Nipple reconstruction
Comments
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My nips look like button candy only a bit wider. I'm also on the pict forum with my nips but I haven't take a photo in a while. I think they are the same but I might need a touch up in tattoo.
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I love my tattoos! Caught a glimpse in the mirror the other day and thought they looked very good! That has only happened a couple of times since the surgeries started for BC. I still miss my old breasts but am no longer unhappy with my new ones.
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lago... thanks that is exactly what mine looks like.. My native one is bigger though...
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You ladies are so inspiring. I look forward to getting my 1/29. He will be do some fat grafting & taking a graft from my csection scar. What type of garments should I make sure I buy. I looked on spanx & there are just so many to choose from. Any suggestions for what to wear after a mini tummy tuck? What do you wear on top?
Golden01- glad to hear you are more happy now, very encouraging.
Lago- I have access to the pic forum but I must confess I have a difficult navigating & finding what I'm looking for, any tips for searching?
Greenmonkey- love your blog!0 -
Rosie- good luck of Friday. Keep us posted.
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tenaj I did bump my thread on the picture forum. I posted all my pictures in the first post.
from the home page scroll down until you see: Under Construction (women only)
Then look for the "author" of the thread. I kept lago (1st page currently first post) and carrol kept carrol2 (on page 2)Hope that helps. Need to get ready for my freelance gig. They are only having me do 1/2 a day today.
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Rosie: I had a graft from my inside upper thigh to do the areola. The healing was not bad it was a little uncomfortable but not painful. I did not take any pain meds. I did not wear any underwear for the first couple weeks. I just wore long skirts. I work from home so I found it easy.
I am a uni as well so I wanted to have some texture. My natural nipple/areola is a little bit darker. Since the nipple was reconstructed from the breast skin, it is lighter, but the areola is a good match. In regard to the surgery I asked my PS about twilight he said no. I had general. I am sure the PS will give you pain meds just in case, they always do. He might also given me an antibiotic but I am not sure.
The upper inner thigh has healed nicely. There is a scar, it is not bumpy but the color is a little darker, although it seems to be fading. I wore bathing suits all summer without a worry.
Before I had the graft I had a laser hair removal session because I did not want hair growing in my breast. I only got to do one but it was enough. I have removed maybe two hairs in one year and they were very thin.
Good luck, hope everything goes well!!!
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Rosie, good luck on Friday!!!! I guess we're all different regarding pain but yes fill your scripts!!!
I didn't take the percocept because it made me queezie, instead I'm taking vicodin
The worst part of all this for me is getting up and down. That and trying to find/deal with compression garments.
I had fat taken from my muffin top and thighs. I'm a terrible bruiser so I'm not looking good or feeling good. I think I'm depressed (but this will pass).
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Last night I touched my nipples and I could feel them. Then I closed my eyes and asked my husband to touch them and.... I couldn't feel them. Weird, right.
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Greenmonkey i can only feel in one side but i have to kind of pat them and then I get little tingles. It's so funny cause they kind of flatten out in my bras and then when I take the bra off they inflate, makes them feel real.
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I wish I had inflatable nipples!
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Iago - Wouldn't that be fun?!
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Thank you so much ladies for your input and encouragement on my nip surgery tomorrow. Got the scripts filled and ready to go. I'm going to ask for the inflatable kind!!! Will let you know how it goes!
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Good luck tomorrow Rosie
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Who do I contact to access pics? Thanks
Becki0 -
Iago said: encapsulation happens to everyone. It's when too much happens that it's an issue. Talk to your PS about how you should be "massaging" your implants daily to keep them soft.
Greenmonkey said: I've never been told to massage, I'll ask my PS about it today...
Hi, I am 17 days post capsulectomy and nipple reconstruction. I have new info because on Monday 17Dec, I met with my PS to check my nipple which was still under bandages. The new nipple had been constructed from excess breast skin and graft onto the areola site after taking off the top layer of skin, a "de-epilation" or similar word (the areola had successfully healed from NAC reconstruction in May). He decided not to inject the hyaluaronic acid during this operation since that can always be done in his office later, if need be for further projection of the nipple. He had bandaged the new nipple by wadding up sterile cloth and taping it down to flatten the nipple against the site so that it could vascularize. I asked him about nipple protectors and he said that was not applicable for my procedure (maybe only for nipple implants). Au contraire, he wanted to squoosh the new nipple down against the areola so that it could "put down roots."
First I expressed my upsetness about not finding out until after the fact that I had capsular contracture. He explained that in fact, I did NOT have it definitively. As Iago pointed out, encapsulation is a natural process whereby tissues are formed which hold the implant in place. If we didn't have SOME encapsulation, the implant might move around within the pocket in the muscles of the chest or even move out of the pocket.
So my PS said I was only a Baker Grade I or maybe early II on the encapsulation scale, but he wasn't even sure if he could characterize my condition as being "encapsulation" because I did not follow the typical pattern of symptoms. Usually the implant softens and then begins to harden, which can cause pain and displacement of the implant. My implants never really fully felt soft and I had no pain whatsoever, and then never really hardened. But from the beginning there was some asymmetry in the placement and I had excess skin in places along the bottom of the anchor-keyhole incisions. And also, I needed a new nipple (the first attempt necrocized). So when he opened both sides he found some of this encapsulation scar tissure in the lower part which he removed. That is why the procedure was called a capsulectomy.
My PS said he has a very low rate of re-operation. His average number of times in the operating block for his reconstruction patients is 2 operations. We his patients love him because he is a perfectionist and does everything he can to improve our medical and aesthetic outcomes so we don't have to see him (or other doctors) very often. He invests a lot of his time and effort upfront so that things are done to a high standard the first time. He tends to be conservative and use tried and true methods and therefore does not always offer state-of-the-art experimental stuff, which is okay by me. The insurance company loves him because he is effective and efficient. Now I've had 2 operations (BMX and immediate reconstruction in May, and now this adjustment in Dec), so I hope that is it! My PS does not do many, if any tissue expanders. He tries to do fully sub-muscular placement and does not do much fat-lipo work since he is not satisfied with the long-term durability.
Okay, now to my nipple. I can take the small remaining bandage off today he said and then shower and bath normally. But I am scared to do that and might wait until tomorrow. I am afraid I will be disappointed it its appearance and that it will not be matching my real one. I will still have to get it color tatooed in 3 months.
I have to wear my Triumph Triaction sports bras and velcro band 24/7 for another 4 weeks (but can remove this binding and wear regular bras for 3 hour periods at a time to dress up for holiday parties, he said)! NO massaging until all is healed (he never had me massage after BMX at all). When I go back 7Jan he said he will show me some massaging exercises he wants me to do to reduce risk of further encapsulation.
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Feearlessfoot it sounds like all went well. I do the massaging every morning when I wake up before I brush my teeth. If not I forget.
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I massage for a few seconds in the shower every day. I had cc with one of my TEs. it was tight but not awful. The PS fixed it in the exchange. He did tell me I should always massage to keep them moving around in the pocket.
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For those that have had nipple recon, how long was it recommended to use shields or protectors of some sort? I am using the round cosmetic sponges with a small hole cut in the middle. I tried switching to just gauze & that immediately flattens them out, so went back to the sponges.
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fearless, thanks for the report! and I forgot to ask my PS about massage when I saw her the other day. We were both overly focused on my nipples. I can't get over how they have transformed my mounds! Now, even I am almost convinced I have breasts.
As for my comment that I can feel them when I tough them but not when my husband touches them... I feel silly about this but my husband pointed out that what I am feeling is my finger touching them - in other words, if I tough them with a q-tip, I feel nothing
Timbek2, there is a picture forum somewhere but I have never figured out how to access it. I have pictures of my nipples - day 4 here:
if you are asked for a password its: monkey 27
I had to make it private or the host website would remove it (ridiculous)
I also have a lot of pictures from my botched BMX forward on my blog under the heading CATSTIR. This is a link to it:
(hope those work)
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Right now, I'm telling my nipples to "calm down" but wouldn't it be great to be able to pump them up and down on demand!
Rosie - best of luck to you today!
Someone suggested sponge make up pads (round) for nipple shields and if your doctor recommends you wear a shield the sponge works GREAT!!! If I was motivated I'd manufacture them myself!
DLL, I don't know how long - I see my PS on January 3rd. I still have mine covered in bacitracin, then gauze, and then the sponge. How are you healing? It's day 8 for me and they're still huge!
Carrol, I'm so afraid to massage my noobs because of the alloderm that I had put in because righty kept falling (initially the pocket below my natural fold was opened too much). I still have pain sometimes along the internal incision area where they attached the muscle to the alloderm. I don't know why that is - and its been 3 months.
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Hi Ladies,
Thank you for helping me though my nipple reconstruction! I had my surgery on the 18th and I'm happy to report that it wasn't painful. The lipo areas are uncomfortable but not painful! My foobs look much more natural with the fat my PS injected. I can't report on my new nips because I have yellow gauze like material bunched and stitched over the top of them. I look like Madonna....now I'm trying to find a Christmas Dress that will hide my lumps.
Have a blessed day!0 -
Thanks green monkey. Looks great to me!!! How long is the surgery. Is it outpatient? Still deciding if I need to go there or just do the tats.... Not big on anesthesia.
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Hello ladies, I have a nipple tattoo question for you. I am two months out from nipple recon, and they look very good. For areolas, I am considering getting in touch with Vinnie Myers, and I wonder what everyone's experience is regarding the amount of time to wait following nipple recon.
My PS told me that the ink seems to stay better if there are at least six months between recon and tattoos. Thoughts on that advice?
Also, I have scars within the area that will included in the areola tatoo on one side, so I'm wondering if it's best to wait a very long time for the scars to fade first, or if it makes no difference whether the scar is red or if it is faded. My scars are not at all raised, just redder than those that have long since healed from my original diep surgery.
Thank you for any who can share your experiences.
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My PS said 3 months. I ended up with 4 months due to scheduling issues. My tatts covered my scars just fine. Mine did fade a little bit and will probably need a touch up but not too bad. One is a bit darker than the other.
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Hi ladies.... nipple recon last week and still kind of in shock. The nipple is HUGE. The ps told me she makes it bigger as it will flatten out, but my golly - the thing it triple the size of my real one. I wonder what happens if it doesn't flatten out. Can the PS go back and make it smaller? I knew I would not have a matched set, but I hoped they would be close....
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Don't worry they shrink and flatten/widen a bit. They look like monkey dinks when the first are unwrapped. Eventually you'll get the candy buttons
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lago......HEY WATCH IT THERE!!!! monkey dinks
))))) fitz... mine are HUGE by gorilla standards. I'm 9 days post nip recon and I'm worried mine are going to stay this ...fat. the width is... uncommonly above average!
also, one is droopy
I'm getting to the point where I seriously have to step away from the mirror. All I see are the flaws in me.
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I'm three months out from recon. I was scared to death too about how big is was. (UMX) Now I wish it was just a bit bigger. Don't worry. They will shrink.
I was obsessed with looking in the mirror, but at this point, I pretty much do my morning massage, stick them in a bra, and don't think about them until I undress for bed. The thoughts and scars do fade with time.
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)))))) thanks Jamie!0
