BREAST IMPLANT SIZING 101
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I was checking with my PS's office to see if I needed to take some kind of bra with me for my exchange and his assistant said I would be sent home in a tube top! Yikes! After these months with my turtle shells I'm thinking I will feel a little... VULNERABLE. Have you heard of other doctors doing that?
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Believe you me, it is a marvelous thing to be 60 years of age and able to wear a tube top! For once I have breasts which will hold up a tube top. Count your blessings Jan. Don't look a gift-horse in the mouth! LOL!
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MBJ - glad to hear you made it through okay..... I always have trouble with the anesthesia too. Your neck might be hurting from the position it was in during the operation. rest! Pam
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Whippetmom: Well my daughter has been after me to update my image a little... I wonder if the tube top would be the direction she has in mind. LOL!
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Jan - Yeah, that's it..... we want to see the tube top on your updated profile pix!!!
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Whippetmom and Vanderlady:Thanks for a good laugh..lately I have been taking everything far too seriously!
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Thanks for this thread WhippetMom!! I meet with the PS on 9/6 and am clueless!!
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My nurse was surprised that they sent me home in the surgical bra--she said that usually they send everyone home in a blue or pink tube top. Maybe I wouldn't be having so much neck pain if they had put me in a tube top intead. I haven't worn a tube top since I was fourteen, and I didn't have a thing to hold it up then!
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Very Important: voting started today on Timtam's site to move forward with the new one or stay with the old. Please vote as they need at least 50 interested to proceed with the picture forum and the poll ends the 28th!
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Hi, I am new here, and not sure where to post this question...so, bear with me if I am posting this in the wrong forum:
I am going through breast reconstruction after having double mastectomies (one due to DCIS grade 3, the other one profylactic due to several cysts).
The problem is: I really, really regret my last expansion.
I am filled to 350 cc...and I wish I had stopped at a smaller size. I feel that I became too big, and that my new large expanded breasts just remind me of cancer...I am devastated, and on top of it I feel really guilty: this was my own choice after all, and I feel so stupid.
Is there anything I can do? Is it possible to put in smaller implants even if the skin is expanded? If there is anyone out there who could give me any advice I would really appreciate it.
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Maria~ Lots of surgeons OVER expand. Mine likes to have the TE's 25-50% bigger than the implant size. Right now, I'm filled to 550cc (no more fills!!!) and will get 375cc implants at my exchange. So.... I don't think it is a big deal at all to go smaller. Maybe that's what your PS is planning anyway? {{{{HUGS}}}}
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Dear Maria -
I agree with Michelle. Do you know if your PS overfills? You could PM your stats listed in the introduction to this thread to whippetmom and she could tell you what size impant would look good on your frame. There's no need to worry! No damage has been done. The pocket they create with the expanders shrinks a little after they put the implant in. No worries, you'll be OK.
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Marie: keep in mind the expander is also larger then the cc's becouse of the port so if they were to put in a 350 cc implant, it would actually be smaller then the expander. I expanded up to 535 and they put in a 550 cc implant, yet it looks a whole size and a half smaller then the expander was! I agree. give whippetmom your measurements and she will give you the size that will look best on your body. You came to the right place--Big, gentle hugs!
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Anne: Stick around and keep learning~!!!
Maria: I need your height, weight, ribcage circumference....and yes, even if you were exchanged to 350 cc implants, they would be smaller than the tissue expanders. You are just fine where you are.....you did nothing wrong.
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Marie - If you were just expanded in the past couple of days, it could be the pressure of the expanded size which will go away in a few days and it won't feel so big anymore.
MBJ - Interesting comment about "size and a half" smaller. Do you think the 500 cc expander "size" is equivalent to 550 or 600 cc in an implant?
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vanderlady: You want to compare the dimensions of the TE to the implant. For instance:
Allergan 133 MV 400 cc TE - 13.0 cm wide by 5.6 cm projection
Allergan Style 20 500 cc implant - 13.0 cm wide by 5.2 cm projection
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Whippetmom, thanks so much for offering help!! Are the 350 implants actually smaller than the expanders? That gives me hope. My height is 5'7, weight 132 Lbs, ribcage 31, 5 inches and I am 44 years old. The tissue expander is an Allergan 133 MV 400cc
Michelle, Dawn-Hope, MBJ and vanderlady - thanks for all of your support and good advice! I don't think my PS overfills. I haven't been researching enough (another thing I feel slightly guilty about...), but will make sure to ask.
Hugs from maria
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vanderlady: the dimensions of my TE above are exactly what I had in me. The 400 TE was expanded to 535cc and replaced with a 550 implant dimensions 13.5 x 5.6, but without the TE the implant looks smaller as the chest muscle presses down on it. Not quite the same amount of projection as a TE. If I just had an implant without losing any breast tissue there may not be such a dramatic difference. Hope this helps rather then confuses you!
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Maria: You know, with your height, weight and ribcage, I would have placed you in a 475cc or 500cc high profile implant! Because you have a 13.0 cm width TE and you want to be smaller, I would recommend a Style 15 in 371 ccs. You would be at 12.9 cm width and 4.2 cm projection. This is compared to the 13.0 cm width and 5.6 cm projection of your TEs. Certainly less projection. You will look quite a bit smaller than you do now. But you need the width.
Deborah
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Maria: If you are limited to 5 posts daily, you can always PM me with questions. That goes for any of you newbies who are under the temporary probationary period on bc.org.
Deborah
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I posted a question in Exchange City and was directed here... I'm pretty excited having new breasts but am eagerly concerned about getting the right implants to make it a one-shot deal. My bilateral mastectomy was last year and just recently completed my last fill on Thursday with 475cc in each breast. I spoke with my PS and we are going to put in 400cc implants as I was happy with the size. My question is---what cup size is it? My PS wouldn't give me any specifics and as my natural breasts were 34AA, I don't really know how big 400cc's are. I am 5'3" with broad shoulders. Weight 108 lbs, ribcage 34". The Style of Tissue Expanders are 133MV-13 tissue expander matrix-Moderate Height-Allergan. I just need to know approximates. Projection looks good and I've got a cleavage! But will this entirely change with the implants?
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Here in Canada you do get the reconstruction for free. I had a lovely doctor lined up before my recurrence. You don't get subsequent operations if you are not happy but you do get to complain to the College of Physicians and Surgeons if you are not satisfied with your care or you can start with the head of the hospital. There must be someone in Australia that overseas the medical profession or if this is private practice how about a lawyer.
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This is my first post and I'm pretty scared of the reconstruction. I truly want it. Two women I've spoken to used my PS and told me horror stories. Both had the same as me. Unilateral mastectomy and both complained that their girls were asymmetrical. How do I find other patients? I have 4-6 weeks before mastectomy and I'm getting really nervous. I'm 5'6" 175# and Ribcage 37"
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GrandmaBubba: You came to the right place. I am a uni recovering from my exchange surgery. I had the 133MV-13 TE's overexpanded to 535 and they put a 550 high profile on my MX side and a 397 moderate profile on my right, natural side. I think he got pretty close in matching them but won't know till next week. Whippetmom can help you get you to where you need to be! She's a genius. My new foobs appear to be in perfect proportion to my body now and I hope they are a good match and I couldn't have done it without her!
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GrandmaBubba: Why do you have to go to this particular plastic surgeon who has such a negative history? I have the names of a number of good plastic surgeons in Ilinois. I really would prefer that you get a consultation with someone else. I am just leaving for a number of hours and I will get some information together and send you a private message later this afternoon. So check the upper right hand dark navy box later on today. There is no reason you should be looking forward to a dismal result with breast reconstruction!
Deborah
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Iam - I have sent you a private message....
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I have decided to NOT get any fills in this monstrous gigantic expander, which will only serve to make me freak out more each time I see more volume in this football shaped monstrosity, and stretch me in the wrong direction.As a matter of fact, when I see him on Sept. 1st. I am thinking to ask him to remove some of the 120cc he has already put in at the surgery.I also have an appointment to see my wonderful PS on Sept. 30th, whom I have no insurance for and have to pay out of pocket thousands of dollars each time he does something for me, but he does good work.I want his opinion on this before I proceed any further.
Also, I was thinking to see my regular family doctor, and show her what he did, and ask her to give me a referral for a different PS that Health Net would pay for to get his opinion also.I want this expander taken out and the proper size put in. I think what happened is that he did not have the right size. I asked him that morning, and he said yes, I got the same thing we talked about, except in Mentor instead of Natrelle, but the same size. When he got to the surgery room and started working on me, he found out that the hospital did not have my size, so he put in what they had available. He said" The hospital orders it for me...but apparently they did not..What is your opinions. Am I right to hold off on the fills, and start all over again.?
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Hi ladies, I'm reading your comments about the final implant being smaller than the TE, now I am feeling nervous. My PS stopped my expansion at only 400 ccs and said he will put me in a 450 implant and that he doesn' t like to overexpand. I kept telling him I don't want to be any smaller than my TE and would like to be a little bigger. He said I would be bigger. Now I'm confused at what your saying here, but he doesn't seem to want to add any more cc's to what I have now. Deborah suggested a 475 implant and I agree but it seems he doesn't want to go that big and I am not sure why.
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Hi ladies, I'm reading your comments about the final implant being smaller than the TE, now I am feeling nervous. My PS stopped my expansion at only 400 ccs and said he will put me in a 450 implant and that he doesn' t like to overexpand. I kept telling him I don't want to be any smaller than my TE and would like to be a little bigger. He said I would be bigger. Now I'm confused at what your saying here, but he doesn't seem to want to add any more cc's to what I have now. Deborah suggested a 475 implant and I agree but it seems he doesn't want to go that big and I am not sure why.
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Hi ladies, I'm reading your comments about the final implant being smaller than the TE, now I am feeling nervous. My PS stopped my expansion at only 400 ccs and said he will put me in a 450 implant and that he doesn' t like to overexpand. I kept telling him I don't want to be any smaller than my TE and would like to be a little bigger. He said I would be bigger. Now I'm confused at what your saying here, but he doesn't seem to want to add any more cc's to what I have now. Deborah suggested a 475 implant and I agree but it seems he doesn't want to go that big and I am not sure why.
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