Best Of
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
cindyny, I love your flowers!
illinoislady, I was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Garden Grove. My DH and I lived in a few other cities in Southern California before moving the first time to Denver, then Colorado Springs. He is a pastor so we moved a few times. We moved to Colorado Springs to teach at a Bible College there, then went to Tennessee to teach at a University there, then to San Diego where we taught at Point Loma Nazarene University, our alma mater, for almost nine years. We returned to Colorado Springs three years ago after our retirement to help our single-mom daughter who got a great job as a nurse. We also have additional family here and decided we needed to be closer to them to provide more support so the move was a good decision—our final one I hope. Two years ago I began to struggle with the altitude at 7000 ft and I have been on oxygen ever since. It is worth it though.
Since I am a California girl the lack of seasons was normal for me. I love the year-round gardening there, but we have lived in Colorado long enough that we embrace the seasons. I have learned to be content wherever we were planted and love change and being flexible. At least I used to before this diagnosis and its limitations.
Re: Replacing implants after 15 years
Thanks to all who have responded. A slightly twist; I went to have mammo./ultrasound/ and then MRI and then core biopsy and waiting results. I originally went to question fidelity of implants and a small mass was found, in mastectomy side, under armpit. Hopefully, all is well. Will know results next week.
Jen
jmj532
Re: Replacing implants after 15 years
It has been a year since I had the explant and new implants. I have quite a bit of contracture on both sides which makes my breasts firmer than natural breasts. There is almost no bounce. So far there is no pain either. The original implants were textured, a characteristic that was supposed to reduce the chance of contracture, and I had less contracture. My breasts were softer to the touch. Those implants are no longer used so I assume my new implants are smooth. Contracture is what the body does to a foreign object. I'm not complaining, just sharing.
Re: Replacing implants after 15 years
My explant and replacement went well and I had no problems. My plastic surgeon wanted to place the new implants on top of the pecs but my skin was too fragile. So he used the same pockets under the pecs and had to go with slightly larger implants to fill the space. Now that I'm back to normal I'm glad I went with replacement. For me it's better to have a breast shape than to be flat.
Good luck with your decisions.
Re: Replacing implants after 15 years
Thanks for sharing experiences with implants. The MRI of my chest is this afternoon. My surgery and reconstruction were so long ago that memory of the pain of recovery has faded. I had healing issues on the left side, the no cancer side, and the incision had to be redone. My difficult decision is whether to get new implants if the old ones are removed. I'm basically healthy at my age and I don't like the idea of going flat but it is the easiest route.
Re: Replacing implants after 15 years
Karen, at a recent examination by ultrasound, my bc surgeon saw evidence of rupture and concluded I needed to have the implants, which are behind the pectoral muscles, replaced. Tomorrow I have an MRI for more information. In July the implants are 15 years old. Removing them will involve removing the pocket and scar tissue. At my age, 81 in March, I dread surgery. New implants would not be placed behind the pectorals. It seems that placement is no longer in favor.
Re: Replacing implants after 15 years
Hi Karen1956,
my first implants were pre-pectoral Mentor Smooth High Profile. I had pretty bad rippling and one of them slipped down/bottomed out. I swapped out with smaller Mentor pre-pectoral Moderate Plus. The first set was in for just one year.
Glad yours are doing great at 16 years!
simonerc
Re: Replacing implants after 15 years
Hi carolehalston,
Sorry you have not had responses yet. I had my pre-pectoral, over the pectoral muscle, implants replaced 5 years ago. It was along with a hysterectomy. I had absolutely no pain from the implant swap whatsoever.
I did wind up needing pocket revision and was sore to engage the pectoral muscle for a few weeks. But not narcotic pain medicine sore.
I hope all goes well for you!
simonerc
Re: Contemplative practices - Affirmations, white light visualizations, healing meditations
Hi all. I have been trying various methods to calm my nervous system, but I have found my nervous system is going haywire. After much searching, I have discovered that due to early trauma, that I have a dysregulated nervous system that stays in fight, flight freeze. It all makes sense with how I have reacted to stressors throughout my life. It's stored trauma in the body.
All that being said, I am going to try Somatic Therapy (on my own). I will continue to use guided imagery, but I feel it's time to find the root cause and this new diagnosis has sent my body into a tailspin. I hope all of you are doing ok and I will continue to come back here to be with everyone on this finding out journey.
hippmark
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Oh, and my PCP has been getting increasingly snippy about renewing my Xanax (I take 0.5 mg at bedtime). The health system that employs him has been cracking down on prescribing controlled substances—one month at a time, no auto-refills. He insists I get a psych eval before the next fill. The questionnaire they sent me had two options: counseling/therapy or “medication management.” There was a caveat for the former: the system has no available psychiatrists, and so few psychologists & MSWs that we are urged to go outside the system if we need counseling or therapy. So it’s back to trying to find an onco-shrink (out of pocket, of course). I miss our family shrink, who retired at the start of the pandemic.
It’s just as bad at Union Health (the prepaid insurance plan for which Bob is now staff cardiologist). One of Bob’s cardiology patients has widely disseminated metastatic uterine cancer, which is quite painful as she nears the palliative care phase. But neither her PCP nor GYN-onc will prescribe her anything stronger than prescription strength ibuprofen—and they’re both suggesting she go OTC on the NSAIDs & Tylenol so that the plan doesn’t have to pay for it. His hands are tied: staff docs are not allowed to prescribe drugs classified as outside their specialties.
chisandy