Exchange City
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Hi! I will be having my exchange surgery next month and will also get fat grafting at the same time. My PS will take fat from the love handle area of my stomach. What compression do you recommend I get? I know they will send me home with something from the hospital but the PS said I could get something else for after the first week. Also, can I wear the same front zip up sports bras I wore after my mastectomy or do you recommend getting something different?
Thanks!
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My PS required no compression after day 3, but I felt better with some bike shorts or compression leggings. She said most of her patients did the same.
You will probably come home with a surgical bra, which will feel good for several days. Your PS should guide you on what to wear next.
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tracey - I have had fat grafting a number of times and I recommend a garment that is similar to a bodysuit, that does not compress the chest - which is not good for the newly grafted fat - and has a snap at the crotch. I will provide a link so you can see what I am talking about, but these are readily available from a number of sources. You may require another graft from another area in the future and it is good to have something that covers the entire mid-section so you can use it the next time if needed. My harvest sites were hips, lower back just inside the hips, and lower and upper abdomen. The snap crotch recommendation is because it hurts to roll the tight garment over the harvest site, much easier to be able to unsnap to go to the bathroom. I also have this type of garment with longer legs, like shorts, but I would have to be a circus contortionist to use the snap closure, lol! My PS never used my thighs as a harvest site, but that type of shorts type garments make sense if that is a choice.
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My exchange surgery and fat grafting (love handle area only) will be on March 26. My girlfriends want to plan a girls' weekend to celebrate me being done with this journey and my birthday. They are looking at a date 3 weeks after my surgery. Will I feel good enough then to want to get away for the weekend?
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I would suggest to ask your PS. They know your health conditions and your type of surgery.
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Hi all, I'm looking for some experience from members that have had reconstruction with unilateral mastectomy. I just had my exchange one week ago, 2/16/2021 with a lift and small implant placed in my remaining breast. Right now my lift/implant side is so much larger than my exchange side. I know some of this is just swollen tissue. I'm really, really hoping that the two sides will match in 3 months or so. I so don't want a revision surgery! I'm sure you can all relate.
Anyways, I would love to hear of positive experiences of asymmetrical breasts at one week actually evening out after a couple of months. Or, if nothing else, please tell me to step away from the mirror. Thanks!
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I had bilateral so can't advise about a uni. But I can advise you to step away from the mirror. Swelling and interior healing can take up to 3 months. Looks like your surgery was only one week ago. It's best not to even peek.
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Yes, thank you, MinusTwo! noted. I just had to have someone else tell me
I'm stepping away from the mirror and Dr. Google. thank you for responding. 0 -
scs - looks like you will skip chemo or rads.. Best of luck. Do let us know.
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I have my exchange surgery on Tuesday and am wondering about recovery time. PS said I'll only need 3 days worth of pain medication. Just wondering about others experiences. I'm looking forward to getting the expander out.
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Nsbrown - compared to the mastectomy, exchange was a breeze. And oh yes - getting rid of that darn expander made the world wonderful. I was off pain meds by day 3 and drove my son to the airport.
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Hi! I just wanted to circle back and give a three week update, particularly for anyone that might be where I was mentally a couple of weeks ago. I had reached out when I was one week post-reconstruction surgery and was not happy with my results and, frankly, questioning my decisions for the reconstruction. I felt like I had made a terrible mistake.
What a difference two weeks make. I am much more at ease with my new breasts and can actually say that I like the way they look and they already feel like mine (like they are a part of my body). Two weeks ago I was feeling very disconnected from my breasts and that was rough!
MinusTwo - thank you for responding and confirming that I needed to step away from the mirror and take some time.
And to anyone who may be feeling discouraged/sad/depressed after exchange surgery, please give it some time. My experience is that it truly does get better. Hang in there.
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scs - GREAT news. And especially thanks for coming back to report. So many people just fade away and you never know the outcome. Thanks again.
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I’m over a week out from exchange surgery (SMX). I’m so glad I checked on others experience so I knew what to expect. I had one night where I took pain medication and have since been taking Tylenol for any discomfort. I was able to drive 3 days later with no issue. Although I still have some limited arm movement and PS said not to bend over, I’m able to do some light laundry and cooking (with help). I’ve been out walking now that the weather in our area is nice. I see PS next Monday. So far, my breasts loo pretty even in a bra, but expect once swelling goes down I’ll need a small prosthetic.
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I’ve been following y’all and I am soglad for your results thus far! Sounds like “Don’t look” is the way to go! If I show my age, “Don’t look, Ethyl!” Is in order....anyone get that?
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Yup Lucy
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I have a call into my PS, but thought I’d ask here. I’m about 3 weeks out from exchange surgery. I noticed I have some indentations and a couple of small bumps on my implant. No infection or warm feeling. Is this normal for implant after mastectomy?
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You are going to get fills on the implant, more water put in, right? The indentations are because it is not filled to capacity. I had some bumps around the outer edge of the implant, maybe attachment points.
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Hi McBaker - I'm not getting any fills into the implant. I did speak to my PS nurse. She said with mastectomy, there's little tissue remaining. It's not uncommon to get indents and bumps. Implant is soft.Plus I'm still healing from the surgery.
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You look AMAZING!
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I'm 8 weeks post double mastectomy and reconstruction and quite keen to get the tissue expander/implant swap done ASAP. A fantastic job opportunity has just come up interstate and there's not even any real point in me applying because I'll need to get this darn surgery done. I'm so frustrated by that.
Initially the doctor said six months before I could have the swap - so assuming he meant from the date of the mastectomy, that's another 4 months to wait. Has anyone had the swap done in less than 6 months time?
I'm scheduled to see the surgeons for a review this coming Friday where we talk about plans going forward. I've just seen the nurses for the last several appointments, and on the most recent one I asked if we could leave the next saline injection for now because I felt I was the right size. So I'm nervous about the uncertainty of what the plastic surgeons might say, and whether I'll have to have the final saline implant which means being in pain and uncomfortable for several days afterwards. Hopefully I don't have to do that again. If anything I'd like to be smaller in size than I am currently, and as I understand it when they swap the implants in that's what usually happens. Anyway, mostly just venting here because I've got no one to talk to about all this and it's a relief that we have the internet.0 -
When I had the exchange, he replaced the implant, made an incision under the left breast, and around the nipple, twisted the breast tissue of that one about a quarter turn, stitched up the two incisions, took some fat off my hips, softened it up, and injected it into those hollows, particularly where the breast tissue had extended towards under my right arm. Then called it done. The details of the lift procedure are extra information, but lefty never gave me or my babies any problems. Righty was a problem even when I was an adolescent.
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Oxbury - nope, sorry. 7 months for me.
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Oxbury - I had to wait 3 months, mostly due to insurance requirements between before I could get my implant. My PS did say if I had to have radiation I would have had to wait 6 months before I could have the implant.
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Three months for me
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Just made an appointment to replace my imlplants (origially put in 10 years ago). My pre-op appointment is next week. I feel more nervous now about the upcoming proceedure than I remember feeling back then. Would like to gets your thoughts on the following:
- placing implants over or under muscle
- My current implants are under the muscle and 1 breast becomes concave when my muscle flexes. Both methods have pros / cons.
- if you had nipple reconstruction, did your Dr. "save" the reconstructed nipple OR did you have another proceedure to recreate them?
- What was your recovery like?
- Did you need an overnight(s) at the hospital?
- Any other advice?
TIA0 - placing implants over or under muscle
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Outpatient procedure, although I felt pretty rough. Over muscle, never considered anything else (I am not what most people would call athletic). DCIS was too close to the nipple. Could not be saved. I had a tattoo, and I like it-- like a sayonara to BC.
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Dearest ladies,
I thought of sharing my experience with implant exchange here, as I have browsed this thread many times ahead of surgery to know what to expect.
I had an expander for over 15 months due to Covid-related delays and it wasn't fun. The TE was placed over the muscle during my skin and nipple sparing mastectomy in July 2020. The edges always hurt. But its appearance was always more than acceptable to me. Then, after 8.5 months I had a first round of fat grafting. The PS deflated the expander a bit, took 250 ml of fat from hips and inner thighs and placed it around the TE. The fat grafting was much more painful than I expected and I also had a huge hematoma on one leg, but I was ultimately relieved to have had it, as it greatly reduced the pain/discomfort caused by the TE. And the cleavage looked natural enough afterwards to be able to wear nearly all my summer clothes!
Finally, on 20 October I had implant exchange and a second round of fat grafting. The surgeons took fat from upper thigh and knees and injected all around the implant. They used a 190 ml tear drop, textured sylicon implant (I'm a B cup). I can't comment on the looks as it is still early days but it is already much much more comfortable than the TE ever was. The surgery was less heavy than the first, I felt much less weak, and didn't need much analgesia afterwards. I had one drain which was removed earlier today (day 9). The bruising from fat grafting is significant but nowhere near as scary as the first time! I have to wear a compression band to keep the implant in place and post-surgical bra for 3 to 4 weeks, I have been told not to lift my arm for the time being and to avoid lifting anything heavier than 5 kg for 4-6 weeks. They used the same incision as the first time (inframmamary fold) and closed it with stitches and glue. They plan to remove the stitches on day 13.
Best wishes to you all!
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First time posting. I was diagnosed with bc in right breast the end of March 2021. I chose to have bilateral mastectomy with immediate TE's. I had to have radiation (no chemo) on the right side so they filled the right TE and the left was less filled to not interfere with the radiation. After I finished radiation, the PS immediately started filling the left TE. PS said we had to get the TE to implant exchange done in a month, before my skin started reacting to the radiation. Mastectomy was done on 5/12/21 and TE-implant exchange was on 9/22/21. Having had no experience, nor anyone I knew having had the same situation as me, I had no one to talk to about my options. My left breast is acceptable to me, my right, not so much. My PS said that if we were to make them more symmetrical he would only be able to work on the left side. He would go in to lift the left up to the same level as the right. Currently they are about 1/2 inch "off". I'm 2 months out of TE-implant surgery. I'm trying to be patient and see how they are at 6 months. On the one hand, I do not want to have surgery again (i'm tired of all the poking, prodding and healing), on the other I am not pleased with how my right breast looks. I'm curious why my PS said he wouldn't operate on the radiated side when I read on here that others have had their TE's still in 6 months after radiation then they are having the second part of the reconstruction. Are they having something other than saline implants? DIEP maybe? At this point I'm apprehensive about going to another PS who will tell me what I want to hear and do surgery and mess up what I have. My PS told me I was going to be more symmetrical and my breast were going to be youthful. Looking at before pictures, they are somewhat more symmetrical. After it is all over I feel like I was sold something that I was never realistically going to have. Look PS, you don't have to sell me on something, just tell me the truth. I'm glad I don't have cancer anymore, and I look fine in clothes. I'm just sad about it all and wonder about my options. I would love to get a second opinion from someone I could trust. I just don't feel like that's going to happen. I still have time to think about corrective surgery.
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I finished radiation in May of 2021 and was told that I needed to wait at least 6 months before having my TEs exchanged for permanent implants. I have had the TEs in since October of 2020, going through multiple fills, chemo and radiation during that timeframe.. My PS says that her approach with radiation patients is to "overfill" the radiated side and have it be slightly lower than the non-radiated side because over time, the radiated side lifts up as the skin tightens and this allows the result to be more even. So far (at least with the TEs, she seems to be right).
I will be having silicone implants placed during my 12/9 implant exchange surgery.
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