BREAST IMPLANT SIZING 101
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Hellooo out there... I am lost! Looking for Exchange City... I must of overlooked it... Can anyone give me directions? (Just be glad you're not in the car with me 0_0)
L.
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WinnieThePooh - Here you go:
http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topic/728266?page=1
BTW, there is a "Search" link at the upper right of the screen if you're ever looking for a specific topic, thread, member, etc.
Have a great day!
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Helloooo, whippetmom and Ladies!
Haven't checked in for a while...just wanted to say that in two weeks, I'll have my LAST FILLS!!!!!
OMG, I was thinking that it would be around the end of summer before I was done. But the PS really liked the way my skin and muscles responded to the fills - no problems at all - and he forged ahead: 180ccs in the OR, then 100ccs, 120ccs, 80ccs , 80ccs, and today, 60ccs. Now I'm at 620ccs, just below my target of 700ccs.
We had a bit of a discussion today. My plan is to begin the Optifast Program at Kaiser in a week and a half. My goal is to lose 40-50 pounds. We talked about whether or not I would need to be expanded to 700ccs after all, and he was concerned that he didn't want to try to remove too much excess skin that had been expanded.
He had me stand up after todays fills, and decided that even if I do lose all that weight, I still have a large chest, (not a lot of fat over the bones) and that 700 is still reasonable.
He will use Allergan smooth saline, high profile. He says he always uses high profile during reconstruction, as moderate profile just does not give enough projection after removing all the breast tissue.
SO - in two weeks I go back for an additional 80ccs of saline. My tissue is hard beneath the skin, but the skin itself is healthy and pliant. No shiny globes for me.
I'll have to wait about four months for the exchange surgery, as I'll be on Meal Replacement for 16 weeks. Can't have any surgery while I'm on Optifast. But once Transition (to regular food) starts, I'll be good to go after three weeks. PS is fine with that.....MO is thrilled.
I can do this......I can do this.......I can do this....
Oh - a story I've told on every other thread except this one: last week we were in Laguna Beach (we have a timeshare there.) On Thursday, we were down at the shore, and DH set up the video camera. We want to make a soothing DVD for our flat screen TV - the waves, the sounds of the birds, etc.
I was busy running around photographing shells and driftwood. It's a protected marine tidepool, so you can't collect anything. I was wearing one of those little cami's with a shelf bra under my shirt. Well, I took off my shirt, and was standing in the surff in my cami and jeans, and for the first time since my surgery....I FELT NORMAL!!!! I didn't feel like a breast cancer patient. I didn't care about the uneven boulders under my skin. I just felt good.
SO -ladies - thank you for hanging in here telling all your stories and giving all your advice.
Special thanks to whippetmom - I'll be posting pics over on the pic forum tonight...I'd love it if you could come take a look!
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Blessings: I LOVE that story of your beach trip! What a glorious feeling, I agree! So everything is coming along nicely for you. I know you are going to have great success with the Optifast Program! Think of what you could be wearing at the beach in Laguna NEXT year!!!
Deborah
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Blessings I love your beach story I can't wait to get out in the warm weather this summer and strutt my new girls. I too have some weight to lose. This is not easy.
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Blessings & Caro: It is so not easy!!!!!!! But I've been talking with some very special women on another thread and it is amazing how supportive & caring they are & it is working. I can't wait till I can do a beach vacation again, maybe the Fall or next winter. Something positive to look forward besides surgery & treatments.
I saw the PS today. My exchange was 7 weeks ago and things seem to be doing well, I still have some dimples from where the PS sutured for some pocket work, he says it takes 2-3 months for the dimples to go away. Im a bit smaller in the right upper pole area, so there probably be some revision. I'm still trying to decide what do do with nipples. I'm leaning toward nipple if more surgery has to be done. Well that's how I feel today, yesterday it was 3D tatoo's!!! Lol0 -
Hi Whippetmom, you recently helped my sister (Krista184) with an exchange sizing question and she mentioned her twin sister was going through the same process. I am and I was hoping to get your advice.I am BRCA-1 positive, so I had a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy in January.
I am 5'8" and about 122 pounds. I was a small B before surgery and I'd like to come out of this with a little something extra. I currently have Allergan Natrelle expanders in Style 133Mv 250cc REF 133MV-11. They are expanded to 425 ccs which does not seem to be that large.
My doctor is telling me that would to a 1:1 ratio for the expander fill to the implant size, and so at this point I would get a 425cc implant. He is also telling me that filling further would result in drooping of the breasts and visible implant edges and rippling. I want to be filled more, ideally to approximately 500cc at least. I would like to be a C-cup when this is all over and currently, at 425, I believe I'd end up at a B. Could you give me your opinion?
Thank you so much - I really think what you do is amazing and you are providing such an amazing perspective to women who are going through a stressful time!
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Hi, I realize that there is probably a post with my exact issue and question but I couldn't find it so - here it goes. When I met with my PS we discussed "500 cc's" being a good size for me. Of course that meant nothing to me but until I did a little online "research." It's hard to get any idea of what my breasts will look like when it's all said and done but I'm so curious as to the possibilities that I couldn't help but look into it. But I noticed that my cards for my TEs say 400 cc's. Was there a mistake or can TE's be overfilled? Looks like I got Natrelle 133v and 400cc scribbled on the back.
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Kag204 - Welcome ... though SO sorry to know why you're here. As I read your post ... your TE manufacturer and size stood out to me ... sounds awfully familiar ... I think I had the same one. I was filled with 310cc's and swapped out with 325 cc's implants. I'm 5'5" and 109# at the time and I wear a 30D in a bra. Your taller and heavier than me and so you'll need more than I did ... but I just wanted to give an example and know you're not alone and welcome to this thread. You've joined a wonderful group of loving pink sisters here. And whippetmom is a genius. xoxo
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Hi, I realize that there is probably a post with my exact issue and question but I couldn't find it so - here it goes. When I met with my PS we discussed "500 cc's" being a good size for me. Of course that meant nothing to me but until I did a little online "research." It's hard to get any idea of what my breasts will look like when it's all said and done but I'm so curious as to the possibilities that I couldn't help but look into it. But I noticed that my cards for my TEs say 400 cc's. Was there a mistake or can TE's be overfilled? Looks like I got Natrelle 133v and 400cc scribbled on the back.
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ihate ... Most of us were overfilled. My TE's were 250cc expanders overfilled to 310cc's. And that's nothing ...overfill is very, very comon.
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ihate- the size of the expander is not very relevant, as my doctor told me that the expander can be filled up to 3x its original size. I had a 250CC expander but it stretches far further than that. Hope that makes you feel better!
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KAG204: Actually 425 ccs to 450 ccs in a high profile smooth round silicone implant is what I would have recommended for you. You will be a little larger than your TEs. We have to look at the original recommended fill volume - not what your fill level is currently. Overfill merely adds further height and a little projection to the TE, which is needed to give you a nice, natural IM fold. So with your 250 cc TEs, it would take implants with a volume of around 350 ccs to approximate what you have currently. You would have a bit more volume then, with 425 ccs, and an additional 1 cm of width, which will give you added volume. I predict you would be at least a "C" cup if not a "D" cup. It is more important to maintain skin integrity than to push the envelope too much at this point. You will be happy with the size your PS has projected for you!
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Sarah: As stated by the gals above, It will not be a problem to get you to implants with a volume of 500 ccs with your 400 cc TEs.
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tenaj: It would not matter either way - re: the nipples - as they are done under local anesthesia - not GA. You will be fully awake during nipple reconstruction.
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Chrissilini: Please confirm with your PS that he means "moderate plus" projection, and NOT "moderate" projection. A moderate projection only implant would be too flat and you would not be happy. Did you ever give me your stats? You might want to give them to me again - height, weight, ribcage and style/volume of your TEs. Clear it all up before the exchange.
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Crescent: The Allergan 410s are only available via plastic surgeons who are currently in clinical trials with this style implant. They are not approved by the FDA yet. So unless your PS has access to them, it would not be an option for you. They are silicone, by the way.
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Whippetmom, thank you for your speedy response and your advice! I am surprised because my sister had 133 MV 13 expanders filled to 510, with implants of 600ccs. She is about 10 lbs heavier than i am and slightly broader in the chest. She is a D.
I guess I don't understand how I could get to a c-cup or D with over 175ccs of difference if my doctor is telling me he will be using 425 ccs. Is this because my base width was 133MV-11?
Thanks so much- I really appreciate it.
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tenaj I too am planning a trip. My husband told me in the very beginning of this journey that when we get to the end we would go to Key West to celebrate in the place we were married.
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Carol, that sounds very nice. How many years?
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Thanks everyone for your input!
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We are married 13 years this May but we are together 28 years.
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Carrol: I looked at your updated photos and what your PS has planned - especially the lateral capsulorrhaphy on the left side - sounds good to me.
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KAG: You and your sister have the same PS, right? You see, your PS selected the specific tissue expander based upon your chest wall characteristics and also based upon the width of your native breasts. Krista's chest wall and ribcage apparently dictated the need for a 13.0 cm wide TE, which tells me that you are considerably narrower in the upper torso than your sister, and/or there are other factors which necessitated the use of a larger TE than yours, and ultimately, larger implants. I looked back and see that Krista did not give me her ribcage measurement, but it probably was at least 30 inches in circumference. My recommendation for Krista was 550 ccs HP implants and the PS used 600 cc HP implants. So he used implants with a volume 200 ccs greater than the original recommended volume of her MV-13s. Your TEs are 250 ccs and so you could ask the PS if he could bump the volume up to 450 ccs in a HP implant. It is just another 25 ccs - but I honestly believe it will be quite sufficient for your frame. Please keep me posted....
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Hello all!!! First time posting here... i have a question... right know i have an Allergan TE Style 133mx , am 130# and my height is 5'4"... i would like to know what would look best on me... Thanks in advance Deorah!
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Hello all!!! First time posting here... i have a question... right know i have an Allergan TE Style 133mx , am 130# and my height is 5'4"... i would like to know what would look best on me... Thanks in advance Deorah!
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Hello all!!! First time posting here... i have a question... right know i have an Allergan TE Style 133mx , am 130# and my height is 5'4"... i would like to know what would look best on me... Thanks in advance Devorah!
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isa: I need more information. Are you a unilateral or bilateral? Also, what volume is your 133 MX? Or what is the width? There might be a 12 or 13 after the number - or a volume, like 300, 400 or 500?
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Thanks for your promptly response
... i had BMX, MX133-11, the volume is 300cc.... i would like to be a full B or small C...0 -
Hi.
Before my BMX I was a droopy 42DD-42F depending on bra. I am about 5'4" and having lost a "few" pounds since my BMX Feb 20, 2012, so now I only weigh about 270. Yes, that is a "2". lol
Anyway, seems like everyone whos post I have read is waaaay thinner than me, so I'm having difficulties comparing implant sizes for my exchange. My ps filled my te's to 500cc originally at my mx surgery. I thought I heard wrong but I checked with his office today and they confirmed it. No wonder I had the iron bra feeling until yesterday.
So you have my height, weight, my te's are #133mx-15. My ps said he probably can't go as large with the implants as I was. My bs said they took 5 pounds of breast, tissue, and both nips. I guess I find it hard to believe with all the huge foobs out there, that I am apparently sol on getting back what I had. I don't even want to go larger, just want the same. I've looked at the mentor anatomical high profile and I like the look of them, but I think they only go to about 700cc. Then I looked at the silicone/saline combo ones and they do go larger and its the best of both worlds. HELP!
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