Exchange City
Comments
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Good luck tomorrow Julie! Rest up and check in when you can!
So I have an appointment in 2 weeks to discuss fat grafting with my PS, and possibly smaller implants. But right now the thought of another surgery just isn't very appealing. Di, I don't know how you've done so many in such a short time!
BTW, what exactly are mud flaps?0 -
Mud flaps are what I call the 'fluff' under my arms. It's extra tissue (skin, flab, etc) to the outside of your implants. I can pinch a big gob of flesh there and it's the only thing that spoils the look of my implants. Someone else may be able to give a better description or definition.
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Andrea, I am thinking about going smaller too. I had my first post op visit, and I really think these are too wide for me. I am waiting till all swelling and whatever fat grafting is going to leave before I make my final decision.
What size implant do you have now?0 -
Re: mudflaps. It was written on mine as "excision of excess bilateral subaxillary tissue". It's as Sweet and Special explained: a flap of excess skin/tissue, mine started where the suture line ended under the arm pit to the side of my back.
The only thing I wish I would have done: cross my arms over chest/breasts and extend arms and finger tips as far back as possible. Show this to PS at time of mark up and tell her to try not to go beyond this point. Why? Because I can independently put lotion, scar gel on the suture line except for that last inch on either side. Also, don't want the incision to show when I'm wearing my swim suit (in some swim suits, my Frankenback shows and might scare some people!) Not a pretty picture0 -
Thanks for the explanation! I have excess fat that shows towards TNT back. It's really evident when I wear a bra. Is that a mud flap?
Goldie, I have a 325 on the left and a 350 on the right side. I think they're too wide and still too flat. Sometimes this whole process is discouraging!0 -
I guess I was higher than I thought last night. I posted on the 101 thread my update....lol.
I feel pretty darned good today other than nagging headache that I can't get rid of. I have on a surgical bra stuffed with gauze to keep a snug fit. I can peek and see cleavage. I'm not going to be very large compared to my frame, but I'm ok with that. I love seeing cleavage without having to push it up there! I keep thinking I don't need anymore pain pills because I feel so good, then it dawns on me that's probably why I'm not hurting
. Using a large pile of fluffy pillows has enabled me to sleep on my side! I just have to very gently position myself.
It DOES feel different. Even though I have this huge dressing on I do not feel like I have big cakes of mud plastered to my chest anymore! Waiting until Thursdays post op appointment is going to be a bear. Ok, gonna eat a bit and take another hydro. Hoping this headache goes away soon. It's the only thing really bringing me down.
Thank you, everyone for your support and encouragement! It has really meant the world to me!
P.S. Moon, good to see you up and posting! TTAC!0 -
Great to hear Jtapp....glad you're feeling better and I hope you can get rid of the headache. I've gotten to the point where I can actually lay flat on my stomach on the floor now (not the I ever really need to, just wanted to see how it felt!). It feels a little strange because of no surface sensation on the boobs, but it's not uncomfortable like the TEs were.
2nd_time - Good explanation about the position of mud-flaps being at the outside end of the incision. My PS said that for the excision of that tissue he'll use the end of that scar pretty much as the starting point for the tissue removal, so yes, my scars will be extended by at least a few inches or so. I'm totally OK with that....I'd rather have a little longer scar and not have the mud flaps.0 -
jtapp glad you are feeling pretty good. Heal fast. As for me my regular response to abx hit today. Which is good as I can reach down far enough today with out stretching too much! LOL. Yep the big D. Fun. Not. LOL I stopped the hydrocodone and am just taking my normal pain pill, tramadol. It's not a schedule 2 narc. You can drive and work with it. I need it for my knees. And I am back on my anti inflammatory thank goodness. I can move and find myself having to talk myself out of doing anything until I see the P'S on Thursday. I am having cold waves and hot flashes though. The only difference between the infection induced chills and fever is that in the chills and fever you don't sweat. So i know it's my ARIMIDEX acting up! LOL along I always think it's something worse.... LOL. I did need my hydro until today for pain. Incision hurts on right. The right side had 2 years for nerves to heal. The left did not. LOL. Also my mudflaps on the right, otherwise known as my "side boobage" were removed. He had taken care of the left at one if my tries before. So it's no wonder the right side is sore. I have Mentor rounds 750 filled to 850. So he did not go as big as he thought. Also a bit closer together so I have cleavage . I really did not with the TEs. My arms are NOT bruised anymore where the TES bumped into them all the time! LOL. It's nice. Sitting here thinking I need to pack up some books so I have room on the bookcase for my hardcover books and talking myself out of it as way too much. So i guess that means I feel GOOD all in all. To all who are recovering Heal fast. To those waiting, remember I choose sx on FRIDAY THE 13th! To get it over with.... LOL
PS: I hope this post makes much more sense than my last one.... LOL0 -
moon - you're making way, way more sense now! Glad you're feeling so much better!0 -
Just got home from exchange and I'm really disappointed. PS used 500 cc Mentor Gels and imo there is not enough projection. Will I get more projection or less over time? I also told her I think they are still too wide apart though she says she moved them way in compared to where expanders were. It feels like it's going to take a lot of cramming into a bra to get any kind of cleavage at all. I'm 5'5 125 pounds.0 -
Hotpink, sorry. You just got home. Give it a little while. You could be pleasantly surprise. I feel like mine are too close together and I have no side boob at all, which can cause a different problem. Look at your boobs. If they were closer together would you be able to see the side of your chest when you looked straight into the mirror? Mine could project a bit more, but I am giving it about a month before I get really upset.
Are you more comfortable? If you are, count your blessing.0 -
To those of you discussing the mud flap removal - your PS actually made an incision and cut them off? Why not lipo them if they are too large. That is what my PS said she will do.0 -
Jtapp and Moon, great to hear you are doing well! Hot Pink Mess, I'm sorry you are disappointed. When I saw my 410 implants for the first time, they looked like 2 small dinner plates or pancakes stuck on my chest. Later I thought they morphed into looking like male body builder pecs. Now, 4 weeks out, my breasts look like breasts and I like them. Maybe it was swelling that went down. I hope yours become more to your liking over time.
Here's my good news from my PS appt today, 4 wks from exchange. I thought he told me at our last appt he wanted to do fat grafting after my revision (I have more skin on one breast than the other cause one MX was many years ago and the other one was this summer so one implant looks lower than the other but the folds are even). Today, he said he will do both procedures during the same surgery in March! He also said I have no restrictions on physical activity and this is such great news for me!
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Thanks Friendshhips, mine are mentor gel high profile, they are big around (which I don't care about) but not enough projection. Maybe they'll miraculously project in a few weeks. Are you getting nipples in March? That's the plan for me.
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HotPink, I can't get nipples in March yet cause the PS has more work to do first. He is going to give the new breast (the most recent MX side) a breast lift, at least that's what I call what I understand him describe. There is more skin on that side after the MX this summer because he says MX remove less skin now than years ago when I had the MX on the other side. I've never heard of a breast lift on a newly reconstructed breast but it makes sense to me in my situation. The TE on that side gradually dropped starting about 1 month after the last fill so the issue didn't come out of the blue. During the exchange, he did internal stitching and when he sat me up in surgery the breasts were even but now one is lower despite the folds being even across.
The divot I need the fat graph is on the side of the original MX and saline implant (which was replaced with a 410 after a TE) that had capsular contracture. I never got a nipple on that side; I called it my bald boob. I think I'm going to get some kind of nipples now tho, but the jury's still out on which kind. I've thought about buying a pair of nipple prosthetics to see how much projections means to me to help me decide which way to go. Have you decided what kind yet?
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cjc - my PS prefers an excisional removal of the mud flap over lipo. He just feels he has more control over final appearance and has better cosmetic results with that method. He said if I have the surgery on a Friday I'll be back to work on Monday. As with just about everything with BC I'm sure each and every PS has their own opinion on this too.
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cjc, in my case there would be too much extra skin and fat to lipo. He had to cut it out. I lost about 30 lbs since my dx.
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Congrats to everyone getting all this last minute stuff done in Holiday Season ( for me its an insurance issue!) Friendships, my PS makes them out of skin already on the breast, thought I'm not sure exactly how, then tattoos. I'm tempted to skip it but really want to finish. It's hard to keep taking leave from work.
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My finish celebration will be 3d nipple tattoos.. maybe by my next birthday or Christmas next year. I need to wait for at least 6 months before I get my tattoos.
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Hotpink, there is a great video on Youtube showing how they make the nipple out of the skin. It is called an origami nipple. If you are not too squeamish it's interesting to watch.
Well, I have been told to massage my new foobs already to try to get the tightness to let up. I am using Bio Oil, which I love, and it does feel good to do it, and it is helping get all the sticky stuff from the steri strips off too, I hope. The NP at the PS office gave me solvent wipes to help take the goo off, but it smells worse than nail polish remover, and I don't want to put it on skin that I feel might be sensitive. Anybody have any good ideas on how to get the adhesive off after the steri strips fall off?
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cjc1961, I had way too much skin that would still be left. She didn't even mention lipo as a possible solution
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goldie - any sort of baby/body oil should help with the goo. As an Avon lady of many years I would suggest Skin So Soft bath oil by Avon, but baby oil of any kind works well for getting rid of adhesive residue. I do find that the more oil you use the better it works, and you may have to keep working it, just keep swirling the oil around over the sticky spots and they'll loosen up. BioOil is kinda expensive to be slopping all over the place though.
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Thanks Sweet, I will keep working away with the oil. I have been using the bio oil for the massage anyway, so I was hoping to kill to birds, so to speak. But, it is expensive. Luckily, we have a Costco near us and I get a pretty good deal on it.
Hope everybody is doing well today. I can't believe xmas is closing in on us so quickly.
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Have you tried Emu Oil? That's what my PS recommended, I bought it on ebay. It's supposed to help with scars, skin and all kind of other things. I bought the brand Pure Emu Oil from Koru Nationals from New Zealand. I think it's working well. I also had "dog ears" from my back incision from lat flap corrected yesterday, so I'll be using the emu on that area too.
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Hotpink
No, haven't tried emu oil, but I have heard of it. Maybe when I finish up the bio oil I will give that a try. I had really good luck with the bio oil in the past. It really helped the skin over my expanders.
I do have an issue right now. I have a bump that is growing slightly everyday (kind of where my nipple would be) and since I can't really feel anything I think it's weird that I am having a weird pain/sensation in that area. It is not red. I put a call in to my surgeon, and I am seeing him tomorrow. I am not going to worry to much because there is no redness or heat.
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I bought the Walgreens brand, right next to the actual Bio Oil, not cheap, but alot cheaper than the name brand. It lasts a long time too, tho I only use it once a day.
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goldie - could it be a 'spitting suture'? I know I've seen mention of that before somewhere on one of these threads.
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Sweet, I am not sure what you mean by a spitting suture, but I don't think it has anything to do with sutures since the swelling is about 2 inches over from the end of my incision. I will know more tomorrow. Of course, my mind goes to the worst place. It was two weeks yesterday since my surgery. Surely, I can't have an infection now?!
I have another question. It seems like a lot of my fat grafting is disappearing. I know you lose about 50 percent, but that quick? Or, maybe it's the swelling going down.
So, are you saying there is a CVS knock off of Bio Oil? Because, I like a lot of the CVS knock offs. I use a lot of them. The ingredients are usually identical.
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Alaris, I had fat grafting and the donor site was my tummy. Its slightly flatter now and a beautiful collage of blue and red bruising. Hurts a lot. Lots of ice helped. Everythg looks good but is black & blue. I am so sore. My PS said I didn't need a compression garment but I did wear the Kymara body shaper over my tummy and it felt better to have the support.
My problem is that I am worried these stitches will make a bad scar and they are supposed to be absorbable and nothing is happening. They feel tight and sore. I took so much Nucynta and Tylenol, my blood pressure couldn't take it. It went up to 183 over 98 and I had to come home from work. Anyone have any issues like that? My PS says they don't need ointment but the nursing techs (who worked with the previous PS said I should keep the new nips in ointment). Anyone got any experience with what works best?
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Hi Layla,
I'm now 10 days out from surgery and just now starting to fell a little better. I also had fat grafting from my abdomen and yes it does hurt. I didn't have much outward bruising, but very sore and red at the sutures. I am actually wearing my pink elastic tube top around my waist for compression on and off during the day. I have holes all over; 2 at abdomen, 2 at waist and 2 at breasts. Each once of these has a suture that is still evident. I imagine it will dissolve within the next week. At each site I have started gently rubbing with massage and creams/oils. I use a combination of Bio Oil, Palmers lotion with vitamin E and collagen for the stretching and softening and Mederma. When the sutures are gone, that's when I will really get in there and massage the areas to break up the scar tissue. I was told to rub until I cry! My scars from the exchange are worse and bulkier than the BMX scars and I have cried over that. But today I made a couple of pads to put on my breast scars. I'm really quite proud of these. My PT made one for me for the BMX therapy, but I threw it away.
Today I took a natural sponge I had and cut it up into small pieces and stuffed 2 small ankle socks that fit under my breasts. I am making my own Swell Spots, that should help to break up the scar tissue and flatten out the breasts scars. They also help with lymph fluid that is still caught beneath my breasts and under my arms from surgery. I feel empowered now! I'm wearing a front zip sports bra with these pads tucked under my new boobs and my pink tube top at my waist! HaHa, I look frightful! But with a pair of stretch pants and a button blouse, I can actually go out in public like this. Don't fret, the stitches will dissolve and then you can begin the real work with massage and healing. Today is the first day I have felt good about myself and my stupid body. I also had to come to terms with the fact that I will probably need revisions. My left nip couldn't be reconstructed at exchange, so I have one headlight. I also have a very sore spot on my right scarline under my arm and I'm very scared that this pain will never go away and I won't be able to wear an underwire. I'm hoping the home-made pads help with this. Wow, after all this I just turned 50 yesterday and it was a tough day, but it ended nice. I'm learning that I can't control everything, but I can control how I react to it all. A growth process for sure. Thanks to all in this community who put it all out there and help others. I lurk, but read just about everything.Oh and tonight I will take off the bandages over my drain tube holes and see what new kind of hellish scars are there. My bikini days are over for sure.
SanDee
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