tram pain and disfigurement

[dee78230]

I had cancer in 1999, I had a radical mastectomy. I also had a tram flap surgery.  I was in the hospital for 11 day in ICU.  I had many complications.  I had a part of my tram flap die.  They patched me up.  Literally.  I have a patch, like one you would find in the hippie days when they patched their jeans.  It is awful.  Then my breast is nowhere close to the size of the other breast.  My tram flap was placed under my arm and not on my chest.  No matter what I do, you can see my breast mass under my arm from behind me.  In the front the bra is always wrinkled in the front.  But all that said,  it is painful.  It feels like I have fire burning my skin on a pretty much constant basis.  Sometimes as I reached for things, that things are tearing.  I also have no nipple.  The area where one is suppose to be at is caved in to my chest.  I have visited with several plastic surgeons and no one knows what to do.  I constanty cry over the pain and the way I look.  I am sure that there are doctors out there that can help me, but I am sure that those 90210 doctors are out of my financial capability.  Does anyone out there have any suggestions on how I can get fixed.  


This discussion is related to Problems after Tram Flap Surgery and Hernia Repair.

[kirsty76]

i recently had a tram trap reconstruction, the abdomen is healing well, but unfortunately part of the skin flap died and i developed a golden staph infection! My doctor surgically removed the necrotic tissue but wasn't able to  completely close the wound, i now have a big gaping hole which he is hoping willl heal itself!!! My question is will it????? what are my options? Skin graft, or do i end up with a very long healing time and a large defect in the new breast?

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

I'm sorry to learn about what happened.  TRAM flap reconstruction is really one of the more acceptable ways to achieve good cosmesis after breast cancer surgeries, however, it is just unfortunate that your situation did not turn out well.  I agree with you that you need to see a good plastic surgeon to have this addressed.

Other options would include undoing the tram flap completely, and just opt for special bras and clothing to give a good look while wearing your clothes.  For the pain, it is best to be treated in a specialized pain center where they have different modalities including pain medications and nerve blocks.

Regards.