Come join others currently navigating treatment in our weekly Zoom Meetup! Register here: Tuesdays, 1pm ET.
Weigh in: What are the best and worst gifts for people with breast cancer?
Share with us: What are your proudest moments of 2024 and personal goals for 2025?
Take our poll: How are you feeling as we near the New Year?

Nipple reconstruction

1…1112141617…71

Comments

  • Hoya03mom
    Hoya03mom Member Posts: 7
    edited October 2012

    Strongly considering just having 3-D tattoo...here is link to article just published about Vinny

    http://articles.philly.com/2012-10-22/news/34629112_1_double-mastectomies-breast-cancer-marisa-weiss

    Have appt mid Nov with ps to discuss scar issues, necrosis issue (feels like I have a golf ball in my boob) and hopefully going smaller.  My boobs feel like bowling balls....way too big and heavy.  He told me that he can adjust that when he evens them out ..and removed the necrotic area.

    Anyway....I think Vinny will be my Christmas present this year!

  • froggy12
    froggy12 Member Posts: 23
    edited October 2012

    Hoya03mom, it is a wonderful article. I have been exchanging email with Vinnie and I am so excited about getting it done. I just don't want another surgery. My exchange is in 2 weeks!

  • CMartin
    CMartin Member Posts: 237
    edited October 2012

    Great article.

  • mspradley
    mspradley Member Posts: 11
    edited October 2012

    Great article. It totally described my experience ith Vinnie and my feeling of closure since.

  • sherry67
    sherry67 Member Posts: 370
    edited October 2012

    Just curious how do they make the nipples....

  • CMartin
    CMartin Member Posts: 237
    edited October 2012

    Sherry....with Vinnie?  They don't.  If we go with tattoo only it's completely an illusion. 

  • lisagwa
    lisagwa Member Posts: 39
    edited October 2012

    Hoya03Mom- Thank u for sharing this article. It helps to know and be prepared in advance.

  • MLP
    MLP Member Posts: 34
    edited October 2012

    I'm getting my nipples  tomorrow morning. PS said he does the origami technique. I don't know why ,but I am really nervous. This should be a walk in the park after everything else. I guess I'm worried something will go wrong. I'm also getting fat grafting. I'm just ready for this all to be over. I'll check in tomorrow night to let you know how it goes.

  • CMartin
    CMartin Member Posts: 237
    edited October 2012

    Mlp...good luck!

  • New-girl
    New-girl Member Posts: 80
    edited October 2012

    I hope it is the same walk in the park as mine was.  Super easy and what a difference!   Best of luck!

  • dexter2012
    dexter2012 Member Posts: 1
    edited October 2012

    Hi,

    I get my nipples in four weeks, getting nervous, having bad dreams. What can you tell me about the recoery time, and how they look, do you like them, etc. Thank you! 

  • Ossa
    Ossa Member Posts: 685
    edited October 2012

    Getting my nipple today as well as fatgrafting  look forward to being done

  • bcs2011
    bcs2011 Member Posts: 26
    edited October 2012

    Good Luck to Everyone getting their New Nips! I'm 2 weeks out from getting mine and couldn't be happier. Just got my bandages off yesturday and they look so real, next tats!!! Then Nothing for a long long time!

  • Ossa
    Ossa Member Posts: 685
    edited October 2012

    Got my new fipple today plus fat grafting.. Hope this is the last surgery.. next tattoo.. Surgery was quick sceduled at 12:40 left at 4 pm 

    MLP hope your surgery was as easy as mine.

    Carrol good luck on Monday

  • amac645
    amac645 Member Posts: 3
    edited October 2012

    Just had mine done yesterday.  It was fast (about an hour) and done in office under a local.  So far, I LOVE them, but MAN I'm glad my foobs are numb!  Looks like it would hurt like hell if you could feel it ;).  I guess there's always a sliver lining. As it is, I'm not even taking anything now.  Just being careful not to smash them or bend over from the waist.  Easy peasy!  Hope everyone else's goes as well :)

  • CMartin
    CMartin Member Posts: 237
    edited October 2012

    Ossa....great news. 

  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 11,653
    edited October 2012

    Just wanted to check in. It's been just over a year since I had my nipple recon. They look great. Shrunk a lot but just enough to give the indication of nipple. Hope all that choose to do this have great results like mine. My PS just used the local skin (I think one of those origami type procedures). The scars are just about invisible from the nipple recon too.

  • New-girl
    New-girl Member Posts: 80
    edited October 2012

    At what point do they stop shrinking?  Mine were huge at beginning and I knew they would shrink.  Left one has shrunk to perfect but wouldn't want it to go much smaller and left one is large but normal looking.  I am afraid if left one shrinks anymore it will disappear.  I had surgery in late July so it has been three months.

  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 11,653
    edited October 2012

    grt42texan everyone is different but most of the major shrinking happens in the first 3 months. You might get a little more in the next 3 but nothing like what has already happened.

  • sherry67
    sherry67 Member Posts: 370
    edited October 2012

    Can anyone tell me how they construct the nipples..

  • Ossa
    Ossa Member Posts: 685
    edited October 2012

    sherry.. my PS used the skin directly around nipple, cut and twisted then stitched together had it done yesterday and it already looks like a nipple. Think it will look great once it shrink

  • sherry67
    sherry67 Member Posts: 370
    edited October 2012

    Thank you for responding was thinking about it but not sure yet...

  • Rosie24355
    Rosie24355 Member Posts: 46
    edited October 2012

    A question for those of you who have already crossed over to the nipple side:  I'm scheduled to get my (uni) nipple on Dec 21.  We would like to leave 2 days later to drive to our son's house for Christmas.  It's a 20 hour drive and I would need to help with the driving.  We'd spend 4 days there and then drive back.  Is this doable or unreasonable?  Thanks for your help.

  • New-girl
    New-girl Member Posts: 80
    edited October 2012

    Rosie- nipple and lipo was a piece of cake for me.  Although I did too much heavy lifting and sweating which lead to a bad celluitis infection two weeks later.  If you just drive and rest when you get there, I cannot imagine a problem.  I felt fine for the two weeks before I got sick.  Obviously I felt too good otherwise I wouldn't have done too much.

  • Lmflynn
    Lmflynn Member Posts: 273
    edited October 2012

    Hi ladies, I am about to get my nipples done, have waited much longer than I thought I would....any polls on skin grafts vs. the oragami nipple...would love to have aerola looking grafts?....my PS only does oragami skin flaps, still plan on going to Baltimore and Vinnie for tattoos....

  • Carrol2
    Carrol2 Member Posts: 1,477
    edited October 2012

    nipple lipo and fat grafting tomorrow morning i'll let ya know how it goes.

  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 11,653
    edited October 2012

    Yay Carrol. I'm so excited for you.

  • Ossa
    Ossa Member Posts: 685
    edited October 2012

    Be with about you tomorrow Carrol.. Not as bad as I thought it would be..Very bruised but not bad when it comes to being sore

  • MLP
    MLP Member Posts: 34
    edited October 2012

    Thanks everybody for the well wishes. I didn't want to post until after my first appointment with the PS. It was no walk in the park for me, but at least I know why now. I had a lot more pain than expected. I've got to say though that my nipples have no pain at all. They sewed the dressing to me and it looks like I have little flowers for nips. I'm qiuite sore where they did the lipo, but it's getting better every day.

    Anyway, it turns out he had to replace one implant. It was way off to the side. My exchange was a piece of cake so I don't know why this would be worse. So I now have very nice cleavage and don't think I'll need any more fat grafting. I can't wait until the Spring to get tatoos with Vinnie and hopefully finally be done. I know it sounds ridiculous after BMX, but I feel like I've been given a gift of brand new pretty foobs and want to make the most of it. I feel inspired to lose weight and get in shape now. Let's hope that lasts!

  • Msbelle
    Msbelle Member Posts: 160
    edited October 2012

    Did everyone have their tattoos done twice due to fading?

Categories

Join Us on Zoom: Upcoming virtual meetups. Read more...
Give your account some personality! Add a profile photo.