Exchange City
Comments
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Hi everyone!!!! It's been quite some time nice I've posted. I'm doing well with the exception of the Arimidex side affects. I'm off the arimidex for good, on exemestene now but I'm afraid the side affects may not ever go away. Hair loss, joint and bone pain, carpal tunnel, trigger finger, plantar fasciitis to name a few. Between my walking boot, finger splints and wrist splints I'm being held together by Velcro. 😂😂😂
I did have a revision surgery yesterday on my left breast, had that football shape from extra skin and scar tissue. Looks good so far, nice and round but boy does it hurt. I have a 6 inch incision from just under my tattooed nipple to just past my underarm but lower (bra line). Breast is numb but it does hurt under my arm area. Can't put my arm down against side of breast. It's good I have feeling but still.
Anyway, hope you are all doing well.
Blessings
Audrey
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hi Jj,
Lol, lol.. So funny about just going on with your day and not realizing at all what you should not be doing.. I use d to be the same way then panic I ruined the surgery.. Danced one night about a week out of mastectomy and realized what the he has am I doing.. Not good.. Had anxiety all night. Now I just sit and relax and take advantage of any help I can get.. Maybe the kids will get used to it and you too and you can continue to point to what needs to be done and take advantage of it for as long as possible.. My kids are grown and out of the house.. Can't imagine having little ones and going through this.. I have a deep sympathy and empathy for anyone with smaller children having to get through this!! Of course everyone else too. Hope I don't make a lot of enemies but patriots are on soon.. Wondering who will be quart back for pats tonight!! Poor jimmy g... Hope he gets back in soon..
Remi50
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SFKitty, I meant to include the Anita bra info and I forgot. It's called the Active Air - http://www.zappos.com/anita-active-air-control-sports-bra-pink.
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Oh fun Remi, enjoy the football game! I'm pretty equal opportunity, but the Vikes did pretty well on Sunday, didn't they?
Oh, I'm so glad to read your post. I was shopping at Walmart (cuz I really am a queen) and I reached up for something on a high shelf (salted roasted pecans - a whole can of just pecans! Num!) and felt a real good pull along my incision line on the right. Oh geez, just like you said - I realized what I was doing and quick pulled my arm down. I am now fretting like crazy as i can still kind of feel a little burn feeling there. Visions of going back into surgery to repair the alloderm I ripped out keep running through my mind. My husband says, "Wait until tomorrow. You'll feel fine". Oh, and then I ran like 5 steps across a road after that. I have no brain processor.
Lol, my children are not too little anymore - 13 & 15. They've been pretty helpful, but harder for us all to appreciate my healing phase right now since I look just fine. I agree, to have really little ones who need a lot of help would make this much more complex. Love that my daughter has her permit. Even just sitting back to let her drive is pretty nice. LOL, I just made it sound like I'm so relaxed with my newly permitted daughter, I just recline my seat and nap while she drives me around. I do have to say I'm surprised at how relaxed I am. Not what I expected!
Wishes for swift healing Audrey!
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JJ,
Lol..omg.. My kids ruined me.. I have a permenant brake on the passengers side.. My husband has a fit.. it's really bad.. My kids are 27 & 28.. Wish I had been that relaxed like you.. Just changed drain band aids.. Ugg just not liking these babies.. If swelling goes down I will end up with nothing.. My positive attitude is being lost quickly.. I am almost a whole size smaller than my tissue expander. Did anyone else have thier implants look so much smaller than TEs? Want my TE's back!,,,
Remi50
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Hi Audrey! Welcome back. I hope you are recovering well.
Remi, those side effects don't sound very nice at all
.I only have one scrawny 10 year old. After I had my mastectomy surgery I could hardly lift anything. My arms were really weak. So when we went out I would put a backpack on her and use it as a purse. She was happy to carry it around for me even though it dwarfed her
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Remi, I think my implants are a little larger than my TEs. I am wondering though, maybe your implants need to settle? Of course if you are still not happy after a certain amount of time I think insurance usually covers revision. I know in California it's for two years. After all you've been through, (and I can see you've been through a lot) you want to be happy with your foobs.
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Audrey, My mom was on some really funky medications for a while. She had stage 2 breast cancer, went through chemo and stuff. She also wound up with joint problems and hair loss from the medication. I wonder if it's the same one? I'll have to ask her.
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Jessiejake, I injured myself the other day shopping too. I think I was too cocky ( is that the right word? ), since I feel pretty good I was reaching all over the place. The next morning I was fine, but it made me wonder about how soon I'll be doing exercise other than cardio.
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Who knew shopping was so intense!?!
It has been helpful having the weight restriction when I'm at some place like Costco, though. There I can remember to not pick up heavy things.
Oh, cardio, my bike misses me. By the time I'm released the snow could be flying and it may be several long dark months before I pull it out again.
I like your idea of having your daughter carry a backpack as a purse. Easy access!
(Oh, my shopping injury disappeared overnight!)
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JessieJake, being born and raised in SF I don't know a lot about those snowy Winters. I've been to the snow, but I've never lived in it. Maybe you can join a gym for the winter?
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Funny story about shopping. I think my PS was the extreme as far as restrictions. I wasn't supposed to lift my arms above my head for the whole time I had my TE, and then 5 weeks after the exchange-so 5 months total. If there was something I couldn't reach at the store, I'd take a pen from my purse and kinda flick the item off the shelf and hope I caught it on the way down. Didn't work so well with glass jars. We are good at improvising.
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SF, after this many years of snow & cold, I would love to give it up. I'm done
But, I switch my bike for cross country skis when the snow comes. SF is pretty mild, sounds nice....BikeFam - Oh boy, do you wonder what people think of us when we do those things? I have this visual in my head of elbow at side and jabbing with a pen until something falls... Wow, 5 months would have been hard! It is interesting how different the PSs are in their recommendations. My PS had told me I'd be able to do everything with my TEs once my 6 week post op time was up. And I did - I most often forgot I even had them. The only thing I skipped was a water park slide where you lay on your stomach. Do you feel now you are able to do whatever? I've still got about 3 weeks left - and then I wonder if I my PS might add a week or two which is what she did last time. I think she knew she wanted 6 weeks but "tricked" me by saying 4 and then adding at the end so it didn't seem overwhelming.
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hi ya all,
Busy day...... Trying to putt around and organize.. Mom took me to do some food shopping.. Are any of you who have had the exchange driving yet? Hope I'm not restricted for too long.. Having an anxiety filled day with looking at these babies.. Just don't have much on top after the exchange.. Sorry to keep bringing it up. Feeling awful that I am not impressed with them at all. I should be grateful I have something. I just felt so feminine and like I was at a good size with the TE's.. Now a whole size down.. They said I would be a little smaller but I wasn't thinking a whole size!!! I really don't think the tape that is on is really making a difference in keeping them from looking that much different!! Thanks for listening!! Did anyone else look they they went down a whole size?
WELCOME AudryB... I totally sympathize with you and the al's.. I started with anazatrole.. Took for about 3 months then had trouble with vision, couldn't close my hands, almost could not get down the stairs, joint problems and neuropathy in hands, would wake me up at night with my whole side numb, so exhausted all day and asleep by 7 pm..most importantly total delay and collapse in thinking and comprehending..major depression that lifted a little everyday and completely gone in 5-6 days when I stopped the drug. NO LIFE..Had to stop.. Next was LEtrozole: was on for 4 days and pressure in my head and eyes along with itching was scaring me.. Along with joint problems.. And thinking immediately deteriorated. Depression!! Next: exemestane. Burning around nose, lips,mouth and itchy.. Lasted 3 days.. Next.. Anazatrole: 1-2 pill every day for two weeks.. Side effects mentioned earlier by 10 days .. Getting so bad I stopped in 4 more days. My reasoning was that if these pills made me so sick that I physically could not take care of myself they must be hurting my body more than the possibility of the % to keep from a reaccurance. God bless all of you who can tolerate it. Many can and many can't. I will be going to the second nateorapathic doc in a few weeks and decide from there. Tomoxafin not an option because I had a stroke at age 49. So I can totally sympathize with you and how you feel and researched everything so much. You should definitely see the SE go away if off for enough time and things should definitely return to normal. I just made the decision to stop after the 2nd, 3rd drug and last go around with anazatrole as soon as I was at the point that I could not tolerate SE. It scares the hell out of me that I'm not on anything but it not worth the suffering I was experiencing. Ask you doc about taking a break and see if you start to feel better. Hope that helps. Wishing you well and healing thoughts☀️☀️☀️
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Audrey, hi. I don't have any input for you, but wanted to say I can relate. I'm currently experiencing a lot of SE's too and I know what a daily challenge it is to handle. Sending healing hugs!
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Hi Remi, I forgot exactly when you had your exchange??? I know you had drains which makes things much more difficult for a while, too. You asked about driving. Now, I didn't have drains, but I had surgery on a Wednesday and I was driving that weekend. I only took pain meds the day of and after surgery and being off the pain meds was the determiner of when I could drive. If I had drains, it would have been longer for sure. Did you doctor give you a timeframe?
Ugh, it's hard to not be disappointed - especially if you feel an entire size smaller. If it helps to commiserate I noticed last night (2 1/2 weeks our from exchange) that my right is lower than my left. It was like a punch to the gut because this was the issue I harped about extensively with my TEs. Right was noticeably lower and my PS would confidently say that she would correct it during exchange surgery. The plan was to lower left to meet the right. Well, turns our during surgery she simply wasn't able to open up the pocket enough on the left to lower it enough (there was some scare tissue she cleaned up). So, she moved the right up a little. Either they were never level even at surgery time or right has settled low again. My husband is kind of saying to accept it, for the most part they look good and he knows I was quite satisfied immediately following surgery. Well, I'm thinking things have settled and healed enough. Plus, I'm checking things out much more closely now. I understand his perspective, but I don't want to feel that I can't push for correction if I really feel it's necessary to feel satisfied. I'll deal with this all at my follow up on 10/5 - 1 month post op.
About size, though, I think I'm a tad bigger. With my smallish chest, "tads" are valid measurement
However, I've certainly heard from others who feel smaller. Not sure about that, but do feel for you...Hope you have a nice day otherwise!
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JJ and Remi, you have to "step away from the mirror". Ladies who have been on this thread for awhile used to tell us this. It is a process that takes time to settle and swelling go down. You came even think about revision for at least 6 months. Take care of yourself and follow OS instructions to the T. I didn't have rads but know that if you did, results can be harder to achieve. Blessings to all.
Robin
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After nine months with hard, asymmetrical, uncomfortable TEs, I'm on the squishy side. They look pretty good, I think, about a B cup and pretty even. My PS had to use two different size implants, which is interesting.
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Paxton, interesting, but not unusual. My real boobs lookes same size but were not when removed. And my sqjishies are filled a bit differently. I have saline so he just filled as needed. LOL.
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Paxton, congrats on making it over to the other side!
Moonflwr, Nice to see someone else around here with saline
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counting the days! One more month until my exchange :
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Grandma me too! I meet with the PS 10/05 to set it up. Be so glad to get this over with and go on with my life. I feel like I'm in limbo now.
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Grandma3x me too! I meet with the PS 10/05 to set it up. Be so glad to get this over with and go on with my life. I feel like I'm in limbo now.
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Hi Grandma3x! Did you ever decide what size implants you are going with?
Ugh. I just got back from my 5 week appointment. The good news I can slowly start exercise again. But I have to ease into it.
Also it looks like I've wound up with pretty good results. So yay to that!
I did get to address the uneven area. They said I have a good eye. They think that it looks less full due to thinner skin on that side. The mastectomy surgeon most likely took more out on that side which was the cancer side. Makes sense. He said he can do a second fat graft in December to add to that area. They already have me blocked in for December 27th. Only one possible issue ( the not good news). He told me that for the first time in 20 years of doing breast surgeries, and revisions one of his patients was denied a revision by their insurance company!! He isn't sure if this is a new thing or just becoming more common, but he wanted to warn me. He said her issue was even more obvious. That patient is a lawyer, so I hope she sues them. But anyway it is a different insurance company than mine, so fingers crossed! I really want this fat added.
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SanFranKitty - thats scary about the insurance denying coverage for revision surgery! My insurance has been great so far, but I keep thinking they will eventually say enough is enough.
The NP in my PS's office said she would probably bring a range of 300-350 cc implants to try out. I will ask the PS to err on the side of a little bit too big rather than a little bit too small. I've decided not to fret about it any more. My DH couldn't care less and I've been small chested my whole life. Even at 300 cc's I'll be about 100ccs larger than the breast tissue they removed. They won't do fat grafting at the time of exchange so I will have to wait several months for the final outcome anyway.
Seedsally - good to see you are approaching the end as well!0 -
I have my exchange on Mon Oct 3. I'm doing the silicon so I won't have any of the abdominal issues. Hoping this is pretty easy and I'm up and running pretty quickly. What's the recovery been like for you all so far that had this basic surgery?
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Grandma3x, I haven't really heard of them not covering revisions before so I was surprised. When I found out they were covering my mastectomy and reconstruction I thought " wow my insurance is finally covering something ". I was pretty happy because I had huge bills from the two biopsies that I had in March. I'm trying not to worry though.
Mom2fourplusmore, The recovery for the exchange surgery is not as bad as the recovery for the mastectomy surgery. I'm sure it varies from person to person. I had a fat graft at the time of my surgery. I was on pain pills for about a week. I had lifting restrictions, but was allowed to do cardio at 2 weeks post op. now I am five weeks post up and still have some discomfort. But it's been a pretty easy recovery.
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SanFranKit, that's encouraging. Hoping I don't need much of the pain meds. I don't do well on them at all. I have yo go right back to work so I'm hoping this really won't be bad. My PS tells me no big deal. I own a small daycare. She says people have kids and are fine all the time with this surgery. My GP says my PS is crazy and I will not be ok working in a few days. I can't afford to not work so I'm hoping my PS is right.
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What day of the week do you have surgery? You might be okay if you have a long weekend.
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Mom2four, you will not be able to go back immediately. You will have restrictions on lifting arms past elbow just like bmx. And there will be weight restrictions too. I went back to desk job at 2 weeks but could gave gone back in one. I didn't need pain meds after first day. OTC Extra strength Tylenol was fine. You don't want to ruin any pocket work or inside sutures. Be careful.
Robin
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