Hi Susan196!

Ugh, I’m sorry you’re going through this, glad they tested the glue first and avoided it this go round. My implant surgery will be in August, PS said he won’t use any glue on me and I’m going to see my allergy doc next week to make sure that’s the only thing to avoid, I suspect the dissolving stitches were an issue too because so far no one can tell me why it was ongoing. BUT I also have rheumatoid arthritis (since 2012) and I think it’s possible my immune system is also overreacting as usual.

My experience has been with my other chemical allergies (shampoos, PPD hair dye) that i have a mild reaction initially and each exposure gets worse, kinda sounds like that’s where you were too on your hip surg. I’ve had allergies to chemicals since the 90’s (paper dust!) but they really accelerated after my mastectomy. My immune system tanked in 2011 (my dr blamed my soon to be ex husband 😂) being in constant fight or flight mode set off a cascade of autoimmune issues: hives, thyroid, RA. Maybe not necessarily the cancer created these problems but the treatments, surgeries etc make our immune system more reactive??

Thanks so much for the update and good wishes - my rash has mostly stopped, still small flares & itchiness sometimes though. I can’t wait til the expanders come out in august but I’m nervous about whether my body will accept the implants, only one way to find out, hopefully allergy doc can at least help manage any reactions I might have this time. I’ll ask for testing first when I see him, that’s a great idea. It’s been such a mystery what they’re using in all these procedures, and no one paid attention to my adhesive allergy last time, I didn’t know it would be that bad and didn’t advocate for myself, this time will hopefully be different.

After my mastectomy last September, I developed redness all along my incision line. It continued to spread outward which made my Physician's Assistant think it was an infection (scary thought!). She prescribed an antibiotic which I had a reaction to, and then a different one which I took for a week. It turns out it was a reaction to the surgical glue. She cleaned it off and I used an ointment which cleared it up. I also developed a rash from the adhesive bandages around my drain sites. It took awhile, but that eventually cleared up too.

The Tegaderm bandages often used after surgery, biopsies, and IVś make my skin red, rashy, and itchy. No other band-aids do this. No other allergies. Odd. I had this put into all my medical charts and they found other options with no problems.

I am allergic to band-aids glue, and some surgical tapes. The adhesive causes my skin to blister and swell and itch.😬🥺

Hi
Had the tissue expander removed last month. I feel.so. much better. Thanks for the healing prayers