Microfat grafting or BRAVA doctor recommendations
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Hi Beacher, it looks like she joined that day, posted just the once. If I didn't know better I'd suspect she was a "plant" from the Dr.'s staff.
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Hi Robo47,
I have an appointment to see dr Khouri next Tues too! I post under fatgraftpatients forum under the same name. My appt is at 11am - what time is yours? Maybe we'll cross paths. I'm 3yrs post dx --I still have my tissue expanders in (long story).
Amanda0 -
Kareenie and Robo47, thats so bizzare, i agree though. Well for sure i will NOT be using Dr. Trott. Do they think we are cattle or something GEEZ..... thanks for your input
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I don't think that post was a plant from Dr. Trott's office. I had my consult with her after that post had been made and told her about BCO. She genuinely seemed to know nothing about this site. I told her several members have been talking about her and the fat grafting and she seemed surprised but happy. I don't think her staff is savy enough for it, either. (Not to be mean, I'm just saying.....)
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hmmmm, I DO AGREE ABOUT THEM NOT BEING SAVY ENOUGH, but its just so strange??
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I had my consult before Kate and Dr Trott seemed surprised with me also??? But the post came up after my visit?? All so very strange?? Why would someone post and never return,lets just hope that everything is alright with her mom, if she is for real ........ Anyone consult with Dr. Trott yet? and what was your impression? So hard to find a ps! and one thing that seems strange can just freak me out,after my last experience,never want a ps i do not totally trust touching me again thanks all
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I must say I was unprepared for the pain of the lipo procedure. Perhaps due to unique circumstances in my lipo, I found it far more painful than the MX part. I also still have numbness and swelling in the crotch and stomach at 2.5 weeks post op. This loss of feeling and lumps and bumps and soreness in lipo area gives me the heebie jeebies for some reason, more than the MX site.
Geewhiz, I'm wondering what you mean when you say that each fat grafting procedure knocks you on your a** for a month. It is general fatigue or pain or swelling? Do you need to take pain meds for days after a fat grafting? With my BMX and first round fat grafting, I took percosets for about 10 days following surgery, probably equally for the MX and the lipo.
I've definately decided I'd be happier with smaller foobs than going through this lipo procedure many more times.
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rk85- I found the whole thing to be very painful, too. Much worse than any of my surgeries but at least it was short lived. The numbness took several months to go away, though and I still have one small patch on my inner thigh. The loss of feeling is normal but you shouldn't have lumps and bumps. Does your PS still have you wearing compression garments or Spanx or anything? I think this helps everything heal more smoothly.
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Hi Kate33, for some odd reason the loss of feeling for me is worse in the lipo area. And I had a problem w/ the compression garment they put on me at the hospital - it was not sufficient to cover all lipo'd areas and was forcing all swelling south to pubic area, which was also lipo'd. So this pubic area was most swollen and painful and w/o compression until I got home from hospital and had strength to go to the store and buy a garment that fit. This was a few days later, and maybe the lumps and bumps formed during these three days when i had no compression on.
So maybe this compression mishap caused it to be more painful than normal for me. I really hope its not like this next time!
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rk85- I've heard some different theories (by patients) about why it's more painful for some than others. Some say it depends on the area having the lipo- that some areas are more sensitive than others. Some say it's more painful on women who don't have a lot of fat to spare in the first place. And others say there are different techniques to lipo and some are more painful. There's something called SAFE lipo that is supposed to be less traumatic to the body but, to tell you the truth, I have no idea what kind my PS used. The funny thing is I have a very high pain threshhold. I have fibro so are in pain every day but this was a new high (or is it low?) in pain. Maybe because I had fat taken from just about everywhere- stomach, hips, pelvic area and thighs. The skin was pretty much numb everywhere that fat was taken from but each area has slowly had feeling return. It just takes time. I did have a few bumps on my stomach, too, which have seemed to get better as well. My surgery was in May so I think it just takes time. Hope it gets better for you, too!
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rk, the numbness in my thighs was pretty bad and drove me batty for the first month or so. I'm now almost 8 weeks post, and my R thigh is almost back to normal, L thigh still is numb but much less irritating than it was for the those first few weeks. I HAD to wear those compression garments or the numbness was really uncomfortable. I was told I could stop them at 3 weeks, but it took me several days of weaning off of them to feel comfortable going without them. I'd take them off for few hours, love being free of them, and then my thighs would become so irritated that I'd have to put them back on. I can't really describe how it felt, it just really bothered me, unless I had the garments on. It sounds like perhaps we had the same kind of reaction.
Oh, and I know why my L thigh has always been worse, in terms of pain and numbness - it's because I have a very old but chronic nerve damage problem in my left leg. So I figured it would be more problematic. But it's definitely getting better, so I'm not worried.
Oh and I'm with ya on settling for smaller breasts to avoid multiple surgeries and the lipo pain - but I was small to begin with, so that's what I'm most comfortable with anyways!
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Robo47, please put my griping in perspective - I thought the lipo would be a walk in the park! I really expected to feel maybe like I did too many sit ups, a little soreness, but thats it. This was just silliness on my part. If you are prepared mentally, it will be much better for you. And of course, make sure if you have it done at the hospital, that you bring a few compression garments of your own with you in case what they put on you there isn't right.
I didn't count on all the swelling and before surgery bought 4 pairs of garments in size small! What a dreamer! What I needed was XL b/c with all the swelling and bruising there's no way I wanted that much pressure on.
DT, so glad to hear we are sharing the misery again! I too had to keep the garment on 24/7 for a couple weeks, but just this weekend I cast that dreadful thing off like an old snakeskin and won't put it back on again! And you're right it did help with that weird disembodied feeling of touching yourself but feeling nothing. I'm pushing myself to walk on the treadmill in hopes of improving the swelling and sensation.
The weird thing is, if we still don't have feeling back 2 months out, how do we go through lipo again in the same areas?! With me at least, all my plentiful stores of fat are in my stomach. Not that I don't have it anywhere else, but my stomach is the worst so I really want it gone from there most. I wonder if i ask Dr. K to just take it all out from there and throw away what he doesn't need if he'll do that?
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So sorry Robo!!! I always want people to give me the straight up, rather than sugar coat it...I'd be more upset if things were worse than I expected vs better than expected! Others, as they have reported, have not had as much pain with it as myself, rk, and kate. So, hopefully you will be in the less painful group! And yes, no recon is easy - at least you know we aren't salespeople only blindly telling you how wonderful it is! Everyone should go into every procedure eyes wide open, knowing the good and the bad. Oh and yes, I've only had one procedure - and I'm planning to have another in the future - so if it were that horrific I wouldn't be going back for more of the same, LOL! The results are amazing! Excited for your appt tomorrow! Bring a book, and be prepared for a wait...just another little FYI!
rk, I don't know the answer about still having numbness and going for lipo in that same area...whether there are any risks with that or what...that is a question for Dr. K for sure. Oh and if you are on your last procedure, he may just take your request to take a bit extra. Won't hurt to ask, LOL!
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Ladies, after going through this a few times, I feel there are 2 super important things to keep in mind with the lipo part of this. First - wearing the compression garment for the amount of time your doctor tells you to and also that it is tight enough. Might be very uncomfortable in the beginning, but remember the compression is to help drain as well as help your tissue heal smoothly. Like dancetrancer posted, it actually feels GOOD after a while. Second - exercise as much as you can. Start slowly with walking, do some stretching, add some squats, lunges - anything you can to work those muscles. This helps tremendously to resolve the bruising and of course exercising helps blood circulation to help you heal and feel better overall. Drinking lots of water and good nutrition are obviously also super important. Hope that helps.
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Robo47- Have you joined fatgraftpatients.com? There's great info on there about what to expect, what to buy, where to stay in Miami, what compression garments work best and a lot more. The site was invaluable for me as I was preparing for my FG.
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Please tell me how I can view fatgraftpatients. I can log in but then I can't access anything. The message is that I am not permitted to view the forums. I originally set my user name and password in August and tried then and gave up.
What's is the correct way to view the forums?
Kathy
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I would suggest sending a pm to alexandra the moderator on fatgraftpatients or here on bco she is alexandra-aaa. She can get you fixed up.
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Kathy,
Did you read and agree to the terms? Also, just like with BCO, the intent of the forum is for ladies to share experiences and help others looking for information, however, to protect our privacy and to encourage participation, a member must be active in posting to access the photos. Just like the picture site here. If you've accepted the terms and have posted but are still having trouble, then contact the administrator as kareenie suggested.
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Leeinfl: I posted about a week ago and have been quite remiss in posting a response. We were discussing how Brava encourages cell regeneration and how Brava might "ignite" latent cancer cells. I don't think for 2 seconds anyone doing Brava has anything to worry about as cancer cells have a life all their own and grow way out of control with what seems to be absolutely no provocation whatsoever. I am so glad Dr. Khouri created this system.
More to this point, I hope more bc patients embrace Brava as Brava moves more heavily into the bc post mx/bmx bank of options. I think it is a wonderful, holistic option for everyone.
Good day all....what a lively thread!
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That is my hope as well! 0
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I still have my TEs and thought one and a half years was a long time! You win.
Good luck tomorrow Robo.
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RK85 ...in response to your question about me feeling knocked on my butt for a month after grafting ...It's soreness, primarily. And I think the soreness makes you tired too. I am over a month out now and just started running again...and it hurts like hell for about the first 2 miles.
I have done lots of research on narcotics, both pills and anasthesia and the immune system. They dont mix well. After my mx I took one day of pills. I took none after my first grafting but wound up so miserable that after the second grrafting I swore I would take some...so I did for about 36 hours. But you cant stay on percocet for weeks. There are also variances in everyone over which areas hurt more. My back didnt hurt nearly as much as my thighs...the opposite of a few other folks I think.
My bmx, and my recision were all WAY easier than either grafting. I also had natural childbirth 3 times and would take it 3 more times than lipo again. There are 2 sides to every coin...it sounds like for some folks its easy...but as we discuss the downfalls of various other surgeries it is important, I feel, to present both sides of this story.
I am heading tomorrow to see a local ps who has a new technique that seems to be working well in a more non-invasive fatgrafting.He is well known nationally and is well published. He ahs presented with Dr K numerous times and has studied with him. He does have different opinions though. I need my seroma looked at to see if I need it drained, ugh!...and I would like to seek another opinion on my reconstruction. Im not saying I wont go back to Dr K...I'd just like a new set of very experienced eyes on my lopsided discolored situation!!
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geewhiz- Good luck with your appointment tomorrow. If you like the new PS can you share his info here?
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I just found these articles the other day about fat grafting and the concern about cancer - these are from Italy and France where many more patients have had this done - I was very excited to find these articles! Happy reading!
Determining the Oncological Risk of Autologous Lipoaspirate
Grafting for Post-Mastectomy Breast Reconstructionhttp://www.springerlink.com/content/5g1w78548h665577/Fat injection to the breast: technique, results, and indications based on 880 procedures over 10 years.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/198254640 -
DT, your internet research skills are amazing. I vote you should get an honorary doctorate in cyber research.
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Beacher4209: My mom had her mastectomy on February 2007, and no she didn't have radiation she is instead, taking Tamoxifen, the pills taken for 5 years.
Kate33:You're welcome! I'm glad your consult went great.0 -
Beacher4209: My mom had her mastectomy on February 2007, and no she didn't have radiation she is instead, taking Tamoxifen, the pills taken for 5 years.
Kate33:You're welcome! I'm glad your consult went great.0 -
>Beacher4209: My mom had her mastectomy on February 2007, and no she didn't have radiation she is instead, taking Tamoxifen, the pills taken for 5 years
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Thanks rk! It's kind of an addiction trying to find things. Some might call it a bit obsessive-compulsive...LOL! 0
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DT - I think we all have that! Welcome to the club, LOL....
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