Exchange City
Comments
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catey,
Mine were
1) If it hurts, don't do it.
2) Don't drive while taking prescription pain meds.
3) Don't lift over 10 pounds for 4 weeks.
4) Wear a compression bra initially, then switch to a good quality, very supportive bra to keep the implants secure while the pockets heal.
My guess is that you will have a huge variety of answers!! You need to ask your own doctor what restrictions you will be given. Your PS will know the particulars of your exchange...more pocket work = more time to heal, any other health issues that might affect recovery, etc.0 -
Thanks Dulcigirl,
I am actually interested in what everyone elses PS's have instructed them so I can compare all of the various restrictions/instructions0 -
gotcha!! Then I should add to my list that these were my instructions following a 2nd exchange (revision) to different implants. (Style and size.) But I believe my first time instructions were very similar. I just can't remember what he said about lifting arms above shoulder height. I do remember him telling my DH to be very sure that I did not overdo. He said it happens a lot and can impact the results. A few days later I got busted for carefully loading the washer.0 -
Catey, what did he say about restrictions? and what about wearing/not wearing a bra after?0 -
My PS said I need to wear a bra (underwire and supportive is what I recall) 24/7 for a month post exchange though he kind of backed off that after I said I was going to the Caribbean Christmas Day and he said then I will be wearing a bathing suit. Today I am flying to Calgary for a few days with friends and they have a store there called I think Compassionate Cancer and they fit all breast cancer things so I am sure I will find what I need. My PS did tell me about a specialty lingerie store here in Vancouver and said I will pay a small fortune. I will let you know what I find in Calgary!0 -
Aviva- didn't really discuss at post-op, had many other questions, but he did say he will go over this after surgery was his response when I asked him if I needed to buy any specific bras as I threw mine all out after BMX. (figured they wouldn't fit)0 -
that doesnt make sense, as if you need them, you would want to prepare before hand, and have them- not have to shop later, but oh well, ok...its a process.0 -
I woke up from exchange in a surgical compression bra. Ask if they will be sending you home in one.
Then you will want one more so you have one to wash and one to wear. (Some PS's will tell you to get a good tight sports bra.)
You really do not want to buy any "normal" bras until your PS ok's them. Then you should go get fitted by a certified mastectomy fitter if at all possible. There is a great Bra thread on here with tons of info on which bras seem to fit the reconstructed breast best.
I know it's hard to take one day at a time if you're a slightly OCD planner like me.
But in this case once you get your PS's recommendations for restrictions and care you really do need to take things as they heal. And step away from the mirror for a few weeks!!! They sure do change over time as they settle in!0 -
Thank you Goldie and SweetandSpecial - Can't tell you have helpful it is to learn from those who "been there." I was very lucky that my body reacted well to BMX and TEs so I am crossing fingers for an uncomplicated exchange. Best to you, Nisa0 -
catey - mine were- no driving for 2 weeks
- no upper body workout for 6 weeks
- no running for 6 weeks
- he didn't give me a specific weight restriction, just said oh, if you lift two much you'll know it
- walk all I wanted to, no limit
- I wore the surgical bra for 3 days until drain tubes came out then sports bras and at about 10 days out a picked up a couple of non-wired bras from Nordstrom's
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I saw my PS today for another exchange follow up. It's been about four and a half months and he said I'm doing beautifully. I agreed but said I still wanted the nip-tuck for the side flab. He then did some looking and touching to see just what we're dealing with and said to make another follow-up appointment mid-January. He does drive me a bit crazy in that every time I see him and we talk about the nip-tuck he says ' we can take care of then when we do the nipples'.........and every time he says that I have to say (again) that I don't want nipples yet! I've been telling him that for months but he doesn't remember! I'll certainly have to make sure to have a note taped to my chest when I go under for the nip-tuck so I don't wake up with unwanted nipples
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Regarding post-surgical restrictions, I asked him about restrictions after this nip-tuck procedure. It's pretty much the same as post-exchange - 6 weeks (except, again, I can walk as much as I want to). Time off work will be much, much less because there are no muscles being cut, but the reason for 6 weeks restrictions is because scar tissue has a certain time frame for maturing, period. There may be minor differences from person to person but full healing takes at least 6 weeks. That's why he requires several months after TE placement before exchange. He wants the 'pocket' (basically a cocoon of scar tissue) to be fully mature before he opens it up to swap TEs for implants. You may feel great and your scars may look great but there's still a healing process going on and if you disturb things too soon is when complications often occur.0 -
B 12 shots are a piece of cake! I've been giving myself injections every 2 weeks fro 10 years. The syringe should be the same kind used for insulin - the needle is short & very thin and barely pierces the skin. I don't feel a thing - REALLY. I usually put it in the fat on the outside of my hip bones. It only takes about 5 seconds - I go slow!
During the four months I've been on this forum I've been most surprised by the difference in doctor's recommendations at every single stage of this journey. Women with the same diagnosis get entirely different treatments. Some people say they never even knew there WERE other options. That's shocking to me.
After the first surgery the differences are REALLY puzzling. What you assume is a standard way of treatment in the US is different right down to the small issues. Drains: how many? Get them out early or leave them in until they are putting out less than...40 cc's, 30 cc's, or 20 cc's per day? Immediate reconstruction with implants, DIEP, TRAM? Put in tissue expander?. Fills in the OR or only after 2 or 3 weeks. Start exercising right away or wait 6 weeks. Fills 30 cc's at a time or 100+ cc's. Every week or every other week. Overfill or not. Wait a month after TE is full, 3 months, 4 months or 6+ months. Then there are the recommendations of implants...saline, round, anatomical, etc. Then recommendations on sizes, widths, projection...and on and on and on and on.
Now those of us who are awaiting the exchange have a whole new set of choices. My PS says patients should have drains after exchange surgery. He says after any kind of breast surgery drains are needed to get rid of fluid so you don't develop a seroma and infection. Your PS might say they aren't necessary and if you get a seroma, he'll just drain it. Who is right? They are both experienced plastic surgeons and giving conflicting medical advice.
I don't have to wear a bra after the bandages come off unless I want to. You might be told you have to wear an ace bandage for the next six weeks. Or maybe a soft sports bra. Or an expensive support bra is recommended. What difference does it make? Do you know? Obviously there is no standard of care because every doctor says something different.
If there ARE differences in all these things, why aren't we told about them? Are we just supposed to do everything a doctor says and never ask why or if there are other alternatives? Maybe we like and trust our doctors and feel asking questions or requesting alternatives would be rude or make them mad at us. Maybe it never crosses your mind to ask questions and you assume everyone has the same experience. Then you get here and find out it's not true.
Are their doctors wrong? Is yours? Should you get a second opinion or change your PS? Is treatment for breast cancer simply the luck of the draw and depend on what your doctor prefers? Why are there so many different recommendations? If it is standard care, why aren't other doctors doing it that way?
Educate yourself. KNOW YOUR OPTIONS and discuss them with your doctor. SPEAK UP. You are not just another pair of boobs. You deserve to be part of the decision making. They don't have to LIVE with the impact of those recommendations. You do.0 -
Sweet, remind me again, did you have fat grafting? And, you will get your nipples even if I have to come up there and help you get in that PS's face!!!!
Sandra, do the shots make you feel better? I think the problem with our aftercare is that our docs don't expect us to be on here finding out what everybody else is doing. I can see a PS liking a patient that has some awareness of their surgery, and the decisions that have to be made, but I can see the other side of the coin where it gets very annoying to them when we question what they are asking us to do because somebody on our support group forum did it a different way. I think we need to trust our docs to a point, and if we feel they are being way too cautious, or want us to wear support bras way too long for our comfort, then we need to make an educated decision that seems right for us, but not to the point where it ruins our exchanges. I know I will not lift anything over 10 pounds until I am allowed, and I will probably wear some kind of sports bra for a very long time, and if I have lipo, probably some kind of compression garment too.0 -
Sandra--your post about differences in doctor's recommendations, etc., certainly is right on point! There is supposed to be a "standard of care" with medical care but nothing about breast cancer is standard and everybody's situation is different. I will have to remember that "I am not just another pair of boobs" the next time I see my PS whom has a very poor bedside manner!0 -
Goldie, I was told not to lift more than 7 lbs for 2 weeks. Yours says 10 lbs until further notice. Where do they come up with these specific numbers? I couldn't lift a full mug of ice water the first week, much less 7 lbs. These seemingly arbitrary numbers make me crazy! I want to say, "You guys get together and decide on the best course of action, then tell us. Til then, we'll be at the bar." I understand that every one of them has his/her preferences, but they should be required to tell us just that...it's their preference, NOT some kind of universally accepted thing that every other surgeon does. I'm a grown up. I can deal with that. I have preferences too. I just want to know options and be able to ask questions about those. He/she will tell me their OPINION about those options and chances are and give me data if there is any. I may go along with the doctor, but not because I'm concerned about bothering him with too many questions. I'm paying him, not the other way around. I'm the consumer and the patient rolled into one. The decision should be mine.
Re: bras That's another arbitrary thing. Some say buy underwire bras, others say DON'T buy underwires. Which is it guys? Is that your preference or is their scientific data that shows some benefit one way or the other? Does it really truly matter in the long run? If so I DESERVE to know that.
My B12 is always a problem and I can sure tell it when it gets too low. It affects almost as many organs and processes as your thyroid gland! You can develop mental confusion, neuropathy in your fingers and toes/feet that can be permanent, and a whole host of other things. Google it to see. You will be quite surprised.0 -
hi all, I probably should have been on this thread earlier but never had it on my favorites since I wasn't near exchange yet.
Time flies because I just had my exchange 2 days ago. I agonized over the last week on whether if I picked the right size, did I convey my wishes to my ps well enough and I just was not looking to having another surgery with recovery. The TE were so high up I was afraid my new implants would be up to my chin as well.
I'm not sure yet of the results but it is so much more comfortable without the hard TE. I had a harder time with the anesthesia but there is less pain than any of the previous surgeries. I'm only using Tylenol right now. My restrictions just says no stretching or heavy lifting. Not sure of weight limit. I actually have pretty good arm motion that I have to remind myself to not reach. I'll let you all know how the results are after the dressings come off but just letting those with exchanges coming up know that this surgery was not as bad as I was fearing it would be. I just hope I am just as happy with the results. My darling 6 yr old daughter asked me when I got home " Are you on the squishy side now?" Yes sweetie I am!0 -
Sandra, you are so right, there is so much variability with the doctors and their recommendations, it's hard to know what to believe sometimes. But then there is so much variability with the patients and how we heal that I'm sure sometimes the doctors don't know what to tell us at times too. I guess we just have try to develop a trusting relationship with the doctor if we can. If not maybe get a second opinion.
Goldie, so far that large upper pole fullness with the TE looks gone when I peek down. I actually look smaller but I haven't removed the dressings yet. I actually was gonna have potential lipo on some fat by upper pole but he didn't have to do it because he said it all went down when he took out the TE.0 -
Mely,
So glad you stopped in, finally! You should have been here all along, but it's great you are now. I am glad you are having little pain with your exchange. The part about the upper pole makes me happy. What kind of implants did you go with?
That is cute what your daughter said. Remember to take it easy even though you have little ones on the house.0 -
thanks Goldie, I have the silicon round style 45 550cc. I have been so concerned about being too big with the implant because the TE were so bulky but now as I look down I think I could have gone a little larger! As someone has mentioned earlier that the 45 is suppose to be ultra high profile but I don't think it really is that high either. However I was quite busty before and didn't want to be as large so I wanted to err on the smaller side. ps kept offering to go larger probably to fill out my extra skin but I kept saying that I ve been there, done it and wanted smaller.0 -
Mely, congrats on your exchange!
Real curious if you don't mind me asking, what size cup where you before and whats your rib cage? I have my exchange on 11/26 will be going with style 20 or 45 rounds also in 550cc, and Im scared they might not be big enough?0 -
catey, my rib cage is 32 and I use to be a DDD prior to mastectomy. I was hoping for a solid C or biggest a small D afterwards. Whippetmom on the sizing thread had suggested style 20 but my ps suggested the 45 for more projection and less side boob. I'm glad I did the 45 because I'm use to more projection from before. But definitely feel like I could have gone a little larger like my ps suggested without it looking too big like before. But this is just looking down. I get to take the dressings off tomorrow. I know how agonizing it was the week before thinking will it look okay and is it what I want it to be. Hang in there and I'll let you know what I think after tomorrow on how big it is.0 -
Oh Catey, I can't believe you are four days away from your exchange. Yah!!! I can't wait for mine.0 -
goldie - I didn't have fat grafting and don't have nips (and don't intend to at this point, I'm planning on 3D tit tats at some point). Were you responding maybe to someone else? I know I have a hard time keeping all the posts straight when I'm playing catch up!
As far as the variation in PS's practices and recommendations and all, unless we ever get to a point where every PS is a clone of the same one they're always and forever going to have their own varying opinions on what's best or most practical or the right size or treatment or projection and so on and so on. Some women, like Sandra, really have a need to know as much as possible about every option available, and some, like a friend of mine, is more than happy letting her PS make most of the decisions (we have the same PS). If someone wants to know everything possible then their PS should absolutely share as much as possible and/or point the patient in the right direction to find the details she needs and then be willing and happy to discuss all the options. But if someone is content with less information than that, then the PS could be doing that patient a disservice by overwhelming them with too much information. My PS wasn't extremely forthcoming with information and I probably would be unhappy with my results if I hadn't been on this site and learned to ask questions. I ended up 150cc larger than he planned because of Whippetmom's recommendation and I'm tickled. My friend doesn't even know how many cc's she's expanded to but knows she likes the size. For me, he only took in the size I requested (750cc HP smooth round) to surgery. For her he's bringing 3 sizes and will determine what seems best during surgery.
Bottom line is there's not a one size fits all for anything, whether it's TEs or implants or bras or shoes, or the level of information each patient wants or needs to know for any particular situation. I didn't even know there was such a thing as breast reconstruction until I was diagnosed! How did I get to be 51 years old and not know that? For me, I learned enough at each stage of the process to make my next decision. If I knew back then as much as I know now I think I would have run down the road drooling and babbling like a mad woman from information overload
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Thanks Mely, cant wait to hear about your unveiling, sending hugs for happy outcome!
Goldie- hope the time waiting isn't to bad, Im going crazy0 -
I agree, Sweet. In talking to my BS and PS when this all began I also learned how quickly things change in this strange world we've entered. If they actually took the time to prepare an informational video, etc, it would most likely be outdated soon after it was available.
As difficult as it is I think our best bet currently is to refer to the "Questions to ask your doctor" section here and take charge of the amount of info we need/want. I want it all. I even want to know the worst-case scenario so I can prepare myself. Lol. My PS would walk into the room and ask, "So, what's on the list today?"
The hard part of course, is realizing we NEED to ask questions when we're exhausted from the stress, etc.0 -
LOL, Sweet. I am as bad as your surgeon. Sometimes, when I get on here late a night I have taken an Ativan and I am a little fuzzy. Okay, I will make sure you PS does NOT give you nips.0 -
He is the puffy marshmallow on the evening when home from surgery
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OK, this is ridiculous!!! 4 days away from exchange surgery and I find myself looking at every womens boobs on the TV wondering if mine will end up bigger or smaller
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Pretty much ditto on all the PS instructions, mine was no underwire until healed. I tried the underwires but they were no longer comfortable so I have one red lace I wear occasionally and one I took the underwire out. I live in my sports bras, I only have it off to shower or well....anyhows I live in mine, have several but need to branch out to different colors. The surg nurses give you papers to take home with the instruct,just have someone stick it on your fridge with a good magnet cause I tend to "clean up" and throw out thgs.
thx Sandra for the shot advice. I went to the office nurse today but due to legalities she could not give me the shot. However, she was nice enuff to show me how to do the shot. Mostly people are nice to me when I ask for their help so maybe there are angels somewhere. I still need to work up the courage to do it!0 -
Di, it's great to see you! How are you feeling?0
