really want to have cosmetic surgery but I'm afraid.