Mystery boob problem solved: hemophilia!

I went to see my PS a few more times, each time he found more bleeding in my breasts. I swear they feel like they're filled with meatballs, I have hematomas all over the place. He said it's highly unusual for a patient to have that much bleeding 5 weeks post-op. So he sent me in for some blood tests.

So far the tests indicate that I'm a hemophiliac. WTF!? I have an abnormally low amount of clotting factor (the stuff in your blood that forms clots after an injury) in my blood. They have to do more tests to narrow it down and figure out exactly which ones I'm deficient in, but it explains why I'm still bleeding from a surgery that was almost 6 weeks ago.

I'm not understanding why it wasn't a problem for me after my VSG but there was cauterizing and stapling for that so maybe it was a lower-bleed surgery?

My TT is scheduled for oct 28 and that is still on, tentatively. I have to get some more blood tests so they can figure out how they should change my treatment plan, if at all. I can take blood clotting medications but those are tricky because if you get too much it will cause a blood clot in the veins, which is very bad news.

It's good to know though. My grandmother bled to death after the birth of her last child, and my mother also hemorrhaged after her last birth. Neither had been tested for a bleeding disorder, but it's probable that that was the cause. If I ever get pregnant it'll be very important for the doctors to know because it's such a risk factor during birth.

As far as my poor lumpy boobies go, PS says I've developed early capsular contracture from all the bleeding. I'm to start massaging them 3x a day, but if the bleeding starts up again (fingers crossed) I need to stop and go see him again. The implants are not dropping because of the contracture. I will most likely need a minor revision in about 5 months, he'll open me up again on both sides (just 1") and snip away at the capsule to break up the scar tissue. He has to wait for the tissue all around to heal more though before he can do it. He is confident that it's entirely fixable.

So, looks like I'll be wearing heavy sweaters for the next 5 months to cover my frankenboobs. Their shape is still really weird. I still can't wear a bra because my breast simply doesn't mush or move.

It's not the worst thing in the world. At least this isn't happening at the height of summer. I've lived with crappy boobs for years now, what's another 6 months? I was moaning to my mom, "I can't date for 6 more months!" and she replied "Why can't you? You wouldn't be showing them your breasts anyway would you?" and I was like ".....no.... of course not.... I would *never* do that..." (DAMMIT! I totally would. I was looking forward to it, actually. I'm practically a born-again virgin at this point anyway!).

This too shall pass. I'm still getting my tummy tuck. But geez, things sure can seem bizarre sometimes!

Wow! That's quite a development! Question--have you been taking a lot of vitamin k or eating a lot of vit k rich foods because, if I'm remembering correctly, that can cause bleeding. Perhaps you didn't have an issue after the VSG because your k level was ok. Just a thought. I remember my grandma having to be careful with her k intake.

Glad you are getting some answers. My right boob is still sitting too high, stubborn beyotch! And they are still wideset like before--ugh. It is all so counterintuitive to me--wear a bra but wear a strap...massage but not down but we want your boob to go down--WTF?

Take care!!

That's a very interesting thought, about vitamin K. I am definitely going to start googling. I have a pretty standard diet (I eat the same things over and over) so I could look up the foods I always eat to see if they're high in vit K. Thanks for the suggestion!!

Ugh, you're still wearing the strap huh? Ain't it a pain? I stopped mine finally. I was like, this is too much misery. It was eating away at my very soul. Luckily my doc said today that I don't need it anymore anyway because it's unlikely to help (this is after I already stopped wearing it, but didn't tell him).

What kind of massage are you doing? I have to dig in from 2 opposite sides to squeeze the implant like a water balloon really hard. It hurts. does your massage hurt? I'm supposed to be squeezing the implant so that it squeezes open the capsule that has formed, not just moving the implant up and down.

I'll say a prayer for your righty.

nonononononooooo.

Absolutely OPPOSITE.

Vitamin K supports appropriate clotting.

In fact, it was named as such after "koagulation"

Standing corrected!!! Right vitamin, wrong understanding of it.

Thanks for chiming in!! Funny--I normally research everything to death. See what I get for not double checking before I post.

Thanks again for the "K"orrection!

OMG Lizzy, I'm sitting here laughing about your mom and dating and showing your breasts.  She's probably around my age and I'd be telling you to buy gorgeous bras to show off your wonderful new assessts.

Now about that clotting.  I'm so sorry it's interferring with your healing process, but I'm so happy you found out now when it's not a life and death situation.  You're right about having just the right amount of meds to control things so that you don't throw a clot.  The good thing is that modern medicine is wonderful and they will figure it out for you.

Sorry about those big bulky sweaters.

Well, I just left a message on one of your pictures asking how your boobs were doing! Should have came here first! LOL! Anyhoo, I'm glad they were able to figure out what was going on and hopefully it'll be a fairly "easy" fix. Don't worry, you'll be flashing in no time!   

Sounds almost like Von Wildebrands disorder.  My daughter was tested for it for bleeding alot.  Thankfully she found out it was one of her meds causing her to bleed, and it was stopped.

Hope your boobies do better.

I think you should find a hematologist to order these tests instead of a plastic surgeon.

And I don't think it's a very good idea to get more PS, especially such a major PS, without a proper diagnosis and treatment and the OK from a physician that doesn't have any monetary interest in your surgery.

I didn't have clotting problems and had internal bleeding after my LBL -- add a clotting problem on top of this...this could really be a disaster.