Exchange City
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Hi Laurie,
Oh! You are in great hands! I kind of wish I had gone with Dr Haddock. If I ever need a revision, I will. Dr Wooldridge was my breast surgeon. She is grrrrreat!
I have silicone and I like them. The drains for my implants came out in 6 days. I found it a lot easier to care for them the second time around. It all comes back to you quickly. My surgery was outpatient and I was feeling good within a couple of weeks. Three months in and I am back to doing everything with no problems.
With the reduction, I don't know what to expect pain and function-wise. Maybe someone will chime in about that.
Two weeks! Exciting! Keep in touch! I can't wait to hear how well you do!
Hugs!
Carla
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Hi ladies, just checking back in. I'm 3 week PO exchange and am feeling great. Stopped wearing spanks yesterday - it feels wonderful now to be free if the compression... no more lypo pain. Unfortunately I still have drains that simply don't seem to want to slow diwn. They have leveled output at 40 ish cc each side every day. 10 frigging cc above removal target. Erg! I doesn't seem to matter if I sleep all day or work in the garden.... the fluid just keeps coming. Dangit! I'm going to try to convince them to remove next week if I promise to wear chest compression. The drain ports are sooooo itchy and the tubes irritate my skin.
JessieJake - glad your exchange and fat graft went well!. Don't the implants feel better than tge hard TE's?
TrimTab - most exchange surgery is outpatient so as long as your surgeon and anesthesiologist and a qualified recovery staff are present, you will have minimal need of much else. My experience is that you will be feeling almost normally in 5-6 days. Whether you have drains and weight lifting restriction be the critical limiter for return to work.
Cwayman650 - congrats on the decision!. I'm 3 weeks post exchange and already LOVE my new (sub-muscle) foobs! I am quickly settling into a "I don't even notice them" mode, they are so comfortable! I've decided to go the "full service" route, with staged fat grafting, nipple reconstruction, and tatoos. They look very natural and the post op swelling is gone now. You will adapt to the TE's as the fill process continues. They only get tight and mildly uncomfortable when they are nearly full. At that point, they are pretty round and project out like half coconuts. Your muscles are stretched at an unnatural angle at that stage. Cramps and twitching are possible so my PS prescribed muscle relaxers as needed. I'd ask your PS for a prescription if he/she does not suggest it. They are not needed all the time, but if you get a spasm, you will need the help.
At this stage, I have a few hard lumps I am massaging routinely where the fat has either died or scar tissue is forming where my pre exchange deep dents were. These areas will likely need more work and fresh fat - fortunately, I have plenty of stomach fat to donate! I'm hoping that my PS will take away more fat than is needed when we have grafting round two!
I have noticed my foobs are cool to the touch. I am wondering if this thermal difference poses any risk of frostbite when I'm out in cold weather? I plan on retiring to the mountains and anticipate spending most of my time outdoors. Since I can't feel anything directly over my implants, I will not notice if my skin is abnormally chilled. Does anyone out there have any experience with this issue? Is there increased risk of tissue freezing over the implants in extremely cold conditions?
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Oh no you still have the drains
. Three weeks is a long time to have drains in. I had mine out after three days. But I was only getting about 25cc from each side. However my foobs are still pretty swollen, mostly on one side, and I have wondered if I had left them in longer would I have less swelling. Oh well. Interesting that yours are cool. Mine are really warm to the touch, which I have heard is a saline thing. My cat keeps trying to rest his head on them. Do you have gummy bears?
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i am 5 months post exchange. Mentor anatomical gummies. My chest area chills easily with these implants and feels cool to the touch when the temperature outside is cold. I am curious to see how the winter weather will affect them. Last spring i had to wear an extra layer over my chest to stay warm. LRGO your question about frostbite is very intriguing! My chest is still pretty numb and i also wonder about frostbite. I have thin skin covering my implants and not much fat
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Unless you are going topless I think your fingers would freeze long before your boob skin. They feel cooler than body temperature but are still warm and if you keep them covered with normal clothing there should be no problem.
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Silicone freezes at -170 F., so the implant won't freeze, and frostbite sets in at the -20's F. after about 30 minutes - so this seems unlikely to be a problem. it would actually be your skin that suffers frostbite independent of the implant - and that would be all of your skin, not just the skin over the implant. Saline freezes at slightly below freezing, but that is an implant that is outside the body - your own body temp and pec muscle should keep this from being a problem, unless you are topless and outside for a prolonged period.
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New me, I have the Allergan anatomicals and yes, they are very cold. I live in southern California so I don't have to worry about freezing these puppies! I live in a desert like weather area, so the coolness of them work great here. But sometimes they are very weird to the touch because of that. I am 18 months out from my EX. No fat grafting needed. They are very symmetrical, I expected sisters but I got twins. Hang in there and they will eventually feel more like they are a part of you.
Blessings,
Robin
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Thanks for the responses ladies. I have Mentor anatomical gummies. As far as freezing goes, I was most concerned about the skin and thin pectoral muscle. We have a small farm in Virginia up in the mountains that we plan to retire to. We go there every Christmas and work out in the elements from dawn to dusk. I sweat a fair amount when I'm chainsawing, brush chopping and rock moving, so I frequently remove my heavy vest and jacket and though not topless, I can easily find myself working in temps in the teens, in nothing more than a light turtleneck and flannel shirt. I figure I will have to pay attention to the skin over my new "girls" a bit more carefully until I figure out how well the blood supply to that area is working. I certainly don't mind the coolness of these gels at the moment, in Texas at 91+ degrees!
I'm regain feeling fairly rapidly around the "rim" of my new breasts. I'm very pleased the nerves seem to be trying to heal and regrow out over the implants. I doubt I will ever fully have feeling up front, but now I can actually feel when I drop a crumb down in my new clevage! I'm so happy!
SpecialK - thanks for the science bit about silicone vs saline. I don't plan on putting my foobs to a silicone freeze test any time soon. But I do have a trips to Antarctica, Iceland and a return trip Alaska in my "Bucket-list" and our winter Temps in Virginia can make frostbite a real possibility.
My plan is to be more self aware when I'm out working in low temps all day. We can make it a point to either have a camp fire or some "hot hands" warmers handy if I think the girls are too cold... I'm going to keep my pocketed bras handy this winter
Hmmm, maybe I could call them hot boobs then! ;-)
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Re: cold Foobs....I live in central Canada where we get down to the -30's. None of us up here have frost bit our Foobs. The only thing that sometimes is troublesome is when I shiver. It is way better with the implants than it was with the expanders. Please be careful if you use hand warmers in your bra. I actually burnt my Foobs with one of those. I was chaperoning my DD's all night grade 12 aftergrad and I couldn't stop shivering. I put one of those on each foob. I did warm up but had burn marks the next day.
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I haven't gotten back all the feeling in my foobs either ( from first surgery). In the center from nipple to nipple I can feel everything. From nipple outward to underarms I can't feel anything, on both sides. At first I bumped into things with them but not anymore.
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Ouch Deeratz!
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Anyone here experiencing ( or have experienced ) uneven swelling? At least I think that it what I think I could experiencing. Right after my exchange I looked really great and really even. Then slowly it started to look like one side was a tad smaller in size, and one side was larger. And the larger side looks a bit lower. But now I'm also wondering if one side dropped and fluffed, and the other did not. Or maybe they just came out uneven for some reason, and I might need a revision down the road.
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They go on their own time line. It took forever for Lefty to drop for me. It takes about 3 months to get to the point that you can really assess the results.
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Hi SFKitty, I think I'm noticing a little of that, too. The bruising is also uneven! I agree, I thought mine looked great instantly but I think they are going through some changes now, but I'm only 5 days out.
Yeah, I got the ok to switch to spanx from the medieval style girdle I had been wearing. So much more comfortable. On Wednesday, I'll get to switch out of my surgical bra. Oh, I can't wait for that, too!
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Thanks for the responses. I'm glad to know I'm not alone. These things are all so weird and new. Jessiejake, I'm glad you're out of your "medieval girdle". That does not sound comfortable!
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Burned foobs! Ouch! I'll be sure to keep that in mind if I'm out in the cold. I'm thinking hand warmers in my inner coat pockets to help keep core temp up without putting them directly on the numb skin.
As for settling, my foobs at first were plump, overly large (D's) with perfect symmetry. Now, 3 week post exchange, they are C's, somewhat lumpy with the old deep creases and dents reappearing and the left has settled more than the right. My original pair were uneven (left low, right high) so I'm not surprised at them heading back to this position. Even seeing some rippling over the implants where the fat graft has obviously failed. So I'm sure graft round two will have to be performed, but I believe 3 months will have to pass before we try again. The body needs to heal. I have faith in my Dr and team to persevere and hope for more sucess next time.
Hang in there ladies, at this stage we must accept we are in a waiting game. Our outcomes will take time to develop into whatever we will have. Ive decided to address a less than perfect outcome with either an appropriate medical fix or acceptance if this is as good as it gets. Though they are lumpy now, they are so much safer than my original girls were as far as cancer risk goes. I'll take lumpy and cooked over a 90% chance of cancer any day!
Thank goodness for medical advances!
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It took about 15 months post exchange to look even. My right side just wanted to stay up higher. Now I can say that I am more even than pre bmx;) Just a slight difference now.
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Thanks for the longer term look at this process, kingster. As this is my first (and hopefully last time through this process) I can only base my satisfaction on the limited amount of time and early results I've gotten so far. Knowing that I need to look at this process with a more patient eye and much longer time frame really helps me set my expectations more realistically. I want "perfection" of course, not seeing that in the first weeks can be disappointing. I am glad to hear from a patient that I need to give this process time to mature to its final outcome.
My PS said it will take a year or so to complete all my procedures and for the plethora of scars I now have to fade. Of course, I am wishing it will take less than that to get back to my new normal. I'm at month 4 of my surgical journey and impatient for this to all be over with.
On the up side, these squishy implants feel fantastic! I hardly notice them at all! They hang naturally, look and feel firmer and perkier than my old girls did and are promising to be beauties once they are adorned with new nipples and tattooed areolas.
I've decided, if my scars remain red and ugly, I will consider artful tatoos to cover them, maybe a butterfly or a flowering vine and butterflys. Who knows.... covering a poor body result with art is always an option.
This from a lady who said she would never get a tatoo.... never say never.... ha ha. Now I'm embracing the idea....
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Does anyone know, Are we allowed to donate blood after nipple tattoos?
I'm a regular donor, and they ask whether you have tattoos in the pre screening. Will getting a tattoo make it impossible for me to donate?
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Tatoos can be cool! I always said I would never get breast implants! Ha ha. Of course I wasn't expecting to get breast cancer at 45. And I certainly am glad I went through a double mastectomy and reconstruction. Saved my life.
Yes this is a process that takes time. But I am a worrier by nature so every unusual thing that happens I stress about. Thank goodness for this site! It helps to know I'm not alone.
Still can't wait to be even
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The blood bank is probably screening for hep c from the non sterile tattoos (like when u go to a seedy tattoo parlor), lol. Breast reconstruction tattoos r a different story. At least I hope so!
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LRGO, you are already ahead of the game if your recon "hangs"...cuz mine sure didn't...lol. Actually, mine first looked like someone took a breast, turned it upside down, then put it on my chest. Full at top, flat at bottom. Talk about being freaked out. That's why I am waiting a full year from last breast reconstruction surgery to get my tattoos. I took the advice of my friend who had a lumpectomy with a small amt of reconstruction.
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LRGO - because you did prophy surgery and have not been diagnosed with breast cancer (correct?) you can donate. Generally there is a time delay between tattoos and being allowed to donate, so that if you are infected with a transmissible disease the donor screening tests will detect it. If you are tattooed by a state licensed and regulated business you can usually donate once the tattoo has healed, depending on location or agency rules. If not when healed, then usually 12 months later. If you are tattooed by a non-regulated person or facility - which may be the case with some nip/areola artists, you may have to wait a year. This waiting period varies by blood collection agency. Prior to breast cancer I worked in transfusion services and I have a point of view about blood donation by cancer survivors. This outlook is based on who gets transfused - the elderly, our fellow cancer patients, open heart patients, newborns, people with fragile immune systems, and trauma patients. If you have been diagnosed you usually have to wait for at least 12 months from the time treatment is finished and you are declared NED. I used the term NED specifically because my personal opinion, based on who receives blood, is that anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer should no longer donate. Any of us who have been diagnosed can't say for certain at any point after treatment that we don't have cancer cells in our blood, or are experiencing a recurrence and don't know it yet. Even though some agencies will allow donation after a time period I just don't feel it is the right thing to do - I would donate my time or my money, but not my blood.
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Special K, what does NED stand for? And u r right...we will always have risk of recurrence and we don't want to pass that along.
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kingster - NED = No Evidence of Disease
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SpecialK you make a very good point there That I know I never really thought about.
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No I would worry about that too. Which is a shame because I am an AB- and I know they can use my blood type.
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I thought I'd give a quick update on my first post exchange followup appointment. I'm 1 week out from my exchange surgery. I have over the muscle implants and found out today she used LX410 silicone anatomicals 290grams. I am overall quite pleased with my result and now it will be a lot of wishing and praying that my grafted fat remains.
One twist to my scenario is that she had to correct a slight height difference when placing the implants. Due to some scar tissue, though, she could only lower one side a little and then had to raise the other side to even it out. She wants to make sure that as I heal that neither implant falls (guess it would be more a risk on the one she raised). So she has recommended an underwire. She prefaced this with, "I would almost never recommend this but....." I gave her my best jaw hanging open look as I had read so many times that this wasn't recommended, but I get it. I do have an alloderm sling to support my implants, but healing correctly is important, I know.
I also have a divot underneath my right implant which is the one she raised. She said not to worry; it will fill in. It was more noticeable than I expected once she removed my bandage, but I'll stay hopeful on that.
My fat grafting areas - butt/thighs are looking better and feeling better. She said she found more fat than she thought she would in my butt. LOL, I find this just all quite funny. She said it was because she found more she used the smaller implant and padded with fat. I like that decision! Right now it looks very nice in my opinion.
I had to order some spanx online to get the correct size as I couldn't find the right one in the stores. I've been doubling-up to make some good compression right now. I also need to get out to find the correct bra. Not easy when I live in the middle of nowhere! Ugh.
4-5 weeks compression wear and 4 weeks activity restriction - 1 down, 3 to go!
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Glad everything looks good. How interesting about the underwire bra. It would be best to try some on. Maybe you need to make a trip to the city or a shopping mall and go bra shopping?! Could be fun. Or you could always try and figure out your size with a bra calculator and purchase something online.
Weird question. I don't have tear shaped implants ( I have rounds). Do you feel they look real? At least under clothes?
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JesseJake, I had a lot of inframammary fold work done in my exchange and was told to wear an underwire for 4-6 weeks 24/7 to make sure all the stitches and healing take hold. Not my favorite thing to do but not complaining totally understand the need . I am two weeks out now , so far so good. Hopefully you will find some good bras.
Glad to hear you are doing well
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