BREAST IMPLANT SIZING 101
Comments
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JulieLynn: I see you have moderate height Mentor TEs, but you do not state the actual recommended fill volume. Are they 550 cc TEs underfilled to 520 or are they 450 cc TEs, overfilled to 520? I need to know. You either have a width of 12.7 or 13.5 cm. Get this information for me!
Deborah
Edited to Add: A video for you to watch....RE: Saline vs. Silicone
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Thanks for the video - I will watch it tonight! I believe they are 450 overfilled to 520. I know we overfilled by 20 percent and the PS had said that a good guess for me would be 450 ccs would lead to a C. I hope this helps!!!
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Whippetmom, Regarding myTE size and Type...they are Mentor 15.6X13.3X8.0CM... Medium Height Contour Profile.... Style 6200. I was told that when I was ready, they would stop the filling up to 800 CC's and I have 270 already. I am thinking as you told me if I get the high profile that I can do less than 800 cc's and be happy. I sure don't want to look like a Dolly Parton at 62....lol
I would appreciate prayer also as I had oozing from my incision from my left breast and they are doing surgery to repair the incison tomorrow and drains reinserted. Surgery was 2/27 so a little over a month. It is minor setback but I so dread those drains again. I am glad he is making a new incision as this one was always bothersome and bigger than my right. Of course, I am most thankful, I am cancer free and NO chemo Thank you for your help. prayers for all you Ladies going through so much more than I am! God be with you all.
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I really, really am totally indebted to your expertise, your insight and your generous spirit Whippetmom aka Deborah. I thought I saw a whippet yesterday - turned out to be an Italian greyhound but that didn't stop me from telling the owner how I had a friend who was a mother to two whippets. I might have rambled a bit too long but it felt good to talk about you in a tangible way. (I'm getting emotional).
NOW... about prevention of lymphedema. I went for my annual gyno appt today and asked that they take my blood pressure from my leg. The nurse (a veteran) was frazzled but kind. Admitted it had been a very, very long time (maybe 20 years) since she did it. Afterwards, I went to the hospital for a blood drawing and they were also VERY taken back by the foot
They made me get authorization - I had to call my doctor and have her fax it to them so if you need blood drawn maybe ask your dr. to put on the script that blood should be drawn froom the foot. They passed the task to their veteran - with 36 years experience. I remember him drawing my daughters blood 19 years ago because she was 2 years old and cried/screamed soooo hard and loud that she urinated and he was soooooo patient. When I told him this story he smiled He took such good care of me, warmed my foot, stroked my foot, and when he found his vein, I felt very little pain. When I commented on that he smiled, said it was because of his skills and then later told me that he challenged himself by doing the foot and he was clearly pleased with himself. It made me happy to see him happy (I have to blog about this). For some odd reason, it was hard for me to disregard every doctor I ever asked - from my breast surgeon (who I love and respect) to my gyno, to my GP - on whether or not its okay to have blood drawn and blood pressure from your arm post SNB. But I did it and I am so happy I did. One less thing to focus/worry about.
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Deborah - Thank you so much for the video - Very, very helpful!!! Huge difference between the old silicone and the new - very reassuring!! Julie
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GreenMonkey - Good for you! It's great you had such a great experience.
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Cool video, whippetmom!
Thank you!0 -
Green Monkey: We had Italian Greyhounds before we had whippets!
So glad you conquered the blood draw/BP cuff dilemma. Good job!!0 -
JulieLynn:
I think you would be happy with around 500 ccs in a high profile silicone implant. 450ccs will be on the small side. However, if you end up losing 25 pounds, 450ccs would be fine. But I am 5'4" tall, 123 lbs and my ribcage is 30 inches and I have HP 550s. So 500s would fit your frame better I believe.0 -
Thank you Deborah and Lago!!
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Nice one Lago!
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Yes, Lago ... thanks!
The TE on the video looked pretty harmless ... mine felt so much bigger, squarer and nastier than the innocent looking one in the video.
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Dawne-Hope wrote:
The TE on the video looked pretty harmless ... mine felt so much bigger, squarer and nastier than the innocent looking one in the video.
DawneHope - I got the same big, square, nasty ones that you did!!!!
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Well, Cindy, from what I have read, it can happen at any time, but it is most likely to occur within the first three or four months after surgery.
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Yes I had the Ms. Sponge Bobra square boobs too. Matter a fact after my exchange I was a bit square too but nice and round now!
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lago - THAT's a relief!!! I was wondering where I was going to find square bras!!!
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Honey everything exists on the Internet
But I'm sure I could make one. Just need pliers. Bent those underwires into corners and Voila… square support bra.
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Thanks, lago...it's even in my color!!!
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I am here next week Cindy. Let me know what day and if I am free, I can meet you at Starbucks in Irvine....or Nordstroms in South Coast Plaza. I have a doctor appt Monday at Kaiser/Irvine 1:30 p.m. - just in case you come in that day....
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Hello Whippetmom,
I'm going in for exchange surgery (saline implant to silicone). Saline implant shifted and is smaller than my non cancer breast. So I'm lopsided- nothing on the side under my scar. Want to go bigger than the current implant. PS said he can add 20 ml to my current volume which is 200ml now (Mentor). This really doesn't sound like enough add to me. I have been reading up on the different types of implants, width, profile type, texture and am not sure I have all the info to talk to him about what I want specifically. I am currently an A/B cup and read somewhere that it takes about 150-210 ml of volume to go up approximately 1 cup size. I know that surgeons don't like to talk in terms of cup size. But can you give me some idea if I am leaving anything out? I see my PS on the 10th of April and would like to be as specific as I can about what outcome I am looking for. Any suggestions? Also are there others on these threads who can give me the pros and cons of going from saline to silicone??? Thanks.
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every8thwoman: That is silly. You need a second opinion. 20 ml is useless and nearly every PS out there would be able to use at least an implant with another 50 ml or 75 ml. The caveat would be if your skin is terribly taut and compromised....but you would have told me that...right?
So PM me and let me help you find another PS for a consultation. You want to get it RIGHT the next time.
Deborah
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Okay Cindy....I'm around....
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11bc
Hi
Thank you so much for your response. Sorry i just figured how how to go back to my post and saw there were a few respnses. I will take these questions to my pre op appointment. The last time I saw him he did not expand me because I had popped a few stitches. Then he told me the skin was so thin on the cancer side he didn't feel he could probably do anymore fills. Although my PS seems nice i've felt the whole time he was in a hurry to be done with me. He specializes in the flap surgeries and i feel he was hoping i would go that route. He asked me after my very first fill if i was done. I did ask him if during placement he could put them a little closer together and take care of the dent I have on the cancer side. He said he could probably fix that with lipo after I have healed from the exchange. He did warn me that sometimes the first lipo fill gets re absorbed by your body that he might need to do it more than once. Has anyone else had this expierience? I would of never done a argumentation but now after doing the Bmx I was hoping to at least go a little bigger but now wondering with the exchange if I will be smaller or the same as before. My next question is how is the nipple done. I did nipple sparing on one side but couldn't do it on the cancer side. Is it going to be hard to match? Thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate it!
Cindy0 -
Mkw1
Hi. Thanks so much for your reply. Sorry I just now noticed I had gotten responses to my question. There are so many great forums I've been bouncing all over them, I think at my pre op I'm going to ask him again if there is any chance I can go a bit larger. He asked if I had any vacations planned and I told him 6/2 so he said lets put u on the schedule for exchange in April so you have a month to heal. As much as I'd love to have these expanders out I'm now wondering if I should see if I can expand a bit further so I'll be happy in the end with the result. I'm not sure if there is enough skin to stretch. I appreciate your help! Take care
Cindy0 -
Hello Whippetmom
I sent you a PM. Thanks.
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hillck: My capsular contracture started to occur about three years after my swap out to silicone implants from tissue expanders.
I had a bilateral mastectomy w/ reconstruction. I opted for implants because before surgery my diagnosis was DCIS. Surgery revealed tumors so my oncologist recommended I have chemo and radiation.
As per the advice of my radiologist and plastic surgeon (PS), I had the surgery to swap the tissue expanders for the implants before starting radiation (about four to six weeks after the swap out so I could heal).
As part of my healing process following seven weeks of radiation, I "stretched" the implant on my radiated/cancer/right side by holding onto it and "circling it" right and then left. I came up w/ this on my own. My PS didn't suggest it. But when I told her about it, she said it could do no harm.
Possibly, it prevented me from developing capsular contracture sooner. Mine is at early stages now, but I am considering having the implants removed and not replacing them w/ either new implants or w/ flap procedures. Having had radiation puts me at risk for further complications if I opt for reconstruction again.
Best luck to you and to all.
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11bc: Talk to your PS or find another PS who will perform fat graft transfer [stem cell enriched fat graft transfer] to the radiated breast. This has been shown to reduce a high grade capsular contracture to a low and manageable grade, eliminating the need for surgery. Additionally, the procedure will change the texture of the irradiated skin. It is worth investigating.
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Cyn0619:
I am going to PM you. I feel that this is the perfect time now to get a second opinion.
Deborah
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I have been searching the internet trying to find helpful information for implants, but my situation is not the "norm" So glad to have found this site! I had a double masectomy done Feb of last year with DIEP flaps. We lost the left side, lots of infections and two months with a wound vac. In May I had a lat flap done and further adjustments to the lat in June and Oct. When it was all said and done I was not happy with the lat flap because of the wound vac and the nipple and bottom of the breast are collapsed. I started working out and have lost 30 lbs since the DIEP and Lat flap. My C cups are now lucky to be an A on the lat flap side and a small B on the DIEP side. I was a D to start with. I saw my PS on Friday and he said the only thing to do is implants. He suggested that I have 600cc's put in the right side and 700-750 cc's in the left. (under muscle) I am 5'11 and currently weigh 165, but would like to be at 155 before the surgery. The cc's seem pretty extreme to me, but he said for my height and build it would put me in the D size again. Your thoughts?
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