BREAST IMPLANT SIZING 101
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Dear Deborah - I sent you an email with updated photos of my reconstruction. i am hoping that you received it. Thank you so much for all of your help. - Catchturn
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Catch....I responded to your email!
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Hi Whippetmom -- That sounds great.... I have a request in for my medical records and will find out the height of the TEs. Where do you measure the ribcage circumference...at the IMF?
Hi Kate -- I had the fat grafting at time of exchange.... not sure that I would want any more, besides, the rippling is pretty big (on three sides) and it would take a lot of fat!!!
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vanderlady- Mine are pretty subtle right now. I'm just worried they might get bigger. My PS did say she doesn't like to do fat grafting until at least 6 months out from exchange so I'm guessing she's going to take a wait and see approach.
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vander: Yes. Measure just under the bra line....just under the IMF.
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Well i saw my PS today to discuss my exchange.
She said that she will order both the 325grm and the 370grm in th MX and see which she can get in! I have to say,i was pleasantly suprises that she was thinking the 370grm!! That is what i was hoping for but i may still end up getting the 325 if the 370 wont close up properly.She wants to give me the best chance of a good 'finish' if you like.
I think i am quite happy with what she suggested.As long as i get the MX i think it will be ok.The MF loses too much projection,and she did say projection was what she'd like to keep for me.
Re:the pocket work.Her plans are to get me as symmetrican as possible,but she did explain that the pectoral muscles would play a major part in how much the pockets can be moved inward. They may just want to pull the implants outward laterally so they have to be careful.
Because my left side is further out to the side,they said they may move that side slightly in and the other side slightly out to even them up some.Sounds good to me as i do like the width! She says its very common for the woman to get used to the size of the TE's and that i would def be smaller than now,but bigger than i was.
I have to buy some firm support sport bra's to take into hospital with me,and wear them 24/7 for a few weeks.
I didn't realise they kept and used the capsule that is already formed around the TE.
I was told i MUST NOT massage the implants for at least 6 weeks,maybe longer.
I will be in hospital about 48hours and will have drains in ~boo =( ~!! My exchange will hopefully be around 2nd week in October but i will get my appointment thru the post.
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Kay: The sizes sound good to me. I have heard some differing views regarding massage of textured implants - gummy bears included. Here is a thread which finds many gummy bear "owners" discussing their views and their PS' edicts re: massage...
http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topic/725487?page=1
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i just took a read of that,thanks.
Yes my PS did say that with the gummy being anatomically shaped ,massage should be avoided due to the chance of it rotating.
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Hi everyone:
I'm going to cross-post a question here because this thread gets more traffic. My original thread is "red te" if you want to see my OP and the comments. I need advice! (edited to add that I didn't have radiation)
Here's today's post:
bumping this up because the redness is back. I haven't even finished the 1st round of abx. I'm wondering if the following could be resulting in inflammation (not infection), thus resulting in redness but no fever. (FWIW~ That side is slightly more sore but not by much.)
1. I volunteered at the animal shelter yesterday and scooped 30+ cat litter boxes. I'm left-handed and my affected side is the left.
2. Missing LN on the left. (I had 7 removed.)
3. Seroma on the left... behind the alloderm so it can't be drained.
4. Lefty is bigger (445cc+ seroma while rt is only 445cc).
5. I started exercising again today but only took a 2 mile walk (no jogging as per PS).
I really, really, really want to avoid calling the PS. I so don't want to deal with him today... Do ya'll think I can chalk this up to benign inflammation? ugh. I need your advice!
xxoo
Michele
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Michele: There could have been some friction from the skin rubbing against the TE as you were scooping litter boxes, but again, it could be a seroma or hematoma. Why don't you email me a picture?
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Deborah~ I'm at work so I can't right now.
But, it looks pink, like a sunburn. It blanches out when pressed and returns to pink very quickly-- like a sunburn. The other side has a small area that looks the same over the center (has been there since the beginning) but the left side is more widespread. I *do* have a seroma on the left. PS can't drain it because it is behind the TE/alloderm.
Thanks!
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Deborah~ I just looked at the TE pics I sent to you before and you can see a redness on that left TE then (though I didn't know it at the time). It is more pink than in those pics but not strikingly so... If you didn't know there was something going on, *you* or the rest of the recon thread might notice but most people might not. I'm sooo frustrated...
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If the red area has grown larger (and sounds like it has) you could have an infection. You should see your PS Michele. I developed a redness around 4 weeks after my MX / TE placement and I never had a fever. The area, moreover, seemed redder at end of the day and less red in the morning (so I thought it was from friction); but antibiotics made the red area shrink dramatically after a few days and then it disappeared. You don't want to fool around if it's an infection... early attack with antibiotics will keep you out of the hospital (away from a 24 hour IV drip of antibiotics) not to mention the risk of losing the implant due to infection.
I also had 'slightly more sore' as part of what I felt... and I walked around like that for a week. My PS was pretty annoyed with me for not calling her immediately. Also: I did not have radiation either.
I'm sorry -- I know you don't want to call -- but please please call your PS.
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Lilah~ I'm on antibiotics. I've been on them since 7/30/10 when the redenss 1st popped up. The redness got better but now is back. However, I stopped exercising and really limited movement from 7/30 to this past weekend (SUnday actually)... Still think I should call? I'm so sick of dealing with him because he wants me to go in the hosp at the drop of a hat...
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Yeah I hear you... try drawing a line around the red area with a pen now and then take it easy (exercise wise) for 24 hours and see if the area of redness grows larger or smaller. If it grows larger, I would call PS and take it like a man re: trip to hospital
(Or is that take it like a woman?) Because if it is an infection that isn't responding to the antibiotics, then you need something more drastic; and if you don't treat it right you might lose the TE and have to start all over. Sorry to be a bummer 
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Michelle -- I too had an infection with my TE....it was staph epi. It was redder at night and less in the morning. Took a while before the fever came. Had to have the TE exchanged and two weeks of home IV. After that, I was paranoid about infection coming back. They wanted to keep me on Bactrim for 3 months...... started having some reddening of the skin but it turned out to be sun sensitivity to Bactrim. So.... it could be something as simple as that. The infection hasn't returned and that was in March.
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Michele: I am in agreement with the above. You don't want to mess around with anything which could put you at risk for losing the TE.
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Mstar: That's great news! I am so happy that your PS seems to be on the same page. Yay for you!!
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Hi, I'm new to this thread (and also to this forum), but saw that you may be dealing with an infection and had to chime in because this hits so close to home. Don't mess around. Draw that circle around it, and take pictures if you can to see if the color is deepening or if a pattern emerges. Mine hit so quickly that within hours I had a raging fever, convulsive chills and went into toxic shock syndrome with my BP dropping to 69/35. It was staph. I had to have my right TE removed in the ICU because they didn't have time to get me to an OR. I'm sorry to use scare tactics, but I don't want what happened to me happen to anyone else. I definitely don't want you to lose your expander, but more importantly, I don't want it to advance to the point that your life is in jeopardy.
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an update~
I called my PS and spoke to the nurse this morning. My PS said that he wants me to finish out this course of abx (will be done thurs) and see if it gets worse. It is still slightly pink and pretty diffuse. He wants me to take my temp too (which I have already been doing). So... still playing the wait-and-see game. I have an appt to see him in 1 week, assuming that everything stays the same (or gets better).
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Yay Michele! Here's hoping it gets better!
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Hi, Just checking in. Had my first fill today and asked the PS how much the TEs fill to. He said their capacity is 250, that he put in 120 at surgery, and 50 would be added today. He expects that another 50 will be added, so I have another, supposedly the last, fill appt. for the 25th. The nurse said that he doesn't always fill them to capacity. Counting surgery, plus two 50cc fills, it would finally total 220cc.
Just measured my IMF and it is 28.5". I'm 5'5", 126 lbs. My TEs, as mentioned before are Mentor Low-Height 7100s. Strangely, I feel much better after this fill, as it seems things have spread out and there's no more pinching. Guess I'll need to ask the PS next time what size implant he intends to use, as according to what you all are writing of, I'd end up really small. My bra size before surgery was between 32C & 32D, depending upon the brand.
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Some PS's put implants in larger than the TE... and I think especially with those low heights that is usually the plan (at least from what I've seen posted by others). I'll be curious to know what he says!
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Michele: Make sure you call Thursday if there is no resolution/change, because you do not want to be dealing with this over the weekend.
Melissa: I think around 350 ccs [at the minimum] or 375 ccs in a high profile silicone smooth round would be nice on your frame. It sounds as though that is about as much as your PS will do - he sounds uber-conservative referable to fills and he might feel the same about implant sizing. So get your desires made known....
Your TE has a width of 11.4 cm and a projection of 6.1 cm. I believe the 350 cc implant HP has a width of 11.7 cm and a projection of around 4.2 cm....something like that...
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Deborah: I had my pre-op today and it looks like they plan to bring in a whole army of sizes when we go in, both high and mid-plus profile, all Allergan. The range is anywhere from 300 cc's for my non MX breast to 600 for my MX side. Guess I won't find out until I am done, but at least he listened to your advice and he seems to be going in that direction! I also won't know until I wake up if they plan to use Alloderm or ft grafting for the step off. One more week from Thursday!!!
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MBJ - Yay! I'm so happy for you!!
Orchidgal - I too had 250cc TE's. My PS filled them to 310 and he was able to get 325cc implants in there. He overfills and I thought for sure I'd be lucky to get to 300, but I was surprised. Hopefully he'll be able to give what you want.
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Deborah~ What's the rationale for over-filling? My PS says he likes to fill 25-50% over what the implant will be. That seems like a lot...
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ugh~ Just showed a coworker/friend my foobs. She looked at it 2 weeks ago when this began. She said the area is much bigger but not as pink. My foob is uncomfortable today (psychosomatic?)... I called PS and made an appt for tomorrow morning. <sigh>
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MicheleS- So sorry you are having complications. I'm glad your PS is getting you in earlier. Hopefully they can get it all resolved for you. Good luck!
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Michelle: I truly hope that nothing is wrong with your implant! I am glad that you could get in to see your PS so fast. Best to be safe with these things. Hugs!
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