Nipple reconstruction
Comments
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My surgery is next month so can't help with the "after" questions. Do have another one though, did anyone stay overnight after your nipple reconstruction surgery? I had my pre-op visit this week and that is the plan. It will be in the surgery center "after-care" section at the hospital. Earlier, the PS had said to plan to be off work for about a week after the surgery and is now saying two weeks (he will also be doing some other "final adjustments"). No lifiting or reaching for two weeks either. Anyone with similar recommendations for what to expect?
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Golden, I am scheduled for June to have exchange and NR. I was also told 2 weeks for restriction. Mine is supposed to be outpatient though providing all goes well. Best of luck to you!
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Thanks for the info, it helps to know others are similar. I have had trouble with low blood pressure after each of my other surgeries so the overnight stay probably makes sense just for that possiblity.
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Golden- I am having my fipples made on June 21. They said outpatient for me and about 2.5 hours of surgery. I had horribly low blood pressure (am actually on meds for high blood pressure normally) after my mastectomy in October and they were talking about transfusion, etc. I was in recovery for over 4 hours! I just had my exchange on March 28 and it was outpatient. I didn't have any issues with blood pressure this time but they really booted me out of the hospital with a pretty high pain level. I will not be kicked out this time!! We drove home (over an hour) and the pain was pretty irritating.
I am excited for my fipples and can't wait to appear normal again. I am really curious too about the projection and look afterward ...hope it is the right thing!
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I had my nipples redone with a skin graft from inner thigh 9 months later they look good;)
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Having mine done on May 8th my PS said same day surgery and plan 1 week off. Good luck everyone.
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Congratulations & good luck.....keep us updated on your progress. Looking forward to the next step also, looks like I'll have to have some revisions also.
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iLUV2knit, I'm scheduled for surgery, exchange and nipple recon on June 20th. We can heal together!
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I am in the process of having my nipples tattooed. I am wondering if someone could give me a name of a tattoo "person" by Sacramento or even San Francisco. My PS recommended a woman but after meeting her I do not trust her sterile techniques... Also my gut is telling me to look for someone else.
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I had been searching for pic's of tattooed nipples and came across this awesome site. I also posted it in exchange city. I am 6 days away from TE exchange and about 2month from nip recon. I too will have the skin from inner thigh grafted then tattooed. But I did for a while consider 3-D and these pic's are great. Unfortunately she's in NY and I am in Texas.
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Got my new nipples on Friday. Stayed all night due to problems with low blood pressure. PS didn't take any pictures in the operating room and I am wrapped tightly in a large ace bandage. Can't wait until Tuesday when I can see the results. Not too much pain but am taking the medicines the PS provided.
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Got the big wrap off today. They don't look as good as I'd hoped but the PS promises they will get smaller and I know as they heal up they will look better. Rather raw and sore. PS recommended no bra for the next week. Just bandaids in kind of a "sling" under each nipple with a little paper tape to reinforce. I know they will heal. For now, I think I'll keep the Viocodin and Valium handy. Can shower but can't imagine water hitting them for now, maybe in the morning.
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I'm about a month out from nipple reconstruction, scabbing almost gone and they are started to flatten a bit, just waiting for them to shrink in size. But I can, happily, say "they look good & normal". It's nice to be able to look at normal looking "breasts" again.
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lab44 - I'm delighted to hear you are about a month out and happier than I am today with the results. I'm feeling I made a mistake but your message will help me just wait and see! Went for a short walk today and hope that will help my mood too!
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Has anyone had a blister on there foob near nipple reccon . I did not notice till I took the dressings off to put clean ones on and i have a dime size blister.
yikes
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Yes, mine isn't that big but spotted it yesterday when changing the bandages. I decided to leave it uncovered today to see if it heals up faster. Will call the PS tomorrow if it doesn't look any better.
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I decided to do the same and keep uncovered as much as i could - i just put gauze to catch any drainage in my bra but no tape it is very weepy though .
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I will soon begin thinking about nipple recon. I am wondering why some women choose to have a nipple created and why other women choose a 3D nipple tattoo. Is there any sensation in the nipple which is created? Plz share your experiences or thoughts. Thx.
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I have chosen to have the nipple construction, I am also going to get some fine tuning done like lipo maybe fat grafting at the same time. There will not be any sensation in the nipple. I chose to do it just for cosmetic reasons. I wanted to look as normal as possible. I know some women decide they like not having a nipple show through their bras and do nothing, or they get the 3D tatoo so it looks like there is a nipple. It's all a personal preference. My doctor told me from the beginning that the nipple surgery was when we would do the fine tuning, so I planned the extra surgery from the beginning. He also said that sometimes it does not take and it flattens out and if that happens chances are not good to fix it. But I want to lose 25 pounds before I do the final touches so I can access everything with a positive slef image cause right now I jsut feel fat.
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Had nipple reconstruction in October and tattooing done in January. When I first took the b andages off I was in shock - when I talked to my PS I said, "I wanted nipples, not cow utters!" He laughed and said for me to just wait. They turned out well and really look pretty natural at this point. One is a little flatter than the other, but not anything that anyone besides me would notice. Scars have started to fade pretty well, too. Hang in there - I think it will all be worth it in the end for you.
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DJL - Thank you! Your words are helping through the day. I am feeling like I made a big (or maybe two) mistakes! They not only look huge, one looks high and one looks low. Because my scars weren't even, one was to be higher and one lower, they almost look like he got it backwards to me. He is a great surgeon and I'm going to work hard at just not looking at them very much for now.
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Has anyone has their nipples moved? My ps told me prior to the procedure that he puts them slightly lateral so it does not look like the headlights are always on, but the left one is way more lateral than the right. I dont see him for two more weeks.
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Saw my PS this morning and he doesn't think we'll need to move them but can do it down the road, if needed. My mastectomy scars weren't exactly straight across from each other (might have been in the beginning but with all the stretching and moving, one is a little higher than the other). For the nipple surgery, the PS put one nipple above the scar on one side and below the scar on the other. They look really lopsided to me but seem to be evening out as everything heals up. I'm about 10 days out, he thinks they are healing fine, I'd like it to go faster. The PS did a great job of some fine tuning, especially on my right side (removed some scar tissue) and everything rounded out nicely. He also straightened out one of the scars that had developed a curve after my implant surgery (seemed like muscle pulled it up).
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My PS is having me use peroxide on my new nipples. Anyone else have to do this? I was really apprehensive the first time but seemed to do okay. No worse than getting the bandages changed.
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I was asking about the nipple recon at the PS today and it seems they put you out and its a real third surgery,no wonder some women just get the tatoos,I cant stand the thought of another surgery but I can't keep the tissue expanders and guess I wouldnt really want to have the 2 sponge bob squarepants boobs the rest of my life. I am gonna try the Endeavers rub on 3d tatoo for a while after my exchange and see how I feel but would like to get the nips done. I thought they just cut a star into the skin over the implant under a local but nooooo! Its a whole other surgery. I get very depressed thinkg about a surg. I cried all day Wed thinkg about having to do another surg for the implants. I hate it all!
The other thread at Exchange City had some happy campers who were so elated with their implants. My friend who popped her saline implant that she got for beauty called after her surgery to replace them and said she took my advice to get rid of the double D and go for a C and got gel. I never told her to do that! I only told her thats what I planned. I think she will be happier with her back pain tho over a smaller implant and she will still be larger than life cause she has her natural breast tissue unlike me cause I had mine removed for the cancer and the other side removed for preventive measures.
Good luck everyone and thx for all the info. Very curious even tho its too early to ask.
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It definitely is a real surgery. I think there are several different approaches. My PS used a "skate flap" for mine that truly looked like a skate board with a flap off one side as he drew it out for us. Becuase my incisions weren't straight across from each other, I've got one they did the flap from above and one from below. I still think one is quite a bit higher than the other but am doing my best to withhold judgement until everything is healed up. One is bigger than the other as well but everyone on this thread says to hold on, they will get smaller. What I'm most pleased about is the "final adjustments" the PS did when he was doing the nipples, especially changing the right side to nice and round instead of the "square sided one" like you describe. He also straightened out one of the incisions that seemed to have moved (from the muscle below, I think) so it had looked like a meandering brook across my chest. I got the pathology reports back at my visit this week and all was good, no signs of cancer. Tattoos will be outpatient with a tatoo artist that comes to my PS office. That will be down the road. I might wait until fall so I can swim more this summer.
While it definitely is a real surgery it is nothing compared to what you've already been through!
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Golden I was wondering about what they do when one scar is higher or lower than the other. My left side is way lower, he can't really do the nipple at the scar and ahve them be even. He did not say anything about this. i wonder how he will do it.0
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I think most PS must have a really good eye for keeping things even. Mine immediately identified that one nipple would have to be above a scar line and below the scar line on the other side. The "flaps" (the ones he drew that looked like a flap on the side of a skate board) also have one from above and one from below. While that's what he did, one is still a little lower than the other. I can't tell you if my real ones were straight across or not! I think when he straightened out the scar (which I really am happy about), it may have moved it that side up or down a little too. He feels the one implant still is a little higher than the other and encouraged me to continue with massage. The PS and others on this post say the nipples will get smaller (and I sure hope so!) so I'm waiting until then to see how they line up. At my first visit, the PS said he was confident in a bra or T-Shirt I'd be very satisfied with the results. I use those words to remember he didn't over promise the results when I have to get out the peroxide bottle and change these bandages and really observe his work more closely!
Most of all, I'm trying to keep in mind that this is still a work in progress. I'm confident if they really are far off, he'll have some way of making an adjustment down the road. It would mean another surgery but I've already had four since last August and each one has been easier. A little nipple adjustment, I could handle.
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I'm about 7 weeks out from nipple reconstruction. My nipples have flattened considerably but my nipples are still bigger than I would like. For those of you who are a couple months or longer out from this surgery, did your nipples shrink as well?
Overall I am happy with nipple reconstruction - look pretty normal, but just want them to shrink a bit!
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I'm just 2 1/2 weeks out from nipple reconstruction and I have the same question as Lab44. I'm especially curious as my left one is really big and the right one not so much. If they both shrink, will I end up with nothing to show for the effort on the right side? Also, what is it like when the scabs come off, does it hurt?
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