BREAST IMPLANT SIZING 101
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Hi Mary!!! There is so much support here for every step of the journey. I cried for a couple of weeks after my exchange...First you hear your diagnosis and go into Fight Mode. Then you're on meds and healing from surgery and possibly various other treatments. Then Exchange Day comes and you THINK you should feel "normal" again. It just doesn't happen that magically. But you will get there. Meanwhile come hang out with us!!
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Mary, welcome, glad you found us. You never have to be alone again, unless you want to. One of the best things, you get to be yourself, no matter how you're feeling, there are several here who understand. This is the safest place, whine and vent if needed. Don't forget to breathe and know it takes baby steps even when you think you're ready to run. BCO has so much to offer.
Now, rest and stay away from the mirror, it is not your friend right now. Also, we have a mantra here, "just because you can, doesn't mean you should."
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TOP TEN BIGGEST BREAST IMPLANTS IN THE WORLD: seriously....
http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-biggest/the-top-10-biggest-breast-implants-in-the-world/
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YEOUCH!
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Hi Mary,
I agree, this can be a very very lonely experience. I know what you mean. My hubby is very detached and he really doesn't handle stress very well. Like you I have friends that live far away and besides, those who've never gone through this will never really know what it's like. I had a small group of friends and family who supported me through a CaringBridge site in the beginning, but sometimes and especially after treatment - the support drops off. It helps having others who've been through it. That's why this site is a life saver in so many ways. I've always been a private person and at first I hesitated to join this public forum. There are so many dedicated women on this thread and others who are so willing to help with information and support. They are my go-to girls! It is a club that no one wants to join, but here we are....immediate friends!
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you girls are so funny, thanks for the laugh. Has anyone heard how whippetmom is?
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Everyone...
Thank you for the flowers and the prayers and the positive thoughts. I have been home since Friday. Surgery was far more intensive and extensive than I imagined. The surgeon minimized the extent of the surgery as well. I had a rocky hospital course. Still on the dreaded narcotics....and you all know what this does to the GI system. My incision is centimeters from my left implant and runs 1/4 the length of the IMF laterally. If I EVER need an implant revision, an IMF incision is out of the question now.
I am ready to answer questions and jump back into the fray!!!
Love you all for holding down the fort for me!
Deborah
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WHIPPETMOM'S BACK! Great to hear from you Deborah!
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Glad to hear your back at home and recovering whippetmom, looks like a few of us are all in the same boat....My prayers have been full, and I have a habit of praying everytime I fall asleep, been getting up from pain due to take a pill and then praying myself back to sleep. Today the bruising is still present but the pain of it might be on the upswing. I got a little lost in what surgery was for, but none the less, God knows what you need.
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Whippetmom, I'm sooooooo happy to hear you are back and on the road to recovery! xoxo
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Whippetmom.....I'm sorry to hear this is so darn painful. Why can't it just be a piece of cake? I'm glad to hear you are on the road to recovery....feel free to vent here...you don't have to act like it's easy-peasy if it isn't!!!
Mary, I felt exactly the same way when I came here. Although my family of origin has been MIA since my diagnosis, my hubby has tried really hard to be there for me in any way he can. And, I have wonderful friends. But, I just never felt like I could 'really' tell them how I was feeling. I know they didn't really want to know. I had no hope. NONE. My mother was very sick with breast cancer at my age (44) and died a few years later when I was 16. In spite of what my dr's told me (prognosis very, very good), I just had no hope. And, the pain and disfigurement I felt was indescribable.
....UNTIL I came here. So many people with so many stories and so much kindness and love. THEY understood me, THEY could honestly tell me if things were going to be OK, or what I needed to know. I, too, cried many tears just reading peoples' posts here. So many of the women here will never know how they changed my heart.
I hope to be one of those women to someone else someday. This has changed my whole outlook on life....I, too, am eternally grateful. I have told many women about this site. I hope they are all here, even if they are just "lurking" as I was in the beginning!!!
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Mary: Please get out of bed and shake off the depression. You honestly need to wait at least two months for a revision anyway, and so this gives us plenty of time to either communicate to your present PS, what you would like to do next, or find a new plastic surgeon and determine what implants will work best for your frame. I can agree that the 400 cc Mentor ultras are wrong for your frame. Certainly, they are far too narrow for your frame, at 10.6 inches. I have a feeling that they are narrower than were your TEs, and this contributes to the problem. I think you need around 500 ccs to 600 ccs in a high profile (not an ULTRA profile) smooth round implant. It is likely, that since you DID like the appearance of your TEs, that they were probably sufficient to get you to implants with a volume of at least 500 ccs. I cannot be firm on that premise though, since we do not know the style or volume of your TEs. So you have a little homework. Your tissue expanders, by law, must be registered and recorded in your medical chart. We are often given a little credit card type document which contains information regarding our tissue expanders, upon discharge from the hospital. Take and look and see if you can find this little card in your hospital documentation. But you can call the doctor's office tomorrow and ask them to look up this information in the chart. Tell them you know that legally, this information must be placed in the chart, and that, if necessary, you will wait on the phone until they find it for you. Now is the time to not be a shrinking violet, but to build up the resolve that you will get it right the next time. Believe me, there have been many unhappy women who have been in your place and many of those women persevered, convinced their physician to give them the implants they needed, or they went elsewhere and found success. Do not spend another stressful moment worrying about this, when it can be fixed.
Let me know when you get the information required. Also, please PM me privately the name of your PS, so that I can know where you live and find someone else for a consultation. In answer to your question about insurance, yes, this will be covered.
Deborah
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SavedbyGod: I like everything your PS is proposing for you. It sounds good to me. Many of us have Alloderm and regarding the compression bra - it is quite commonly used after breast reconstruction. I think it is a good idea in your case, to support the weight of the TEs, especially since you have redundant skin. So you are on your way. I know this is tough...and you have been through so much...but you have the Great Healer on your side. You will soon be on the other side of it and this is just a hiccup - a bump in the road. Hope you are taking care of yourself and getting lots of rest and good nutrition. Good nutrition is so difficult during our recovery process, and especially when we are in pain. Hang in there...
Deborah
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Thank you, Lord, for answered prayers.... SO happy you are home, Deborah!
Continued prayers for a speedy recovery and complete healing!!!
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Previvor: The rule regarding anatomicals is that the dimensions of the implant match the dimensions of the tissue expander, or the risk of rotation is greatly increased. Too large pockets are typically the reason for the discrepancy, which brings about implant rotation and/or displacement. As long as your pocket is not large due to prior breast size, you might fare well with the larger MX style implant.
You must be in Europe, Canada or OZ or NZ, if your PS has access to the MX, FX or SX style anatomicals. They are not approved here in the U.S. yet. If you could persuade your PS to go another direction, with the smooth siicone rounds, Allergan Style 20 or Style 45, volumes 500 ccs or 550 ccs respectively, would be preferable, in my book. I would vote for 550 ccs....rounds, but otherwise, the MX410 it is....
EDITED AFTER REVIEWING PHOTOS!!!
So I am so glad when I can see photos!!! You might be fine with the MX370s. But it is only one anatomical style we are referring to. Your PS should try the MX370 and he MX410 and use the one which looks best. You will want to enlist the opinions of the OR nurses in this regard! You look great.. That one TE has rotated and I hope the fills are over? I fear the delicate, thin tissues are being tested...
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jennie: I do not agree at all with the idea of using implants that much narrower than the TEs.
Trying to reduce the capsule that much does not always "hold", and then you have implants in your armpits and a wide gap in the cleavage a year down the road. Not pretty. Why not use a narrower TE in the first place? You might be a good candidate for the ultra full projection implant, but Mentor's ultra does not work for you. Allergan Style 45 has much better dimensions than Mentor's version, IMHO...and if he can get over the idea of disappointing his Mentor rep, he could order Allergan instead for you (you are far more important than his rep) - Allergan Style 45, 550 ccs. He might be need to perform lateral capsulorrhaphys, so that the implants do not migrate laterally, because you are narrower by four millimeters, or something like that. Otherwise, I vote for Mentor high profile smooth round silicone implants, 500 ccs.
Deborah
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mmnbeck...I had that huge lump coming up in my throat as I read your post above. I was making those funny things you do with your mouth and blinking back tears, because I am sitting here in bed and I had just put on a lash builder product and I did not want it running into my eyes! Horrors!
Thank you for sharing your experience. So many of us feel the same and it is why we have stayed so long. I am sure you are already "changing hearts" with your presence on these threads. It is a marvelous and wondrous thing to have a changed heart...a grateful heart...and, in my case, to actually be able to say that my life is better AFTER breast cancer. Bless you dear heart!!
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Thank you for the adorable whippet photos also!!! My dogs were going to go so beserk when they saw me, my husband had to take them outside for walk and then let me come out and walk up to them slowly, giving me a wide area to control them. Otherwise, he could not have kept them from mobbing me. It was a sweet reunion and they did not let me out of their sight for days.
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I am glad I read through all of the posts....b/c I was alarmed that Lilah had talked with me on Friday or Saturday...and she never mentioned anything about going into the hospital.....So glad to hear that was not the case!
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thanks whippetmom. I do feel dreadful bothering you when you have had such an ordeal. You are correct, I am in Australia. But I so so love the BCO forum and have learned so much from everyone that it doesn't really matter. The main issue is the time difference (and the dates all look backwards!)
The surgeon said he will order the mx410, Mx370 and fx410 and see which ones are the best fit in surgery. Getting excited - exchange on 9th May. Can't wait to get rid of these boulders especially naughty rightie who is just going mad!
Once again, thank you and look after yourself and those beautiful whippets
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Welcome back Deborah!!!! Glad you're all right!!!!!!
Babs
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Hi Deborah, I'm so happy you are back and on the mend. I was getting worried about you.
It sounds like you are ready to help us all again so I'll go ahead and ask your advice for implants. No hurry, though! I am 5' 3and 3/4" and 135 pounds. (I'm usually closer to 128 but I had too much comfort food the last 2 months). I have a pear shape, where I carry my weight in my thighs and rear.
My expanders are 133MV-13 and the capacity is 400cc. I am currently at 350cc. I am liking the size but want to be a little bigger than this. I'm thinking with my TEs, I'd be happy at 400-450cc. Looking at the charts, I'm guessing the Style 20 500ccs would be the best. I've wondered if 500 would look like an obvious boob job on me, though. I don't want people to look at me and think "fake boobs." I do love Cameron's 500ccs on the picture site! I don't want to go bigger than 500 for sure. By the way, Dr. Mattson-Gates is my PS, too. I see her Thursday for my next fill. Here is me in a bikini top at 350cc. I could send topless pics too. Oh I edited to add that my rib cage circumference right under my breasts is 32in. I have long legs and a shorter torso.
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Welcome Mary. I too am very thankful for BCO as it has helped me greatly to process all that is happening and kept me going. I'm hoping for my exchange in 6 weeks so am trying to prepare myself for what all of these wise girls are teaching us. Great compassionate and wonderful teachers here!! Thanks everyone. Each post helps.
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LOL Deborah. I'm glad I wasn't in the hospital either! And even gladder that you are home in the comfortable protection of hubby and whippets. Sending healing prayers your way!
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Whippettmom,
I just had my last fill today. I am at 650 cc in both breasts. My ps said she is planning to bring in 650, 700 and 750 cc during the exchange. I'm not sure what kind exactly, she didn't disclose that. I told her when in doubt go bigger. I like the size I am w the Tes and don't want to lose a lot of the fullness... Any suggestions? My exchange is on June 2.
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Hi Whippetmom,
So glad you are back home safe and sound & sending you more healing prayers until you are fully recovered. I didn't feel comfortable when the PS mentioned the ultra high profiles but not sure why. Thank you so much for your response. It makes a lot of sense. I am not interested in making my life more difficult than it has to be. I will stick with the high profiles and let the PS know preferably 500 ccs. Thanks to you and everyone here for making me feel not alone on this journey. Jennie
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Juliecc, I love the style of that bikini top, may I ask where you got it?
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Thanks, Cateyz. I think I bought it at Target about 4 years ago. I don't spend a lot of money on clothes.
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Deborah - so glad you're home and recovering. We missed you! You're amazingly lucid and coherent for still being on narcotics!
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Have just joined the forum. If one is very active (golf,spinning and gym workouts) is one implant better than another? Thanks for your help.
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