Nipple reconstruction
Comments
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I didn't mean canceling surgery. I meant she can choose NS or not when in preop- yet, not change the px mx. If they have a hard time dealing with you changing your mind with NS or not in the preop then I would ditch them.
I have very limited tolerance for surgeons that think they rule the world. And, yes, I work with surgeons and some are very nice while others are not always nice to their patients.
I hope your have a nice one
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ok had my 3 month follow up wiht my ps after nipplesurgery. One side flattened and he does not like to do revisions on nipples. He siad he could inject it but it mght not take and my insurance wont cover it. I laso wanted some ft grafting on my upper pole and he is willing to do it for free if i pay the anethesia $2500. But he said it might not get the result I want and even if it did my body might resorb it and it will ony last a year and would ahve to be redone. so he was suggesting that this is it, this is as good as it gets. Don;t get me worng I got very nice results but i would like a little more upper pole and and little more lift. he calls them age appropriate ugh! anyway i guess i should be happy but i left the office yesterday a little teary. On top of it all I have to lose (my choice) 30 pounds. So i guess I will revisit the whole thing after i lose the weight. Now I am going to move on to get the tatoos.
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Carrol-
I am in the same boat. I may go to NOLA and get the nipples reconstructed.
I am not sure why insurance companies are reimbursing for these nipples if only around 30%
get some projection. I think if they didn't get reimbursed maybe someone would come up with a new idea and then they would get reimbursed evern more.
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Carol, sorry you had a teary day. I relate on many fronts. I see my PS next week for a 2+ month check up. I know he will say the same thing. I had wanted upper pole fat grafting done during my nipple surgery. He did some near the bottom to help cover the implant that was showing slightly. But he didn't want to do more because he said it can leave lumps & be reabsorbed...so I have what I have. I am much happier now with my nipples/areola's, they look very realistic. I'm not sure yet if they have to get color....I'm a bit disappointed because they have flatten out, but am glad they are not too big either. From some of the posts I had read I had expected much larger. I have to remember to be happy with what I have & that I am cancer free! I also relate with the weight loss, I've been trying to loose the same 20-30 lbs!! I wish you the best with the tattoos :-)
Good luck with our choice Vicktoria!0 -
I'm sorry Carrol. I don't love my new nipple either. I think I'm going to try to get to see Vinny. Even if my PS says he can revise it, I think I'm done with being cut. Hope tomorrow brings a happier day.
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yup i am going to see if i can get an appt with Vinny. I bet it will be months before he can take me, which is fine then I can lose the weight and save up some money to enjoy in NOLA.
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I am thinking about going to Vinnie. I see me PS on April 29 to discuss his procedure on nipple reconstruction. I know I will not have any fat grafting done. I know that procedure will not be good for me. I think he uses a simple procedure of cutting and folding. Has anyone had surgery to create nipples and then gone to Vinnie for the tattooing? Are there any midwesterners out there who have heard of a tattoo artist in the midwest area who does 3D tattoos?
I think plastic surgeons should go to school to take a class on what information should be told to patients before any procedure. Mine has left out a lot of information I would have liked to know. He never told me there would be tightness that does not go away after the exchange. He never told me the risks of silicone and what contracture means and it's risks. He never told me how extensive nipple reconstruction is and how long the healing is. I don't want him to be an alarmist and I appreciate that but i want to be fully prepared when going into any surgery and I don't feel like I was. Opinions?0 -
Hi Blogger
Yea, I agree. My PS told me very little also. He never told me the nipple would flatten. i heard that from the RN in the room right before he did it. Further, He also didn't tell me his stupid nurses would screw up my one tattoo. Vinnie did remedy it- and he did a good job. But, the color is still off some- but, 100 % better than before. The PS told me very little. They should not be doing tattoos in their office!
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Hi Ladies, I had nipple reconstruction and tattooing. They left some extra skin on my non cancer side after my bilateral mastectomy. they cut two circles of skin and grafted then to make my areoles, and fashioned a nipple form skin the removed to place the skin grafts. After that healed, I had three sessions of tattoos. I had my exchange 6 weeks after finishing chemo, and then the nipple grafting 6 weeks after than, then didn't start the tattooing for about 12 weeks. My color still looks good, but my nipples have flattened out too . I am having revision surgery in about 2 weeks. I am not sure what all my PS wants to do, I meet with him Monday.
For the ladies who were asking about the unilateral nipple reconstruction. I remember reading about latex nipple prosthesis on another forum here on BCO. They would take a picture and measurements of the existing nipple and would form a latex nipple that could be attached with some two sided adhesive. From what the ladies were saying, they were so realistic looking that if you didn't know they were not real, you would never even suspect. Just a non surgical option, or at the least a temporary option to keep from looking like a blank canvas.
Best of luck to you all, I am almost 2 years out from my reconstruction beginning, and still working on fine tuning. I could have been finished, but have postponed finishing so I wouldn't be missing as much work. Another thing to try for those thinking about tattooing, take brown eyeshadow, or pink and try and draw a nipple and blend different shades to give it some dimension to see what it might look like. I did this and took pics and showed to my PS. It really helped me to decide where I wanted them to be placed.
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question-if I decide to see Vinnie for the final tattoo, how does the insurance work. Is it covered? Does he take any insurance? In or out-of-network? Eileen
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EileenKaye I think for most insurances if it's done in a doctor's office it may be covered. So if done at NOLA you might be able to get it covered. Otherwise it does not. But I'm not sure. It might have to be done by a doctor to be covered. But do check to see what your insurance does cover for a doctor. It may be rather low anyway compared to the charge or if you haven't met your detectable. I don't know what Vinnie charges but I think we are talking 100s not 1000s like other procedures. ($400 uni, $600 bilateral)
or check out this linky
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Interesting price difference. Years ago, my doctor charged $6,000 dollars. My insurance paid, as I was over my deductible and co-pays. I could use a touch-up. Thanks for the information. Eileen
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Hi ladies, I have yet another question as I prepare for my appt this wk with ps to plan stage 2. For those of you who have had nipple recon, has anyone researched the best method? There are so many techniques (e.g., cv flap, skate, Swiss roll!), but are most doomed to flatten? I was worried about headlights but found a review that suggested avg projection was 2-3 mm. My ps says it's tougher with implants but diep pts do better because the belly skin is thicker to maintain projection. I just don't want to go through surgery if they end up disappearing anyways. Anyone know the failure rates and what's best to ask for? Any advice is much appreciated, and I agree we should be told all this info up front!
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EileenKaye I think my PS charges $1500 per side. Insurance doesn't even cover 1/3 if I had met my deductible (out of network). PS discounts substantially for this procedure though.
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cg1234 i don't know the statistics on success with nipples. All I can tell you is that I had both done and one side flattened a lot, but I would rather have that than no nipple at all. My old nipples weren't so great before all of this anyway. I just want to feel as normal as I can. I wasn't expecting to be that happy about the nipples, I was actually looking more forward to the lipo lol but, having them makes me feel a little better even though they are not perfect.
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Carrol1
WE must think alike. It all sucks no matter what way you look at. I guess I didn't apprec.
my body before. BUT, I now know what its like when older people say apprec. your body when you young- but, I am not even old yet and I can relate to that statement.
But, I can tell you I am really happy I am not dying- but, I still which I had my old body
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My insurance did not cover at vinnie shop. But, only submitted it once.
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Well it has only been less than a week, and I am bandaged most of the time, but I can tell you that it is nice to have something besides the bare reconstructed breast. I know it will flatten some or maybe a lot, (my PS did tell me that ahead of time) but I'm sure it will be better than before. My tattoo, done at the same time, is smaller than my other nipple (why dr.?) and bright pink. Hoping that will fade. Does anyone know if it will fade? I see my PS for follow up on Tuesday. I imagine that in time I will want a better tattoo but am not planning on going to Vinnie (NOLA?) to get one. I am in Michigan. If anyone knows someone who can do it around this general area, it would be nice to know. He can't be the only guy in the US who does it
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mybee my tattoos faded a lot. My PS knew they would and compensated. It make take time but they should tone down. There are others that do this other than Vinnie, just Vinnie has a great reputation. I would contact Vinnie and ask him if he knows anyone in the MI area. They all do tend to know each other. Vinnie will understand that you can't afford to go to NOLA. Also might check with whippetmom on this forum.
I know there are several people who do this in Chicago/Chicago area, I'm sure there is someone who does this in MI.
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Eileen...vinnie requires 400 up front and then files ins. If ins pays any additional you give that back to vinnie. Bottom line 400.
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HEY CG--
I JUST HAD MY FINAL BREAST SURGERY 5 WEEKS AGO. PS DID A NIPPLE RECON AND BREAST LIFT ON THE GOOD SIDE. THE NIPPLE WAS THREE TIMES THE NORMAL SIZE BECAUSE HE SAID IT WILL SHRINK WHICH IT ALREADY HAS DONE. HE USED THE TISSUE FROM THE RECONSTRUCTED BREAST AND IT LOOKS TERRIFIC! THE MAN IS A GENIUS--I'VE HAD 8 SURGERIES TOTAL OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS BUT IT HAS BEEN WORTH IT TO FEEL NORMAL AGAIN! AND HE WILL BE DOING THE TATTOO WHICH I'M NOT TOO CONCERNED ABOUT...MY HUBBY IS THE ONLY ONE WHO WILL SEE IT (BESIDES THE DOC AND NURSE) AND THE DH IS VERY HAPPY WITH THE WAY I LOOK (I AM 62 ALMOST 63) WHICH IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME.
HOPE THIS HELPS!!
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My uni nipple tattoo cost 900 and it was done in the PS offce, so it was submitted to insurance. I got the tattoo 3 months after the nipple recon (which cost 2,256 100% covered though) - which shrunk but has not yet flattened. My PS and nurse did a great job with the nipple and the tattoo - size, shape, and color.
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Good to hear fitzdc
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Namaste!
Lago and Eileen: Are those costs of $6000 or $1500 per side for the nipple surgery or the tatooing? I had CV flap nipples done bilaterally and along with fat grafting to a divot it was only $3000 for the surgeon's fee.
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Thanks to all for the info. I saw ps today and he wants to do a modified double tab. I have no idea but he confirmed the 2-3 mm number for nipple projection and said this method would be best since I'm flatter in the center and would result in less scarring. I think he's a little reluctant to do alot of lipo but is willing to add some to try to get more mounted shape in the center. I wanted a little reduced since the new boobs sit high and I'm used to being A cup not b/c. Why do guys always think bigger is better? He wanted me to think about it more but will schedule me in later may or June. I am on the fence about just letting it go vs pushing for sculpting. Hate to mess up what I have. I have time I guess! He confirmed that nurse tattoos are prob not as good as vinnie so I may plan that trip to Baltimore!
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I had surgery on 4th... I know focus here is nipples... Please share your experience...
My immediate reconstructed breast had a lift and reduction... the nipple on it is larger and higher... and there is a cut under it... I believe it is called an achor cut... I am thinking once the swelling is down it will match other side... Will it fall... I am lost...She only put nipple on delayed radiated breast... The nipple on that is lower...
Diep flap II ...I keep laying on side...She extended incision... I am rubbing it a tad... I just realized it and repositioned to my back... Also, Points are off dog ear...NO LIPO...I am not feeling like myself tonight... As I am typing... I am cutting and pasting ,but cannot form a thought... I am exhausted good night... I will edit tommorow...
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HantaYo that was for the tatts only
cq1234 implants do sit higher. They will fall a bit over time but that's just what they do. I think it seems more like that when you go up a size and your small. I also think mine sit lower too but that would make sense since I went bigger. I was barely a 34B and now I'm a 34D! I have the style 15 Allergen Natural which is not high profile so mine also are a bit wider but my PS felt this was right for my body. I did some fat transfer 2x. It really didn't make them much bigger just soften some areas.
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I am very surprizes at what you paid for your nipple tattoo.. I went to a reputable female tattoo artist She did my 3D nipple (Looks perfect) as well as putting courage at the back of my shoulder she charged $180 for the two.. She said the nipple tttoo was the most revarding tattoo she had ever done as this had so much meaning and helping me feel whole again. I could have had the tattoo done for free by a nurse, The company that supplies the implants (allergen) pays for the tattoo, don't know if thats only here but worth looking in to. a pix of my shoulder tattoo, there is a small pink ribbon behind the C It symbols courage crushing cancer
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Ossa that's what my PS charged for the tattoo… not what I paid. My PS collects from the insurance and writes off the rest. In my case I hadn't met my deductible that year so he did mine for free. Even if the insurance did pay it would have only been a fraction of what he charged.
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I am flying down to see my daughter tomorrow and she will be doing my nipple tattooing for me! She is a talented artist and tattooist so I'm excited as well as a bit nervous. A very different mother and daughter bonding session!
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