Exchange City
Comments
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Jeanie - Kohl's carries the Bali Comfort Revolution bra #3488 & #3484. Also, I don't know if you have an Elder Beerman where you live, but that is where I bought mine in my town.
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Walmart carries name brand underwire sports bras that zip in the front and hold everything high and tight. I bought one without underwire that says it offers extra support and it doesn't let anything move.
Twoam, I didn't have rads or chemo either. Although I felt better at the 3 week mark, it took another month before I could get through the day without needing a nap! You are normal, girl.
Andrea, the medium Genie Shaper cami might be right for you. The box says it fits shirt size 8-10 so it could be a little bit big but the small fits shirt size 0-6 and would be way too small and horribly tight on you. Mine is a little big in the cup (so what else is new?) but otherwise it is fine and not tight anywhere. I could sleep in it. It's not tight like Spanx.
It's not short at all. It doesn't cover your whole rear but comes about half way down and you could pull it down further if you wanted to. I wore it all day today to see if it would ride up under jeans but it stayed put.
I bought mine at Walmart for $19.99 but can't resist the temptation to go online and take advantage of their 6 for $60 special with free shipping. The colors are wonderful.
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Sandra, does the Genie cami give much support? I need to have some support or I start hurting. Did you look at the Flexees Camisole at Walmart? I heard good things about it too. I rarely go to Walmart, but I would for camis!
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The regular Genie bra seems more like a sleep bra but the Genie Cami Shaper gives a lot of support without pulling on the straps or making red marks everywhere. I was surprised. Even with the removable pads, it's plenty for me. It isn't like the ultra firm sports bra, however, which feels like I have the old iron bra on. My implants felt supported all day today in the cami shaper. This is the first cami I've ever tried so I didn't try the Flexees.
I bought a "heavy duty" sports bra I mentioned earlier but the other bras I have are the expensive Wacoal brand ($60-$65) that I got from Dillards. They had the Wacoal fitter at a special event there so I got measured by an expert. Out of about 20 bras she brought in, only 3 fit. The cups on the others were too big or the cups were not wide enough. Implants are just not easy! I found some stretchy styles that worked. They probably have more support than the Genie cami, but it seriously doesn't feel like it to me.
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Thanks, Sandra! I'll give it a try!
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Just tried to take a picture in my dark little powder room. Not the greatest but at least you can see. I took the pads out by the way. You can see the slight puckering at the top where someone with upper pole fullness would be filling it out. I have a flat, skin/bone chest with no fullness above the foobs so it's a little big there.
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sandra, when you had the TE in, was that puckered too or only after exchange?
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My skin and bones chest has been this way since the BMX. My breast surgeon was very aggressive and took every tiny bit of tissue below the skin. He even took the fascia off the muscles. This is the first time I've had a cami. Didn't have it when I had a TE, but NO WAY would there have been any kind of puckering. That full TE would have taken up the whole thing and then some. It looked ridiculous! It stuck out on the top so far that it made a shelf. I balanced a full Solo cup on it!
If this surgery does the trick, I'll only have 1 more and that will be for fat grafting on my chest.
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Andrea - I bought a couple of the Flex Eez from Walmart. More for compression from my lipo than anything. Personally, they hurt me after awhile because I have a little to much compression on my breasts and keep pulling and tugging at them. Don't forget I'm a UNI. My favorite camisole type that I have found so far is the Jockey brand. It provides a little support but it works well for my compression. The gal at the check out register at Kohl's was telling me how everyone is buying those now because the Spanx are too tight.
I'm so ignorant, I didn't even realize gals were wearing compression type camisoles to cover their torsos. Live and learn!
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Frostecat, I didn't know Jockey made a cami with some support. I have quite a few of their regular camis, and love them. After my previous exchanges, I was able to wear them with no bra, which I loved, but now my rads side hurts too much without some support or compression.
Sandra, that one looks very comfortable. I just bought one on eBay, cause after work I'm too tired to want to shop. I bought a medium, so if I like it, I'll order some pretty colored ones later. Thanks for your help!
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sandra, I know what you mean. I keep telling my doctor to just look at this, its almost up to my shoulder. He says, the implant won't look like that. Lord I hope not. He plans to liposuction on the sides and take that and put in around the implant to smooth it all out, then, I'll have lift on the other side, I am a uni, so trying to match them up. I dread the lift more than the exchange. Plus, being uni, I dread having pain on both sides instead of just the one side.
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Thank you Elizabethaw. PS office gave me incorrect TE information over the phone so whippetmom has been unable to help me. I have an appointment with him Monday. Why can I stand up for everyone else but myself? Lol
My PS wants me to wear a front clasp sports bra looking thing that thankfully I found at BiMart for $7.00. 24 hours a day the first week then only during the day the second week. After that he said I could wear whatever I wanted or nothing at all. Soooo.... good bye bras for me!
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Sandra - Thank you for the encouragement regarding fatigue. My job is super physical, and some days I just think I am going to drop in place. The difference in strength I feel from before the surgeries scares me. My muscles do not hurt at all. Its just pure tiredness.
Did you find that the Genie bras are pretty acurately sized? I am getting ready to take advantage of their online sale too. I think they are closeout colors. 4 bras for $20. I am right on the edge between a M and L.
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Twoam - I also use the genie bras - I was/am about a 36C and I am using the large ones. I use both the regular ones and the camis. I am a month out from surgery and still wear something 24/7 as I want to make sure everything heals in place. I am happy with my results and don't want to screw them up. My BS told me it was up to me but that he likes wearing a bra 24/7 for as long as I can tolerate it. The genie's make it easy for me and he approves of them.
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Thanks for the info Linda! I used to be a 36C, or so I thought. I was actually like a 32DD (most woman wear to large of a band size). I have no idea what I am right now. Projection is smaller then a C (for which I am glad for) but total breast measurement is bigger then I was, due to the width of the implants. I am so excited to eventually get my first proffesional fitting, but wanted some good, soft support while waiting. Whippetmom, I didnt technically say the C word!
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Sandra,,,do u know the name of that sports bra???
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Jeanie, Bali Comfort Revolution now makes underwires. Same soft molded cup, they're so comfortable! Got mine at Kohls
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Jeanie, the sports bras I bought at Walmart are Danskin. The tag says Danskin Now, UPC# 885615353822, RN# 86752. You might be able to find a picture of it on the Danskin website. It is zip front and is for people who don't want any movement while they exercise. They come in B, C, & D cup & several band sizes which was nice because the implants (and TE's) are so wide. I thought they ran small and since I wanted to breathe, I ended up buying a larger band size than I might have if I hadn't been able to try it on. In a Wacoal expensive bra such as the Awareness style, I wear 38 C but in the Danskin sports bra I got a 42 D and it's plenty snug.
Two, the Genie box size chart is pretty accurate. The cami is not super tight but same size in a regular Genie bra (which is much thinner) fit differently - it's band size is at least an inch+ smaller than the cami. The cami is advertised as a shaper that can make you look 2 sizes smaller but I didn't think it felt like Spanx. Maybe I should have gotten a smaller size, but I didn't want to feel like I was walking around in a girdle. What I have is quite comfy.
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my surgery is in 9 days, and i'm getting nervous. the doctor said i will only have a drain on the reduction side. i went to walmart yesterday and bought some shapewear. i didn't buy any bras, since the hospital will be sending me home in a surgical bra, and they said for me to get my own girdle before arriving at the hospital. i will buy some new bras in the future once i am home from the hospital.
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this bra shit is a pain in the ass!!!! I liked not having to wear one "before" my DX, I hated them then and I hate them more now! I have every color in the Genie bras, some padded some not, I have pinned up the implant side at the shoulder and it is holding the implant up nicely and softer on the band of the lifted side,,,, I am not buying another dang bra! Lol,,, I have the xl in the genie bras and they are very comfortable,,,,,I tried on the Bali revolution,,, in 40C and 42D, the d cup fits my implant size, but hardly enough there to fill the cup on the lifted side, and the c cup is great but can't find a 42C.... Ugh!!!!!
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I was a 42C before my BMX. I had a TERRIBLE time finding one!!! I finally found a 44C at Target that fit me very well AND was comfortable.
I have a question. My TE's are 600cc capacity. Whippetmom recommended at least a 600cc implant. Right now I'm having issues with the 200 or so cc I have in my right side. (left is only at 150) and can't imagine having the stamina to make it to 600. For those who have gone that big, what size cup did that put you in? I realize its going to be a little different for everyone. I'm 5'4, 195 lbs but working on loosing weight. I would hate to drop 40 lbs only to realize my boobs are now huge for my body but I also don't want to be too small for my current body. I liked by breast size before surgery and am so worried about how this will all turn out.
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noonrider- unfortunately, you can't tell what size you will be until after your implant settles and your swelling goes down. I can tell you, that I had my TE's filled to 800cc's. When I exchanged to implants I ended up with 2 very different sizes which can be quite normal. My left implant (which is also my cancer side) is a 650cc implant and my right implant is 800cc's. After everything settled I ended up being close to the same size bra/cup size pre-BC I was a 38D now I'm a 40D. Do understand that the more weight you lose, the bigger your new breasts will look. I am 5'5" and 250 lbs- I'm still trying to lose weight (kinda hard with my meds), so try not to focus too much on bra/cup size. Hope that helps some.
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Noon, my first implants were 800 cc rounds, put in the same day as my BMX. Had no problems with the implants. They were a lot smaller than my natural breasts. (Anything would be smaller than those humongeous orbs...one weighed 5.5 lbs, the other 4 lbs as per pathology.) Two weeks later I had one implant replaced with a TE and had miserable muscle spasms for a couple of days after surgery, just on that side. I had swirls of flat skin where the implant had been. No fills for about 3 weeks. Then got 180 cc's the first fill, never felt a thing. The next week I got 240 cc's (also painless) and finally saw a little breast "growing" before my eyes. Other than tightness in the evening which went away with Tylenol, all the rest of the weekly fills, which were either 80 cc's, 60 cc's or 100 cc's, were equally painless...until I got up to 740 cc's total. It was painful for about 2 days but Lidocaine patches helped. The skin at the top of the TE was the problem...it didn't want to stretch anymore. (I could balance a full Solo cup on the top of that TE and not spill a drop.) No wonder the skin was complaining. But everything else inside started fighting back at 740 cc's so I didn't have the final 60 cc's. If I'd waited a couple of weeks I think I could have had another 60 cc's, but the PS said it was good enough. (I got 740 cc Allergan 410's after a one month waiting period.)
I know some women who had fills up to 900 cc's but there are plenty of us in the 700-800 cc range and we all made it through. So can you. Women who are going bigger and need to stretch their muscle and skin have a harder time than those going smaller.
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I had 850 permanent implants. P'S had thought he go with 900 but decided the 850 fit my chest better. Never as good as real but these are MINE so I'm happy..
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How long was it before you all could sleep on your sides again? I am still using a wedge in bed so I can sleep a little upright & on my back but I really sleep better on my side. I go back to PS on Thursday so I will ask him then, but I was just wondering.
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My surgeon said I could sleep on my side a week after my exchange..I could hardly wait, I sleep so much better on my side.
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Grammy, I'm about 6 weeks out now, and started sleeping on my left side at about 3.5 weeks. My other side had radiation, and has been painful. Last night was the first time I was able to sleep on that side. I do have to have a pillow to hold while I'm on my side, or I'm not comfortable. I think it gives me a bit of support.
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noon rider,,, I have an 800cc implant in , I am a Uni, I am 5'6 187lbs, I am currently a weird size cup so don't worry about cup size yet,,, C, D, 40,42,44, who the hell knows anymore, apparently not me but I sure am keeping the bra business IN Business!!!!! Lol,,,, Remember, you don't have to fill any further than you want,,,, YOU are in control of that pretty much,,,make sure your surgeon explains what they are shooting for in final outcome and make sure you are comfortable with it,,,I really did not have any problems with the fills other than some tightness ,,,,, good luck Hun,,,,,,healing HUGZ,,,,,,,J
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Grammy,,,,, I finally had my DH put our recliner in our bedroom, now that I am almost finished, lol,, it is a lifesaver, I should of used this from the beginning,,,, might wanna give it a try if you have one
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Jeanie - I never realized how close in size we are, we are following each other on the UMX board but we are kind of like twinkies in size and shape.
I also just posted on that board my experience today with offering to pick up lunch for the crew at work today. I walked into the restaurant and had the hostess/server thrust about 40 pounds of salad, sandwiches and condiments into my arms. I then had to walk out double doors and to my car. Thank God there was a women that offered to help me, but I'm feeling it. That was way too heavy for me to carry. I could have taken one plate at a time, but noooo she threw them in my arms all at once, like someone throwing a baby in your arms. Needless to say I'm feeling it, I feel like something pulled a bit. 6 weeks out but still need to be careful. It happened so fast I didn't have time to tell her noooo. Live and learn.
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