Exchange City
Comments
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anyone of you ladies, i am 12 days out from EX. I know things are healing and will change, just want to know if it is normal to be very tight? Not as tight as TE, but not a whole lot if movement or softbess. Not worried and very happy with my gummy anatomicals!! Thank
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robinblessed - great to hear you're doing so well. You are only 12 days out so you still have a lot of settling to do and your new "girls" have to adjust to their new home. You may still have swelling which can attribute to your feeling of tightness. yes, the anatomicals are. Wait until they get softer and then you'll love them. Good luck!!
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How long were your exchange surgeries???
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knmtwins, my exchange surgery was about 1hour. I had no additional cutting done, just an even swapout. My OR time started at 0730 and I was back home at 1045!
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couple of hours for me but I had a lift on the opposite side and my plastic surgeon does have residents to help with surgery, so that was with two doctors working together.
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Mine was 2 hours. PS had to drop right one to even me out.
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Hi ladies,, I see a few familiar faces around here!
I had a UNI MX in November and a saline implant 2 days ago. So,glad to get that blasted TE out!
I forgot to ask my dr about massaging the implant, I've heard it's good to do that for various reasons... Is it too soon? I don't see him again until next week...
Thanks!
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I would wait until you have instructions to massage and are shown how your PS wants you to do it. If he does. You are still healing, and if he added any stitches or other work you can damage things if you start massaging on your own
. Everyone is different, and there is actually no conclusive evidence massage helps reduce CC rates and some PSs actually do not recommend it. First surgery, direct to implant, I was given instructions after about a month to massage my healed incision areas to help break up scar tissue and improve blood flow. I was told to do some light massage of tissue over implants as well for same reason...just small light pressure circles. No aggressive pushing, mostly as I had Alloderm but also as he did not want me overworking the pockets.
This time, while I will again be cleared to massage my incisions once they are healed up, I am not to massage the implants at all as they are textured and need to adhere
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Thanks Divecat! I'll just chill out in the recliner.
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AlexaP - I concur with Divecat. The only thing that I would add to that is when I was finally able to massage my scars I did it with lotion. All three times I had the IMF opened I did that and the scars have healed nicely and hardly noticeable. Chill out and relax now.0 -
mjh1, did you have nipple sparing? My scars are right across my breasts where nipples were. I am two weeks out from EX. Doing really great! Was fitted for a bra at Nordstroms yesterday. They really know what they are doing. It is a Wacoal. Best to the upcoming surgeries next week.
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robinblessed - yes, I had nipple-sparing but sometimes think I should have had a simple because the nipples are not that important to me and it would have been so much easier. There's a fine line between taking enough breast tissue so you get most of it out and taking too much and there's no line telling the BS to stop cutting here. Obviously, my BS crossed that fine line which created my problem with blood supply in the beginning and why most of my skin looked black and blue and my nipple was black after surgery. As I quickly learned, there are several layers to your skin and when it regenerates it does so from the bottom up and as it's doing so it's pushing all the dead skin up which took me four months. Remarkably, after all the debridements for dead skin and stiching there is hardly evidence of it on my boobs. Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize!!!!!!
So happy to hear you're doing so well. I can't believe you got fitting for a bra already. that must have been exiciting but why bother with bras at all?? You deserve to be braless now!!!!!
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mjh1, i was fitted because the sport bras I had were too tight they left dents in my boobs! This is tight enough to hold them in place but are smooth over the cup area. I fill them out nicely, no leftover material! I am looking forward to going braless after the 6 weeks of the bra24/7!
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If any of my tatat sisters have gone in for a revisions, would you like to share what questions they have asked their PS before going in?? Would sure like to hear them. Stix on another thread got me thinking that I should definitely write these things down because otherwise I'll be too nervous going in for the consult and I'll totally forget to ask (especially if I find a PS that's a total hottie...lol)
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Here's my post-op update. 3 days post-op from exchanging my tissue expanders for my implants, and I am extremely uncomfortable. Everything is so tight, and the bra my surgeon put on me is sticking into my swollen underarms and causing a lot of pain, which I am controlling using the minimal amount of Vicodin possible because I do not like pain pills. Before surgery, my surgeon realized she was not going to have enough fat from my belly, to "fill in" the spots my implants did not fill, so she had to do liposuction on both of my thighs as well. My thighs are completely black and blue. I know I probably should not expect too much comfort in 3 days, but can someone give me a bit of encouragement please?
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cannoli1 - hang in there. you are only 3 days post-op and still swollen which makes everything uncomfortable. It will get better once the swelling starts going down and boobs start to settle. You will then start to see many changes in your boobs so don't get freaked out. They are just trying to adjust to their new home. This is all normal. As far as the lipo and bruising, I cannot comment because I haven't had that done yet but there's a thread called fat grafting, pros and cons so maybe check that out. Good luck in your recovery and take it easy!!!
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I had lipo and fat grafting in the past and I SWEAR by Arnica! It is available orally and in gel form, most PS offices sell it. It takes down the swelling and bruising a lot. Please give it a try.
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I bought the arnica tablets from Amazon. The gel is sold on Amazon and places like CVS. I had severe bruising on my thighs from lipo/fat grafting and I think using both helped. Two months later, I can still see very slight bruising, though.
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Thanks ladies. I see my PS for my post-op tomorrow, and I will ask her about the Arnica. I am hoping, at a minimum, to get my drains out tomorrow. I have one on each side, and they have not been collecting nearly the fluid I had when I had my mastectomy last year (then, I had two drains on each side). I am scheduled to go back to work Thursday, I need to feel significantly better by then. I had enough vacation to cover the week I took off for my tissue expander replacement, and I have an additional week of vaca if needed. I did file for FMLA, but FMLA is not payment once vacation runs out. Money is tight for my husband and I right now, so I am hoping to feel a lot better by Thursday.
I also need to get off of this pain medicine as it makes me very dizzy and sleepy. Can't drive that way for sure.
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Cannoli, in addition to arnica, my ps instructions include Bromelain to help your body absorb the hematomas and bruising caused by the Lipo. I guess this can be found at the GNC store. I took a full 2weeks off for my exchange surgery, but did not have any Lipo or drains. It takes as long as it takes to heal. Please don't drive while on narcotic pain meds. I sure hope you start to feel better soon. Hugs😃
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YES. That would be very helpful for me too. Great idea.
Amie
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Hi Ladies--I am getting my TE removed and my exchange on 4/6. I do have some minor lymphedema in my right hand and now am feeling a tightness in my right breast. It is also a tiny bit bigger than my left. I am worried that this might be LE too. I was on the LE board but b/c this is a surgery related question, wanted to jump on here.
My question and worry is this: I had 27 nodes removed and now with this next surgery am worried that it will caused more lyphedema. I am seeing a PT and have compression garments. Just wondering if anyone experienced LE after their exchange. My PS is poo-pooing it all. But he doesn't have to walk around with swollen limbs and breasts. I was told that LE would not be that big of a risk as I am "fit", a nonsmoker, healthy, etc……. LE can happen to anyone. I hate when the drs. poo-poo it.
Anyway, was hoping I can get some input on this. I need to have the exchange but am worried about my increased risk of LE. Any input would be appreciated.
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ciaogina, I had no LE issues after my lat flap and exchange surgeries. I had a small bout with LE a few years back, but haven't had any issues since. I had 16 nodes removed. What does your LE PT person say about your upcoming surgery?
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Hi guys. I was just wondering if anyone felt better right after their exchange surgery than they did at 2-3 weeks postop? Since I went back to work, my chest has been feeling very tight and clamped down:( I must say that I felt so much better during week 1. Is this normal?
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kingster, i had what felt like a belt tightening around certain parts of my chest..is that how you feel?
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Maybe because you are doing more now?
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kingster my friend, I am sorry to hear your feeling like this 3 weeks out. I am 3 weeks today. As I posted, I am feeling fine, just tired my first week back to work. But the "girls" are staying put and feeling fine. Get some rest if you can and get off those feet.
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Kingster--Has your PS cleared you to do some stretching exercises? Stretching helped me immensely and if you have been cleared to do it, get started! When I had my BMX, I had no idea about getting PT or doing stretching until my PS sent me for PT about 4-5 weeks post-BMX. With my recent revision (exchange from rounds to anatomicals with lots of "pocket work"), my PS told me that I could do some GENTLE stretching three days post-op and increased stretching 1 week post-op but to listen to my body and not to push the envelope. I also got to my PT/chiro one week after this recent revision and he stretched me and performed graston massage in the front and back of each armpit--this helped greatly.
I took off one week from work and then worked from home for two weeks before returning to the office three weeks post-op with this recent revision. When I first started working from home (desk/computer work), I definitely felt tightness in my chest and right arm (nodes were removed on the right during BMX). I took frequent breaks throughout the day and did lots of stretching. The first week I was back in the office, I had more tightness in my chest than I had when I was working from home--again, I took frequent breaks away from my desk at work, went into the bathroom, and did some stretching. I continue to do stretching every night before bed and have just returned to my gentle yoga class this week (I am 5 weeks post revision now) and I was able to keep up with the yoga instructor and did not feel any twinges in any of the postures and the bonus is that I felt 200% better after that yoga class!
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I had that after my BMx and asked to go to a physical therapist which helped. I still feel that tightening at times in the corner of my left breast near my armpit. My bs said its scar tissue. She said we can fix it if it keeps bothering me.0
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Lori, how can I do graston massage? Never heard of it. More stretching will probably help. Thanks for the love everyone😊
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