Exchange City
Comments
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angelfaith - Exchange done..Feeling pretty good..I will check back later..
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Leslienva, I have the Allergan 655g Style FF Implants. My TEs were filled to 700cc. I am only four weeks out from my exchange and still in a surgical bra, which I will need to wear for at least another month due to pocket work. How the implants will look on you depends on your frame. I am 5'8 and 180 lbs. My rib cage is 35 inches and the largest part of my chest currently measures 41 inches in the surgical bra. I am not sure what that will equal to in a bra size. In choosing an implant, I encouraged my PS to go smaller with less upper pole (hence the anatomicals). My native breasts were 38 DDD; and even though my frame could have handled it, I did not necessarily want the largest implants available. My goal has been to lose weight rather than go with a larger implant for the sake of comfort.
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There also a new gene called Palb2 which is linked to bc.
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I just got the call yesterday from my genetic testing-tested negative on everything. I still find that odd with all of the canecr in my family. The counselor said I may have a gene not yet discovered-so that kind of makes it inconsistent. But, I guess it is good I dont have any of the major ones.
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Good news, vettegirl! Vettegirl used to be my nickname on the Web MD message boards. I was tested 14 years ago and need to be tested again.
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I love me some corvettes
We have one now-it is my fun car Esp since cancer diagnosis-love to just take the vette out for a spin on a Sunday and do something fun, like the beach.0 -
I have a 1996 Collector's Edition!
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Mine is also older-a1991-bought it from my friend last year with just 51000 original miles. It is that beautiful teal\turquoise color and has lots of upgrades. Sharp car. My hubby babies it and wants to enter it in shows eventually. Cant wait to get well so I can climb in and out of it. I am recovering from ovary surgery last week so have a very sore belly with stitches, bruising and swelling. Getting ready for my reconstruction w lat flap dec 29. Then, me and the vette will be buddies again
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I love that color! Mine is silver. I actually prefer the older models to the new ones
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Does anyone have numbness under their arm on the prophylactic side? I thought it would go away by now, but it's been two months. I'm wondering if a nerve was cut. My cancer side feels normal
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Leslie - did you have serial node biopsy on the prophy side? That could be an issue. Mine took over a year to get feeling back.
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No, I didn't have a node biopsy, which is why I don't understand the numbness
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Leslie, one underarm has feeling, the other doesn't. It's been 15 months. I had a double mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy on both sides.
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6 days to go for my exchange. I am also having some fat grafting. I know he is lipoing under my left arm and may do some from my upper abdomen if he needs more. Therefore, I don't know what I will wake up wearing, LOL.
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Straitlover, I'm having exchange Friday. You are the first person that has said they are having lipo from under arm and thats same thing my doctor has said . I was glad to finally see somebody else having the same thing done. I'm anxious to get this done but getting nervous too.
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Good luck to you angelia50; I am Friday, too. I have to be there at 6AM for a 7:30 start time.
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Straitlover, I have to be there at 6 too and I live about an hour 1/2 away so early day. Hope it goes smooth and yours does too. When I had the mastectomy, I woke up sweating as if I had been running and sick. Sure hope they figure out what went wrong with that and resolve those issues. I had my surgery in July too, and was diagnosed in June, so we are pretty close on all of this. In hindsight, I wish I had done both sides but I was kind of in shock with the mastectomy and just could not think about that. I had my mind all set for lumpectomy but due to location of things that had to be removed, that wasn't possible. The mastectomy wasn't as bad as I feared it would be but then again, I only had the one side to deal with so not sure how it feels for both sides to be sore. I see you had a surgery in Sept. Did something go wrong with one of your expanders?
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I actually woke up from my exchange surgery shaking like crazy but didn't have any problems the first time. E
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Had my exchange on Friday. No complications so far, aside from being sore. I'm a little disappointed that the implants are just as wide as the TEs but don't project out as much as the TEs. I have Sientra shaped high profile implants, 100 CCs more than the TEs. I know I need to wait a while to see how they settle and for any swelling to go down. I was clear with my PS that I didn't want the end results to look smaller than the TEs, but they do.
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I don't care if my implant is smaller than prior to the mastectomy as long as the lifted one matches it. My main concern isn't the size so much as they match. I could pad one to match the other but I can't make my natural side as high as the expander and that has really been an issue to me. So if he'll just get me two that match, I think I"ll be happy.
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Hi everyone! I'm hoping to get some help in determining what size/style implant to go with. I currently only have 1 expander in place. I'll be exchanging that within the next month or so and then having the lat flap done sometime in the future(thanks to rads). Here are some stats to help..
5'3, 118-120lbs(normally 110-115)
Petite frame
I was told I have Allergan style 133LV or SV(forget which) expander, suggested fill volume of 200ccs.
Currently expanded to 240ccs.
My current PS uses Mentor implants, but would be open to using something else if I wanted. I want projection, as I'm petite and want the most bang for my buck. I really love the size of my expander and would like something as close as possible.
I don't have very much skin to offer so we have to stay "small", although currently I feel like I'm expanded to about a full B.
PS suggested tear drop shaped implants since I don't have extra fluff up top, but I don't want to lose projection, so right now I'm wanting round silicones. I also wasn't that impressed seeing a Mentor 250 tear drop implant in his office. It just looked small under my tank top.
Any advice? I've been mulling over this decision for months. Now that we're getting close I want to be confident and know what I'm going to wake up with. Help!
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WindingRoad, - I am about the same size/weight as you are, and I left the decision to my PS. I know that he has the experience and knows better than I what would work. His main concern was the side that had been radiated and how that would accept implant and allow skin to expand. He put in Mentor 260s, anatomical shape, on Nov 20th. So far, I am pleased with the results, and am about a B cup, the same size that I was presurg.
The radiated side is more sore and slower healing, and still has some stitches yet to be removed. I have my fingers crossed that it heals well!
Wishing you all the best!!
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Everforward
Your concern is my fear. My implants will also be about 100 cc bigger than the TEs. My TEs are fully filled at this point but seem very wide with an all over projection, so like shallow cereal bowls sitting on my chest ( feel that way too).
Keep us informed as the swelling goes down as I would guess a lot of us have the same worries. I keep hearing everyone talk about the "drop n fluff"...maybe that will be your fix on time?
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They feel like bowls since the back is firm and so shape out like bowls. The implants are squishy-ish so they end up a more natural shape. I think the ps fix everything up in exchange so they arent as wide apart, etc etc...
The hardest part is not freaking out the first month and several months after exchange feeling thats how they will end up. Its a long process...even understanding that , its so hard to wait!
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Angelia50, it takes about 40 minutes to get to the hospital from my house w/ no traffic. I plan on leaving no later than 5:10 AM just in case something happens. I considered getting a hotel room, but I decided it was not worth spending $80+ to get 30 extra minutes of sleep, like I'll be sleeping anyway, LOL.
Yes, I had to have a second surgery in Sept. two weeks after my BMX, I ended up in the hospital for almost a week on IV abx due to cellulitis. The PS debated opening me up while I was there to powerwash the right side and replace the TE but he decided to hold off. I went home (8/21 I think) and continued IV abx at home. The Saturday after Labor Day, my remaining drain fell out on its own (had left it into keep a check on infected drainage). PS at first said jsut keep the hole covered and keep a check on my tem. He called me back the next days and said he wanted to do the powerwash procedure, so I wen tin that Monday (was supposed to be going back to work that day) for outpatient sx, - powerwash with new TE and a new drain, also continued the IV abx for a couple more weeks. No more infection, and the TE was saved
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Straightlover, this exchange should be a cake walk compared to all of that. Sounds very painful. I usually leave home about 1 1/2 hours early for all my doctors appointments mainly due to traffic but at least there won't be much traffic at that hour of the day. When I had my mastectomy, I had to be there at 6 too. Good thing is getting it over with instead of no food and sitting around all day dreading it. Hope it goes good and I'm out of there and on the way home early. At mastectomy, I woke up sick and had to stay longer than planned just because of that and that was with them knowing in advance I tend to be sick and a patch behind my ear. They thought that was due to being asleep so long. Hope this is the last surgery for you and me.
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Hope I was clear. I was responding to Sandgar when I explained that my PS told me, (as in me personally) that 200cc would be equal to one cup size.... He said that to me based on my build.
Am 5'5 120 lbs and my ribcage measures 30in or less. I have a small build. So for everyone saying that 200 cc does not equal a cup size? My response is the same. That was the response he gave to me personally and because Sandgar was asking me about our similar builds...I shared.
Obviously, if a women is 5'10 and weighs 180 than 500 cc's is not going to look like a C cup. Perhaps more like salad plates. 500 cc implants is indeed a C cup on me. A full C
My immediate implants look the same as they did one month after surgery. Nothing has changed. Initially I had swelling but no longer do. They're the same.
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I windingrd, go to implants 101 and pm Whippetmom with the information. She is our implant guru! She has helped so many women figure which implants. Sorry I can never link from my phone.
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WindingRoad - Moon is spot on. The link is below. Do read the header first since there are a few more pieces of information that WhippetMom will need about you. Just so you know, cup size is not mentioned there since it's so individual, not to mention really subjective.
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topic/746448?page=410#idx_12277
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Ocean Sky,
And I am not trying to be difficult here but I answered you originally as I DO have a similar build to you and sandgar (5'4", 118lbs, 29" ribcage) and as I replied originally 200 cc's is definitely NOT a cup size on me though so it may not be the same for sandgar even if she is has similar measurements to you. With 435cc high profile round implants for example I am an E cup, on a 30 band so much more than a cup per every 200ccs! I can assure you I am definitely not a B cup! But it is also not like I look big or disproportionate or that they aren't comfortable (and I am exactly same cup size as I was before surgery)
With immediate implants most of my changes were into the 3-5 month mark (not where the implants sat on my chest, but more in the way the silicone itself sat in the implant shell), but you may have very loose/relaxed pectorals that allowed the implants to shape into a more teardrop shape right away. Not usual, especially with immediate implants which have not had the benefit of pre-stretching the pectorals, but not impossible either! I also had Alloderm which takes some time to soften and it also takes weeks and months for for the body tissues to integrate with it so that might be a factor for many women with Alloderm, which is common in immediate implants.
I wish my swelling had gone so quickly as it did for you, I THOUGHT my swelling was all gone at one month or so and I was so happy to have no ripples, then the swelling I did not think I had went down more and then ripples showed up, lol (in that same 3-5 month mark). Hence why I am going in for a revision in February or March.
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