Exchange City
Comments
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Thnx everyone for the words of encouragement! I think the thing is I am feeling pretty good now with treatment over and just living life and now am worried that I now am going to have to recover from another surgery! But hopefully as my PS said it will be a piece of cake compared to the mx.
I do have Xanax and will def take it! i have my preppp med clearance appt today and just took one! all that i have been through and i still get horrible anxiety before dr appts!
Cheryl e....I asked my MO for something during treatment and she willingly gave me a script for Xanax with three refills. I am still on bottle number one cause I really only took it for every treatment and my follow up appts but I did refill the script so I have it for awhile :-). I was actually apprehensive about asking for it but when I did she said absolutely! It helps so much. And if we need a little help now and then that is fine!
Melissa0 -
Mamatwinz, I had one of those days/nights yesterday. I am usually hurting when I wake up because I have slid down from the incline position and am lying too flat, or I have stayed in one position too long and start to cramp up.
How do you all who still have TEs get sleep? I have to take a little bite of a sleeping pill. I was taking some of a muscle relaxer, but it made me too groggy and lethargic feeling the next day. I don't sleep if I take nothing. Now, I am concerned if it's okay to take a sleep aid leading up to exchange surgery; does anyone know?0 -
cheryl, have u compared them all to know re: ultra high give more projection and less width?? My TEs are spaced pretty far apart, in my opinion, and hoping surgery will correct this..and also didn't want wide looking chest which I feel I do look like now..
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Thanks, Melissa, my primary care doctor will not prescribe any benzodiazepines. I will ask my PS's nurse when she calls in my post-op meds.
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Mamatwinz, yes, out of all the sizes, they give the most projection for the narrowest width. I probably still couldn't go more than 500 cc's, though, because 500s are still 12 cm. and my TE's are a little less than 11.
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Not sure if it helps, Cheryl, but I have the style 45's. my TE's were 133sx 13's and my implants are the 800cc's with a width of 14.2.
Not sure how he crammed them in there. ;-)
But I definitely have decent projection!0 -
Hi Cheryl E, I got Xanax before 1st expansion as I have a fear of needles. PS was happy to accommodate. Took 1 night before, 1 in the morning before office visit (no driving of course). Also took muscle relaxer in the morning before fill as well as later that day (and as needed). Still have Xanax left for night before exchange surgery. Will make it clear to PS I need to speak with anestheologist well before surgery that I will need "something" (Xanax or something else) for the morning before surgery as my surgery is almost noon and will be internally freaking out before getting to the hospital. So far, drs work with me on that. They want me relaxed for a successful procedure. I don't take "no" for an answer. Good luck! You're almost there - finish line in sight!
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Regarding sleeping (or not sleeping), my GS prescribed me Ambien but that stuff never really worked. Plus I didn't like the way it made me feel. I started taking Melatonin about 2 months ago and that stuff was much better than Ambien. And if I woke up in the middle of the night, I could pop a Melatonin and not worry about how I'd feel in a couple of hours. When it came time for my exchange, I was allowed to take a Melatonin the night before. I never had a "real" good nights sleep with the expanders to be honest but taking Melatonin got me as close to real as possible.
I got more nervous as the days got closer to surgery. I was more nervous for the exchange than the BMX itself. Many reasons why. And I was frustrated that I was going to have to "start all over" with the recovery...sleeping in the recliner, not being able to get up w/o help, etc etc. I didn't believe it when "everyone" would say the exhange surgery was a cake walk compared to the BMX and quite honestly once the meds from the hospital started wearing off, I thought for sure everyone who said that was crazy. But now that I've "lived" it, I can say the exchange/recovery has been easier. 3 days post exchange, I have been without percocet for over 24 hours. A small victory! It must have been a low dose because it really didn't do much anyway. I am still pretty bloated but hope that will start to disapate now that I'm just taking Tylenol and Advil. I feel pretty good but not sure how going back to work tomorrow is going to pan out. Between sitting at a desk for 8 hours and literally not having anything to wear because I am so bloated, I guess I'll have to see.
Going to my PS today at 430 to get the wrap off so I'm excited and nervous. My expanders were so far into my armpits and the "canyon" between them was so vast, I can't wait to see the difference. I keep trying to peak under by wrap at my cleavage and see they are closer together so that's good, and i don't feel my "armpit foobs" any more so that's another good sign. I just have this vision in my head and hope I am not disappointed.
Happy Monday, ladies!
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Dulcigirl, that actually helps a lot, as it gives me hope that I can take a larger implant than I thought!
2nd time, thank you! I didn't take anything the morning of my BMX, and I was nervous, to say the least, and my blood pressure was really raised. You also give me hope in getting something to take from my PS and being able to be more relaxed. You ladies are amazing. I have learned more from you all than all the googling in the world, ha!
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Jaegergirl, sounds like you are doing wonderfully well! Thank you for sharing such good info. It really helps those of us who haven't ha exchange yet. My TEs are also too far apart, an I hope he can fix that. I was bloated after BMX buy didn't gain wait until later. I am about 8 lbs heavier than I was at that surgery. I hope you can get a few more days off from work. Let us know how your visit goes.
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So agree Cheryl E! Most of the info out there is from the medical professionals and they haven't experienced what the collective "we" have. This is a sisterhood not afraid to tell our experiences as they are. I appreciate the honesty, experiences, suggestions, and support we get here. At any time of day or night, it's available. Ladies, thank you all!
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I had my 6 week follow up today with ps and she immediately saw my problem with lefty. She also knows how to fix! I had a skin revision in the IMF on the right to get a better margin...well this makes righty sit a tad higher, so she has perfect shape. My ps showed me how if she adjusts the skin on the left, she moves up a bit and will match righty!
It won't require her touching the pocket or implant at all. So that makes me happy. Not excited by another surgery, it will be my fourth, but I can see that they will then be symmetrical. So that will happen in May or June.
She also found a local tatoo artist that is certified in 3-D and works with BC patients, handling insurance etc. My ps wants to meet her before she refers patients. I'm not there yet but happy to hear there is someone in CT.
So that is my update! How are the rest of you January girls doing?0 -
thanks cheryl, dulci..my TEs are 13..thought I needed to stay with 13 implant.. ? I guess I will know more after meeting with ps on the 25th..did you guys bring pics to PS to show what you like/don't like/hope for?
good luck today jaeger! how exciting! sounds like you are doing great!
I did not take anything before mastectomy, but I was pretty nervous. I am a nurse, so kinda knew the prep part/hosp,etc..I was surprised in pre op with the injection near the areola with dye in prep for sentinel lymph node removal/biopsy in surgery..that had my palms sweaty! I also had my dad, hubby and sister there with me distracting me and trying to make me laugh. My surgery was at 3p, so that morning I was a bit anxious and hubby and I had to go to bank (within the month) and I was like lets go now! I couldn't just wait around..just wanted to get it over with and have it behind me. The hospital I had my surgery at, has breast advocates that follow each breast cancer patient through the entire process through discharge, and also post op follow up.. she was (at the time) annoyingly too smiley..but made sure I had everything I needed, all questions answered, had enough meds, was comfortable, etc. Now looking back, she was pretty good. She will be with me this time too..
Cindy good to hear ps saw what you did and it can be corrected!
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I did take some pics...sort of. I found some drawings that showed different "looks" and said I wanted the more natural looking slope...not the big obvious circle. Lol. And I said that I like the distance apart in the cleavage area that I had with TE's AND that I wanted them the same size please. Lefty was bigger. He told me they always make the left one bigger because most husbands are right handed. Goof!!!! Lol.
I will be 4 weeks this Thursday and feel like the swelling is finally gone enough to get a better look at the "lines". He did a good job. And I also appreciate that several times throughout the process he said that the key to a good reconstruction is a good mastectomy. He said my BS did a good job. Whew. ;-)
I'm still waiting (not super patiently, lol) for righty to drop. CindyLooWho, my righty is a tad higher as well. I suspect because of two needle biopsies plus two excisional biopsies. Poor thing.0 -
dulci..that is what i don't want too..not the big circle..natural as possible..i am guessing a lot of women may say that, but then have a different picture in their head and your ps may also have an image of what natural is too..where did u find drawings? there are a couple of ps websites that i probably could print images off of..just thought it would help to be sure I am explaining correctly to him and him understand..
also..those still with TEs or those who still remember..
) ...was your sternum sore/tender between the TEs? Mine has been since surgery and even when I dry off from shower, that area remains tender. I did have a lot of rib pain with expansions so maybe it is from my skin still stretching/tight over sternum??0 -
Dulci I have a little of that round look on the right but I like it. It's not too pronounced, just enough to give a bit of nice fullness and cleavage. I never had this before, so I like it.
I do know what you mean about too round though.
I am just so happy that the fix to lefty is an easy one. 😃0 -
mamma...I have TE's in and in between them I am tender and almost like a burning
sensation. I'm going to ask my PS about that on Wednesday.
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Sorry I've been MIA!
Cheryl_e: I did NOT sleep well at all with my TEs, and was taking a sleep aid every night (Tylenol PM), or my hydrocodone if I was in pain. The first night after my exchange, I didn't take anything and slept a little rough. NOW...a week out, I'm sleeping like a baby!
Rozem: He told me to put on an underwire as soon as I could. I had some pocket work done on the right side, so I wasn't able to comfortably wear one until 5 days after the exchange.
Di: Yes, the foobs move when I flex. It's hilarious! Sometimes, even when i'm working out, if i do something and my chest tightens, lefty will ripple at the top. So strange, but i guess it's my new normal.
Right after the exchange, and the few days after, I was so concerned about the way they looked. Now, a little over a week out, they look more even, more rounded, and just...better. Even my sharpei area is filling out a little! I feel FABULOUS!!! I'm wearing a 34DD bra right now, which is the size I was before kids and "Breastfeeding Palooza." I'm thinking they're more of a large D, but this bra, I already had and it's fitting comfortably. I look the same in t-shirts--just HIGHER. My pocket on my right side is MINIMALLY sore--i can just feel a bit of soreness if I stretch a certain way.
Can't wait for all of you to get the exchange--I'm telling ya: Best thing ever. Easy surgery, easy recovery. It's cake next to the BMX!!
Steph
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Those of you who had lat flap with both bmx, where did you go for a bra fit? I don't want something that is going to bite into my lat flap area. I was going to head to Victorias Secret this weekend and see what I could find.
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Re: Sternum pain/burning. I had that for the last 6 weeks I had my TEs. It started after one fill and never went away and got increasingly worse. I can feel it just a little bit now but not really too much. I am hoping now that the TEs are gone, that pain (and others) will go away too.
Re: taking pictures into the PS. At my pre-op visit, I took my favorite swimsuit catalog to my PS with all my "dream boobs" circled. As I was leafing through the catalog with my surgeon, I realized all the dream boobs were ones that were pushed together using underwires or pads and that looking through a swimsuit catalog gave me false expectations.
But it allowed for some good conversation between she and I so I'm glad I took it in.So for the big reveal this afternoon. It was very surreal. I don't have much swelling and I don't have a lot of brusing. My PS is very pleased with how they look. I think I am in shock. I've been trying to figure out why and I think it's because I went into this completely flat chested and now I have foobs. Kinda weird seeing them on my body. My big sigh of relief was my size....Throughout this process, we decided a nice C would be the right for my body. Towards the end I wanted to go bigger (often joking I wanted DDs) and for various reasons, I stopped when I did. I was worried that my implants would be smaller than the expanders. Not the the case. Depending on how much the swelling goes down, right now I'm borderline D/DD. A pleasant surprise.
And she moved them closer together and got them out of my armpits so that make me happy. I will see her in 2 weeks, will wear a sports bra for the next few weeks, and she wants me wearing a implant stabilizer band for the next month to help keep the implants from creeping up. I am happy that my new additions don't look fake or "stuck on." That was our goal from the beginning and I think we acheived that. Now I just have to get used to them being "mine."I decided to take one more day off of work. The bloating is going down and I haven't had a Tylenol or Advil all day. So I'm definitely feeling better. But I still can't fit into anything yet so hopefully one more day may make a difference. Now to round out a good day, I am going to attempt to sleep in bed tonight.
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I did the stabilizer band too.
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MamaT:
This is a link to one thing I took with me. It isn't for recon, but I just used it to show him what I was ok with and what I really hoped NOT to have.
http://www.drchasan.com/blog/dr-paul-chasan-2/
Sternum pain???!!!!! Yes!! That was the whole reason I slept in the recliner for nearly 4 months. It got MUCH worse if I wasn't sitting up. It is much better now 4 weeks post exchange. It wasn't immediately fantastic, but has gotten better each day. Yay!!0 -
yay jaeger! so good to hear..i am excited for you! i only feel the sternal pain when i touch, rub it. if i stretch my chest, it juat feels tight there or a rod is there..let me know what your ps says hopex..stewbie..yay! u r getti.g me excited for my exchange..i still feel like it is so far away, but after my appt with ps on 3/25, i think it will feel more real..
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Mamatwinz and Hopex: That sternum pain and/or burning sensation may be nerve pain and require a different pain med than you're currently on. What are you currently taking for the pain? My BS prescribed Neurontin for me when I described a burning sensation sort of pain to her. My hydrocodone and valium and tylenol and ibuprofen were no longer helping much for that pain.
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sweet.. I am not on any medication now...don't really want to take any. Mine is more of an irritated skin feeling/sore. My skin is very thin over my sternum too. ?could be nerve pain, but thought if it was nerve, it would be more burning type and more constant?? I was thinking possibly it was rib pain as it I have had a lot of rib pain with my expansions. I had some skin sensation distubance on the back of my right upper arm after mastectomy and it was annoying, burning, sometimes painful, but I massaged it a lot (even tho that hurt to do) and it has gone away. That was probably due to sentinel node removal/biopsy as a bundle of nerves are near armpit. I am hoping tenderness is just from my skin stretching or pressue of TEs again my ribs. I am at 500cc and was a small B before mast... I see my ps 3/25 and mast surgeon first week in April for final exam under his care..so will see what they say. I remember my post op appt with mast surgeon and he said my skin was well stretched with TEs at 200cc (filled during surgery) and would get much tighter with fills..and I was thinking, uh oh, because I thought my TEs were tight! :P If my sternum remains this way, it will be okay..it is just interesting as I dry off from shower that when I rub towel over sternum it feels sore..?!?? so we'll see.. otherwise I am just hangin with you other TE gals
..and love reading about those who have had their exchanges!! 0 -
Mama...I totally get the part about the towel. It's hard to explain the feeling, maybe like when you have a sunburn and your drying off. My armpit where the nodes were taken feel lumpy too or is it the end of the expander.
Sweet and Special...Thanks for the tip on neurotin. Im not taking any pain pills either. Im not in pain, just having this weird sensation that I wish would go away. I wish it all would go away.
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hope..yes exactly re: description of sternal feeling!!!
I had a little bump at ends of my incision in armpit, but they have nearly gone away..so was thinking it was scar tissue?!?? I had my mast 12/3 so I have about two months ahead of you, so they may go away too..! ..you have come so far..you will..no you ARE doing great!! ) Well I am hopeful it will go away for BOTH of us!! I am kinda bony up top/chest..are you? 0 -
Well, now that I am not taking anything for pain (had my last dose of Tylenol last night before bed and haven't taken anything today), the burning sternum pain is dang annoying! It doesn't really hurt, it just burns and now it itches. I slept in the sugerical bra last night and i think the band just irritated that spot. I was on a mission today to find some comfy no frills sports bras at Walmart, Target or Kmart and they all have padding or have too many seams that are irratating. My PS said I could wear any bra, as long as it didn't have underwires but i would rather hold off for a couple weeks until the swelling goes down. There is a specialy bra store in town (the owner is a BC survivor herself and I have credit for 2 more bras from her but she doesn't want to see me for 3 weeks post op so I didn't want to go her). I ended up with simple cotton sports bras (Bestform Sport Spagetti Strap Racer back 3 pack for $11) that look more like cropped strappy tank tops but I'm going for comfort at this point. And when I go back to work they look like a tank top I'd wear underneath a blouse or v neck sweater so they will work. What's weird is my new foobs aren't smooth. Maybe I'm just used to how the TEs were so tight and round and maybe it will take time for them to settle (is this all part of the drop and fluff??). On the left I can feel (and see) a faint line/edge of the implant on the inside by my cleavage and on the right it's not as full as the left. There's almost like a little indent (like my skin was over stretched from the port of the TE and the implant isn't filling that spot). To the ladies who have had the exchange, did you notice anything similar? stewbie2, you mentioned after a week they look better so I hope I am just being paranoid. Of course if I call my PS she will probably just tell me to relax and give it time. I see her in 2 weeks so we'll see what she says then. I guess in my head I thought I'd come out of surgery looking like a swimsuit model. LOL I am definitely not missing the cannonballs and feel pretty good today.
I agree with the others when it comes to the exchange.... I didn't believe everyone when they said the exhange was as "easy" as it was before I had my surgery. Barring the first 24 hours afterward, it's amazing that it really is as good as everyone says! I am a believer. =O)
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jaeger..did you have sternum pain before exchange too? Lord I know i will be anxious after exchange..I was flippin out after my final fill..... should i get some removed? is it enough? is it too much? omg I was wearing myself out with it... i can only imagine after exchange..
you can always call MD to advise and he/she may say its normal and will see u at scheduled appt or have you come in..never hurts to advise MD on status, right??!?0 -
Yes, mamatwinz, I had the sternum pain before the exchange. Since putting on the cheap cotton bra I bought an hour or so ago, however, the burning feeling is not nearly as bad so I think it a lot of it is from just being irriated by the band of the surgical bra. I was the same way as you after my last fill, but I was driving myself crazy more with should I have gone bigger. The pain of the fills was getting more intense and not going away in a day or two like they did in the beginning, my PS was concerned with my skin after my last fill, and I was tired of being in pretty much contant pain from the expanders. There were some other factors that went along with my decision to stop but now that it's done and over with, AND for the fact my PS only filled me to 300ish (which still looked huge on me) and put in almost 500cc implants, AND for the fact how much better I feel with those dang expanders gone, all of that worry was for naught.
I will wait a day or two to see how these foobs start to settle. I know my PS doesn't care if I call her (she told me she was suprised she didn't get a call from me over the weekend) but I have a feeling you don't come out of this looking like you could get a job from Victoria's Secret right off the bat. So I'm ok with waiting. 0
