TE TROUBLE
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Oh Annie, I can't believe he filled you that fast. I am assuming you had a skin sparing mx and your skin could take the stretching, but your poor pec muscles! Ouch. Yes, one side is bigger than the other, and they do look bigger than B's. Personally, I don't think you should go any bigger, and like Moon said, they can take some out to make them even. They are not a bad shape, just one is bigger than the other. I would go somewhere in between the two sizes. One get's bigger, and one goes smaller. How do they feel? If those are supposed to stay in, like you were explaining, are they soft, or on the hard side?
Just a little aside, I am feeling a wee bit better today. Less tightness. Keeping my fingers crossed.
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Goldie, glad you are feeling a bit better. Let's hope the new trend is UP for you.
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Moonflwr, Congratulations! You give me hope! I have one more fill on the left foob then rads. After that the right TE will be replaced hopefully with no infection this time.
Enjoy and thanks for all you give on here.
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goldie, glad you are feeling a bit better. I am a week out and I have a little bit of the old tightness. Right after the TE placement my skin was super sensitive and everything felt tight. I'm supposed to wear a particular bra 24/7. I'm still swollen around my armpits and it makes this bra feel like the TE did. Tight and a part of my body. Well, NOT a part of my body, but something stuck to my body. If it weren't for the swelling and the weird skin sensation all over again then I think I would be fine as far at tightness.
They feel great to the touch. Soft and "squishy"....lol. They are firm compared to my real breasts and they really mold into my body. I do not feel like they are a separate entity anymore. They really feel like they are my breasts. My NEW breasts, but mine nonetheless
. And its wonderful knowing that when I take this bra off, they won't fall! I'll still have this nice cleavage going on .Everyone is still in my prayers for a healthy recovery.
Julie
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Thanks everybody. Whatever improvement I felt yesterday is the same, no better, no worse.
Jtapp, you sound like you are doing great. Soft and squishy is what we want to hear!!!!! For only a week out you are headed in the right direction. Do you like how they look? You didn't way much about that. Also, what kind of implants did you get?
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I'm two and a half weeks out from a bilateral exchange and bilateral revision pocket work. As expected at this stage, I'm still experiencing minor swelling and lumpiness that moves from one location to another frequently as these foobs settle in. My chest is sore from my fight 4 days ago with a sports bra. (I lost.) Yesterday the left implant side (that had the TE) became quite tender in the same size & exact spot where the port was on the expander. (Just right of center.) I happened to push against it and was surprised at the "ouch" that jumped out of my mouth. I don't see any redness, don't have a fever, and don't think it is an infection but I could be wrong. There is an occasional dull shooting pain through the foob, sometimes for no reason, sometimes when I cough. Maybe something tore? I don't know anything about what the "below the skin" sutures look like.
To avoid a possible infection, I was on IV antibiotics for 13 days, the sports bra fight was on day 14 and this super sore spot showed up on day 16. Do you suppose that area of the muscle is just weaker from so many injections in the TE port? So therefore when I was twisting and pulling to get the bra off, I....what? Maybe had a little bleed that is now a bruise under the skin? But I don't see any discoloration. I understand why my muscles are so sore from my back to my front and why I'm tender in the upper pole on both sides - all that stretching that I shouldn't have been doing made me sore the next day. But a nickel sized super sore spot on one foob two days later? I'm not overly concerned - just puzzled. If it doesn't start going away tomorrow, I'll get concerned. I can't get in to see my PS until next week and can't call - holidays, you know.
Anybody had this or any guesses?
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Got a shot in my butt yesterday and antibiotics to take home so hopefully they will feel better in a couple of days
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Sandra, just a guess but am wondering if possibly you tore an internal stitch??? I am know 4 weeks out from exchange an my 1st day back to work only 4 hrs and limit of 20lbs. I am a mail carrier so was on collection route and a few walking loops but I will say I am a little sore too and felt a bit of burning in one small spot. Maybe just cause we haven't used our muscles much for awhile??? I am Thankful that Im now on forced break so I don't go back until the 2nd full time
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Annie, hope you feel better soon. Merry Xmas. Keep us posted.
Catey, wow, you are back to work? Even part time? That is hard work. Good for you.
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Catey, thanks. Could be what you say. I admit I don't know where those internal stitches are so it's all a guess. Actually today it's better. Of course I'm also distracted because my daughter flew in late last night and we've had some nice talks.
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Hi, Moonflwr912
I had a similiar diagnosis to yours in Sept. 2013--DCIS stage 0 stage 3 but multi foci over a 6 cm area. No node involvement. I had 2 lumpectomies in Oct. The first one they were not convinced that they had clear margins and went in again. They found another DCIS but also got clear margins. The surgeon explained that I would now go for 3 weeks of radiation which would cut my chances of re-occurrence of cancer in that breast from 40% to 10%. I had my consult with the oncologist on Dec 23 prepared to get the information about radiation but he asked me if I wanted to do a mastectomy. He took me by surprise, I was not prepared for that question. The oncologist said that the radiation would reduce the risk of cancer recurring to 10% and adding tamoxifen would reduce it further to 5%. He also said that the mastectomy would reduce the risk to 1-2%. The oncologist said that my course of radiation would be over 5 weeks (I kind of expected that)
I noticed that you had chemo, I was under the impression that DCIS was non-invasive by definition. Why did you have chemo? Am I missing something that I should know about? So I am trying to make a decision before Dec 31 (when I get measured and marked for rads), and what I am struggling with is this--Is going the mastectomy and recon route worth it for the extra 3% reduction is recurrence rates? Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Shelagh
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Shelagh- I just want to pop in and say I was also Diagnosed DCIS stage 2 and after discussion with BS about need for radiation after lumpectomy or good chance I would not need it if I choose BMX. Because of that I opted for BMX and post op pathology reports showed no node involvement and BS told me I did not need radiation or tamoxin.
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thanks, cateyz2 for your info. Are you going to do reconstruction? how long ago was the MX?
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Shelagh
Yes I did do reconstruction with tissue expanders placed at time of BMX on 5/31 and then on 11/26 I just had my exchange surgery. to permanent silicone rounds. Also just fyi I opted for nipple and skin sparing and while I did have a little bit of necrosis, everything turned out quite well with no major complications. if you have access to the picture forum I have posted my photo journal there
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cateyz2 how long was your recovery after initial MX and how long did the recon take and how long was the recovery after each recon procedure. I am concerned about missing a lot of time from work (no short term disability or sick days)
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Merry Christmas!
Shelaghin, yeah. Things did not go quite as I had planned. But i was always gilo Ong to get a BMX. They said I could do a lumpectomy but because of my mom and two aunts I wanted a BMX. That's where they found IDC. The invasive Ducal Carcinoma. Again just like my mom. Not in the breast they were worried about but in the one I wanted removed because of family history. That's why my path report said HER2 positive. That's why I did chemo. Nothing in my treatment went like it was supposed to. But i am kind of an anomaly so you probably run into ALL of the "Scenic Detours" I did. And I pray you don't run into ANY. I hope things go smoothly for you. Much love.
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I'm looking at the MD Anderson Cancer Center's standard of care algorithm right now. It does not recommend chemo for DCIS or LCIS unless there is microinvasion which then changes the status to IDC or ILC and usually indicates chemo. (But some doctors call this stage DCISM. That is not one of the options on this website, so sometimes the diagnosis and treatment seem confusing such as DCIS with chemo.)
Treatment for DCIS is listed as is either (1) lumpectomy with clear margins not less than 2 mm plus 7 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week (no rads if DCIS less than 1.5 cm, not diffuse, and low/intermediate grade without necrosis.) If ER+, Tamoxifen hormone therapy for 5 years or if post-menopausal, aromatase inhibitor for 5 years- OR - (2) mastectomy, sentinel node biopsy, no radiation. Optional hormone therapy.
I did not opt for nipple sparing because most breast surgeons don't do it with mastectomy. DCIS is in the ducts and the nipple is part of the duct system so the surgeons don't want to take the chance of leaving any tissue in which DCIS could grow again. That doesn't mean you can't get another type of breast cancer in the tiny amount of breast tissue left after mastectomy, but it won't be DCIS because that only grows in ducts. Some surgeons do nipple sparing surgery if you have a different kind of breast cancer, not DCIS. Others do it no matter what kind you have.
Same with LCIS. Lobular breast cancer can't grow without lobules. But LCIS is more concerning because it is a marker for additional kinds of breast cancer, most often in the other breast or both. The MD Anderson algorithm says treatment is (1) continued surveillance with Tamoxifen or Raloxifene - or - (2) mastectomy.
My choice was bilateral mastectomy even though there was no invasion. This is not the common choice but taking a chance on lumpectomy didn't seem like the wise way to go. I had diffuse LCIS in one breast and DCIS in the other, in two quadrants, largest tumor 1.8 with central expansive comedo necrosis (in other words aggressive and a significant predictor of invasion), with atypical ductal hyperplasia (which is bad cells invading the supporting framework of the ducts.) Because I had a double mastectomy, I did not have to have any radiation and do not have to take hormone therapy for 5 years. Because no invasion or even microinvasion was found, I do not have to have chemo. It was caught in time.
People sometimes ask why I had a radical surgery when I could have had a lumpectomy. It's not a simple as that. So the information under our names is limited by the options available on the website and do not tell the whole story. Yes, it is confusing.
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Sandra and Moon
I did the same as both of you. DCiS was my original dx. I said take them both off because of my family history. Turns out it was the right move for me since they found dcis in the other breast too. Lately, with the problems I am having I wish I would have not had the mx, but I know it probably saved my life.
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Goldie that's where my IDC was hiding. It wasn't real small either. 1.6 isn't horribly large but it's not tiny. LOL both my BS and P'S were surprised.
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I just wish that I had more direction of what to expect when having the reconstruction after a mx. When I was trying to make these decisions I was so overwhelmed and scared that I wasn't sure what to do. I had alot of people talking about reconstruction as if it were not that big of a deal, it was a chance at a new pair of bobbies and things like that. These were friends....but the doctors didn't really present a clear picture of what this could be like. IDK, I suppose I should have done more research, but at the same time I wasn't even sure what to ask. I was just telling my husband this tonight, I just wish that I had known that there was a possibility of complications and what could happen. Make sense?
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Tang, absolutely makes sense. Take your time and make the decisions which seem right for you, not for somebody else.
Okay, now I think I know why this feels so tight, he put too big of implants in the pockets he made. They are mentor gummies and he squished them in in such a way, especially on the right side, that he made them ripple on the cleavage side. If I pull up on that one a little the ripples are gone. It's like they are pushed together in my cleavage and forced to ripple. It's very hard to make a gummy ripple. Tonight it Is very noticeable because the fat grafting and swelling has gone way down. He tried to fill the ripples with grafting, and the reason I know it is from being squished in there is that the ripples don't change. Ugh....I am so angry.
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Goldie that's terrible! He can't deny it because you can see it yourself. What are you going to do?
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I am going to have to call him out on it. I am also getting a second opinion on the 30th. I am so upset. I could deal with it all if I wasn't so uncomfortable all the time. I don't know how my poor husband has been putting up with me through all this. I am so cranky and unreasonable. I snap at everything because it's like I am always in an irritated mood.
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You are like a lion with a thorn in its paw. You growl because you hurt. Sounds normal to me and I'm sure he feels the same way.
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Goldie that sucks. Let us know what the 2nd opinion says. In the mean time hugs.
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Thanks Sandra and Moon. I wish there was a thorn to pull. I just did that for my dog this morning. She had a broken acorn shell stuck in her pad. She came over and sat in front of me with her foot up. I gently pulled it out. She licked her paw, and then kissed my face. If my PS could do that for me I would lick his face....lmaooooooo
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Now what I wouldn't do to see that!!! LOL. Although you might have a lot to explain to him....
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Goldie, you are so funny! I'd pay good money to see you lick the face of the person who gets you out of pain.
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Well, after considering all of your helpful advice and doing a lot of soul searching about what was important to me, I have decided to go ahead with the radiation. If there is ANYthing the slightest bit abnormal in my mammograms I will have the mastectomy. I don't know if I could handle the mastectomy right not emotionally. I have been healthy all my life, in fact this is my first health issue and I am 62 years old. I am going to trust that I will continue to have good health but I will help that along with a change in my eating habits and I have joined a gym. Been on the internet researching cancer fighting foods so I am quite excited to change my thinking and habits about food.
I go on December 31 to be measured and marked for the radiation and it will start about mid January, I think. Again, thank you all for your helpful advice, you certainly gave me a lot to think about! Wishing you all good outcomes and good health in 2014!
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Happy New Year everyone!
Hoping 2014 brings only good things our way.
PS told me this week that my left TE only has a 50/50 chance of making it. (I ended up losing my right one after 13 weeks because I produce too much fluid) All of the appointments and fills and pain may end up being for nothing.
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