Exchange City
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Hi--
The discussion about cold implants, for me anyway, wasn't that they become cold, but when I've been cold and I begin to shiver, my pecs shiver and the girls move. I have not noticed them feeling colder, just dancing.
Val, Janet and I, and our friends and families had a really wonderful time. As I mentioned before, I usually bawl like a baby at the Race which my boys and I have been doing for years, because of my Mom, and it is overwhelming in Portland to see the turn out and so many pink shirts. For some reason, I cried a little, espcially when I saw Janet, and my son crying, but I felt really strong, and I think for me I assumed bc was ahead for me because of my Mom and in the past part of me was crying from fear along with everything else--it was all overwhelming, and now that I'm no longer worrying and wondering when, made me calmer, stronger, and I really wanted people to see us as strong/healthy survivors, so I focused on that. Things are the way they are, and now I'm dealing with them as best I can. I agree with Lorriane, it is hard to see how many women are memorialized, it really fries me when people tell me I'm lucky to have gotten bc because, "nobody dies from that anymore." Too many people think that is true. I am busy as you mentioned, but one of the ladies on the thread, who I love, reminded me to just keep moving, and that's what I'm doing.
I had two hours at the dog park today with my dog and son, a wonderful conversation with a friend I've known since 1967, and a lovely lunch at the home of one of my coworkers, great conversation, great food, and I was able to hold and feed her baby. Couldn't ask for more.
Dani--Let us know how/what you are doing...
Hugs--Karen
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The most emotional thing for me today was the kids, they had memorials on their backs....in memory of their mums, that broke my heart more than anything, one little boy sticks in my head (I have a son), he was about 8, and had his mums name on his back and was walking for her as she had lost her battle, he was walking with his dad, that kind of sent me over the edge.
L
ox
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L- Yes!!! I have 2 boys 9 and 13 and they have had a rough year with all this to say the least- not to mention overhearing boob talk constantly!!! LOL I don't know what that is doing to their little psycee's!!!! Anyhow. Next year I will do it with them, this year maybe it is too raw. I just don't feel up to it.
Val- you must be feeling better now you are back on the board!!!! yay!
Iife goes on- my PS won't do fat injections!!! He doesn't believe in them- he says they don't last forever and I would rather do alloderm! So your PS is not the only one!!!
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Cheri--I've started another thread about step off to see what other women are doing, and so far one mentioned she had Alloderm put in place and is very happy with it.
Lorriane-Ok, yup, that would have crashed me. I saw kids with in Celebration of but not in Memorial of on their backs, I wouldn't have handled that well. My 15 year old and I just had a discussion yesterday morning that we should be happy, think I'm healthy unless we ever hear otherwise, but that we both need to acknowledge at least to eachother that the beast could come back, and that we will be prepared to fight. Not the conversation one wants with their child, I hate this diease.
Love,
Karen
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Cold Weather Ladies!!- Beware!! My sons play hockey so i am always in a cold rink. I don't know what it is but when your pecs/implants get into the cold, they start going into spasms and it is quite uncomfortable. I just got back an hour ago from a tournament, and i am still all tightened up. People must think I'm crazy becase I sit there wrapped up like a newborn baby in blankets up to my neck. I'm hoping that maybe it's a temporary thing as my implants are only 6 weeks old. UGH.. Just one more thing that they didn't tell you about.
Val- So glad that you're feeling better and that the new girls look fabulous.
Fairy- What an emotional day for you. I am walking in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in a few weeks. I expect the same type of emotions.
I need to hit the bed after my long weekend. I think I may just need a muscle relaxer tonight, or some wine. Hope you all had a great weekend. My kids are off tomorrow so at least I can sleep in..
Cheri- My ps said no bouncing for 6 weeks. Be careful.
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2new1
OH please do call and ask your PS saline or silicone. I didn't until 2 days before the surgery and saline gives ya ripplies. I didn't know what they were before the exchange but I sure do now and I don't like them at all.
Malle
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kew, thanks for starting a thread for step offs. My OLD PS and the New PS both said no, they refuse to do Fat grafting to fill in the step offs and ripples. He said the fat tends to form necorisis (nodules) and then you can't tell if it's cancer or not. He said it's like we removed all the tissue to ensue no BC and then put more in to get a c.
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Karen, I do not have a step off at all!!! They look very natural with aloderm and he used more than one sheet. The downside- sometimes women don't take to having foreign tissue in their bodies and so overnight observation is best. And if you do get infected, you have to start all over again with the TE's in. I was pretty nervous about this to say the least. Also, drains are a must.
Denise, my PS said I can bounce but it would probably hurt me and if I start to hurt, stop!!! As a runner I live by that mantra, anyhow, so I did go a half mile last week- It hurt and I paid for it. I am going to try again this week. Perhaps it won't hurt so bad this week.
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Well, I am the first one back from Vegas to post I guess! Peg and I drove and arrived home around 5 p.m. last night. But I went to bed at 7 p.m. and slept for 13 hours!!! So I see you girls got along just fine....two pages to catch up on! It was an EMOTIONAL weekend. You will ALL have to experience this with the next reunion. To finally meet and hug one another is just beyond joy.....You will hear about all of the stories.....we have hundreds of photos which we will post on a photo-hosting site - I think packergirl will help us with that one. Oh, and I saw SO MANY BOOBIES this weekend! So many gorgeous, fun, wild, sensitive and wonderful women came on this trip. I was in sensory overload most of the time.
I see there are some newbies to this thread. Welcome all of you.
Val - I started crying when I read about your unveiling. I am so incredibly happy for you - I cannot wait to see them!!! Bless your plastic surgeon's heart for doing this for you!
JAX: Yes, you naughty girl. Your ears must have been burning because we have talking about you.....worried about you....even in Vegas we were all trying to brainstorm to find out how to locate you....Laura [Estepp] is going to be thrilled to see you are back...
Cheri: Your PS used Alloderm in the upper pole? I really want to see this....I am so glad you are happy and that it all worked out for you....I can just imagine how relieved you are that you made that switch to another PS which changed the course of your reconstruction.
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Welcome back!!
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Good Luck today Wink! Thinking of you!!! (((((HUG))))
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whippetmom - welcome back to you and the other ta-ta sisters! I checked out the photos you posted on the Vegas thread - how wonderful to see all of you together - made me cry, too.... Can't wait for you to see the new girls either! I'll try to have my dh take some pics as soon as my stupid J-Ps come out..........
Did anyone happen to watch Good Morning America today? Since I'm still on limited movement orders from my ps - da** drains still putting out over 30cc each side/24 hours - I've watched lot of tv. Anyway, Melissa Etheridge was the featured musician and she sang a song she wrote about bc. Had me absolutely bawling.....you need to check it out....prob on YouTube.
Wink - let us know how everything turns out!
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Sorry for being naughty.......I was with you all in spirit.......and yes my ears were burning.......can't wait to see a post from Laura......I'm thinking she gets back today......so much to catch up on......maybe I'll just start fresh from here.......I've missed you all!
Cheers and hugs to all!
Jax
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Welcome back to the ta-ta sisters! I'm sure you all had some amazing times in Vegas! I posted this on the All About Gummies thread, but I will post it here too. I just got back from my first post-op visit with my surgeon after my exchange to Allergan 410FX615s on 9-9. Some of you may remember my major complaint was that I could feel a hard edge of the top of the right implant.
She thought they looked great. She said the gummies take a long time to settle into place and soften up but that it does happen, and could take up to a year to really soften. She was also confident that the hard edge I feel on the top of the right implant will settle in, and that it is due to the thin skin left from where the surgeon did a lot of scraping, that being my cancer side. When I asked what were my options if the edge didn't go away, she said she would do lipo & fat grafting. So, I guess I just have to be patient. If they do soften and the hard edge becomes less noticable, I will be happy with my choice to get the gummy bear implants.
She also said we could do nips & revisions by the end of the year--I wanted to get all reconstruction surgeries over with in 2009 if possible for insurance and mental health reasons. Pretty decent news all around!
Cheers everyone. Hope you are having a great day.
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Val, sending good thoughts and prayers for a great unveiling for you. Sounds like alot of pocket work, and it does hurt....hope they get a handle on that for you.
Sending all my vegas gals fun, laughs, and love to share! I will be with you in spirit, Ta Tas.
love to all.
(Samiam: glad to hear your BP woes too. Well, not glad, just glad that it's company and seems to be caused by drs.....gee, spend a year hearing cancer crap, take awful drugs, chemo, have your boobs put back together, lose your hair..............and they wonder why we get "white coat fever???" I wonder why we don't go screaming down the street in exam gowns, then get in our cars with a fifth of jack Daniels and a straw, personally)
I have found that if you just sit there, breathing deeply, not drinking my usual 4 cups of coffee, and think of nothing for 15 minutes beforehand, it's simply amazing how the BP drops.
love you all, vegas girls.........
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Hello Ladies,
Well I am new to this Exchange city but I have been trying to follow up and boy you girls type so fast by the time i get home i need to read another 3 pages that is great but need to be quick here(lol) to all of you who went to Vegas how amazing is that next time i would love to join if this ever happens again glad you all had a great time would love to see some pics where would i go to see these? now that i am in the works for new foobs I would like to join all of you. My surgery is Nov 25/09 I have been speaking to a couple of ladies from here already.. hello to you guys...
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Welcome, Carolyn - so glad to have you join us! Yep, we're a busy little group - but you won't find a more supportive one, I bet!
Thanks, Annie....still dealing with some pain today, seems like heaviness and pulling at the incision line - mostly on the side that he lowered the pocket on.........headed back to the couch and maybe a half a vicodin.......
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Oh ladies - So much to catch up with. I have been away for more than a week. So please PM me if you have a date that needs to be added. I will add the three I just saw - lifegoeson, 2new1s and Carolyn2008.
Deborah - Thanks for checking back in post Los Vegas. I am so pleased that you all had a wonderful time together! Can you send the link to the Los Vegas forum that has the pictures? I would love to see some.
Linda - I am so very sorry for Mena's family. My thoughts and prayers are with them all.
For those of you that just ran in BC races, thanks. That must have been so emotional.
For those of you wondering about cold foobs - yes. There is no blood in our implants, so they definitely get cold. I too live in the north and spend a great deal of time skiing, hiking and camping in the snow. My recommendation is always wear a warm vest over those girls!
Take care ladies. - Jean
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Here are links to the photos taken by the photographer for the Paint the Square Pink event Saturday evening.
Here is one link - partial group photo....the others were milling about elsewhere when the announcer called up the "Viva Las Tatas"....Laura was on the phone with YOU Linda!!!!
NOTE: You might need to click on "CONTINUE" once you get on the link...
http://www.pink.photoherald.com/index.php/view_enlarged_photo/index/2009%2009%2026_komen-c_0487.JPG
Left to right: jancie, traceyz, rockwell_girl [at the microphone], SusieZeeMears, gbusse, jazzygem, packergirl, firstmate and "Clare"
And here is a complete group photo:
http://www.pink.photoherald.com/index.php/view_enlarged_photo/index/2009%2009%2026_komen-c_0380.JPG
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Welcome back Vegas sisters! I can't wait to check out your pictures. I hope that you all had the time of your lives.
Samiam- It sounds like a positive visit with your PS. I know that they keep telling us to be patient. I am not all that good at being patient, lol!
Welcome Carolyn.
((Val)) glad that you are on thte road to recovery. I will search out youtube to see if I can see that song. I usually watch GMA while I am at the gym, but missed today as my kids were off from school.
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Wow, I was only gone 2 days (wedding and our 34th anniversary) there was so much to catch up on. First of all my heart broke reading about Mena, then reading Lorraine's story of the children walking in memory of their mothers. BC is cruel and thank you to all of you that walk and raise money to find a cure.
Karen, Sally is home and doing well, thanks for asking. I love reading your story of your walk. I don't know how you manage to do all the things you do, you are a WONDER woman!
Greytmom , glad to know all is well, thanks for posting .
Jax! you were missed!
Deborah, I am glad that you made it home safely and that your spirit was lifted with the meeting of the Ta-Ta sisterhood.
Val Whooo Hooooo (ters) I am so happy for you! I hope that the skin heals well and that the drains come out with no further problems.
Welcome to the new posters, I would go back and get your names, but I would lose what I have written!
I hope I didn't miss anyone, take care! Jan
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Hi ladies !
Wow, this is quite a thread! So much great information ! I am scheduled for my Exhange surgery on October 12th. I was wondering if you all could tell me, do the permanent implants (i am getting high profile mentor round- size to be determined at surgery) end up looking "about" the same as the expanders, ie. in size ? I am happy with my "projection", how I look in clothing/tank top, etc. where I am now. My PS wanted to me to stop when I was happy , versus going "one size bigger", to prevent rippling. (I know PS's sometimes differ on this opinion).. SO, I am just panicking now that the size will be actually what I want. Perhaps there is a website that you have found useful that may show some pictures ? I am just curious to see what an "expander" foob looks like (well, I have one, so I do know what it looks like - hard and round like an orange -- but perky in clothes), versus an actual silicone implant.
Any advice ? Thanks so much -- you are all an inspiration .. This discussion board has been an invaluable resource since my diagnosis back in May.
Jdjr (jeanne)
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Jax - I am glad you checked in with us all. I guessed why you were absent and I was correct. I understand completely. Hang in there honey - you will complete this lengthy process and find some resolution to all of this crap. I did miss having you as a roomie in Vegas -- but next year you are coming!!!
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WELCOME BACK SISTERS!!!!!!!!
Karen
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Welcome, Jeanne! You're right - there's a wealth of information on this thread - a true blessing! Speaking of blessings, I'm sure whippetmom will jump in here soon and address your questions. She's our resident "exchange" expert and can give you advice about the TE volume and implant volume. PS's are quite different, we've learned here, in their approach to sizing. Some use larger implants than TE's, some the same, and a very few use larger. There is a picture forum that is separate from this site for which you need to ask permission to join from Timtam, the administrator. I'm quite technically challenged, so trying to give you the link here would be useless. I'm sure whippetmom will do that, as well.
Good news of the day - the PS pulled my drains today - Yippee!! Shower here I come! He still wants me to limit arm movement and no driving. He also pulled off the foam tape "underwire" that's been in place since my surgery last Monday - that was REALLY starting to itch! I go back on Friday, and before that must report to Nordstrom to be fitted in an UNDERWIRE bra. He says the underwire helps to sculpt the IMF, plus push the implants up and in. He said with thin skin (which many of us have after expansion) the implants can "have the tendency to fall off the ribcage." - no kidding, direct quote! - something I don't even want to imagine!
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Jeanne: Here is the link to Timtam's profile - just PM her with a request for a password to the pictures forum.
http://community.breastcancer.org/member/11047/profile
If you can provide information regarding your TE's - they are probably Mentor - and if you can find out if they are low height, moderate height or full height versions and then the number of cc's...we can help you come up with the implant size which would be appropriate.
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Val: Is there a specific underwire bra you are getting? I presume he wants to make sure the underwire hits directly at the IMF. I have some underwires which sit below the IMF - on the ribcage. So it will take the right bra...let us know what you end up with.0
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Deborah
Now I feel bad because Laura missed the photo shoot because I called her... :-(
I am sure she will be in the pictures that all of you will be posting...soon I hope....can't wait to see them...
next year Vegas won't know what hit them....
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Linda.....are you kidding???? Half of us were not in that photo...did you notice? Only the ones closest to the stage. Peg and NVDiane and I were sitting on the other side of a fence and would not have made it up there in time...We were thrilled....Laura was thrilled you called. We had hoped you would call back when we were all on the bus....It was like getting news from home...
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Deborah
yeah, the bus...that would have been 11:15 central time and I needed to go to bed because we go to the early church service....I did notice that only a few were in the pictures...by the way "where is Laura?" she has not checked in....has anyone talked pirvately with her....?
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