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Exchange City

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Comments

  • blondie45
    blondie45 Member Posts: 82
    edited January 2010

    Laura - I am wishing you lots of luck getting off your meds. You can then tell me how to succeed, as I need to do that soon also. I take way too many right now. Can you say what you were taking that helped hot flashes and pain? Do you think that those meds were causing your bone pains?

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

    You know... I am going to see if the meds were causing any pain ladies... I am ONLY her2+... so not Tamox for me anyway... I take Effexor for the hotflashes and neurontin for the nerve damage and rads pain...

    These meds have caused me severe blurred vision..... Zapping pain( hard to explain) weight gain  to the degree of 20 pds( when my Onco told me DO NOT GET FAT)...Tired at night... so tired... cannot fall asleep..... etc..... My onco supports me... in whatever I want... for my life.

    So far I have cut the meds in half and am doing ok.. I plan to be off these both in 7 more days.

  • Hannahbearsmom
    Hannahbearsmom Member Posts: 266
    edited January 2010

    Laura: I'm sending positive thoughts your way that you are successful in stopping your medsSmile. It's really nice that you have support from your onc too. We're here for you to help in any way that we can. Take care.

    TCK

  • crusader1
    crusader1 Member Posts: 114
    edited January 2010

    Hi Ladies,

    I took Bactrim after my MRSA diagnosis. I felt real rotten taking it. Not pleasant but it did the trick. I also took it after having my third TE put in so as to prevent any infection. Luckily all went well.

    Wendy..Strange diet but if it does the trick what can one do. Irish BRCA never heard of that before.

    Jan..PR was fun but rainy. You know what it didn't really matter. Just being away was enough.

    Hoping to have my last fill next week. It was fun just wearing my old bathing suit in PR. No prothesis etc. Just one boob almost all filled..

    Hugs to all,

    Francine

  • Nedeza
    Nedeza Member Posts: 351
    edited January 2010

    Dani ~

    As much as I've felt about my bare self...with clothing they actually look pretty good.  The funny thing about going back to work or just seeing people you have not seen can be uncomfortable especially when they tend to stare at my chest.  A funny thing happened last week when I attended my son's cubscout parent meeting...mind you most are men.  One dad asked how I was doing & said "Are you ok now??? Is everything better...like can you move your arms???  By the way he actually raised his arms & began flapping them like a chicken as he asked me this...hmmm.  LOL!!!

    NAE

  • FACECRAFTER
    FACECRAFTER Member Posts: 433
    edited January 2010

    I am sorry my PC has been acting up and it was in 'testing' yesterday and today..And there were two, almost three pages created in the meantime--Geena, I know what you mean by this thread going at the speed of light.

    As for rads after TE's.  This is for Blondie, and whoever else is interested..  I had Te's placed at the time of my Mx.  It was expanded to to 240cc on the rads side.  After rads I waited 6 weeks, then re-started fills.  They were filled 100cc each time, every two weeks.   They were uncomfortable for two days after a fill- controlled with Advil 800mg every 8 hours- 

    Other than the small after-the-fill discomfort, they are now filled up to 600cc each, and they are fine.  One is a little higher than the other (the rads side) but the PS says this is an easy fix at the time of the exchange for implants.  I will have silicone implants.  There is a very slight chance that the rads side will fail.  If it does I will have a lat dorsi flap, but I do not expect it will fail.  I also had little or no problems with rads, kept my skin very moisturized with cocoa butter, MIAderm (bought on the internet) and most recently Tamanu Oil.   I have to wait 9 months after rads for the exchange, at my PS insistence.  Other PS require less or more time, but almost all of them require at least 6 months after rads for the exchange to occur.   I am still waiting on that.  Is it March 30 yet?

    Hope that helps.   JUDY

  • fairportlady55
    fairportlady55 Member Posts: 152
    edited January 2010

    hello to all

    Today is my big day! scheduled for 5 pm: good thoughts sent to me then will be so appreciated. You ladies are such a great group and have been an inspiration to me! Jean: thanks for the HUGS! Wink

  • Cheri2
    Cheri2 Member Posts: 185
    edited January 2010

    good luck fairport!!!  Good thoughts are being sent right now-----

  • Texas357
    Texas357 Member Posts: 332
    edited January 2010

    Good luck Fairport!!!

    Judy, my story sounds the same as yours except that I was completely symmetrical until about a month before my exchange (5 months post rads). Then the rad side got tighter and higher. My PS removed the scar tissue during the exchange. When that implant failed (incision opened), she again removed more scar tissue at the next exchange. Once again, I was symmetrical. But only for about two weeks.

    Now I'm about 1" higher on the rad side, tighter and still a little sore on that side after 4 weeks. It's STILL not enough for me to even consider the LD Flap surgery!

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

    My rads side is about 1/2 inch higher and a tiny bit tighter... I just massage it all the time...lol.... also... the NON rads side feels just like me... I cannot even believe I have an implant there. The rads side feels foreign to a point.. and yes, it hurts a little still... I know it is scar tissue. Cosmetically... the rads side is "pretty good".. the non rads side is "perfect". SO.... I feel.. OK with it all now............

    I was told my rads side would be my " PERKY" side...LOL.....

  • FACECRAFTER
    FACECRAFTER Member Posts: 433
    edited January 2010

    All I care about is how I look in clothes - without a bra.  Texas and Laura, in clothes, can you tell a difference?  I'm tired of wearing prints all the time to conceal the difference!!  Judy,

  • Hannahbearsmom
    Hannahbearsmom Member Posts: 266
    edited January 2010

    Fairportlady: Sending good thoughts your way for a successful surgery and painfree recovery!

    TCK

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

    Good wishes to you Fairportlady for a quick, painless recovery and FAB results!

    Lilah

  • blondie45
    blondie45 Member Posts: 82
    edited January 2010

    FACECRAFTER - Thanks so much for all the info.

    Fairportlady55 - Good Luck. You must be getting very anxious.

    Estepp - How long ago did you have the implants put in?

  • blessedby4
    blessedby4 Member Posts: 117
    edited January 2010
    Fairportlady55:  Hope all goes smoothly for you today and you have a great outcome and a quick recovery!!
  • Texas357
    Texas357 Member Posts: 332
    edited January 2010

    Judy, if I didn't wear a bra I'd be able to see the difference because I tend to wear more form-fitting, tailored clothes. But it's not to the point, as it was during some of my TE days, when I needed to wear wild prints to disguise the assymetry.

  • sftfemme65
    sftfemme65 Member Posts: 74
    edited January 2010

    I just finished reading all the post and I saw talk about insurances not paying for removal of the healthy breast.  I have AETNA insurance, they not only paid for that without so much as a word but they also covered my gene BRCA1/2 test, which my understanding is expensive, even though I really didn't qualify to take it, not enough risk factors.  I believe some of this has to do with the doctor filing but I have wonderful experience with this company, they have paid for everything and never questioned it. 

    Teresa

  • Nedeza
    Nedeza Member Posts: 351
    edited January 2010

    Thoughts & prayers to you Fairport!!! Sending a huge cyber hug!!!

    NAE

  • blondie45
    blondie45 Member Posts: 82
    edited January 2010

    sftfemme65 - I am so glad you didn't have problems with your insurance company. Mine is an insurance that I think is only local to the surrounding area near where it is based out of. It is not a nationwide insurance. I absolutely hate that they called my surgeon's office the day before my scheduled mastectomy and denied being able to remove the "healthy breast."   I am hoping I can get a referral to see another physician for questions about the DIEP before I make a decision. As far as I understand since none of my whopping 6 choices of plastic surgeons offers DIEP that if that is what I want after my mastectomy that they have to let me out of my network. I am going to ask my onc and nurses, etc to try for the referral for me, as they got me a referral for a physical therapist outside of my network so I wouldn't have to travel the other way from where I was going for my treatments.

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

    I had my implants in October 28, 2009. Judy..I look good withou a bra still

  • FACECRAFTER
    FACECRAFTER Member Posts: 433
    edited January 2010

    Laura: That's the goal girlfriend..at least for me.  Texas: I wear form fitting clothes as well.  Living in Florida, we tend to wear less clothing, except for this week!!!  Wow, it's cold!!  JUDY

  • wabiwoman
    wabiwoman Member Posts: 151
    edited January 2010

    Fairport - Sending you caring thoughts today, sister.

  • musiclovermom
    musiclovermom Member Posts: 245
    edited January 2010

    Fariportlady55 

    Good luck and speedy recovery!

    Kimberly

  • terrij152
    terrij152 Member Posts: 63
    edited January 2010

    Fairportlady55- wishing you a speedy recovery!

  • val61
    val61 Member Posts: 969
    edited January 2010

    Laura - Hugs to you, sweetie!  Praying for an easy transition off those meds!

    Deborah - You know I love Freya bras - I think they give more support than any others I've tried.  When my sis and I went to the fru-fru bra store back in Indy, we both tried the Deco.  It worked great for her - she's a 34 D (had been wearing 36 C most of her life, of course!) - but it absolutely didn't work for me.  Really weird shape that just didn't seem to work with the foobs....loved it, though, 'cause it plunges nice and low for low-cut tops....oh well....  Speaking of bras and tightness, Texas357, they say that most women are in the wrong size.  When you're first fitted it feels like you'll never breathe again, but after a few days you realize that "the girls" feel much better that way......that is my sis's testimonial, at least.......  

    Dani - isn't it a pain not exercising?  My ps didn't want me to break a sweat for two weeks - not that I really felt like it anyway - but I was SO paranoid about losing tone.....not that I haven't lost plenty throughout this year, mind you.  Deborah's suggestion of wall squats, etc is what I did when I felt like it.  My ps suggested a recumbant bike as the best cardio machine to start with since it doesn't involve the arms - or just use the eliptical without the arms.  I'm working out like crazy for the next couple of weeks in preparation for being out most of February....not looking forward to that again.....

    Cheri - hey to you, too!  I just put down our deposit to go back to OBX this summer.  Maybe we can meet.......

     Off to my ever-growing laundry pile.......

    Val

  • fairportlady55
    fairportlady55 Member Posts: 152
    edited January 2010

    thanks to my new sisters for all your love and hugs!

    off I go..........(or should i say off THEY go! Ha!)

  • 2Xsenough
    2Xsenough Member Posts: 48
    edited January 2010

    Hi Blondie--My story may be a bit different from yours. I had radiation and lumpectomy the first time around 15 years ago, then MX on the same breast last Dec a year ago. I healed up completely then in July had the other side prophy and TEs placed. PS expanded every two weeks and I had exchange last mo., just three weeks after last fill. The rad side lags behind with everything but eventually seems to catch up.

    Can anyone tell me if their rad side remained reddish for very long after exchange? That seems to be the only thing I have going on now. There  doesnt seem to be any infection.

    Thanks,

    Bobbi

  • whippetmom
    whippetmom Member Posts: 6,028
    edited January 2010
    swest:  I'm confused.  You currently HAVE Style 20's?  If so, there are only even numbers - 600 cc's, 650 cc's.  So confirm what you DO have.  And Style 20's ARE considered high profile - I know Allergan calls them something else, but here they are HP's.  The ultra full profiles are Style 45.
  • Texas357
    Texas357 Member Posts: 332
    edited January 2010

    Val, maybe it was the wrong style but before BC when I tried to wear a smaller size (per the fitter's recommendation) I kept popping out! Guess it's not really that big a deal. I'm concentrating on being happy with what I have -- and knowing the "girls" are cancer-free! 

    When the incision failed after my first set of implants, my plastic surgeon offered to put a tissue expander back in on the rads side to try and over-expand even more so that it matched the prophylactic side. But I didn't want all the hassle of a TE again -- and one more surgery. Not to mention that the skin is already so thin that continuing to expand might not have worked.

  • TNLady
    TNLady Member Posts: 219
    edited January 2010

    Dani,  I go back to work next week and have been having anxiety on what to wear too.  I asked my daughter and she went into my closet to pick something out for me.  She says show them off! :)  I teach in a small town and many people know what I have been through, so I get uneasy when I see someone for the first time.  I guess it would be better to wear something form fitting and get it over with!  Good Luck!

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