Nipple Sparing Mastectomy with immediate reconstruction
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sweetie- I'm right there with you! Pros and cons for having boobs and not having boobs! LOL! Just depends what kind of mood I'm in. I felt more petite, also. Of course, now my ass can get bigger and I'll still be in proportion! JK!!!
Has anyone heard from GAgirl01? I had her exchange date down as 9/17. Do I have the date right? (I am easily confused with all the threads I post on so.....)
GAgirl01- If you're out there- How are you?!? Hope you're all yippee and squishee now!
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Kate33-you crack me up! If bigger boobs hide a bigger butt I'm in!
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And just think how thin our waists will look!!! Woo hoo!!!
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BLACK NIPPLE
Hey, all. I had a BMX, nipple sparing procedure with immediate reconstruction with alloderm and saline implants on Thursday Sept 16th. My problem is that my right nipple is a deep purplish black, and I'm afraid it might have died or be dying. Has anyone else experienced this? What happened?
Thanks,
d
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Devorah- I don't know why the hell doctors don't warn their patients about this because it happens all the time. Don't worry! It is very normal. I think it happens more often than it doesn't. Sometimes it turns purple and sometimes it actually forms a dark scab, Make sure to leave it alone (don't pick no matter how much you want to!) and if it's a scab it will fall off naturally usually leaving a nice healthy pink nipple below. (Kind of reminds me of newborns when their umbilical cords fall off revealing a cute little belly button!) Then go back to your doctor and tell me to start telling their patients about this possibility. (Maybe if we educate enough of them the word will get out how much this scares all of us!)
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Thanks, Kate. Thanks so much for your reassuring words. I hope you're right. My surgeon has seen it and didn't act like it was normal. Also, because it didn't happen to my left (non-radiated) nipple he and I both have been very concerned. Well, time will tell. I'll keep you posted.
Thanks,
d
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Devorah-The same thing happened to me. I had a big black scab on one nipple (on the cancer side) and I was really worried. The scab did come off and most of my nipple was fine. I did lose a little part of it though. I remember asking the women on here and several of them had the black scab too and their nipple was fine. Kate is right, make sure you leave it alone and do not pick at it. I'm sure your Dr will be watching it closely but try to worry. I'm sure it will be fine.
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Sweetie,
Thanks for your reassurance. So, what happened to the part of the nipple you 'lost'? Did you have to go back in surgery to cut out a part and sew other parts back together again? Or did it just heal funny? (The latter is what I'm hoping for...I'm almost beyond caring about much except healing and getting back to normal activities). Speaking of which, when did you resume things like yoga, if you are so inclined, and biking?
Thanks,
d
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Hi Ladies! I can happily say I have new yippee squishes! My exchange went very well and so far I'm healing nicely. My PS went with the 450cc Mentor Round MemoryGel Moderate Plus Profile. I do have to say it's taking some adjusting when I look in the mirror. The te's have such projection to them, and the old me seemed to have more projection as well. It's not that I'm not happy, their just different. My new breast size is larger, but displacement is much rounder and less projection. I think for me, this has been quite a mental/emotional challenge this past week while healing. It's giving up the vision of the "old" you and accepting the new me. I must say, having the rocks out of my chest is the best! I don't miss my te's at all. It's actually weird at times to have "soft/squishy" breasts again!! You kind of forgets what that feels like after 4-5 months! Hurleygirl...I'm thinking about you and your upcoming exchange! Yay! We've walked so closely it's neat to see all of us experiencing these monuments around the same time. Good luck to all of the others who's exchange dates are right around the corner!! Yay!
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GAgirl01- I was wondering where you went to! So happy that everything went well for you and the "girls" are healing nicely. I can't remember if you post on "Exchange City" but right after exchange the breasts can look kind of smooshed for lack of a better word. It can take several months for them to "drop and fluff" (as they describe it on E.C.) so you will probably get a lot more projection than you have now. Even 3 months after exchange I'm still seeing changes and some women even say they continue to see changes for up to a year!
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Hey guys! Just checking in and saw that you GAgirl just had your exchange! MINE IS THIS WEEK! Thursday! I am super excited! I have my pre op tomorrow and I am leaving it to my ps to decide the size..prolly somewhere btw 350-400 ccs. You know, GA girl, I was wondering if you had alloderm? I am not having it and I am wondering if I get drains or not..? Did anyone not get drains for the exchange? Anywho, my work has my work schedule completely filled up right until my surgery day. nice huh? Ugh.
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Girls - I haven't introduced myself here yet but I am planning a unilateral nipple-sparing mastectomy, with mostly-delayed reconstruction using micro-fat-grafting.
At the risk of being laughed out of the thread right from the get-go, may I ask a dumb question?
One you've healed from the surgery, does the nipple get... well... goosebumps or get erect like before the surgery?
I know this is such a dumb thing to ask but I was just curious.
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my nipple does nothing..had NSM in March..but yesterday I swore it "turned on" a little...whooo
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hurley- no drains here for exchange- I even had a little fluid, but they said they weren't worried and sure enough, it all healed up fine.
poodlemama- yeah, no action from the nipple here either- just the same all the time. I opted for pretty erect all the time- it depends how they wrap during surgery. You should talk to the BS/PS about how you want them to be. You know you probably won't be able to feel them either right? I have phantom sensation, but no nerves- some people regrow the nerves a bit but not most I think.
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jessamine, that is good news to hear! I really would love to forego the drains if I can! (= How was yor recocvery? I took off a week and a few days from work. I had such a good recovery from my mastectmy that I am going to assume that this exchange is going to be a piece of cake. Of course, you never know though. I don't want to jinx myself!
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hurleygirly - GOOD LUCK on Thursday - I think you will do great!! Getting nervous for mine on the 8th - let us know how it goes.
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I just found this thread and I have read a few posts on this page only due to limited time on my lunch break.
I had a nipple sparing unilateral mx with immediate reconstruction (Alloderm) on June 28, 2010. I experienced the "black nipple" also on the mx side. It started out looking very black and then changed into a very thick scab. The comparison to a babie's healing umbilicus is very accurate. I had some bleeding toward the end of the healing process; my bra would rub on the scab and cause it to move and bleed. I bandaged my nipple with sterile gauze until it completely healed. I also went back to showering with Hibiclens until it healed.
After about 2-3 weeks, the scab fell off and left beautiful pink skin.
My nipple is slightly indented most of the time, but it has begun to stick out when I am cold. I have also noticed "goosebumps" on my entire mx breast. I am hoping for some more feeling to return.
The one thing that bugs me is the itching I feel in my mx breast and no amount of rubbing, massaging or scratching satisfies! It only happens at night.
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Hurleygirly~ Wow! Thursday is the big day; CONGRATS! It's going to go super smooth. No worries! I did not have alloderm and my PS didn't leave drains. The prodedure took about 90min. The reason it took that long was he took my port out at the same time. The only complication I had was on my non-bc side, he had to over stitch. This was something we knew was going to be a possibility. The original incision was being pulled by the te's and he planned on repairing it during the exchange. I have to say, it looks much better now and I'm pleased with the outcome. You look fantastic going in & I can only say it will be a smooth transition! Your in my thoughts and prayers!!
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Devorah-What happened with my scab was it very thick and black. I had to go back into surgery because my incision wounds from my MX opened back up and my TE was exposed so PS was worried about infection. While in surgery he removed the black scab and preserved the rest of the nipple. It healed up fine but is just shorter than the other side. I think the other girls are right though if you leave it alone and really care for it chances are the scab will fall off on it's own and be fine. As far as exercising for me the MX took a lot out of me and I was tired for a long time. I think I started back to slow walking in a few weeks. After a month or so I was back to walking an hour a day. I used to do yoga but haven't got back into it yet. I would say check with your Dr and gauge how you feel. Take it slowly and ease back in and you should be fine.
GAgirl-glad your doing well! 450 is one of the sizes my PS is taking in. I was thinking of going with the smallest size because I feel so big right now, but your saying you have less projection so I'm wondering if it's better to go with the largest size he can fit.
Hurleygirl- You go Thurs, I go Friday. Can't wait!
Crunchypoodlemama and Speech529- my nipples will stick out when I'm cold even though I can't feel the cold. Somehow they do and they become erect. Most of the time they lay flat but they respond to temperature changes even when I'm not aware of it because I have no feeling there.
The itching-I get that too and it drives me nuts. I heard it's either inflammation or healing. Either way there's no way to really scratch it because it's inside. It's normal though.
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Vmudrow, I just had my pre-op this morning and geez...once again two cute Stanford docs who are going to be assisting my ps come walking in and here I am sitting there all exposed! HAHAH....WHY ARE THEY ALL THESE YOUNG CUTE DOCS? LOL I will definitely be posting some picts and posting how it all goes down. Good luck with your exchange. We are almost there!!! (=
GAgirl...I did get to ask my ps today about the drain situation and she said that she wouldn't need them for me so I am elated to hear that..not that they were that huge of a deal bf but of course, we all would rather NOT have them than to have them right? I am so stoked for you to hear that you are done. It's a nice feeling to be done!
Sweetie, Wow, we are within one day of each other! So, I think I have posted before about how my ps originally thought 350 and then I have no idea how this all changed, but the last time I saw her and at today's visit, she brought up putting in the 400s! She said she was coming with a lot of sizes. The thing is, is that my expanders now are only 11 inches wide and they fit really good, so I don't want to have my finals go too much over that width. I am leaving it all up to her judgement though. I just told her that I would love her to match the look of what I have now with my expanders (weird I know) and so she snapped a lot of picts! It's gotta be a funny feeling to just wake up, and be surprised.
Oh and today after my appointment when I went to get dressed, my bra broke! I am so glad that I decided to wear a white shirt to work today and that the air conditioning was on at full blast!
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hurleygirly- the recovery is much easier than the initial surgery. I think a week will be plenty- you can run around and have fun with your time off! For me, I was told this so many times that maybe I was over confident- I ended up getting a bit sick from the anesthetic, more so than previously- no idea why. Possibly I was over casual and didn't drink enough water, etc, before and after. But I think they used something different, and it was just me. Other people don't have this.
So I was out of circulation for almost a week. In terms of the wounds though, easy. Very little pain, quick healing- I had some tightness again, like early on with the TEs , but it passed quickly and was mild. I took a couple weeks off driving (tends to aggravate the pecs for me- all the parallel parking or something), but that was all I needed and probably excessive. And the implants really are comfier!Mine didn't feel super squishy to me right off, but after a week or so they started to more- I think my pecs were tight over them.
Congratualtions! You'll be so happy after! Best of luck...
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Sweetie: when you had to go back into surgery for the nipple, was it a big deal - full anestesia operation or something smaller?
Hopefully I will not need to go back, but I may still lose some of the nipple, he said tooday. He is having me put neosporin on it and cover it with a bandage. It looks better today then it looked thursday.
Good luck with the exchange. Are you having it at Hartford Hospital or somewhere else?
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please contact me via email at martinaj.smith@gmail.com
Thanks
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hurlygirly: I did my exchange on a Friday and was at church Sunday morning and work on Monday.
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CrunchyPoodleMama- No such thing as a dumb question. Not here! Not there! Not anywhere! Anyway, sounds like everyone's experience is different. Mine are permanently "on" and never go flat. Thought I'd be able to go braless but it's kind of tacky for a 50+ year old going around with her nips showing! LOL! Especially with a bunch of teenage boys always hanging around with my son.
Speech- I had the itching, too, which my PS told me was from the nerves regenerating (though don't know why it would make you itch) but I took it as a good sign. I did start taking Gabapentin for the nerve pain and I noticed that the itching went away, too. Don't know if it's a coincidence or not.
hurleygirly- 3 more days!!! Wahoo!!!! I feel like I've been with you during this entire (I won't call it a journey 'cuz I hate that) experience. Kind of feel like the proud mom (wait, am I old enough to be your mother?) whose daughter is graduating! You are the one and only woman on here who has ever said they like their TE's so either you have some amazing doctors or they give you really good drugs. Either way you'll going to love your yippee squishees even more! Good luck on Thursday!! Keep us posted when you're up to it. (((hugs)))
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Thanks Kate! I will keep y'all posted. I should start taking bets at work as to what size boobs I will wake up with on Thursday...hahaha
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Hurleygirl-I kind of like the shape of my TE too. I think yours are probably the best I've seen though. I think staying close to that will look great on you. If you wanted to stay close to the 11 inch diameter your Dr could use the 45's? I don't think 1 cm makes a big difference anyway so the 20's will probably be good too.
Heebie-Jeebie-I didn't go back into surgery because of the nipple. I went back in because my wounds from the MX were opening back up and my TE was exposed. That is cause for concern because of infection. At that point though my nipple was looking like the top part wasn't doing so well. We knew I wouldn't lose the whole thing, but the tip. So I think because he had me in the OR he just took that bad part off. It was no big deal at all. The surgery was quick and I had no pain after but I was put out all the way. I'm not sure what the issue is with yours. Does it have a black scab? what does he say he is concerned about? If you lose part of it, it may just come off on it's own. I don't think you need to go back into surgery unless there was something on pathology which said you couldn't keep it. Try not to worry. Many of the girls here had issues with the nipple and they turned out fine. Do you have access to the pic forum? My pic is on there and you can see what my nipples look like.
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Sweetie: yes I did see the photos, thanks for sharing and they look great even with the bit missing. because of my previous scar from the lumpectomies, he had to follow that scar and it went right below the aerola for the incision and that part of the nac is where it looks the worst, but it still may pull through. I don't see him for 10 days, so hopefully it will turn around by then.
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Good morning girls, going to my BS again this morning . I am going to push for the NSM. If he says no, I have another doctor lined up for tomorrow. Wish me luck! Have a great day .0
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Heebie-jeebie-ok, well I'm routing for you. Give yourself time to heal. I forgot how banged up I looked in the beginning but as the weeks pass your skin and everything just looks so much better. Get that rest, ok.
Monika-wish you the best. You are your own best advocate. NSM is a very safe and viable procedure. If you are a candidate there is no reason you can't have one. If this Dr. says no, find one who does it, you won't regret it.
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