Exchange City
Comments
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hi all, am spending a lot of time in bed resting, especially while kids are at school. Have found a red triangle shaped area under my right breast where the dressing rubbed under the bra. Will send hubbie to the chemist to buy me some more padded dressings before I wear the bra again. Still have a sore throat from the 2 GA's. I think the second one was a rapid induction anaesthetic because I wasn't fasted so that might be contributing to it. Lying low and trying to be good!
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previvor101,
So glad to hear your home and resting well, it seems to take time with all of the surgery drugs and preventative drugs, I know for myself that flushing my system with lemon water seem to help, you pee a lot but it helped me get out of the post op fog. Praying for your speedy recovery. Rest well! ((Hugs))
J
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simplelife2,
Waiting is the hardest because of all we know and all we do not know! If you like your PS and you know he has your best interest in mind rest at ease. God is with you through this whole journey, He is where we place our trust.
Still waiting is so hard, I tried busying myself doing nice things for myself, walking for exercise, bought a good book to read, eating healthy. Take care of yourself before hand and try not to put to many expectations on your out come, it will all be good. ((( hugs))) to you!
J
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Best of luck Previvor!
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previvor hope your still doing great. Much love.
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thanks guys.
Feeling completely lethargic and flat. Not sure if it is the double GA or just the normal post op. Was expecting to be bouncing around full of beans from what I have heard from others. Hhhmmmm
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Hi Sandra,
It's been a little while since I've been on. I went back to the PS and they thought they "looked good". Wow, what world am I living in? They're more square than round and sit low. There isn't any fullness at the time like they had mentioned. There are divots and weird looking stretch marks but those don't bother me as much as the low misshapen foobs. They're still numb, especially under and around the pit area. I'm assuming that's from lymph removal? Will they ever not be numb?
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Oh man, I was not bouncing beans or anything else for that matter at that point. Everyone's body is different. The way you feel right now is totally not out of the realm of normal. Hang in there !0 -
Previvor aren't you just a few days out?? It took me over a week to feel like bouncing!
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TessaW - How many lymph nodes did you have removed? I had 13 removed the first time (which was totally unnecessary but they didn't know that for sure 12 years ago) and this time (other side) I only had 3 removed. I will always be a little numb under my arm where I had the auxiliary node removal (13) but I have pretty much full feeling on the other side (sentinel node side). How did you react when your PS said they "looked good"?? It is your body and you need to be happy with the results so I hope you expressed your opinion. What type of implant do you have? Is it high impact??
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Ok some reactions now that I am 2 weeks out. I can not sleep properly without a bra or camisole with a bra at night. I have tried it twice and I woke up multiple times. I am a side sleeper so maybe I need to order one of those sleep bras some of you ladies posted a week or so ago. I do sleep fine with the bra though. Also, I was finally feeling somewhat less "tight" a few days ago so decide to try the light pushing exercise my PS told me (gently pushing my implants up to help my pocket work) and now my pec muscles are super mad at me! Ouch. Too soon I guess! All in all I can't complain
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Hjpz, unforgunatley, sometimes we learn from what doesn't work..... LOL. Hope your pecs get better soon.
Tessa, it sometimes takes the implants months to settle in. The only ones that don't change much are the anatomical silicone. But i hope you told your PS what you did not like.
Much love to all.
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I didn't know that the silicon anatomicals don't change much in appearance. Mine look ok considering that I am only 1 week post op. There is quite a bit of bruising and swelling on the right which is where a lot of pocket work was undertaken and was opened up twice on Friday. But hopefully it will settle down.
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forgot to say, was on the phone to a tradesman trying to organize quotes for shower screens in a house we are renovating. When they asked for the address, I told them one from 10 years ago!! From a different state!! My husband heard and called out. He thinks I am going mad too....
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Hugs Previvor! We all disconnect a bit with all this stuff happening. You're normal. LOL
Much love
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Good morning ladies. My expanders seem so high!! After the exchange, will the foobs settle and not look like I'm wearing a bra to make them look so high? I have 2 or 3 fills left and I cannot wait for my pre-op appointment. I've said this before, but my PS has yet to discuss styles, shapes, profiles, etc. she just asked me to choose silicone or saline. The silicone gel feels more like natural tissue, correct?? Also, she told me a while ago that she overfills to compensate for shrinkage. Now she says they won't shrink that much. I was under the impression that, let's say you wanted to be a "C", then you need to be filled to a "D". Apparently there won't be too much change. But I hear so many women say that they didn't come out as big as they wanted. I will be discussing this with her today, again....lol
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hi Bud. My right TE sat so high felt it in my neck (it went for a bit of a holiday north). My implants definately sit lower and droop more than the TE- although no where as much as my native post breast feeding boobs. Whippetmom is an amazing wealth of knowledge and info re implants. I found reading through lots of the previous pages on the implant sizing 101 page and seeing other peoples questions and answers really helpful. There is no easy answer re saline vs silicon, as it is often individual preference. Silicon is meant to feel more natural but my natural was very fatty and droopy. I have no idea exactly what size I am yet but suspect a D. My main aim is to look great in clothes at work (have lots of beautiful clothes!) and to be ok naked. I wasn't aiming for perfection as the rest of me is far from perfect! I'm happy with my outcome so far.
Good luck with your decision making process.
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Hi Everyone!
I'm 4 weeks post exchange today! And am happy to say they are taking shape! At one week post op I was very skeptical, at 2 weeks, I was disappointed at 3 weeks, still pretty sore and sad, but here I am looking like I have boobies. Lol! I do still have some swelling in upper chest area but I'm beginning to see good changes. I had a breast massage yesterday and have them lined up for bi weekly through June, gives a lot of relief to my right arm pit where lymph nodes were removed. The therapist does manual lymphatic drainage. Just wanted to share with others that are still waiting to see change, it happens! It's a process, but it does happen! looking forward to more changes! (((Hugs))) to all.
J
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thanks Previv,
I'm actually sitting in the PS office waiting for a fill. I hope my questions get answered.....
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juneyb and previvor I am happy things are looking better! Yay!
Bud, would it help to know I bumped into doorways with my TEs? LOL they really are high and Out there! LOL the biggest thing is that a regular boob has a cone shape. With implants, that front couple inches is missing. Someone here described them as "hamburger buns" . It's not quite as bad, but if you think about that you will realize what they will look like. As they "fluff and drop", they will look better.
Much love
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Bud - my PS advised me he hardly does any saline implants anymore but he did consider it for me since one of the benefits of saline is that the size is adjustable as my one side is radiated and he wanted to make sure both sides were even. I ended up with both silicone implants (my radiated side is 100 cc larger but they look the same). Like I said before, I didn't have very many discussions about my implants with my PS beforehand because he used sizers on me but I am pleased with the results. I am not sure if it is because I have the super high impact implants but I have not had to wait for my implants to fluff out or anything. They seemed just fine right out of the gate. I also really think the vitamins/supplements I took before must have helped because I had zero swelling or bruising (my PS said it was just his magic hands but in the same breath he told me to print out the stuff I took before surgery so he could research it for other patients
I feel super lucky! 0 -
Today I got a call from my PS that he has to change my 2nd fat grafting date-his young son needs surgery and it's planned for the date we had set. Surgery is this coming Thursday, 5/22. Hoping no infection this time!!!!!!
Babs
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Babs we'll keep our fingers crossed for you.
Hjpz, My P'S had to place saline for me. I have a pacemaker and that means I cannot do MRIs. And since a MRI is required every 2 years with silicone I had to get Saline. They work well for me..
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hipz, not sure if this will help: I also had total node removal (back in 1996), suffered from LE for years especially in cold, damp weather (had a hard time walking down a frozen food aisle at the grocery store), the back of my arm always had that painful, numb, fuzzy feeling - like I had knocked my funny bone really hard.
With 2nd BC DX/MX, did recon both sides. I can't explain it (and frankly don't care why) but I have feeling back in my arm and arm pit area of the 1st mx. Almost like prior to mx on that side and only a small amount of LE (but nothing like before) and rarely have problems in the frozen aisle. Not pressing my medical team much, can't explain it all, but happy with the results.
Tessa - love your new avatar!
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Follow up MRI's on silicone implants are every 2 years? Is that standard for everyone? What is the follow up on gummy bear implants like Allergan 410's? And saline needs no follow up because leaks can be seen? This is good for me to know as a help in making my decision. Is the follow up ordered by the PS, Oncologist , BS or PCP? Also are there follow up appts with the PS after the exchange or do we just make appts if something is needed? I'm still in the filling process and wondering about the future?
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I'm sure answers will be varied. My PS will now see me in a year. Not sure if that means every year, or just one year. My onc said MRI's would only be ordered if we suspect a problem. Not comforting, but that's how the insurance works.
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I have Kaiser and my PS said that regular MRIs to check implants are not covered :-( I hope they are covered if a problem is suspected.
I just got my surgery date - 8/8/14 :-D I had my last fill yesterday and I'm at 450cc.
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My PS actually says ultrasound works great for detecting ruptures, and it is only used if one is suspected. He would only then refer to MRI if there was still a concern of a rupture that was not seen on US. New silicone implants just do not "leak" like old ones, so monitoring with MRI every 2-3 years, especially when US works well, is (in his view) not really needed (for women who have implants for augmentation though, MRI might used as replacement of mammograms).
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with ultrasound, one of the key things is who is doing the scanning, Ultrasound performed well by a sonographer experienced with implants can detect even small leaks from silicon implants. Any Implant MRI are not covered with insurance where I am so either large out of pocket expenses or ultrasound and only if here is a new lump or change of shape of the implant to suspect a lak. Completely different with saline implants of course cause they don't do little leaks but tend to complete deflate when they leak.
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A leak from an implant would be able to be felt by the person who has them? It would show up like a lump or something like that? One of the reasons I have requested a "gummy bear" implant is that I read the studies that were done on silicone implants after they were pulled from the market. Even though no disease/cancer was proven to be caused by leaking silicone, the silicone itself from a leaking implant was found to have travelled to other organs. I can't even imagine what would cause them to leak, outside of some sort of trauma like an automobile accident with airbags and seat belts impacting them.
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