Exchange City
Comments
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kcat....I was terrified to do another surgery. The BMX/TE surgery was horrible, and I was on narcotics and muscle relaxers for 4 weeks. I never felt like I had even a single moment without pain, even with the heavy meds. I cannot, in my wildest dreams, IMAGINE leaving the hospital after a few hours. I was there for 2 nights, and it still felt too soon to go. SO, you are not alone in this. Some people have a much easier time with the BMX/TE surgery for sure.
I had my exchange surgery 4 weeks ago tomorrow. I had a lot of liposuction, and that is what caused me the most pain.....probably because it was in an area that I still have full feeling. That area is still tender, surprisingly, and I still have the 'iron bra' feeling, which is disappointing. BUT...It doesn't really hurt...just uncomfortable. I didn't get that instant relief that so many talk about, but MOST DO!!! I am hoping PT will help me through the rest of the way. But...even though I ahd a lot of pain with the liposuction, it was different....it HURT, but it hurt like a wound....like a wound that you knew could heal. It was different than the first surgery.
I just want to encourage you....I don't think I'm having the smoothest road with the feelings that I am having with the exchange surgery, but it was STILL better than the first one by a LOT! Hang in there....it's going to be OK.
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Monica and Sandra.....LOVE your picture!
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Such a really lovely picture of you and Sandra....you both look like best friends.
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Moon and Sandra, great to see you beautiful ladies together! Looks like you've been friends for a while. Hoping you had as great a time as it looks and that you get to meet up again
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Oops....forgot to say to Sandra....looking forward to Meeting you Sandra and your hubby at the Airport and the cruise we both are on!....Are you bringing Moon along too?
Di
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Di and I discovered that we're booked on the same Alaska cruise in late August. We're going to have such fun!! Sure, Moon should come too.
Moon and I had never met before this week on Monday, but felt like old friends from the first minute.
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I'll have to hide in your suitcase then! LOL that's awesome that you guys are booked on the same cruise! We did have fun wish we could have spent the whole day together. Maybe next time. Hope you had a good flight home.
Much love to all.
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mnmbeck thanks for sharing your experience! It helps to hear from someone who had a rough BMX but the exchange wasn't as hard. Thank you for your encouragement!
moon you are right that I need to take a deep breath. I know I have to do this surgery so I need to figure out how to stop worrying about it, easier said than done though
sweetandspecial I do need some pocket work done so that adds to my nervousness because my PS told me it will cause me more pain than if I didn't need any. I'm glad to hear that your exchange was easier than your BMX, that gives me hope for mine!
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Don't know how I could have let the 19th pass without comment. On that day, one year anniversary of my exchange!
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kcat, I can't believe you went home 3 hours after your BMX! I usually have a high tolerance to pain and I was in the hospital 3 days after my BMX. It was harder than I expected. I had my exchange a month ago and it was soooo much easier. It was out patient status and no drains. I took the pain killers the first day and realized I didn't really need them (plus they upset my stomach.) I didn't have any pocket work done but even with that, I'm sure it will be way easier than your BMX. Good luck!
Sandra and Moon... Great picture. Glad to hear you had a good visit!
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Kcat, if you haven't read the header in Breast Implant Sizing 101, please do. Whippetmom speaks about our emotions around the time of our exchange surgeries. What you are experiencing is absolutely normal. We are so conflicted because we want to get rid of our TE's, but in order to get what we want, we have to go through another surgery.
Hang in there!
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kcat, my first mx I was in the hospital 3 nights (with axillary node dissection), would have been longer but not getting much attention from the nursing staff and my mom (a retired nurse) was home to wait on me. 2nd mx, was in the hospital 2 nights. A benefit to being in the hospital was stronger meds. Have never heard of an mx as an out-patient procedure, no wonder you were in so much pain
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McKatherine - Good luck tomorrow! We'll all be in your pocket watching over you and making sure everything goes well...
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moon and Sandra, love love love the photo. Was it funny meeting someone I the flesh for the first time who you have known so well online. And cruise also sounds sensational!
Kcat, I can not believe that someone can be sent home that soon after major surgery. I had uneventful surgery and went home at day 5. Was biting at the bit at that stage to get home.
Got my exchange in 2 weeks and have been reading the advice of all these wise women religiously. I am going to "step away from the mirror" and not get too disappointed too soon. At the moment, given my asymmetry anything would feel better! Also work has been horrible so am tryin to look at the silver lining and looking forward to having an enforced break. My surgeon says I only need a week off work (work in a very high stress busy job doing up to 14 hour days). Thinking I might convince her to give me 2 weeks off post exchange. What do people think. Am I being greedy?
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Hi.Previvor,
I had 10 days off, and honestly could have gone back to work at a week, but not to a 14 hr day, so I don't think you are being greedy. If you have the time (I'm out of sick time and don't have much vacation time left either), I say take as much as you can. Stress isn't going to help you heal.
Best of. Luck!
Di
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Oh dear, I'm about to panic...I just came from another thread (i won't name) and now I'm kind of freaking out!
Please, someone tell me that they love their new breasts, following TE's, implants and Above all: Nipple recon!!
Please tell me that all that work paid off!
Please tell me your breasts look sexy and better than before!
Please tell me that your husband or boyfriend meant it when he said, "It won't matter honey, because I love you and just want you to be okay!"
Yikes, I WAS NOT scared about NOT loving my new breasts in the beginning of all this. (I'm not even at the exchange point).
Yikes I was not afraid my lover would not "treat" my breasts as real ones. (I mean if it looks like a breast, tastes like a breast, then it's a breast right? I mean, we are talking about men here)
Yikes, I wasn't afraid he wouldn't find me sexy anymore. I mean, I myself can't wait to grab and squeeze these babies once the exchange is over!
Yikes, I hope my PS is as good as I'm giving her credit for! (i went on nurses word...not exactly straight from the horse's mouth, but closest I could find along with her photos).
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buderfligal, on the picture forum and other sites you can see many, many examples of gorgeous reconstructions that any man would ahem...enthusiastically "embrace". I'm only weeks out from an extensive revision, so no nips yet, but very pleased with where I am so far. Dh is turned on by the new boobs and enjoys that I'm happy. I tried on a halter dress last weekend and asked the sales person to bring my husband to the dressing room cause I was afraid it showed too much boobage for an upcoming event. He could not take his eyes off my cleavage and strongly encouraged me to buy the dress. My breasts aren't perfect but to me, they are spectacular.
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buderfli...
I had one revision...but I'm quite happy now. Husband thinks they are very attractive and was fine with the whole process. The loss of sensation is a bummer, but the cancer removal is good. They are different, but they are good.
I feel like Me 2.0.
Just keep learning and talking and asking. There are plenty of happy patients, they just tend to move on and not post as often. Think of it like a car repair shop. The cars without problems don't visit often.
Hugs to you!!
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Dulcigirl, I like the "Me 2.0". Great analogy
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That's exactly what my MO say when I have so many questions! I sometimes get scared after reading different threads. That's when I take in my list of concerns and he always says the happy ones or the ones that don't have problems, don't post. That helps me get through.
So when I need some info I come back here and check it out and try to figure out what is or what isn't. You will too!
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budrflygal - after my Mx I hated my misshapen chest with one breast left and the SCAR on the other side. When I had my second breast removed and TEs installed - I loved myself again! I had baby boobs and feel whole and even! Even during this inflation process it is a miracle to me that I can be restored. So even though I am kinda lumpy and uneven, it doesn't matter, especially after I showed my husband he wasn't hurting me when we - well enough said.
On another thread above, my Mx surgery was outpatient. We arrived at 12:30pm for the nuclear dye injection and were headed home at 9pm. There were delays in my surgery because of emergencies and I didn't even head into surgery until 5pm. I was so happy to go home and sleep in my real bed. Luckily I was in great health before my cancer diagnosis so there were no complicating factors. My second Mx and TE placement surgery was much faster and we were only there for 4 hours.
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kcat - my exchange wasn't just easier than the BMX, it was like night and day difference. I felt great, was tickled with the size, placement, shape, cleavage and symmetry. Tomorrow I'll be getting a little excess 'side boobage' cleaned up with a nip-tuck outpatient procedure so it will be a couch-potato sort of weekend for me. They really look pretty darn good even without this little revision, but I can't wait to see how they look after this surgery!!
2nd_time - congratulations on your one-year exchange anniversary!
Previvor - if you can afford the time off I would take what you can get, girl! Just be careful if you feel good and don't over-do things. Remember the mantra 'Just because you can doesn't mean you should!'. My PS requires 2 full weeks off work after exchange even for a simple desk job. I didn't argue
.budrfligal13 - OK, you need to take a deep breath honeybun! You'll be fine.
- I love my new breasts following TEs and implants. Can't address nips because I'm planning on 3D tit tats rather than nip recon
- All that work paid off
- My new breasts look sexy but different than before. They are my new normal (I like Dulci's 'Me 2.0' comment)
- My husband loves my new breasts and has no problems with still being turned on by them and me. He enjoys feeling them, squeezing them, kissing them, licking them.....all that good stuff
and still thinks I'm sexy as hell! - I have the cutest new strapless summer dress that I could never have worn with the original saggy-baggy girls! The skirt portion is not form-fitting and so is flattering to my lower half. The top is very form fitting (think spandex) and the new perky girls look incredibly awesome in it!
Grammakathy - I'm so glad that you feel whole and sexy and love yourself again! What a wonderful thing that hubby knows he's not hurting anyting when you ...... ahem.......you know
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sweetandspecial - Good luck tomorrow!
We'll all be in your pocket! 0 -
Thanks AZ - I was just wondering to myself today if I might wake up from surgery a pound lighter......lol!
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Hi Everyone,
I just got back from my 1 week post -op with my PS, my exchange surgery was last week about at this very time. My implants are 480 anatomical tear drop shape. My present shape is TE shape. PS said my pec. Muscles were very tight and it will probably take up to 6 months to see the final results , but he seemed very confidant that this upper wide overly expanded chest look will subside as well as the extra wide under arm stuff. Has this been the case for anyone else. I asked if I could resume my medical massage treatments that helped my with the TE that turned on my right side causing a lot of discomfort in my ribs, hoping it may help the muscles to relax he was fine with it, and he mentioned something about histamine adding to the swelling. I didn't ask what that meant because he moved on in the conversation about still taking it easy for at least 6 more weeks. What are histamines as related to this process? I'm still very uncomfortable, feel like post bilateral mastectomy early stage TE's. sorry to unload, just want cancer and all that goes with it behind me. Thanks for listening.
J
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hi JuneyB, re the comment about histamine, I think your surgeon was simply talking about post-op swelling (and being a bit cryptic in the process). I googled:
"After any “injury,” cells release chemicals that affect the permeability of blood vessels in the area of trauma (surgery is trauma as far as the body is concerned). This permeability (porousness) increase allows fluid-containing proteins, white blood cells and other chemicals to reach injured areas to begin healing. This causes swelling in those areas.
Medications such as antihistamines (Benadryl) can also decrease swelling by decreasing the effects of histamine. Histamine is released from cells when they are injured or irritated"
So I think he is saying, it is all normal, step away from the mirror and give it time.
I can't talk from experience re exchange as I am having mine in 2 weeks.
Good luck
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So, has anyone else had a revision specifically to remove excess axillary tissue (mud flaps, side boobage)? My PS marked me up today for surgery tomorrow and I'm getting a little worked up thinking that he's not going to remove enough tissue. The area that he marked on each side just seems pretty small to me now that I'm home looking in the mirror, like it won't make much difference.
DH and I will for sure address my concerns tomorrow prior to surgery but I wondered if anyone else had this procedure done without it being in conjunction with other work.
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Oh my Gosh, thank you ALL who responded. I feel better now reading about your good experiences. And I can't thank you enough for being so honest sweetandspecial. I needed to hear those intensely intimate details. My breast surgeon commented yesterday during our quarterly follow up that she thinks I will have a beautiful reconstruction. I hope so. I'm so glad I reached out today. I have yet to select my implants and I have never felt one before.
Have any of you been able to do something about the area around the arm pits? There are two bulges on both sides in this area. It resembles extra fat when I'm wearing something strapless (if you can try to imagine what I mean). Will this be filled at some point? I asked my Ps very early on and I can't recall her answer.
Thanks again, all you gorgeous gals!
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budrflygal - removal of that excess side junk is exactly what I'm having done tomorrow. It was yucky with the TEs but of course I knew the TEs were temporary. It was still noticeable after the implants, though not quite as alien looking. PS said to wait 3-4 months, though, because as the implants settle in that extra fluffy tissue will sometimes look just fine. Mine does look better now (8 months out) than it did immediately post-exchange, but it's just enough of a spoiler that I'm having the nip/tuck to get rid of it.
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Thanks Sweet. Is that covered by insurance?
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