BREAST IMPLANT SIZING 101
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Yeah, who said they actually have to look like nipples, right? I figure as long as my hubby has no problem in the making whoopie area without 'em and I don't mind not having 'em, why bother? We could be creative like hwranch said. How about shamrocks, or stars, or the peace sign (for anyone old enough to remember the 60s and 70s...lol).
Please understand this is my personal opinion applicable to my situation only. To each her own on this one as with every other single cottin-pickin, frickin thing about BC, right? If you want nipples to feel whole again, fine. IF you're OK without 'em, fine. I just want every single one of the ladies here to be at ease with the final result
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Hi Whippet! It's been two surgeries since I've posted. In December of 2012, I had nipples with alloderm and fat grafting done. My nipples look great! I love them. The fat grafting was painful and didn't stick - maybe a tad by the upper pole but not the cleavage area. I knew it was questionable going in but I figured worst case scenario, my thighs would be smaller. I had a second surgery on Tuesday. My PS took more fat from my thighs because you could see the area that she initially lipoed - there was a cannula path and then a missing pocket of fat. Not pretty. This time she took more fat to even it out and put some more back in the upper pole and cleavage. She suggested that, down the road, I consider switching out to sientra form stable implants. I currently have some rippling on the left and she feels these implants might alleviate that. Do you have any feedback on the gummy bear/sientra form stable implants? Thanks! Shannon
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lala, you are on antibiotics, right?
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ColoradoGal: I would like for you to email me photos. I will give you my email address - I see you just PM'd me. The FX-775s are the largest anatomical implants available. I think that your question about whether they were the right size for you is subjective in some respects, and mechanical in others. As far as the latter is concerned, the anatomical implants SHOULD fit the pocket imprinted by the tissue expanders. So I would need to know the style and volume of your TEs to know whether the PS had planned all along to use this style and volume Allergan 410. If you can locate that TE info, it will help. From a subjective standpoint, implants with that volume might seem large to you, but might seem just right to someone else with your vital statistics. So let me take a look at what is going on and we can determine what the next step might be for you.
Nipples are also a subjective issue. Many women here on bc.org are very happy to have them and many opted to have 3-D tattoos instead, and they are also happy with their decision. I have nipples and I wish I had gone the 3-D route. With the flap procedure for nipple creation - at least in my case - the center of the mound was flattened out. I preferred the shape of the mound prior to nipple creation. So it is a matter of personal preference, in the end result.
Deborah
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Shannon: I would not think of switching out implants merely for a little rippling on one side. Some gals just do not mind doing this, but I would not personally advocate doing this for something that can be masked by a good bra. I would rather go through another fat graft transfer procedure. That is MY personal opinion, after doing what I do here for nearly five years. You have had a lot of surgeries. What if the Sientra implants do not resolve the issue? Do you want to send me photos?
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There are indeed some very good nipple areola tattoo artists out there... among some of the best are:
Vinnie Myers in Maryland (but I believe he travels)
http://vinniemyers.com/section/105672_Nipple_Areola_Tattooing.htmlEarleen Bennett in North Carolina
http://www.ashevillepermanentmakeupclinic.com/Areola-Tattoos.htmlAnd there is also a woman whose username here on BCO is Facecrafter -- I guess contact her that way for more info -- based in Florida
But I put up the links if anyone wants to see the variety of possible 3D tattoo results out there.
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Hi Wippetmom,
I sent you an email in case you needed to reference pictures. I got the second opinion and new PS is much more open to questions. Here are the stats again 5'2" 125pd 29 in ribcage 12cm expanders mdht variable proj now filled to 300cc since new ps removed 100 cc from each side due to thinning tissue lateral and flipped expander on the right. TE are are almost under my armpits, about 8 fingers apart now.
He is reccomending a wider implant around 13 and vol 480. Does this sound right? If I go with smooth round will it be too tall for my frame. Also, projection seems low. He does say Sientra formed might be a good choice but I'm not leaning that way after reading all the post.
All feedback appreciated:)
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Lilah are you aware of any great tattoo artist for nipples anywhere in the Midwest, say Chicago, St Louis, Minnesota??? I hear they do use different dye then the Doctors use. I hear it holds up longer?? I found a makeup artist who has done nipples in my area. She only uses the dye you would use for makeup tattoo. Which I don't know if there is a big difference. I have plenty of time to decide not even having my exchange until Mid June.....
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I asked my PS about fat grafting to fix the imperfections once the implants were done, and he said he isn't a strong advocate of fat grafting for breast cancer patients--he said that fat grafting can cause little nodules under the skin from the scarring and then a BC patient might panic thinking that it is a recurrence. He said besides leading to unnecessary worry, it can also lead to unneeded biopsies, etc. Is there value in his thoughts? Has anyone else come across this? I thought the fat grafting part was kind of a given with reconstruction.
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weety - As someone who dealt with several lumps after my implants were placed (no fat grafting) I can tell you that it was a concern for my BS so I was also concerned. She said, "I know in my brain that it's just scar tissue, but breast cancer is sneaky and I don't trust it." My PS is a cool cucumber, but was not willing to just write it off as scar tissue and was all for the multiple MRIs and ultrasounds that followed over the next 1-1/2 years to keep an eye on things.
Fat grafting does seem very common, but I have read of other women whose docs don't or won't use it. This is definitely the feeling of my BS. BS scowled and said if I was really asking for her vote on fat grafting she would vote "no". She said it leads to more worry and biopsies. On the flip side, I've talked to a radiologist who read several of my ultrasounds and she said that technology has improved and a good radiologist should be able to distinguish between scar tissue, fat necrosis, and more ominous things. So, if you can guarantee that you have a good radiologist reading your studies.....
My PS does fat grafting for certain things, but not for others. He uses it often in thin women for filling in above the breast to plump it up and soften that transition area. He does not like to use it for rippling.
I have added fat grafting to the very long list of topics over which our oncologists, plastic surgeons, and breast surgeons seem to differ. Sure makes it confusing sometimes!
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Whippetmom--I finally got a return call from my PS's nurse this afternoon and she has called in some antibiotics. She had said she'd let me know if he wanted me on them by yesterday morning. This is pretty typical turnaround time to get call back from her. Anyway, he's put me on a weeks worth of Keflex (well generic Keflex since the real stuff was $120 and generic was $12!!). The hole is looking pretty good though. Doesn't look like any infection but I figure better safe than sorry! I am having quite a time with the lifted nipple being very very sensitive as well as the lower outer quadrant. Wondering if maybe the infection is part of that and hoping the antibiotics will help calm things down. Sometimes it feels like it has a terrible sunburn or something!! My PS said it will go away eventually; he just couldn't ballpark a time frame for eventually.
Well, if it's not one thing, it's another......0 -
I saw the work Vinnie does on his website. It is a work of art!! Is there a good site to look at reconstructed nipples? I am leaning towards the reconstruction path. My thought was if I had the reconstruction that I might get a physiological feeling they are still there? When I get cold I swear I feel my nipples get hard.
I get like a shiver feeling in my body. Weird!! That is why I am leaning towards nipple reconstruction. Does anyone else ever feel like that?0 -
bcs: I do not have my catalogues handy, and that 480 cc implant does not sound like a smooth round silicone implant. Let's find out what he is referring to, and I think somewhere between 12.0 cm and 13.0 cm is fine.
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lala: I don't know....but keep your eye on it and why not start antibiotics...??
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Deborah, helloooooooo, thought the folks here could benefit from this note
Good Morning-friends, have been working on an issue with a member. Wanted to share with you all the note below b/c of it's importance. Hope you find it useful Sassy
(members name deleted) Glad the link helped. If you get the AARP magazine this months issue (probably dated may 2013) , there is a story about the safest hospitals and what safety procedures that are in place that cause them to be safe. The article cites that 180,000 people die a year due to medical/surgical errors AND 400,000 drug errors are made a year. The articles states that these numbers are likely higher b/c these are the ones that are reported. I agree. I know you've seen where I've said on the threads "Sorry etc for too much info, just want too make you(BCO memebers) safer". Guess I should stop apologizing for writing stuff in this regard. These numbers are higher then the last set of numbers that I had known. The problem is either getting worse OR there is better reporting. I'll go with better reporting.
It cited that one of the safety items was having an ICU Intensivist. It cited that only 35% of hospitals had Intensivist. I was dismayed at this percentage since residencies for Critical Care Medicine have been available since the 1980's. Truly thought by now that the "industry" would have been driven by demand for better care that this statistic would be 70 to 80%. ICU medicine is absolutely in need of a specially trained doc. Just as in all subspecialties of the American Medical Association(AMA), the knowledge and skills of this subspecialty are critical to survival when a patient is at this level of need.
I'm going to post this on the threads, I'll take off identifiers. My hope is those seeing this will locate a copy of the AARP article. Read it throroughly. Then question there local hospitals on each item. Based on what they elicit re:safety of each facility, they can choose the safest hospital near them for care. It can mean the difference between life and death, and or avoidable complications. Spreading the word to others regarding this may save lives.
Your description of where your friends daughter is now is typical. So, the care may have been fine or she recovered in spite of them. I'll go with the care b/c of your description of how she appears now. What was truly lacking here was the communication in lay terms to the family of was what was going on with the patient. All the lay person then can do observing is assume, as in this patients case, there appeared to be fractured care delivery and choas. What can the untrained person concluded observing this. As in all care, communication is the center of it all. Very often even the care givers question what the recovery will be. AND then the patient pulls through. Continuing with evaluating the records will lend a lot to the understanding of this event.
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Sas... Thank you SO very much for your previous post, for opening my eyes to a very important issue I would have otherwise missed.
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Just a quick note re: intensivist. That's a specially trained physician who's employed by the hospital. There are plenty of specially trained critical care physicians who are not employed by the hospital and see patients at the request of an admitting or following doctor.
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Oh I did start antibiotics Whippetmom. Started yesterday. Didn't mean to imply I wasn't planning on taking them!! Surely don't want anything bad to happen to the new boobs!!
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Tangles -- I've already posted the sum total of what I know about tattoo artists
You might try sending a PM to Facecrafter her on BCO. She is a professional tattoo artist in Florida (I believe I already mentioned her) and might be able to refer you.0 -
I thought I had a good understanding with my PS before and after my bilateral mastectomy as to what I wanted to be at the end of the process... which was cancer-free and a size A+/B- as I was before breast cancer. He expanded me to 350cc... and yet he put in 450cc high profile implants. The pain in my inframammary fold and down my sternum is intense... the tightness and overall discomfort is incredible. I'm 5 months post exchange surgery... and it's not getting better. And now, just to top it off... I think I may have capsular contraction, but I don't trust my PS anymore and won't go back to him to find out. I'm at a losss for what to do. Has anyone had a similar experience with the pain in the inframammary fold... and does anyone know of surgeon who might be able to help me. I truly wish that I had found whippetmom's words of wisdom BEFORE I got too far into this process... and I just want to be able to hug my children again. Thanks.
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thelightsofmylife: You need to send me a private message by clicking on my name and then click on "send private message" and let me know where you live. Also, if you want to privately send me photos, I can give you my email address. I can help you figure this out.
Deborah
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lala: Good....I was confused...thought that your PS was going to let you know whether he wanted you on them...even though they had been rx'd. Eat lots of good quality protein and stay off refined sugar for awhile...follow an anti-inflammatory diet...Keep us posted....
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thelightsofmylife: I think your breast surgeon and plastic surgeon are negligent in failing to inform you of the risks of breast surgery, e.g., the development of post-mastectomy pain syndrome. Fifty percent or more of women who have undergone breast surgery, such as either unilateral or bilateral mastectomy, experience symptoms of pain or discomfort which are attributable to PMPS. There is a thread by that name here on bc.org....Post-Mastectomy Pain Syndrome....
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2ND, HUGS you never know where a word, or a sentence may save or change a life. Rather than corny this is regrettfully to true. What's great about this being in AARP, is the membership is so vast and diverse. What was fairly hidden is now OUTED. I'm going to put this on my Pinktober revolution thread. How about tees that say" is Your Hospital Killing People?" PO is big into tees that are very very graphic LOL. sheila
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Went yesterday and had a fill. My TE are now filled to full capicity 550cc and I think its just right for what I want!! Now with that said it really hurt this time. I have to get two more fills to overfill I wonder is it going to get worse?The skin stretching and all. OUCH not looking forward to it. Cant get the exchange until mid to end of June.
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Tangles - I'm currently at 750cc in 600cc expanders (3 fills of 50cc each for over-expansion). I didn't experience any pain or additional discomfort with the over-expansion, just some additional tightness. I hope you have the same experience
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Hi everyone, just jumping in to say I'll be going in on May 21 for exchange to implants and have sent my photos to Deborah (Whippetmom) for her advice on the implants. I am 5'3", 130-135 lbs., and currently have expanders filled to 500cc. She has suggested Allergan 20, 600cc or Allergan 15, 492cc. I will be making the request to these implant with my PS and get his feedback. I plan to post all my pictures when I'm allowed in the photo forum so others with my kind of build can compare with what my outcome turns out to be. - Lori
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Lori if you are filled to 500 now and want 600 May 21st does your PS not overfill?? I am getting the Allergan 20 and am at 550 now and have to be filled two more times. My PS also said I would need to be overfilled 4 weeks before the surgery date. I guess all PS are different. I am not looking forward to being overfilled!!!
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Hi tangles, It was the suggestion from Deborah so I don't know if my PS will agree or not. She did say though that it shouldn't be a problem to have this implant placed being only that much larger than the expander. I plan on calling the PS and asking if it is a possibility so I'll post his response
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tangles: READ #1 in the thread header. TISSUE EXPANDER - OVERFILLING AND THE REASONS FOR DOING SO....
Not every PS overfills. Not every patient requires overfilling of the TE. It depends on your pre-MX breast size, how well your skin responds to expansion, so many factors. It is not a one size fits all process....0
