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Exchange City

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Comments

  • crusader1
    crusader1 Member Posts: 114
    edited January 2010

    HI,

    I too had the Braca test done because I was an Asknenazy Jew.Most often Jewish women who carry this gene have parents or aunts who had BC at an early age. The BS gave me it but doubted if I would be positive because I was 61 at the time of diagnosis.If I was positive I too would have had a double mastectomy. My insurance company paid in full but I did have a reason for the test. The Jewish gene one I believe tests only a few genes and is not that expensive..600 dollars I think.

    Wendy-I do believe that when your daughter grows up this BC will be a whole different game. Maybe they will even have a cure.

    Karen..I like Up in the Air..George Clooney is gorgeous.

    Hugs,

    Francine

  • Kristinka
    Kristinka Member Posts: 223
    edited January 2010

    Kimberly - Ask your PS for a prescription for physical therapy - it is a legitimate request because you are in pain and you can't sleep.  See if your PS can recommend a therapist - there are some who have experience working with BC ladies like us.  Mine is great - she even taught me how to massage around the TEs to help loosen up my spasming muscles.  I also have great ROM, but the pain is ever there, especially at night.  best wishes,

    Kristen

  • whippetmom
    whippetmom Member Posts: 6,028
    edited January 2010

    REGARDING IMPLANT SIZING FOR THE NEWBIES:

    If any of you are interested in discussing implant sizes, how large or small you want to be, how much projection or lack thereof you want to have, make sure you compile the following information. 

    Height, weight, ribcage measurement [measuring the circumference of your ribcage under your TEs or under your bra line].  Also, we need to know about your tissue expanders.  The style - Mentor or Allergan most likely - and whether they are short height, moderate height, full height if Mentor and style number if Allergan.  Also - the volume of the TEs - how many cc's.  If you are currently undergoing expansion, ask your PS if he/she tends to place you in an implant with a volume larger than the tissue expanders, or if he/she prefers to place you in an implant smaller than the TEs.  If your PS likes to overexpand - overfill - ask about this.  It is important to know what is in your PS' mind about where he intends to go with your reconstruction.  The TEs SHOULD be placed by the PS with the foreknowledge of the approximate size and style of implant he/she intends to use for you down the road.  It should not be "let's just throw this tissue expander on her and see where it takes us." 

    We are SUPPOSED to be given a little plastic credit card with information regarding our TEs after surgery.  These are registered medical devices.  Then, when it comes time for your exchange, tell the doctor and tell the nurses that you want the little plastic card which describes your implants.  The width of the tissue expanders is critical information we need to calculate where you are going with expansion and future implant selection.

    That being said, a great deal of other criteria goes into implant selection.  Also of importance: Your torso [short or long], any potential ribcage or chest wall deformities or issues, and how much tissue you have overlying the chest wall.  Also, if you are a unilateral, symmetry issues come into play and this determines the style and volume of implant selected.  Sometimes it is just better to see photos and so post them when you are able on the pictures forum if you have questions. 

    We all want the best possible cosmetic outcome from this reconstruction journey!!!!!  Do I hear an AMEN?

  • Hannahbearsmom
    Hannahbearsmom Member Posts: 266
    edited January 2010

    Whippetmom: AMEN sisterSmile. We are lucky to have you here!!!!! Thanks!!!

    TCK

  • o2bhealthy
    o2bhealthy Member Posts: 1,089
    edited January 2010

    AMEN!

  • FACECRAFTER
    FACECRAFTER Member Posts: 433
    edited January 2010

    AMEN!!!  Way to go sista!! JUDY

  • lifegoeson
    lifegoeson Member Posts: 57
    edited January 2010

    I had the genetic testing done after my diagnosis and after my bilateral mastectomy.  My oncologist recommended it because I am Askenazy Jewish and I also have a very strong family history of breast cancer.  So we thought it was likely genetic.  He told me that if I was positive for the BRCA genetic mutation, that also increased my chances of getting ovarian cancer, and I should find out for that reason.  I had the test, which was a simple blood test.  The result was negative, which sort of surprised everyone. 

  • Nedeza
    Nedeza Member Posts: 351
    edited January 2010

    Welcome to all the NEWBIES!!!  This thread just keeps getting bigger & bigger & better & better!!!  Truly you have found a gold mine amongst these wonderful women.

    Symmetry is an issue with us unilaterals.  I am finally coming to terms with myself...I actually had fun trying & buying new bras.  I think the sports bra look did not do anything for me other than making my asymmetry more noticeable to me.  I've been wearing a real bra lately.. now that I can...& wearing a sports bra at night.  I still think I will need a lift on my aug. side eventually but so far I am making it work...just as I did when I had the TE.  For those considering a single MX...just as Whippetmom said...there are a few of us...like Sandysunshine & myself that have posted on the pic forum. 

    Oh & Deborah...AMEN!!!

  • FACECRAFTER
    FACECRAFTER Member Posts: 433
    edited January 2010

    I got the test because it was covered by insurance for me, and it would not be covered for the rest of my family.  My mother, her sisters, my grandmaother, all had bc.  My father had esophageal cancer.  My sister, my cousin and I all suffer from auto immune diseases of varying types.  It was negative to the surprise of everyone.  But it was a relief for my family, and I decided to have a BMx since I had a full hysterectomy already, I figured I'd lower my chances of recurrance.  JUDY

  • Breastless
    Breastless Member Posts: 14
    edited January 2010

    Deborah - AMEN

    I had the genetic test because my mom died from ovarian cancer in 2005 and her sister (still living) had breast cancer many years ago.  I was positive for BRCA2 gene mutation in Nov 2007.  I started the process for prophylactic MX and saw a surgeon Jan 2008.  Because I was BRCA2+ I was able to ask for a breast MRI (not done routinely here).  MRI done in Mar 2008 and this is when I found out I had cancer.  So the genetic test basically saved my life because I would not have had an MRI otherwise and mammograms were negative.  As well myself or doctor did not feel any lumps.  So I am glad I had the test.  My twin daughters now 17 have both said they plan to have the test when then can.  3 of my siblings have had the test, one tested positive (brother, his 2 daughters were tested and both negative), one tested negative (sister) and my other brother is waiting for his results.  No one can decide for you whether to take the test or not, but I am glad that I did.

  • Lilah
    Lilah Member Posts: 2,631
    edited January 2010

    AMEN Deborah!

  • Ghanshyam
    Ghanshyam Member Posts: 1
    edited January 2010

    Oh,

     this! nothing too bed but you are thinking more that I am sure.

    valkswagen streeing rack

  • crusader1
    crusader1 Member Posts: 114
    edited January 2010

    Whippetmom,

    Amen..

    Going now to my PS . I now have so much info more under my belt.

    Thanks so much. You info is really invaluabale.

    Hugs,

    Francine

  • musiclovermom
    musiclovermom Member Posts: 245
    edited January 2010

    I slept so good last night - just in time to go get a fill this afternoon. I will discuss pain management & the massage option with my PS today. good news = I have been drug free for the week!

    I've never heard of the little plastic card to tell what kind of TE I have. I wonder if I was on too many drugs after surgery and missed that one.

    Kimberly

  • don23
    don23 Member Posts: 213
    edited January 2010

    Deborah - Amen!!! We are very lucky to have you here. You have helped me tremendously over the past few months.

  • wabiwoman
    wabiwoman Member Posts: 151
    edited January 2010

    AMEN!!! 

    Deborah - I'm going for my pre-op on Friday.  I've a 31.5 ribcage, am 5'2", weigh 115 NOW (was 105 at bilat mx but so many medical problems with my expanders and not allowed to work out fully).  My doc is planning on mentor high profile 300 or 325cc - but we will discuss more when I see her for my pre-op on Friday.  I want a B cup, no more.  No more, no more, no more.  I was a C before bilat masdectomy, and I would like a sleeker profile (for my height).  Of course if I keep gaining weight the profile will not be sleek Wink, but once I start working out again I think I'll be OK.  I've also had such trouble with these expanders (widely placed, excision, now it trying to break through my skin on the radiated side) that smaller seems better.  I am filled now to approx 430 on each side (radiated side, which had been filled more, but lost 60cc's due to expander naughtiness).  Doc wanted to expand me larger than the implants because of radiated skin issues (do you remember how she wanted to expand me to 600cc?  What on earth was THAT about?  Clearly I would have exploded somewhere on the cobbled streets of Providence, RI!) Anyway, that's the plan.  Sound OK Deborah (aka breast whisperer...)?

    Geena

  • juliempw
    juliempw Member Posts: 191
    edited January 2010

    Cindy, I think you should do the blood test if it will bring you peace of mind.  If you have daughters or nieces, it's good info for them (I did it for my nieces).  On the other hand if they are young, the tests will be around for years to come, will have more ways of finding any links and your genetics will not change so if you don't want the possibility of a positive BRCA looming over you and your family, hold off.

    Deborah,  I was thinking that the info you need to figure out our dimensions should be posted on the picture forum at the top of the construction page (and maybe there's a way to create a link to it at the top of this discussion too).  You have to repeat yourself so often asking for this information and in two weeks the new newbies won't see that you had asked for this so many times before.  If it's at the top, many will miss it but it will save you some time for those who don't miss it and when they don't see it, you/or the first person to see them ask for info can tell them to refer to that link to get started. 

    Julie 

  • whippetmom
    whippetmom Member Posts: 6,028
    edited January 2010

    Julie:  I have been thinking about starting a thread with this information to keep bumping up for newbies.  I just need to do it....But perhaps a thread on the pictures forum would be a good idea also.  I'll put something together.  Could you all help me with a TITLE for the thread?  Something to attract a viewer who is even preparing for mastectomies - to know that the choice of tissue expander is as important as the final implant selection. 

    GEENA:  I have some additional thoughts regarding the end result you hope to achieve from reconstruction.  I personally think that the HP implant in anything smaller than 425 cc's is going to be too narrow on your chest wall.  You are looking at a width of only 11.1 or 11.4 respectively with the 300 or 325 cc HPs. Your PS is going to need to perform significant revision to open up the pocket and bring the implants in closer to the sternum as it is, and I think that if you go with the HPs in that size range you are not going to like the appearance.  Also, this is going to require more intensive pocket revision to further narrow the pocket laterally,.  I personally think that to get a more athletic appearance and to get the profile you are describing with your implants you are going to want the MPPs instead.  Your ribcage is in that midrange area where you can certainly handle the MPPs.  I have a 31 inch ribcage and I have the HPs but my sister has a 31 inch ribcage and she has the MPPs - as she wanted a more athletic, low profile appearance.  Her photos are under Deeds on the pictures forum.  She has 533 cc's though - Allergan - she is a "C" cup.  Since your PS uses Mentor, I personally think that 375 cc's in the MPP would be nice - with a width of 12.8 cm and projection of 4.0 cm.  I would not go any smaller than 350 cc's - which would give you a width of 12.5 cm, but with your ribcage dimensions and current level of expansion, I just think you need a little more volume and you need to stay in that area between 12.0 and 13.0 cm in width. Just my humble opinion darling, but I think you would be pleased with this appearance more than with the HPs, based on your description of how you want to look in clothing.  I think you describe something more "athletic" and this translates in my mind to the MPPs rather than HPs. 

  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 2,966
    edited January 2010

    Geena... fyi...:)

    I am a 31.5 rib cage "now"... and I am about 5 ft 1. I have Mentor 500cc and am a Med. C.. If I wanted a smaller look... more lean.. and not busty.. I would have chosen the 400cc mentor... I had the 450'cc and it made me a "nice full" B cup... so now that Ihave the 500cc.. I am a nice Med. C... (HUGS)

    AMEN

  • whippetmom
    whippetmom Member Posts: 6,028
    edited January 2010

    Yes Geena....if HPs - no less than 400 cc's....as Laura stated above....

  • artsy
    artsy Member Posts: 37
    edited January 2010

    I was wondering how to find the "pic Forum"....

    I am scheduled for expander surgery Jan 11....have a 32.5 rib cage, and 5 2...with only A cup so I don't think it will take too long to match the other side...?  I am anxious, nervous, scared of what is ahead.... 

  • musiclovermom
    musiclovermom Member Posts: 245
    edited January 2010

    Hi Everyone!

    I am just home from the plastic office. I had my last fill! I am so excited to be done! I have plenty of drugs to keep me pleasantly medicated for the next 3 days of pain - the best news is he ok'd me to get a massage when I wanted (not today) but I am thinking Wednesday or Thursday!

    Next week we will talk surgery!  Yippee! I am so Happy - the drugs probably help.

    No more pain - I should have asked for more drugs a long time ago! I never let on how sore I was and used the Lortab very sparingly - but today, I told him how much and how often I wanted to take it for how long and he didn't even blink an eye.

    Why was I so afraid if I complained he would stop expanding?  I love him - he is MAGIC!

    Kimberly

  • KEW
    KEW Member Posts: 450
    edited January 2010

    OK--Yes, Clooney is...well, breathtaking, maybe I travel too much for work and that was the problem with the movie for me.  Yes, the ending was a surprise.

     Deborah--I never got my cards after surgery, my PS printed out his chart notes so I would have a record when he found out I didn't get the cards.  Who is responsible for that, him, the hospital?  Should I try and get cards?  I just wrote the information on my card from the TE.

     Hugs--Karen

  • whippetmom
    whippetmom Member Posts: 6,028
    edited January 2010

    Karen:  Everyone should be given a card.  These are implantable medical devices.  The cards come with each and every implant manufactured and these cards are meant to be given to the individual who has these surgically implanted devices. 

    Artsy:  You can PM Timtam - click on Member List above, type in Timtam and then click on her highlighted name and send  her a private message asking for entrance.  You are new to bc.org and you may need to wait a while before gaining entrance.  It is a protected separate forum and we all had to wait a couple of weeks or so.  Do you want to REMAIN an A cup?  You can get an implant placed in your healthy breast and have it augmented.  This is your opportunity to go larger, if you want to do so!  Many unilateral gals here have gone a little bigger and sometimes you need a smaller implant in the healthy breast, just to gain better symmetry.  Insurance will cover this you know.....

  • 2new1s
    2new1s Member Posts: 900
    edited January 2010

    KEW ~ I got my implant card from the PS before my exchange surgery.  She gave it to me right before the surgery.  :)

  • TNLady
    TNLady Member Posts: 219
    edited January 2010

    Thank you for the Welcome, you are a wonderful group of ladies!  Do any of you  know if  most insurance companies pay for the genetic testing?  I have a daughter that just turned 19, and with my mother and I both having breast cancer, I am a little concerned.

  • Mykidsmom
    Mykidsmom Member Posts: 448
    edited January 2010

    Ladies - It turns out that Fairportlady and I were highschool friends. It is too small a world!!  

    Fairportlady - Welcome. I added you to the surgery list. I can't believe you got a date so soon! Please let us know if you have questions - the one thing we all have in common is a Mx!

    Cindy - I wanted to get genetic testing, but my insurance wouldn't cover it. So I didn't. I am the type that can deal w/ the known much better than the unknown.

    Update on my mom - she is still in the hospital. In preparing for her hip replacement they found a lesion on her lung x-ray. They tell her it is either lung cancer or TB. I am not sure which is worse. She had a dx bronchoscopy and bx today. She is not doing that well w/ the two procedures back-to-back. For that matter I am not doing that well worrying about her.

    Best wishes to this week's surgery sisters. May you all heal fast and look great!!!

  • Nedeza
    Nedeza Member Posts: 351
    edited January 2010

    Jean ~

    My prayers go out to you for your mom. 

    NAE

  • Lilah
    Lilah Member Posts: 2,631
    edited January 2010

    Deborah -- You had a good title for the most recent post: IMPLANT SIZING FOR NEWBIES... or if you want to be cute it could be EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IMPLANT SIZING BUT DIDN'T KNOW TO ASK :)

    Jean -- so sorry to hear about your mom.  My prayers added to Nedeza's.

    So about me: I saw my PS today expecting to get fill #3 but when she saw the redness she prescribed antibiotics and said to wait on next fill.  Sigh.  I hope the pills work (she's not sure it's an infection but is erring on the side of caution)... she says if the redness is still there in two days she may admit me to the hospital for IV antibiotics.  I'm like: but I have to work!  I am sure she thinks I am crazy.  Working (and not missing it) has become (for me) a way of conquering the disease.  I'll adjust if it is necessary but am hoping the redness is gone by Wednesday.

    Lilah

  • Hannahbearsmom
    Hannahbearsmom Member Posts: 266
    edited January 2010

    Lilah: I know you are disappointed to not get a fill today, but I am glad that your PS is being extra cautious and putting you on antibiotics. I hope they knock out the redness.I know what you mean about work--I have been off since my surgery Dec 7 and I am going stir crazy. I want to get back to my normal routine!! I hate that bc has so much control over my life right now.

    Jean: I am sorry your mom is having a rough time. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.

    TCK

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