Exchange City
Comments
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Congrats to Laura and pmellon on your exchange, speedy recovery to both of you.
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pmellon,
I am so glad that you posted and that things went well. Can't wait for a full report. Happy healing.
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Happy recovery sister~
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Congrats to Laura and pmellon. Wishes for a fast and pain-free recovery to both of you.0
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So glad to hear from you Laura and pmellon! CONGRATS! Rest and enjoy putting this part behind you!
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whippetmom--thanks for your comments--especially re the liposuction. I think a reduction in width will help a lot.
I'm not currently on the picture site (although I probably should have been prior to the exchange - I didn't really advocate for myself strongly enough at this stage), but right now it is hard to tell the difference from how I look between expanders and the Mentor CPGs--I don't see too much difference. Although I will say that these don't have the 'half a hamburger bun' look on top -- they do slope more like natural breasts (and I am hoping they won't change shape too much because if they do, they might look too low). I was told that I won't need to massage them like round implants. However, they are really quite firm, and I may end up wishing I'd gone for the softer ones. Originally, I wanted very firm because my own breasts were (frankly) large and floppy. But I do miss some of that old softness.
I may post some pictures once the side-swelling from the lipo goes down and I have a better sense of how they look.
Thanks again
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Way to go, ladies!! Glad your exchanges went well and hope you enjoy your new girls!!! I'm continued to be amazed at how little pain I have .. it's awesome ... I saw my PS today for my post-op, and he's pleased with how everything is healing. I go back in Sept for another follow-up, then we will schedule my nipple procedure! Yeah!!!!! I'm shooting for early November to get that step completed ... He said we'll know in Sept if I need any "tweaking" or fine-tuning, but things are too swollen to tell right now ... Take care, everyone! sue
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ONCRN
Sorry I didn't respond sooner. Lets see, you have your surgery on Thursday and want to return to work 6 days later? I am six days out today and probably felt well enough to work today. I don't have my post op until Wednesday though and still have the surgical tape on the stitches and have to wear the bra 24-7. I think it will depend on your ps, how your surgery and recovery goes.
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((Laura)) Woo Hoo! I can't believe that you are already writing to us! I am happy that this is behind (actually in front) of you. How are the eyes? Hoping that was easy for you as well. I am so thrilled for you, I came home at 10:30 this morning to check my email to see if there was any news from you. I am glad that you are well and I hope that the new adopted ladies make you very happy.
((pmellon)) I am glad that you checked in, hope you get a good nights rest and continue to have an uneventful recovery.
((Aoandrews,)) I haven't shrunk at all post surgery, I didn't have swelling either, some bruising, but that was about it. I didn't want to be any smaller than what I was post exchange. I am a uniboober, so on my mx side I have a 500cc Mentor moderate profile, which is so nice and soft. On the natural side I was agumented with a 275cc mentor implant, that side is much denser than the softer mx side. I am 5'6" and am hanging in at about 145 to 150 # depending on the day and proximity to Dairy Queen. The foobs are settling some, not riding as high, I ended up a 34 C. This is a good size for me, considering there was much ado about nothing before. Jan
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LAURA !!! YAY. It's done!! And all is well!!! As you would sy...
WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
pmellon: Good for you. I'm delighted to hear all went well... JUDY
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Guess what everyone? I met Misty123 today for lunch. And no surprise, she's as lovely as you would think! We had a delightful time. What an amazing thing the internet is...JUDY0
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Judy... how cool.. she seems so great on here... Hi. Misty123...:)
She signed my quest book of my blog...
I got to meet our Denise from here... Cut her hair.. which I hope still looks good...:)
I think my Implants might be hamburger bunish too.. I am in a tight , zip front Sports bra , kinda hard to tell... if I m hamburgery... how exactly does that go away?
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Laura - I am so happy your procedure went well. Hamburger buns are better than expanders any day!
Pmellon - I am glad things went well for you too, Heal fast and well!
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Laura and pmellon- conrgats on your successful exchanges. I am soooo happy for you both. It is amazing to see everyone up and posting just hours after returning home. I had my preop exchange visit today. I will be having my exchange either 8/5 or 8/11. I hope to know definately by tomorrow sometime. I'm so excited, and nervous.0
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I was nervous too... but more about my eyes... I had the bags removed...:)
As you can see, I am still up and feeling pretty good... I am about to take my Dermerol again though.. so I will be out in 30 mins...:)
I will let you know how I feel tomorrow... I think the mornings after are always the worst... we'll see... but yes, you can relax a little.. I can tell you it is not bad at all.. just get a pain pill script...
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Hey.. WHERE IS JAX????
Sandy????
Girls I am worrying about cha...
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Congrats on all going well Laura (who will have a nice set for Vegas!!!) and pmellon. I can't believe that you go home the same day. I hope you both have a speedy recovery!
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Ok Ok...please bare with me. Im not so sure about this exchange stuff. I am scheduled for August so I have been thinking about the sizes, the types...you know how it goes. Anyways thanks to Deb and her info, I spoke to my PS...who I might add is wonderful and I trust him totally, I really do. He really wants to use Moderate plus implants, he says with my body size he thinks the will be much better than high profile. So I looked at my expander measurements....550cc's but they are filled to 700 cc's, width 13;5 height 11.7 projection 7.4......mentor just released 650 cc's in these implants and the website doesn't show the measurements, but 700cc is a 4.9 projection.
4.9????? Apparently my expanders must have more projection than 7.4....OMG does this mean Im going to have flat pancakes??? I love my projection, ok I can handle that it isn't going to be like these...I get that but half? I dont know about this. I think Im just getting nervous a little.
Teresa
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Linda.. I am back to La La Land again, but was sending you good thoughts through the PC for you appt. today... Hoping you get July29th! Let us know!
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Laura,
I'm so glad you are doing well.You still have that WHaooooo! attitude, that's great! Looking forward to hear more as you progress.
I see my PS Friday for the first time since my 7/2 exchange.Disappointed in things... Have lots of questions, but not sure what I want to ask.
I'vs so enjoyed your comments and optimism on the forums these last months since I've joined.
So will having your eyes done help you see the world with a new outlook! (ha)
Candi
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Congrats ladies on successful surgeries. Hopefully I'll be there soon! Just a quick question - for ladies who needed chemo, how long was it before you were cleared for the exchange surgery after completing chemo. I will finish expansions in 2 weeks, but don't have my last chemo treatment until 8/12, and am just trying to get an idea of when I can expect my surgery. Thanks all!
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.. Sweet Candi.... my eyes look like my dh punching me in both..LOL.. but yesturday they were balck and today are pink/black.. ARNICA works wonders for buising.. ( THANKS for the reminder JOYCE !!!)I was told I could take off my compression bra and gauze and shower. I am SCARED , DH is at work and I would have to look at ALL of them alone... what if from head on, I do not like their shape... OH HOW I WISH one of you were with me...we'll see... I may wait until dh gets home....
Candi... I hope you get everything out to your PS that you want and need to. Why is he waiting so long to see you? You're a doll!
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Laura,
Someone advised me before my exchange to be patient that it takes months before you really know how they are gonna turn out. I am holding on to that today. When you take your shower, remember that this is just the beginning and not the end result. They may be swollen, or they may be flat. However, since you are on pain meds, you may want to wait until your DH gets home in case the hot water makes you light headed.
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OOPSs A BIG WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO to Pmellon too!
Good for you girls!!! Rest up, feel better.
Someone asked how long from surgery to exchange? Or from chemo to exchange? They told me three months is a good general timeframe. Same for nips. Perhaps it is to let your brain cells regenerate from the anesthesia hee hee.
Laura, eyes, too? Cool! i wish I did that now. Maybe when Santa brings me nipple(s).
xoxo
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Hey Laura,
I'm getting a little paranoid myself about the 3 week wait. I have had a great relationship with my PS and 2 of his staff. In fact a couple of months ago, they sent me the sweetest card where both of the women wrote on it. From his staff, he must know that I'm disappointed and have some questions, but I don't believe that is why, I'm sure it's just a scheduling issue.
It sounds like you are going to have a great result. I would wait until your husband gets home, just so you can have the "unveiling" together. This is the special event that we all wait for as we go through all the unfun stuff. I think he would want to be there for all the excitment too! Just my opinion. My DH was with me when I first "unwrapped." I figured he had walked with me through all the rest of it, so he should be there for this. I also wanted to have two perspectives when I first looked.
I'm excited for you ...can't wait to here what you think. It's kind of like opening a gift at Christmas, except the wrapping isn't as pretty!
Candi
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Laura: Congrats on your exchange & eye surgery! Go on, have a peek, I'm sure they look great!!
pmellon: Congrats! Rest up and heal!
I know I'm in the wrong forum but I thought I'd ask the EXPERTS....
Ladies, I need some advice. I was sailing along pain wise from my MX and TE surgery and now I have some pain from under my right arm pit to where my incision starts. It's like a "pulling" sensation and the scar seems to be "thicker" for about 2 inches in that area. Should I maybe be putting some warmth on the area and massaging? Other than that spot where the skin is thicker, my incision is healing really well so I'm worried something is going on under the skin.
PS: Deborah, my surgeon said my rib cage was smaller than he thought when he got in there so he placed Mentor 350's TE's instead of the 450cc he was going to put in. Guess he has to drop the notion of exchanging to 700cc implants!
Terri
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Terri: So how are you doing? Everyone, Terri just HAD her bilateral mastectomies! How do you like the drains? Pretty cool, eh? You are going to love them and be so sad when they have to be removed.
With the size of the expanders, he can get you to 450 cc implants - 475 cc's possibly if he has access to Allergan implants. I would not massage yet. I researched this and found that the surgical process can cause thickening of the skin. The edematous skin AROUND the incision heals rather quickly, but edema within the surgical scar resolves more slowly. Mild skin thickening can persist and apparently this can also lead to keloiding of the scar...which is a raised thickening of the incisional scar. I remember my PS telling me that mastectomy scars "rarely keloid" though....there is something called "Kelocote" which is a topical scar ointment specifically to reduce and address a keloid effect. I bought some but never needed it, as I felt a little thickening on the cancer side initially. You are not even THERE yet though...but bring it to your PS' attention and just let her know you want her to watch it. 0 -
Thanks ladies!
I HAD to look.. I just did! I took a shower and took of the gauze.... WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
They are so pretty... a tiny bit hamburgery... but not really. I suppose, all I can say about them now...Pretty... really pretty... and soft....
My left boobie is starting to hurt more.. ( rads side, scar tissue was released).. but still about a pain level 4-5...
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Deborah: I had my 4 drains for 2 weeks! I had them removed last Tuesday. Was I ever glad to have them removed! Mind you, if anyone told me HOW they remove them I think I would have been very happy to keep them a bit longer. Wow, he just grabbed a hold of them and yanked all 4 out at once! Didn't hurt too much in the end but the visual was terrible! I see my PS next Tuesday so I will bring the keloiding to his attention. I am so, so thankful for this forum - you gals are the best!!!!!!!!
Laura! WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO !!!!!!! GOOD ON YA GIRL !!!
Terri
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YEAH for no drains Terri!!!!!!!!!! Hang in there sister....
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