Exchange City
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I haven't been to Exchange City for a while, but as I'm on the Mykidsmom's surgery list above, (6/23) I thought I'd report in. You can finally put me in the win column this time. I had internal scar revision, nipple removal, and bilateral implant exchange with SeriScaffold plus fat grafting in all of the ridges and flat spots. The surgery was on Monday morning, but I had to wait until yesterday for the unveiling. I admit that minimally all I wanted from this revision was relief from the pain of the scarring and the nipples, and I secretly held a distant hope that this new PS could make me look somewhat normal after the painful lopsided result I got initially. In reality what I got this time surpassed my wildest dreams. I am now pain free, symmetrical and finally happy - thrilled is probably more accurate - with my results! I used to get a lot of 'oh, you look just fine' or 'why not just leave well enough alone' comments (including the eye roll), but somehow I knew that I couldn't / shouldn't settle for what my first PS was passing off as a normal result. It took some effort to find just the right PS for this revision, but I did, and I'm glad. I pray that all of you out there who are still unhappy with your results for whatever reason (after waiting at least four or five months for the changes that will occur post exchange), will find the courage and determination to push for what you want / need in order to be at peace with your own body. It is such a wonderful feeling to be free of that mental anguish at last. This is all hard enough without being made to feel as if you are crazy for wanting some semblance of normal in your life. My very best wishes to you all of you!
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AZ, I am Sooooooo!!! happy for you! I am glad it's finally what works for yoy! Much love
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AZ - thanks for the positive, up beat post. It's nice to hear success stories.
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AZ- Woohoo!! How wonderful!! I am so happy for you!! Great results and relief from the pain! A double win!!
Ally
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Surfergirl - sorry I was busy all week so did not check in until today. I am not a huge lifter but we have a gym in our basement so I try to lift 1-2 times per week to maintain muscle. My PS told me I could start to lift weights (but to ease into it) 4 weeks after my exchange. I am trying to be very careful so am not doing my former routine of Lat pull downs or rows and I am being super wussy by just using my 8 lbs. free weights for anything with my arms. I have been doing chest curls, overhead presses, and some isolated tricep exercises. I am able to use nearly the same weight I used to on our squat machine but my legs have always been way stronger than my arms. So far so good. I hope you are able to find a lifting routine you are able to do too. Good luck!
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Had pre-op appointment with PS yesterday. He answered all my questions, and I am ready for exchange surgery and nipples on July 16 which is exactly three months after BMX. He said the surgery itself will take about an hour and a half. He has to do a little extra work on one side (small armpit pooch), so I might be a bit more sore on that side. I will wake up in a surgical bra, but once I go home later that day I can wear any kind of bra or camisole I want or no bra. The incisions will have waterproof dressings so I can shower the day after. Also, no drains -- very happy about that. Then a few weeks later I'll get my tattoos. I'm looking forward to having the word "completed" after my name at the top of this thread.
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Thanks Moon, MinusTwo, and Ally! I'm just so very grateful to have found this new PS and to have been given this incredibly positive experience after months of disappointment. Moon, you're pretty much the poster girl for 'scenic detours' around here and I count my lucky stars that I never had any real complications, just surgical ineptitude. I'm so happy that you and the new bionic knee are doing well together. Thank you and MinusTwo for the inspiration - because you are two of the most consistently upbeat women on these boards! No matter what they throw at you, you both remain positive and a source of support for so many of the newbies. We read so much about pain and disappointment and fear that I thought a positive post was in order... For anyone with access, the newest pictures are up on the picture forum.
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AZ - Joyfully happy for you. I know how much anguish you went through to make the decision for a revision and the high degree of anticipation you had about it. Hoping you posted pictures over on the picture forum. Can't check right now because I'm at work, but will definitely do so tonight when I get home. Can't wait to see the work of art this new PS performed on you. You deserve nothing less than a beautiful outcome!
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AZ, I'm so glad you found a great PS and that you're thrilled with the results. It must feel like a weight has been lifted from you! Also, I would argue that surgical ineptitude IS a real complication.
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Congrats AZ!!
Best of luck on your exchange Jannett
I never seize to be amazed at the lack of consistency with these exchanges on here! I had to wait 6 months after my final fill (8 month total) but some other ladies have their exchange 2-3 months after their mastectomy. It is crazy that these PS are all so different! 0 -
Raelan, Janett2014, and hjpz; Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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AZ I'm so happy for you and thank you for showing us all that there are positive outcomes!!!
Babs
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babs6287 - Believe me, it was my pleasure!
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AZ, had a look on the picture forum and you look fabulous (even your belly button!). I'm glad you didn't settle with something you weren't happy with and hopefully with dropping and fluffing they will look even better with time!
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I am 2 months post exchange as of tomorrow and I find it really strange that I have noticed no difference in my implants. I know most people experience some degree of dropping and fluffing but so far I appear to be the same as day one. Luckily I was/am satisfied with my results but it makes me wonder why everyone here has such differing results?? This whole process is crazy! When I tell non BC people about the whole thing their eyes get all big. I guess they think it is no big deal - just swap out the real for the fake. I wish it were that simple!
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Hipz, LOL. It's not as easy as "Same couch, different stuffing." is it? People have no idea what we go through after a mastectomy. I've had people say, "You are STILL having surgeries? Are you trying to look like a Playboy model? Aren't you satisfied yet?" Good grief!
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yeah. I was once asked if my life was worth the vanity! People have no idea . It's not vanity to want to be whole. Or as whole as possible. If a person lost a limb would they ask if they really needed that limb replaced? Heck these are people who probably take paint chips to see whether a pillow they want matches their room. LOL. But i might have quit if I wasn't trying for a TKR. Which I now have. Because I proved my body can hold an implant. We chose to do this because we need it. No one else has any right to question us. We make the decision with full knowledge of the hardship and dedication it takes. (Or at least we try to have that info) and of course, the next person to say the words " at least you will have perky boobs" will get a head slap!!!!!
While I can't understand why people would do this for looks alone, ie: augmentation, that's their right. But we all know how wrong things can go and know this is nothing to play with. Every change has its risks and we work around them.
Ok. Off the soap box. And hit the toilet. Big D from my TKR. Remember how they tell you constipation is a result of pain pills?. Yep. Things do go wrong! LOL walkers and big D Are a bad combination. .....
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Previvor101 - Thanks, but you really didn't need to mention the belly button picture... LOL!
hjpz - In all honesty, I was really s l o w in the migration aspect of drop and fluff. I saw some small changes at the two month mark (or it might very well have been me hoping that I'd seen something) but things really started to migrate at about the three and a half to four month mark,so be patient - it's gravity - it will happen to you, too! Have you been taking pictures? It really does help to see the changes that you may not notice day to day.
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Hi all ,
I just noticed that I am listed as completed 2/21. I wish. My exchange was just done last Thursday 6/26. I have had many TE troubles, including leaking, infections, removal,hospitalizations but finally it happened. MY PS said he put in 800 cc and 750cc and it does not look like much. What do you mean when you say drop and fluff? Do they get bigger? Still using Oxycodone to manage the pain, so my apologies if this is not very clear
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Schoolcounselor! So happy you finally completed the trip! You really had a lot of scenic detours didn't you. Mine are 800 cc saline rounds and certainly not as much projection as the TEs. Also they did drop down a bit and fluff- out with a bit of droop. But you know you need time to see the real implants. Hugs. Pain pills aren't fun. Much love
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The implants are put under the pecs and those muscles begin to relax after a month or two, allowing the implant to move down a little on your chest. That's the drop. As it settles into the pocket that was created to hold it, the saline or silicone settles more towards the bottom of the implant and you get ptosis (drooping) that looks more like a natural breast. That's the fluff part. Sorry, no they don't get bigger. But they go from looking like a flat hamburger bun when first put in to a more normal shape over a couple of months. Fluff doesn't happen with gummy bears and other anatomical implants because they have a fixed shape already. But I have noticed the drop with my gummy bears, which are 3 months old now. Whippetmom told me it can take up to a year for anatomicals to find their "home."
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aaaahhh... Thanks Sandra.
I am about 6 weeks post exchange to anatomicals and haven't noticed any dropping or fluffing. Mine look ok now although intrigued to find out what happens when they find their home! My main aim was symmetry and mine look great with clothes on. There is still a bit of asymmetry with nipple position from the TE migration north and it not stretching out the lower pocket enough. However, my topless sunbathing days are long gone. And after reading all the wise words from all of you on BCO, I'll wait and then see.
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I agree 100% Sandra & Moonflower!
AZ thanks for the info. I am secretly hoping for a lack of migration here though because I like my results. I know I am in the minority of patients who are happy right away so I am not going to question it too much just in case *crosses fingers*
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Thanks Moon and Sandra. That helps clarify. I'm looking forward to seeing what the final shape will be, but I'm pretty happy now. Did you do your nipple reconstruction yet? What a ride we've been on. Hard to believe it's almost over.
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The only nipple recon I will do is 3D tatoos. But with my knee sx I have to wait on that. When the chance came up rather unexpectedly I went for it. Still hurts. Right in the idle of the pain and rehab just one and a half weeks out from total knee replacement my ortho said he didn't know how I even walked at all before. So i keep 3D tatoos in front of me. I will get them. Probably not till my 2nd knee gets done. But i want them to complete all the work that went into these things! LOL
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In another 6 weeks you'll be happy I bet.
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Moon - "So i keep 3D tatoos in front of me. I will get them." Well, of course they're in front of you - where else were you going to put them - on your back? (LOL!) I'm so happy that you're knee rehab is going well and though it's a slow and painful process - if anyone can push through it, it's you! Once you get past the first one, the second one should be easier. (At least I pray that's how it will go for you.) You deserve nothing but the best after all you've been through and that positive attitude of yours goes a long way to get you through it all. Hoping that your DH is still encouraging you to move and strengthen that knee...it will get better! (Hugs to you!)
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I'm one that was tickled pink first time I saw the new girls after exchange. I did not get much 'drop' or 'fluff', they look pretty much the same as they did right outa the shoot with the exception of minor swelling that resolved, of course. I think the level of drop and fluff can have a lot to do with your own personal circumstances just like most everything else on this journey. I, for instance, had 600cc expanders filled to 750cc, then exchanged to 750cc implants. If I had expanded to 800cc and exchanged to 750cc implants I may have had more drop and fluff. Someone who was quite large before mastectomy and went with smaller implants may have more skin left for the expansion/exchange and thus have more drop/fluff. I'm not exceptionally fluent in trying to express what I'm getting at here, but does it at least make some sort of sense to anyone besides me?
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AZ! I knew someone on here would find the way I said that funny! LOL. Yes. No need for headlights on my back.... LOL
S&S you make a lot of sense. Even to those of us with warped senses of humor. (Right AZ? LOL)
I had larger breasts bit not to the size some would expect for my body type. I was barely a C cup. I am now a full C cup. But i have a friend who argued with me she says I must have been bigger before. LOL. Don't you think I'd know? LOL. The fact is that a few of my C cup bras that were new when I was dx and therefore weren't worn out fit nice. So my P'S did well. LOL. My foobs actually got closer together with the gluff. I had 4 fingers space between them. Now it's less than 2 and they look pretty good. And yes I do peek now and again
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Good to know Sweetandspecial. I was beginning to think I was alone in liking the size and shape of my implants right away (not that that is a bad thing!). I have decided to just be happy about it and stop questioning it! Thanks
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