breast augmentation with existing spondyolarthropy

[treehugger]

Hi, I am a 38 yr old female with a diagnosed spondyolarthropy, going on 6 years now. I currently take only 15 mgs of methotrexte weekly, and a food-grade coxx-2 inhibitor/like drug called Limbrel. I run 15 miles/week or so, and lift weights 3 times weekly. I am 5'5" and weigh 124lbs. I feel great!!! Last Feb '08 I developed septic olecranon bursitis in my elbow. I was on Remicade at the time, 4 vials every 6 weeks. It was originally missed by a primary dr and therefore not excised for almost 120 hrs, and it was cultured as step A. It had been misdiagnosed as a flare (which I've never had like that!) and so was on 50mgs of prednisone. Needless to say, the infection raged and I had a pic line with Vancomyacin and Rozephin twice daily for about 7 weeks. Eventually things healed up but I had to undergo a debridement in October for scar tissue buildup. That surgery went well, no healing delays or anything. I believe remicade and the delay in surgery were the primary issues with the infection. I have a breast augmentation consult scheduled on 4/3, but wanted my rheum.'s ok beforehand. He is not optimistic, however, and said because of my history of infection he doesn't think it's a good idea. But I have never had any other kind of infection before, and feel this would be a controlled environment. Does having a connective tissue disease automatically exclude me from having a breast augmentation? I also work 8 months a year at a plant nursery so I feel I am in excellent shape, and have a very good tolerance for discomfort, as well as a positive attitude. Have you performed augmentation on other arthritis patients and had a successful outcome? Ultimately, I want to do what's best for my health, but I have really wanted to have a breast augmentation for a long time, and after the elbow episode I really worked hard to get as healthy and drug free as possible. In doing so, I lost about 15 lbs I'd let creep up and so reduced my breasts even further. Thank you for your time.

[Dr.Hueneke]

The methotrexate is an issue and would need to be stopped for 4 weeks. I would also be very concerned about infection. Any remote infection (such as an elbow joint) could seed the implant and cause a big problem. I would talk to a couple of surgeons, but proceed with great caution. The risk may not be worth having it done