First I would like to say thank you for taking the time to read this. I am stepping out of my comfort zone by asking for help from strangers. Here is my story....
In December 2014 I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 31. My doctor had suggested that I have a double bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction and skin sparring. So I went with what he suggested and scheduled the surgery. On the morning of February 16,2015 just 5 days after my 32nd birthday I was being wheeled into surgery. I woke up several hours later in tremendous pain and couldn't get the pain under control at first. The dr had placed expanders under my pectoral muscle and had done my first fill of 100cc of sterile saline. I spent days in the Hospital and I was released to go home. My mother, sister and a special friend came & helped me with my 3 children, my personal needs and housework. Then on February 23,2015 something didnt feel right. My incision site on my left side was really red and hot to the touch and I was having mtemts of being hot and cold so I took my temperature and it was 103.4. I took some fever reducers (tylenol) and waited to see if it would come down. It didnt budge but went up to 104. That is when i called my drs after hours line. The on call dr told me to go to the ER where he would come take a look at me. When I arrived he was already waiting on me and took me straight to a ED room. He took one look at my surgical site and said there was an infection, but he didn't know just exactly to what extent until he got my bloodwork back and my white blood count was super high. He said he was admitting me & placing me on one of the strongest antibiotics (vancomycin) and we would go from there. He wanted to avoid any surgeries if possible and save my expander. The next morning around 5am a nurse came in to get my vitals and my bp was dangerously higg, my fever had once again jumped up over 104 and my vein had blown from the harsh antibiotics. So she called my dr he had them place another IV and prep me for surgery. I was so delirious from the high fever and i wasnt making any sense at all. So once again i was wheeled to surgery where they had to remove the left expander. The dr said when he opened me up infection poured everywhere. I spent another 8 days in the hospital 3 of those days were in ICU, where I was closely monitored and where my pain was being controled. On the 8th day I was able to go home and feeling fairly good. I had 2 JP drains this time to drain any unwanted fluids. Everything once again was going great until the morning of March 20th I woke up to excruciating pain and blood pooled on my right side. I panicked and called my mom. I was afraid to even lift my shirt and look at my incision on my right side. My JP drain contained blood and pus and I once again had a fever. My mom took one look and took me straight back to the ER. On the ride there I had what they call a febrile seizure which happens when there is a sudden increase in your body temp. Mine had reached 105. My mom almost wrecked bc of my seizure but she got me to the Hospital where they rushed me to a room and started placing ice packs on me and around me. My blood pressure was dangerously low. So once again I was being admitted and closely monitored on vancomycin. This time though after 7 blown veins they placed a picc line in so they could administer my antibiotics and whatever other medications i needed. Once again the next morning my fever wouldn't go down and I had multiple seizures within a short period of time I was wheeled back to the OR. My dr doesnt like doing surgeries when you have a fever but I was becoming more critic with every minute that passed. So he opened me up and once again infection poured out. He noticed that my right side about 8 inches below my armpit all the way to my back was really red and swollen so he made a small incision and more infection. It had literally spread to my back and was caused from the JP drain along with the other infection. I spent another 12 days in the hospital. 7 of those days in ICU due to fevers, seizures and very low blood pressures. On day 12 I was released to go home, no longer having any expanders. I had to heal for atleast 6 months before doing the reconstruction again. I waited a lot longer because I wanted to be fully healed. Well here I am 4 years later where my doctor and I felt it had been long enough for my body to heal and I am now cancer free. We thought that may had something to do with it. I started the reconstruction over on May 9,2018. I made arrangements to be off work for atleast 8 weeks and was approved for the time off with pay. So that morning I was taken into the OR where they placed my expanders and the alloderm under my pectoral muscle. Everything went well, there was very little pain and I stayed in the Hospital for 2 days. I healed up nicely and was able to return to work 6 weeks later. I was so happy. On the morning of August 4th I woke up with a slight fever and a headache but took it as I was coming down with something. Took some tylenol and called into work sick. Later that evening My fever had spiked and my daughter who was 14 at the time found me having a seizure in the shower. She called 911 then my parents.The dr ordered blood work and it indicated there was a infection somewhere. There was...it was in my right side omce again and it was back with a vengeance and had spread to my blood. I was now septic and in critical condition. They couldnt put me through surgery until i was more stable. I spent 6 days in the ICU on a vent being pumped full of antibiotics. Finally i was taken back to the OR to have thr expander removed. I was devasted that this happened again. I got released 9 days later just to be back in the Hospital again to have my left expander removed in November. My dr had some tests ran and I have an auto immune disorder and that is why I have had so many infections. My job got sick of me having to be off and let me go and all my funds for bills, medication, car, food and for the kids to do extracurricular activities has been drained from my account. I am at risk of losing my home that I worked so hard for. My car was reposessed on December 2nd so i no longer have my transportation to and from appointments and places i need to go. I applied for temporary disability where i have been denied and now my ex husband is threatening to take my kids if I lose my home. My kids are my everything and my reason I keep fighting. But I am at my wits end. My family has helped me as much as possible without losing there things. They are tapped and cant help me financially anymore. Christmas is only a few weeks away and I can't even buy my kids a single thing because I dont even have a dollar to my name. We missed the deadline for the Christmas program they have here to get Christmas for my children and my cupboards are so bare that I have had to have friends or family bring us something to eat. I cant get to the food pantries to get food because I cant walk that far in the shape i am in health wise plus I am susceptible to any virus or bug that is going around and its 10x worse for me and means a hospital stay if i get sick. My kids need me but they also need to be able to count on me to support them financially. Their dad lives 4 states away and if he takes them its hard telling when i will see them again and we are a close nit and bonded family. Someone please find it in your heart to help me out atleast for Christmas and to be able to make atleast one house payment so the bank doesnt take my home. Thank you for reading my long post.
In December 2014 I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 31. My doctor had suggested that I have a double bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction and skin sparring. So I went with what he suggested and scheduled the surgery. On the morning of February 16,2015 just 5 days after my 32nd birthday I was being wheeled into surgery. I woke up several hours later in tremendous pain and couldn't get the pain under control at first. The dr had placed expanders under my pectoral muscle and had done my first fill of 100cc of sterile saline. I spent days in the Hospital and I was released to go home. My mother, sister and a special friend came & helped me with my 3 children, my personal needs and housework. Then on February 23,2015 something didnt feel right. My incision site on my left side was really red and hot to the touch and I was having mtemts of being hot and cold so I took my temperature and it was 103.4. I took some fever reducers (tylenol) and waited to see if it would come down. It didnt budge but went up to 104. That is when i called my drs after hours line. The on call dr told me to go to the ER where he would come take a look at me. When I arrived he was already waiting on me and took me straight to a ED room. He took one look at my surgical site and said there was an infection, but he didn't know just exactly to what extent until he got my bloodwork back and my white blood count was super high. He said he was admitting me & placing me on one of the strongest antibiotics (vancomycin) and we would go from there. He wanted to avoid any surgeries if possible and save my expander. The next morning around 5am a nurse came in to get my vitals and my bp was dangerously higg, my fever had once again jumped up over 104 and my vein had blown from the harsh antibiotics. So she called my dr he had them place another IV and prep me for surgery. I was so delirious from the high fever and i wasnt making any sense at all. So once again i was wheeled to surgery where they had to remove the left expander. The dr said when he opened me up infection poured everywhere. I spent another 8 days in the hospital 3 of those days were in ICU, where I was closely monitored and where my pain was being controled. On the 8th day I was able to go home and feeling fairly good. I had 2 JP drains this time to drain any unwanted fluids. Everything once again was going great until the morning of March 20th I woke up to excruciating pain and blood pooled on my right side. I panicked and called my mom. I was afraid to even lift my shirt and look at my incision on my right side. My JP drain contained blood and pus and I once again had a fever. My mom took one look and took me straight back to the ER. On the ride there I had what they call a febrile seizure which happens when there is a sudden increase in your body temp. Mine had reached 105. My mom almost wrecked bc of my seizure but she got me to the Hospital where they rushed me to a room and started placing ice packs on me and around me. My blood pressure was dangerously low. So once again I was being admitted and closely monitored on vancomycin. This time though after 7 blown veins they placed a picc line in so they could administer my antibiotics and whatever other medications i needed. Once again the next morning my fever wouldn't go down and I had multiple seizures within a short period of time I was wheeled back to the OR. My dr doesnt like doing surgeries when you have a fever but I was becoming more critic with every minute that passed. So he opened me up and once again infection poured out. He noticed that my right side about 8 inches below my armpit all the way to my back was really red and swollen so he made a small incision and more infection. It had literally spread to my back and was caused from the JP drain along with the other infection. I spent another 12 days in the hospital. 7 of those days in ICU due to fevers, seizures and very low blood pressures. On day 12 I was released to go home, no longer having any expanders. I had to heal for atleast 6 months before doing the reconstruction again. I waited a lot longer because I wanted to be fully healed. Well here I am 4 years later where my doctor and I felt it had been long enough for my body to heal and I am now cancer free. We thought that may had something to do with it. I started the reconstruction over on May 9,2018. I made arrangements to be off work for atleast 8 weeks and was approved for the time off with pay. So that morning I was taken into the OR where they placed my expanders and the alloderm under my pectoral muscle. Everything went well, there was very little pain and I stayed in the Hospital for 2 days. I healed up nicely and was able to return to work 6 weeks later. I was so happy. On the morning of August 4th I woke up with a slight fever and a headache but took it as I was coming down with something. Took some tylenol and called into work sick. Later that evening My fever had spiked and my daughter who was 14 at the time found me having a seizure in the shower. She called 911 then my parents.The dr ordered blood work and it indicated there was a infection somewhere. There was...it was in my right side omce again and it was back with a vengeance and had spread to my blood. I was now septic and in critical condition. They couldnt put me through surgery until i was more stable. I spent 6 days in the ICU on a vent being pumped full of antibiotics. Finally i was taken back to the OR to have thr expander removed. I was devasted that this happened again. I got released 9 days later just to be back in the Hospital again to have my left expander removed in November. My dr had some tests ran and I have an auto immune disorder and that is why I have had so many infections. My job got sick of me having to be off and let me go and all my funds for bills, medication, car, food and for the kids to do extracurricular activities has been drained from my account. I am at risk of losing my home that I worked so hard for. My car was reposessed on December 2nd so i no longer have my transportation to and from appointments and places i need to go. I applied for temporary disability where i have been denied and now my ex husband is threatening to take my kids if I lose my home. My kids are my everything and my reason I keep fighting. But I am at my wits end. My family has helped me as much as possible without losing there things. They are tapped and cant help me financially anymore. Christmas is only a few weeks away and I can't even buy my kids a single thing because I dont even have a dollar to my name. We missed the deadline for the Christmas program they have here to get Christmas for my children and my cupboards are so bare that I have had to have friends or family bring us something to eat. I cant get to the food pantries to get food because I cant walk that far in the shape i am in health wise plus I am susceptible to any virus or bug that is going around and its 10x worse for me and means a hospital stay if i get sick. My kids need me but they also need to be able to count on me to support them financially. Their dad lives 4 states away and if he takes them its hard telling when i will see them again and we are a close nit and bonded family. Someone please find it in your heart to help me out atleast for Christmas and to be able to make atleast one house payment so the bank doesnt take my home. Thank you for reading my long post.