BREAST IMPLANT SIZING 101
Comments
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Annettek - Its so good to see you again!! It seems like moments since you were filling those TE's and I was dealing with MX. Your pix on the forum looked great and Im so happythat DH is sitting up and taking notice!!! I got one of those when DH touched my leg and said "wow, your workouts are really starting to show!"....its nice to get an unsolicited compliment!
I really want to ask Whippetmom about my exchange but I need to find out the specs on my TE. I know its a Mentor 350cc but thats all I got. I upgraded what I want to be from 'full B/small C' to just a C. We were looking at first for a 350 implant but PS said I can go as long as I want with fills....to be as big as I want. Im at 335 now and....well, Im getting boob greed. I want more. LOL. I dont see PS for 2 more weeks due to a vacation falling on my fill week...grrrr. But I get 80ccs each time so I am really close to done now.
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RNrules: I had 600 cc TEs filled to 850 cc. I ended up with 685 cc implants and WAS a 38 DDD and ended up a 38 D (sometimes a 38DD, depending on the bra). What size you end up depends on the measurements that MBJ told you to send to Whippetmom (who will help you)...
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whippetmom I am 5' 6" 140 pounds with a 32 in rib cage. You have seen my pics on the forum. I ahve 650cc moderate profile expanders. My PS is planning on filling to 750cc to get me to a large C small D. Does this sound right to you?
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Suebee- it does go by fast in retrospect! I am totally thrilled with the size and once I get to working out again, want the rest of the body to match:) Just have to see if I *still got it*
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Annetek: I just started working out again and I so know what you mean! I used to be in such good shape and the foobs are inspiring me to get the rest of me looking good!!! It's not easy but I am very motivated.
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takeadeepbreath: You have had all of the good answers I might provide. The size of implants you have will be just fine - the size I would have recommended. You will be larger than a "B" cup. Give it two weeks, as the implants often look squashed, misshapen and like the bottom half of a hamburger bun right after the exchange. We have all been there! I would advise getting into a good bra which encapsulates the implants - so go to the Bras 101 thread to get in on the discussion there and someone can help you with sizing issues. Dawne-Hope can help you by sharing what has worked for her. But MBJ mentioned your ribcage circumference. With your height and weight, I think you would more likely be wearing a 32 band bra.....
Deborah
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Carrol: I responded on your thread on the pic forum...and here is what I wrote:
Carrol: 650 ccs filled to 750 ccs sounds too huge for you. You only want a C
cup and you have a lot of skin. This is just going to create more ptosis -
droop. Frankly, I think 500 ccs would be more than enough to get you where you
want to be. Make sure you let him know you REALLY want to only be a C cup and
that you do NOT want droopy breasts. But that said, you look very good at this
point in time. Let's see your photos after your first in-office fill.0 -
Suebeebc: What is your height, weight and ribcage? I can give you some idea...
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whipetmom I did see your comment on the pic forum but at the time i was unsure of the size and I double checked at my first fill. Don't you think that my doctor knows no one wants droopy breasts? I can't even imagine saying that to him. I suppose I could express some concern. What make you think that them being large would make them droop more? I was more worried about the width. I don't want to feel too wide. I suppose they have to work with what is there and if I am wide he needs to use a wide expander. Since I was so big before DD and they were on the wide side.0
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Whippetmom - thanks!
I'm 5'5" and 118 pounds. My ribcage is 29.5. My TE is a Mentor 350 but thats all I have on that. I had a single and plan to augment the other side. I was a very small A before and was thinking (hoping) I could carry off a C cup. My first PS thought a full B would be better but my current PS thinks I should fill until Im happy with my size.
Im currently filled at 335 and can wear a 36B sports bra (with foam cups - so I can fluff my other side to match). Its really hard to tell with only one TE where this whole thing will take me.
Maybe I should post some pix on the photo forum?
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Sue: I would recommend 425 ccs in a high profile smooth round silicone implant. It takes that much volume to approximate what you have with the TEs, and, after doing this for two years, I can tell you this is what would look nice on your frame and give you the results to hope to achieve.
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Carrol: 700 ccs is a lot of volume for your frame. You have sufficient skin flaps and so I just don't think you need to expand out any further than around 550 ccs, quite frankly. You just do not know what is in the mind of some of these plastic surgeons. Some find it a challenge to make women look like they did pre-MX. If you do not make it abundantly clear what you WANT, you will have no control over the outcome.
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whippetmom, I do not have all my details but wonder if you could give me an opinion prior to my next PS visit. I know my TEs are Allergan, not sure size, but I know I am near capacity and I have had fills to 425, we talked about adding another 50cc on next visit. I like what I see now as far as size. I am 5'2" and 150 (gained weight with chemo, hope to lose 10 once I finish, but never going to be real thin). I measure 34 inches at ribcage under TEs. I think now I am a small C, I was a D prior to surgery and prefer to stay a C. Is this enough info to give thought on implant size? My PS already suggested a high profile implant.
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whippetmom good point. I should make sure he knows what i am thinking afterall he is not a mind reader. I do think he is trying to get me to look like I did. But I did tell him I did not expect to be as big or a droopy. He had tole d em that sometimes it's hard to get a good skin fold, seems like not true in my case.0
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whippetmom - thanks so much for your advice!!! I appreciate your expertise and all of the time you spend on these boards very much.
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Handing Whippetmom a big chocolate bunny for all of her help to all of us!
MBJ- i was working out my legs and waist in the pool yesterday-hubby showed me some cool excercises that don't touch my pecs (pesky damn pecs-only thing on me that is tight!)...i feel so much better after just a little bit. Of course I blew it all out eating a feast of really good chinese food-but worth it:)
I am preaching to the choir here but it is so important for all leading up toyour exchanges to really talk to your PS and let them know what you are looking for. You are a team. Sounds simple but it is not. My shirts, tops, dresses...all are just that much snugger than before- and I always wore lightly padded underwires to offset what age and babies did to my poor breasts...It is so fun and exhilarating to really be happy as the process goes on...taking care of the rest of me follows as I want to look as good as these new boobs are turning out...before BC i has considered and then discarded the idea of implants-not wanting to risk needless surgery and making peace with my droopy boobs through vigorous chest excercises and really good bras! It is so cool now- that through this whole horrible BC crap to watch these new boobs grow and come to life-to be a part of me...I don't mourn the old ones at all, they did their job- these new ones are for me:) My PS knows how whacked I am and we have a lot of fun discussing them. You don't have to be friends with your PS but certainly in a place where you feel free to talk and question. PS, I think by nature of their profession, are a bit, um, shall we say, egotistical...so it is fun for me to just drop the statement to mine that "I want great boobs, is that what I am getting? Are these good ones? Are they the best you have ever done? Will they be?" I say something to that effect during every visit and he stops completely, wrinkles his forehead and looks at me over his glasses. I might well be asking if his mom is a hooker. He knows that while it is true that I realize reconstruction is much different than a "boob job"- I want him using every skill he has to make it look right. So, sure, I praise him every step of the way-people need that, but he knows where I am coming from. A good PS can be a good sounding board for the whole BC journey as of course they see so many of us with so many various DXs, etc.
Have a great day-
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Whippetmom- I am asking this kind of late, but would love your opinion. I am 5' 6 1/2", 117 and my rib cage is 28 1/2. Before my BMX I was probably a large A. I do not know what size my TE's are, but I am filled to 360 cc's and am having my exchange on 5/2. The PS has ordered 260 and 280 Allergan style 20. I am hoping the can use the 280's. What is your opinion? Thank you....Eula
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annetek you are right they should know what you want.
I did tell my PS that after my bmx with no recon I was happy that i looked thinner so i did not want to be as big as i was. I don't think he could get me to a DD if he wanted to. I call him Michelangelo and that I am his next masterpiece. I also refer to myself as a work in progress. I don't know how the TEs will compare to the final exchange. I keep hearing people surprised that they are so much smaller. So I guess you can't really judge what is happening by the TEs. Mine says the final will be very different. He says that there are things he will fix in the exchange. I was surprised though that he used a 650cc expander instead of a 550cc. He said the 550 cc did not look right on me.
I do think I will review with him my concerns to make sure he knows what my expectations are. I know he is concerned that my expectations may be too high. He may be right. But even the TEs only filled to 230cc now, look better than I did after bmx with no recon. We do have to remember that this is not augmentation but reconstructing a breast and it is much more difficult. I imagine that there are some things about the way this ends up looking that even the PS can not predict.
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I was very clear with my PS that I did not want to match what I had-it would remind me too much of what I had just been through. I asked him to give me something better (i.e. bigger) so that I was happy with my breasts not looking at them and comparing it constantly to my natural side. I am so glad that I did this! Although it isn't the same as an augmentation, they do look much nicer then what I had before. This result only happened with Wippetmom's help and many, many conversations with the PS. It wasn't until I was going into surgery for my exchange that my PS finally agreed to try and make mine the same size as the expander. I told him bigger was better and he delivered.
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My old boobs look so small now that I have these giant expanders (reference photos). My PS is making me a full B. I was a large A/small B before. I hope I don't go too small but I know right now I feel ginormus.
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lago: My expander felt humongous!!! Because I only had one side done it looked so strange and weird, too. Know that the implants, though a bit wider then a natural breast, feel so much better and also look better! The main reason I went bigger was because I didn't want to look at my breasts and feel like something had been taken away-I wanted to see something new and different. I am also very tall (6') and in order for clothes to fit I always had to wear a padded bra which I hated. Now I only wear a padded push up if I want to look voluptuous, otherwise it isn't very obvious that I did anything. Even though I am now a D-DD cup, I look like a C and even sometimes only a B! It just depends on what I am wearing. I decided to use BC to get the breasts I never had before and the bonus is they look like the size I should have been born with- Now my top matches my bottom.
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hmm i worry about being too big or too small. I don't want to be as big as I was DD. But I also don;t want to be too small for my frame, or lose that curvy feeling i had. I figure a C is good because then I can get clothes that fit me better. I am concerned. I guess I better make sure I express this to my PS. I don;t want to be wider.
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Carrol your frame is smaller than mine isn't it? I'm 5'6" and wore a 34 band size. If I remember you're a 32 band size. I'm also wider in the hips then you. I doubt a C will be too small.0
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Ladies, always remember that the bra size you will wear after exchange will not be the same as how you look! the wider implants may make you a D, but I look nothing close to my friend who wears the same size bra-she is a 34DD and truly is "hooteriffic" where I still look small in comparison. What she has is in projection and what I have is in width. They still look great
. Carol: I would follow Whippetmom's advice if you want to be a C. My measurement around my new breasts matches my hip circumfrence which is a perfect balance. How she did this based on height and ribcage will always be a mystery to me.
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Ditto what MBJ said about the numerology of reconstructive breast/bra sizes. Go for how it looks (not cup size).
MBJ -- I remember you used to call your TE "frankenboob" didn't you?
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Lilah: I think I was so afraid of ending up with a frankenboob, LOL! A bunch of scars and a couple of bolts!
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Lago when you look at a 4x6 of your old boobs, of course they look smaller!!! Yuk, yuk, yuk. Kidding.
Annettek - I agree...I need to stop telling my PS "I dont know, Ill keep filling until I say stop". I know I want to be bigger than my expander is now. But I just want to fill out some clothes and look good in them!
I have no intention of shooting for DD's....my BFF is teenie petite but has DD's and HATES them. She would have my head if I even thought of going there! LOL.
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whippetmom and mbj
Well i guess i could mention to my PS that i am afraid of being too big. But i am also afraid of being too small. I am saying a C because i want to be able to fit into clothes and DD was hard to find. whippet mom is saying 500 he is saying to got to 750 but not sure what size implant he has in mind. But I don't want to look too small either. I want to look curvy, I have small hips and a flat white girl butt. My DDs always made me look more feminine. After my bmx I kept looking in the mirror at zumba and thinking how boyish i looked. Maybe I could tell him when the expanders get to a size i like so he has a better idea. Then again it's hard to tell in my expanders because they are crooked and look different. I think i have these expectations of having playboy boobs and I better think more realistic.
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Carol my thought about the C's is the same as yours. I understand that clothing manufacturers tend to make tops based on C being average. Its always why before my shoulders would fit, the length would fit, but the front would hang like a billboard unless I went with a smaller size. I want to be able to look 'good' in clothes...not be a porn star or get a job at hooters. I am also boyish shaped now that I lost a chunk of weight but I do have 'back' (just a little bubble)...I think how the boobs look will depend a lot on the clothes we pick.
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So that's why I had trouble even filling out some size 4 jackets
Granted all my blazers fit well in the boob area now. 0
