Exchange City
Comments
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Once the exchange occurs and now have implant with small implant to lift on non MX side, how do you self examine? What is the procedure for Mammo... Ultrasounds...MRI?? I always thought that once you have a MX there was no more Mammo's done. How do you then screen for the possibility of recurrence...and how do you screen the non MX side that has small implant. I am starting to wonder why my Dr's are not giving me info...is it that I just want too much info that is not needed??
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thanks mjh1 good advice!!
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JustAJenn, I am glad you are home. Please rest, I was thinking about you yesterday.
Give yourself time. On your birthday I will be having my exchange.
Sending you soft {{hugs}}.
Love Robin
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thank you Robin
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I heard no more mammograms, just MRIs every few years to check implant for leakage. However, one of my friends had a mammogram recently when she felt something abnormal and she has implants, so I guess it can be done.
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Does she have implants from breast cancer or augmentation? If you have augmentation you still have mammos. BC survivors have no breast tissue.
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robinblessed.. I have implant in the side that I had mx on.. the other side I had very small implant put in and reduction to make the same as the mx side. So if there is no mammo for the mx side how do people know that they have a recurrence? As far as the non mx side, even though there is an implant, they can do a mammo still? Since I have dense breasts I assume I would get an ultrasound as well. Would really like MRI's done as the ultrasound and mammo never picked up my IDC... only the dcis.
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hi ladies. A question. I had exchange surgery 5 months ago. I'm going in soon as the non radiated side is not as symmetrical as I'd like. I am also thinking I am a bit too large but struggling with making decision to change implants out and by how much. Has anyone felt reconstruction was too much and opted to reduce? I've always been small breasted (b cup)and at 47, it's a lot to be a D cup. Implants were 400cc. wOndering if 300 would be too much of a reduction.
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My daughter has augmented breasts and she still has mammon so I would assume if you had a UMX you would have a mammo with the implant. Invasive cancers like to be sneaky and hide! I had ILC the sneakiest of all! I was told mine had been there a long time being missed. You had a grade 3 which is fast growing. Mine was a grade 1 slow growing. How was yours discovered? I found my lump. They were going to pass on a mammo last year but found the lump and insisted on one. It was found and 1 month after I found the lump I was on the operating table. May I ask why you didn't do a BMX? Robin
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Hi Krazzy, I can't tell you my experience yet, but I am having a revision in July to go smaller. I had my exchange in March and PS used 535cc implants. We never discussed exact sizes and my fills were under 400cc's so I just assumed I would get 400cc implants. I find the 535cc too large, especially the non-radiated side, and too tight on the radiated side. Trying to decide on the new implant size (with a new PS) and we are considering anatomicals in the high 300cc range. I am 52 and look forward to small foobs!
Although plastic surgeons don't like to equate cc's with cup sizes because it depends on many individualized measurements, a rough estimate is 150-200 cc's per cup size for women with average measurements. but then there are the differences between rounds vs. anatomicals, which make these rules of thumb more difficult to apply. Did you have rounds or anatomicals?
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Hello Ladies--
I understand that it can take several months for our new boobs to "settle", and therefore we should refrain from judging them for a while. But, the ripples in mine are only getting more pronounced. I can't imagine how this will correct itself. My doc said she would probably exchange my implants for slightly larger ones, but that I should wait another 4 months to see what happens. I believe the surgery is inevitable, and I hate thinking that I'll have to lay low another six months after this first six months. I want to get this over with. I'm thinking of sending her an email asking to schedule the surgery now. Or, is there some medical reason that I need to wait between surgeries?
Thinking Positive -- rippling is what it sounds like--ripples/waves in your breast. In my case they run vertically in the upper poles of both breasts.
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Iwannacookie;
I started seeing some rippling about 3-5 months out, but my PS prefers to wait about a year until revisions. I asked him why. One reason he gave was that it takes time to recover from surgery; even if you feel recovered, your body can still be healing internally and more trauma to the area while it is healing is, in my PS's opinion, not a great idea. Also a concern of going under GA again too soon as risks are increased. Finally, my PS said after a year he could really see ALL things that may need correction. It is possible that there are things that are not obvious now that may become obvious in a few months...if they can deal with it all in one surgery the better. Or you may go in for surgery, and be back again in a few months as things that were not obvious now pop up.
I had my revision (an exchange to anatomicals) at about 11 months out, so not much shy of my PS's preference for a year. If I had done fat grafting, he would have insisted on the full year, though. I also had my revision for rippling. Mine was concentrated on the right side, and also included a weird dent. The anatomicals improved the rippling quite a bit (and the dent is gone). I still have a little bit of rippling on right side due to my thin tissue in that area (both due to my body type and my breast surgeon!), but it is acceptable to me and I am not interested in further surgery, especially as it is in large part due to my own tissue.
I can empathize though with how long the wait can be when you just want it fixed!
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Iwannacookie- The rippling is getting worse especially on my right side. My sweet husband has been taking pictures of them every Friday and it's definitely showing more and more. Remember my PS said it wasn't rippling in that one spot well now there's 4 ripples. I will wait a few more months to call it.
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Trailrose, when will PS start to listen to us and explain things better?! My PS insisted that no one ever comes back to him saying they are too big! But too small! He is convinced all women want to look like porn stars! But he did listen to me, i had TEs filled to 420cc and he put in475cc anatomicals. They are perfect! The anatomicals have to be bigger so you don't get rotation. Hope you can get what you want. I am 61 and totally get the size thing.
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this goes to all but it was jojobthat mentioned her age
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I have rounds. The radiated side, while tight isn't too bad but generally feeling as if the larger breasts than previously make me look bigger overall. My one concern is that menopause and age will lead to a thickening and the larger breasts might help counter. My gut tells me to drop 50-100 ccs.
I am not a fan of having to decide size. I was never all that unhappy being small but though larger might be nice. I just don't quite feel like myself.
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Robin - right on!!! I agree. Most PS docs just can't believe that women would be really happy smaller, or certainly not any bigger. I had quite an argument w/mine. I tried to put images in his head - like ballet dancer or triathlon competitor - but he just didn't get it. I do like my anatomicals but would still have liked to be even smaller.
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Iwannacookie - rippling for me started two weeks both after my exhange and revision. The first time it was in large part due to too small implants for pocket and thin skin my PS told me. In my revision I had a larger anatomical implant put in but again have rippling although just on one foob which I have come to learn is in large part not only due to thin skin but also because my pec muscle was detached and therefore not covering the implant completely. Under my insurance plan, the first 90 days are considered post op and therefore no PS would operate before then because they wouldn't get paid. So technically you can go in for surgery after 3 months but it is better to wait even longer if you can because anesthesia can stay in your system for up to 6 months.
mysunnyday - Hope all went well with your exchange today and you'll love the new "girls". Rest well!!
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Robinblesed, my friend had a bilateral mastectomy and implants, but was still given a mammogram on her "cancer" side when her doctor felt something suspicious
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Robin - after my BMX - my PS said no mammograms ever again. However my MO believe in mammos even with implants.
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Thanks for the responses to my question about having to wait for revision surgery for my rippling. I guess I have no choice but to wait out the next 4+ months, but at least I know that there's some rational reason for the delay.
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Seeing some posts about being too big after exchange. I'm a skinny person that was born with natural DDs. I'm 3 weeks post exchange with anatomical Sientra 370cc mod profile. I am only wearing sports bras right now so I'm not sure what cup I will be. Seems like a smallish C. In talks with my awesome PS, I just said please make it look natural and what best fits my frame. This really does look like what I should have been born with. For me, smaller is better. Funny, my natural boobs were mistaken for fakes, now my fakes look real
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nlosgatos, I haven't been skinny in many years, but I too had DDs or DDDs. I now have Cs and am much more comfortable with this size.
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Janet, yes. It's a good size! A few "friends" say, wow, are those gonna be okay for you? Such odd commenting. They are healthy and fine
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Yeah, aren't the comments funny sometimes?! Are you going to be alright with those??? You better believe it! Cancer free sounds pretty good to me! I am just so blessed to have the ability to get a body back that feels good and looks good. I was always a B cup and my what I think is a small C are just fine for me. I go see my PS for 3 month follow-up on June 17. I plan to tell him that I have heard from a lot of women that they like the smaller version. Just because I wasn't a busty woman, didn't mean I wanted to be just because he was going to be in there anyway! But he did listen to me and gave me the perfect pair of foobs. They are Allergan 410 FF 475cc. Just perfect for me. Of course he is still trying to talk me into nipple recon but he is wasting his breath! I have no desire to have protruding nipples that might and almost always flatten or fail. I like the idea of not having to hide them in a bra if I don't feel like wearing one. I will either do 3D tattoos or silicone nipple prosthesis.
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Hi Ladies,
I am now seeking a second opinion on my implants from another doctor. When I contacted my PS office to ask what kind of TE's I had I was told by his assistant that she didn't know the style # or volume size and that she thought it was at 1000 cc's and as she was looking in my chart she realized he didn't write it in his notes! Also I was told I got high profile implants since I'm so petite and that moderate implants weren't for me. Well my implant card says moderate plus! I'm very upset about this and feel nauseated about it. There are many other discrepancies and that's what led me to seek another opinion. How many of you just had your records faxed to another doctor or did you get copies directly from your PS? Also how many of you asked to view your medical record right there in the PS office?
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Trailrose--from everything you've told us, I think you're right to get a second opinion. Your current PS appears to be negligent, if not ignorant.
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tailrose - glad you're getting a second opinion. You don't need your medical records from your PS. All you need is the operative reports from the MX and exchange. That will have all the info as to what type of TE's you had, what was done as far as pocket, and the implants you got in your exchange. You can ask for this directly from your PS's office. You are entitled to these so don't let them give you a hard time about obaining them. A good PS will be able to tell you just by examining you what he thinks your problem is and what his solution is even without looking at the OR reports. He may ask for them after his exam so he has them as part of his records if you choose to go with him.
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Thank you ladies for your encouragement and support!
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Hi I am really confused over what kind of implant to get when I do the exchange in September or late August. I had TE put in April 9th over my pectoral because I was really, really afraid I would be miserable with TE's under my pectoral as I had before. I had fat grafting 5 times, but because of inexperience by the PS I had then, I only managed to get to an A plus cup size with my fat alone. The short form of my story was uni mx with TE placed, for planned DIEP. Had chemo, rads. Lots of rad damage. Did HBOT , skin got a lot better, almost normal. CHANGED my mind and did BRAVA with fat grafting instead, took TE out. Fat grafting didn't work great, 2 bad infections messed things up. So, on to an re implantation of a TE, this time above the pectoral. So..... trying to match real right breast with implant, confused by anatomical vs smooth round type. I am 36 C cup on right real side. The TE is too wide at the base and is flat at the front, about the same width as at the base, which makes it look like a man boob. I want to have as close a match to real right as possible. Plan lollipop lift this fall with different PS as the one doing the TE/implant isn't used to doing the lollipop lift and I don't want a reduction and an anchor scar lift which is the only kind he does. I want to stay a C cup, more projection too than the TE, although heard the TE has more projection than most silicone implants. Want to look slightly saggy, currently the infra mammary fold under the TE doesn't look right. Perky will look strange with my saggy belly, especially saggy after liposuction there twice for fat grafting.
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