BREAST IMPLANT SIZING 101
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annetek that is awesome you rock those new boobs. I hope I can impress people with my new "rack" too when this is all done!!!!0
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I thought that I wanted gummies but I am glad I got the rounds as I have one augmented and one side MX, they both can be pushed up and in or however I want to manipulate them and I am not sure I could have had that with the gummy tear drop. I do like the look of the gummies upright but mine are a pretty close match regardless.
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Annette you rock - "Old Chick with a decent rack!" I love it. You look awesome and nothing like some old chick with a rack for sure. Yesterday at the store I saw one of those dolly parton wanna be's with OBVIOUSLY fake boobs and I thought "Oh Honey, NO....time to change THAT habit"....I cant wait until NO ONE notices that they are fake! I keep telling my PS that. You've done really well!!!
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SueBee: You know, unless I wear a push up bra or a top that is particularly flattering, no one can tell I had an MX or implants. Even my nurse told me mine were the most natural looking she had ever seen. I think really natural with benenfits was the look I was going for since my natural ones were mismatched and lacking to begin with. Who would have thought I would be somewhat better off after having BC?
Annette: I agree, you are certainly no Old Chick, lol! Always making me smile!
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Annettek- That is exactly the kind of straight talk we pre-exchange undecided women need to hear before we make our final decision. And that's how I used to manipulate my natural breasts for each outfit & occasion.
MBJ- I too like the look of the gummies and it's nice to hear you have a round that matches the augmented natural side.... Wait, is augmented natural breast an oxymoron?:).....whatever you call it, you know what I mean. So glad to hear they can look natural or be pushed up & that you like them. My old ones almost always had to have a bra on for me to like them.0 -
Tara: I think either the Style 45 or Style 20 would be fine. The Style 45 would be the best for your ribcage [it is narrower than the Style 20], although you need to have a sufficient torso - and what is called "sternal notch to nipple" ratio. It would be your imaginary nipple in this case, but on Page 99 of Exchange City, I have a diagram which might help with the measurement. The Style 45 implant has greater projection and is a taller implant.
Deborah
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Nancy: Part Two of the Florida statute referable to insurance coverage for mastectomy after breast cancer, states as follows:
2010 Florida Code
TITLE XXXVII INSURANCE
Chapter 627 INSURANCE RATES AND CONTRACTS
PART XXI HEALTH INSURANCE POLICIES(ss. 627.601-627.6499)
627.6417 Coverage for surgical procedures and devices incident to mastectomy(2) As used in this section, the term "mastectomy" means the removal of all or part of the breast for medically necessary reasons as determined by a licensed physician, and the term "breast reconstructive surgery" means surgery to reestablish symmetry between the two breasts.
You have assymetry currently and as per this statute, you would be a candidate for another revision. I agree that there seems to be no reason you should require tissue expansion again. It does not make sense to me either. Seek consultation with another PS. Since you have this projection and height assymetry, it might well be that a midrange profile will be required on one side and a high profile on the other. Are you happy with the appearance of one side or are both troublesome?
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Cameron: Hooray! I cannot wait to go see them!!!
Annette: I too am an "old chick with a decent rack." Love it!!!
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Thanks whippetmom. I'm going to check page 99. I think I'm wide....big broad back & wide broad shoulders....my rib cage is about an inch wider then right under my breasts. The struggle choosing is that I like my TE's upper pole projection, & width....I even like the way they hit my arm(side boob). But there is no silicone implants that come with that much projection & width. I'm afraid I've gotten, what they call, boob greed....800cc's is the largest they come....though my PS did say they could special order a custom size if I really wanted.
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Tara: I think 800 ccs is more than sufficient for your frame!
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I know!!! They should be big enough. i had a skin sparing mx, so I didn't have to stretch my skin. I had 480cc's at my TE placement surgery. I think I just have gotten used to these TE's. I'm finally back from page 99 & after all that figuring out my SN to N is 21" which puts me right on the cusp. Oh well, but I did read there that Mentor has an ULTRA high profile...so I'll have to check that out...I don't know if I have the specs for that one. I tried to look at the link you posted but it didn't work, well it did, but it was something in German. I'll make sure to ask my PS. The Mentor 800cc silicone round I have the specs on is 15.5 with 6.0 projection. It seems to me like the projections don't go up that much more with more cc's like I would think they would. Am I wrong? I think I saw somewhere someone with less cc's still had 6.0 cm projection? I also think I'm afraid of what the women on here call the hamburger bun. Will 15.5 diameter with 6.0 projection give me the hamburger bun look?
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Mentor's extra full projection implant style is not available in the US and I also do not like the torpedo-like dimensions of that implant,
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Torpedo breasts, oh my!!!
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Ooooh - secret weapons (torpedos)!
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Torpedo breasts, oh my!!!
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I heard that expression too & I don't want that either. Just normal looking, like they used to be...oh well, I guess they will never be that & I have to get over it. I hear the style 45 recommended the most, which has the most projection with much less width. Does that give the torpedo look?
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Tara-Allergan's Style 45 is a very useful style. However, we have to get our focus off of believing that projection is perfection. Width is just as important..it takes sufficient width to fill out a bra and to enhance cleavage.
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I know, that's why I'm having such a hard time deciding....I too think width is just as important as projection, therefore, I want both. They really should make a lot more different size combination implants for reconstruction, we are more then just few shapes....or would that make it even harder to decide?
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yes, Tara, I think it would make it harder to decide. When I am faced with too many options it is as bad as too little. Kind of like chasing the holy grail so to speak. This sounds very weird but here goes...yesterday I dug out one of my hubby's playboys out in the garage and thought I would take a look at the pics and SKIP the articles
Despite obvious airbrushing, to me the most attractive women in there had full breasts that didn't neccessarily push out from the chest. I mean they did in the bras, but not the full on nude shots. I took the magazine over to husband who braced for whatever was going to come out of my mouth and I said "Hey, which of these women do you find the most attractive?" hahaha yeah like he was going to answer, but I told him I was curious as in my mind the "best" boobs in a guy's mind would be way out front and center and he shook his head and said un uh (still scared to say anything" ) So i pushed him to pick one and he flipped through (extremely uncomfortable, waiting for me to clobber him at any minute) and pointed to the same one I had thought looked the "best". I said "Her?" he said yep, her chest reminds me of yours. OH MY GOD! hahahahaha I snatched the magazine back and said "Yeah, well she has nipples dammit and is 21 - you perv. " Ha, he knew that was coming. Anyway, my point is, I think we get so turned around after BC (rightfully so) that it is hard to know what we look like what we expect, etc. My old boobs did their job well for many years, fed two kids and kept my husband interested for 30 odd years before they turned on me. After the horror of diagnosis and the decisions made, once I was down the rabbit hole it gets easy to get confused and wanting. Wanting one damn good thing out of this mess that cuts through lives like a tornado. Not only good but friggin perfect, when I know in my heart, nothing is perfect. I could not do anything about having BC but it is like I thought there was some kind of deal to be made, like "OK I got BC but I better have perfect boobs now"....it is like it gave me something to focus on that was positive instead of freaking me out. Until I started freaking out about getting perfect boobs. I see a ripple and go shrieking into the mirror- horrified. The scar tape gives me a reaction and I am convinced I am marred for life ignoring the fact that I do indeed have two vertical scars (and some little ones from the drains) from which my breast tissue was removed. Am I really that vain? Nah, I like to look good and try to take care of myself, but I think the boobs just became a focal point of it all, I mean they are actually. So, while I won't settle for obvious mistakes or poor workmanship, I am training myself to calm down a bit. If I need a revision for something serious, I will do it. But when I look in the mirror and really remember what that poor chest looked like right after my BMX...it truly is a miracle of sorts. A skilled team of surgeons (BS and PS), lots of research, great advice on here from whippetmom, lilah and others and doing exactly what the doc told me to do in regards to healing- all resulted in an outcome that would not have been possible a relatively short time ago for any woman going through this. Their options were limited to say the least. Ahhh, sorry for going on and on but it hit me tonight what long strange journey this is. I actually looked at the heels of my feet today and thought, man, I gotta take care of those nasty things....PROGRESS...not thinking of my boobs for five minutes is a start:)))))
I hope everyone has a great week....I have my first since DX mammo ultrasound at the BS office this Thursday and am a little nervous (ok, a LOT nervous)... will let ya know how it goes and say a lil prayer if ya get a chance.
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Annettek: Love you like a sister I never had. You pretty much summed it up there. Thank you!
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I am new to this site, so i am still "feeling" it all out. I am 29 and I have IDC stage 2 grade 3. I had both my breast removed on 04/25. I do have expanders in. They were very painful. I am just over a month and few days since my surgery. I feel alot better now but the expanders still arem bother some and I cant sleep on my sides. I was a 36 C before i had them removed. I would like to be the same size by the time i am done with my fills. I have only had one fill so far. I was really sacred to get one after surger so i waitied almost a month to get one. They wanted me to have atleast one before i started chemo. I start chemo on June 1. SOOOOO scared. I did come out of surgery with 200 cc of saline in my right breast and 250 cc in my left. I was so flat when i came out of surgery... Thanks goodness my doc talked me into having reconstruction done. I would like to be back to a C cup but i have no idea how many CC's that would be...
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My simplest, easiest advice for newbies with TE's who are worried about size:
Just keep filling them up until you think they're too big. Then fill once more for the hell of it. Then exchange for high profile silicone. Voila! Boobs.
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LOL ANNETTE!!! My DH and I were on the website "love your look"....where you can view augmentations on different size women and we were doing the same thing - like catalog shopping. DH would say "oh she looks like you" or "DONT go THAT big!!!" etc. It was quite possibly the strangest hour in our marriage. But at least it was helpful before I found the picture forum. And it was really good to see my husband's realiztic expectations about where I needed to go. He would say it was most important for ME to be comfortable and look good, but he he also loved me when I was small. These conversations, though they can be uncomfortable are important!!
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Annette, thank you so much for your perspective ! So helpful and you are so right about the way I was totally happy with my extremely saggy 34c boobs and am getting a little obsessive about how to get the perfect foobs.
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annettetek you are so right about clinging to the hope for something positive at the end of all this. I keep looking at my expanders and worrying about all the details of the final outcome. I told myself the same thing perhaps now i can have the boobs of a 25 year old. But we all know reconstructed boobs are not really quite the same as those you see in playboy. Funny you mention that because i told my PS that I would not mind if he could make me look playboy. I also said i am not sure what that means and he thought that means very full breasts.
My husband, well, he doesn't say much about it. I know he liked my boobs before BC . . . a lot. But I can tell you I know he likes curvy women not too thin and not flat chested. So i think the "C" cup I am planning on will be ok with him. He is most happy when i dress up in lingerie so perhaps my C cups will have more options than my DDs did, nothing he wanted me to wear ever fit right.
I have had three fills so far i think i have about 4 more to go. Last night i had a dream that I went in for my next fill and my PS said nope time for the exchange and he drugged me and I was afraid and not ready for my exchange. I guess as long as we are works in progress it is easier to deal with this. I think once the final exchange is done it is going to be hard to accept that this is it, this is all we can do really.
I am so afraid that I will not be happy with the final. Will I mourn my nipples so much that there is nothing that can make up for it? I am trying not to get my expectations to high but now I am jsut very afraid of what i will have to settle for.
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Sue -- your DH sounds like a dear indeed!
Annette -- great advice re: TEs and fills.
Tanya -- I am sorry when any of us has to join this club but especially sorry for you at such a young age. I am sending you hugs and strength. Chemo -- I was SO scared the days before it started, not knowing what to expect, with all sorts of remembered horror stories in the back of my mind. My mom and dad came with me (I asked and they obliged)! I drank a ton of water and was very anxious but it turned out to be ok. And while I did have occasional SEs it was not anywhere near as bad as I feared. Even losing my hair was not the nightmare I thought it would be. Yes I cried when it fell out but then I enjoyed my wig and it grew back. You are lucky they caught it early and I wish you a quick recovery and GREAT new foobs
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annette....I was laughing and getting tearful all at the same time, reading your MISSIVE! You summed it all up for us.
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Tanya: Give me the following info: Your height, weight, ribcage circumference [measuring under the TEs] and call your doctor's office and find out which style and mfr [Allergan or Mentor] and volume of TEs you have. I am looking for the style - low, moderate, tall height and essentially the width of the TEs. A catalogue number would help. You might have been given a card with this info at the time of the BMX.
Glad to help you honey!!!
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PICTURES FORUM ADMITTANCE:
If you are interested in gaining access to the pictures forum and meet the requirements for same [at least ten or so posts and some of them in the reconstruction forums and two weeks to a month on bc.org], PLEASE PM EITHER MBJ, LILAH OR FIRNI. My wireless is out until the end of the week and I cannot send out the admittance data and link from my cellphone, which I am using to connect to you here. Thank you!!!
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Deborah,
I'm meeting with PS tomorrow to review sizing options for exchange surgery (gummies). Can I email you a pic tonight with my size info. to see what you would recommend? I do not have the expander size right now but I am calling the PS office to see if I can get it. Thanks! Sandy
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