Nipple reconstruction
Comments
-
lala1 - I am with Cascader. Your body is telling you something and the PS is not listening. Perhaps you need to put the brakes on the nipple and give yourself some healing time. Just let it settle. I have had sutures come out, but no pus or pimple. You also mentioned not being comfortable without a bra. Usually the fun part of implants is not needing a bra. Have you considered a second opinion from another PS that only does breast recon? There are quite a few really good options in SC. PM me if you need anything.0 -
Thanks Wisconsinrandi - I hadn't heard of that option before! Sounds like a great idea for those where nipple recon is not an option or for those that don't want more surgery. It'll be something to consider when weighing all of the pros and cons. Personally I'm leaning towards wanting something more permanent that won't require maintenance once healed, but it's good to know all options before making a final decision.0 -
girltravel77,
Here's another thought: Naturally Impressive nipples + tattoos. You always have something, but when you want that extra dimension, wear the nips. So flexible....best of both worlds! You could start with the NI nips to have a sense of completion, but then get the tatts when everything is settled for sure.
Just a thought to weigh out as you consider what is best for you! We're all step by step on this journey....but I know I always like to know as many options as possible. Can be a blessing and a curse to be this way!! I must say, I've really enjoyed my "roads less traveled though"!0 -
Hi Layla! Yep I did get my 3d tatts from Vinnie. I could not be more pleased. It is nice to look in the mirror and see the "old" me.0 -
farmerlucydaisy - did you go with 'tit tats' only or did you get nips first and then tats? I don't remember everyone's details very well.....0 -
No nips - so I guess I have "tittats!" (Looks much more refined in one word!) He placed them initially with a washable marker thingy and then I asked him to move them down about an inch to make them more age appropriate.
0 -
Hi Wisconsin, my fat grafting is to take some fat from abdomen/tummy area and put over the post cancer side because it has a hollow upper pole. PS will do that while I am under for the nip surg. She wants the 2 to be symmetrical. I tried not to show it but I guess my face gave me away that I was somewhat disappointed that the non cancer side had a lot of upper pole which made it look larger than the other side. Even so the implants were the same. PS changed them out putting a smaller one in the non cancer side but it still looks larger.0 -
Layla,
I imagine you won't have a lot of pain with that amount of fat grafting. Usually, the lipo sites get bruised and sore, but not a lot of actual pain. Be prepared for a little "leaking" from lipo holes. If you are wearing a compression garment (or waist slimmer) you could cut up maxi pads and put them over the sites under the compression garment....that worked well for me.
How nice that your PS was sensitive enough to perceive how you were feeling about the lack of symmetry without you even expressing it!. Wishing you wonderful results!0 -
MartyJ--Thanks for your thoughts. I think I may have finally passed the point of the endless spitting sutures! One thing I have done is quit massaging my incision line around the areola. I had a lift and augment to the native side for symmetry and once everything healed up, I massaged with Palmers to lighten the scars. Looking back, I think the top part of the areola incision wasn't totally healed. My massaging kept it from healing. Now that I've quit, the pain has pretty much gone away as has the "pimples". I saw my oncologist yesterday. I explained it all to him and also mentioned that I still have some light pain off and on. I don't have any pain if I mash on my boob, but sometimes do have pain if I lightly run my finger across the outside quadrant. He thinks that I may still have a bit in inflammation/infection in the area that was slow to heal but the nerves are transporting the sensation to another part. He said after this type of surgery, you can't really count on things being wrong in the area they hurt; your nerves can send the pain to another area just because they've been cut on. Anyway, he said to just watch it for a couple more weeks and all should be good.
As to bras, I have an area along the side of my foob where the drains were that is a lump of what I think is scar tissue. Through myofascial release I got rid of alot of it, but if I wear an underwire for more than a couple of hours, that area gets very sore. My MO said he thought that would go down further with more massage therapy and that eventually it wouldn't hurt. I'm 11 months out from MX, so I'm not sure what "eventually" means! In the meantime, I continue to wear my comfy Bali bras and wait for next month when I get the chance to go to Nordstroms and see if they have bras that might work for me.0 -
Btw, getting my new nip day after tomorrow. He said it would take 20 minutes or so under local then he'd send me home bandaged up. No shower till recheck which is next Wed. How should i expect to feel afterwards? I should be in and out by 1pm and wondering if I'll feel like stopping for lunch. Basically it is about like getting a root canal? Did ya'll take anything afterwards like Tylenol or Advil?0 -
I had a DIEP and felt absolutely NO pain when I got the nipple.0 -
Farmerlucy, I am so happy for you with the new tats. Hope you had a good trip.
Wisconsin, thanks for the info. They basically told me it would take about an hour for the nips and grafting,then they will cover the new nips the PS says with special covers to protect them. Nothing about the special bra I heard about on another thread. My PS is a woman who replaced another woman so unclear if she is just sensitive to the issues or super perfectionist on her work. Probably a bit of both? What do you think? Do the men PS have to be told how you girls are feeling? My derm is a man and he is very good. My lady gen physician went back to school for a specialty so we have the man dr back again. I saw him today. He doesn't get that I am terrified of needles. sent me home with b12 shots. Can I really give myself a shot?!!!!0 -
I think each doc is different whether male or female. It sure is helpful to have a PS that you feel confident in and who listens and communicates well.
Sounds like the MD who sent you home with B12 injections and feeling terrified isn't very tuned in! There should be a way for you to get some training. Lots of family members get trained in on fairly complicated care for their loved ones....I'm thinking you can do it...with a little instruction...and practice on a lemon or something. You can use a smaller needle that doesn't hurt so much and probably give it in your thigh so it isn't so hard to reach. You can look it up on YouTube. Wishing you well!!0 -
Layla,
Did your doctor say the B12 needs to be in a muscle or just given in a layer or fat? It can be given either way. If given, subcutaneously (into fat layer) it is like giving insulin or most blood thinners. PM me if you want.0 -
Just home from getting my new nip!! Easy peazy! The whole thing took an hour from going back and changing to marking me up to building the nipple and then getting discharge instruction. Got it done under local anesthesia which I did feel the initial prick of the needle, about like a flu shot. Then nothing really but pressure every once in a while. Have a plastic dome over it and then gauze over that with a big sheet of sticky stuff over that. Leave it like that for 5 days. No showers, only baths and no sweating. Cannot get it wet or even damp! Then he takes it all off after 5 days, covers it with gauze and sends me home to daily gauze changes for about a week. He originally told me I could wear my Bali nonwire but changed his mind and has me wearing my old mastectomy bra that hooks up the front. I still wear it to sleep in at night (I need the compression) and it's very soft. I wear that for 2 weeks then back to my Bali bras. We stopped off and had lunch on the way home and now I'm just relaxing. Still no pain or soreness. Can't wait to see it. I looked just after he finished and told him it looked like a tiny piece of bacon rolled up and stuck on my foob!0 -
lala - congratulations on the new nip! Sounds like you're pleased so far, and how wonderful that it was so easy and painless. I don't plan on getting nips myself but if I did I don't think I would even feel the pinprick for the local. I have no sensation across the center of my breasts at all. I can feel pressure but if I had a wardrobe malfunction in public I'd be in trouble because I'd never know it!0 -
Sweetandspecial---I don't have any sensation either but he said that the needle probably pierced a nerve which then let me know in another area, this one at the bottom of my foob! I jumped cause I thought he'd numbed the wrong area! We got a real laugh out of that!0 -
Thanks lala - that makes perfect sense.0 -
Lala1...congrats..... on your new nips! Bacon huh?....I have feeling....so I am glad I will be out (IV sedation) for surgery
I get mine on Dec. 2nd along with fat grafting and brow lift and lower eye lids fixed....here is stage one of the "NEW" me
can you say puffy?....that was the evening of surgery when I got home
0 -
lala, thanks for the detailing. So we get bacons with domes. My PS described it as the "special covers" and don't squash them. She said I would be good to go to Miami in Jan. I live in north FL and it will go down to 38 F on Mon night. Guess I sound like a wuss to those yankee girls who already are in single digits in Montana or Fargo or someplace. Who has snow?
Keep us posted on how its gonna go lala....I get mine on Dec 11th.. I am so thrilled to get them but scard of the lipo. I am not numb like the PS said I would be, I was a little less sensitive but now all the feeling came back so huh,whats up with that?
Julianna and Wisconsin....yep my reg gen physician left and the male dr is back in charge. He is a ruthless NYorker. Grabbed my sore foot and almost got a cortisone shot in there before I escaped. He sent theneedles over to the pharmacy. Guess it was punishment when I picked those up? However, its B12 and testosterone. I called the PS to see if its ok to take that before surg but I couldn't reach either one of them today. Then I got a ltr from the gyn telling me I never went there this yr! What this BC is doing! Glad they got that little monster out of me.0 -
Lala, guess we are on the same schedule. I had my nipples done today as well. I also had revision of scar on the right so I was under general anesthesia again (2 hours). No pain, have nipple shields covering the new decorations which will be removed Wednesday. Same instructions as far as shower and mastectomy bra 24/7. Glad you did well, good luck with your recovery.0 -
question regarding sleeping. Is it ok to sleep on your side while you are healing from nipple reconstruction?0 -
I am so excited, I am getting my nipples done at the beginning of December. My plastic surgeon is using the method where they take tissue from the groin to make the nipples and then attach them to the breast. I have documented my journey and pictures on my blog which you can find in my profile. all pictures are on a separate page so if you just want to see those you just have to go to the menu, you don't have to page through my whole blog or look for anything.
I will be posting pictures of the nipple reconstruction as well.
I have stopped telling people that what I am doing is getting nipples. I have just called it a second breast reconstruction, it is strange how many people think I shouldn't get nipples and it kind of pisses me off. If the suggestion is coming from a woman who has gone through this I don't mind listening to the reasons why but I am at the point where I really don't care what anyone else thinks I WANT NIPPLES!!0 -
planetbananas - wanting and getting nipples reconstructed is your inalienable right on this journey, and no one, not even your DH or any other family member, is allowed to tell you what you should or shouldn't want! I'm not personally feeling the need to have nipples reconstructed but I totally respect that you and many others do. It's a very personal choice. This journey has made me very aware of how so many people are always soooo ready to share their opinion on what someone should or shouldn't feel, or say, or do in a particular situation with which they have absolutely no experience. I am much more circumspect in my comments than I used to be.
Next time someone pooh-poohs your wish for nipples put them on the spot and ask them to really think through how they would feel if they were in your shoes and see what they say. Might be interesting.0 -
TLR,
I slept on my side after nipples were done. I was wearing protective cups over them. Hope this helps.0 -
Planetbananas......we have some things in common....boston terriers....uh, I have SIX.....and I am getting my nips on Dec 2....do you have a nip date?
I am also having fat grafting for one foob that day and for ME, to complete my facial transformation (had a facelift on Mon.)
brow lift and lower eyelids and eye troughs fixed.
Di0 -
thank you, sweetandspecial. I have a tendency to get a little aggressive and one of the things I have said is, you have nipples why would you deny someone else nipples? But that is why I have just gone back to saying its a second reconstruction. I don't want to start fighting with people and that is easy for me to do, I'm ashamed to say.
Wow Di2012 we certainly do have things in common. I have 3 Boston Terriers and might be rescuing a fourth and my surgery date is December 4th. Are yours rescues? My plastic surgeon doesn't believe in fat grafting he has told me that it will not last although the people that I know that have had it done have been happy with it. I certainly need it as I have a lot of rIppling on one side. Good luck on your facial transformation, the first thing I did after my first normal blood test was race right to the nurse and get my Juvederm and Botox lol. by the way, I don't know if you are interested or are already aware but there's a great Facebook group called Boston Terriers R Us, lots of great crazy dog ladies (and men) and pictures.0 -
about fat grafting lasting....my PS told me it wouldn't last either. That's because he (many of them) aren't aware that there are new techniques now. It isn't just shooting in a chunk of fat, but carefully layering in droplets....at least that was true for me with total breast recon with AFT + Brava. It's been 5 years for me now and it's still all there!!0 -
hmmmm good to know Wisconsin. I've long thought that my plastic surgeon is excellent for the initial reconstruction but in the back of my mind I may seek out another in the future. I trust him though which is important as he is the only doctor in my team that I trust implicitly.0 -
It's always good to search out all the options....and to find MDs you trust. I'm confident you'll find someone to do some fat grafting to help you get the shaping you'd like.
Not sure where you live, but sure have heard of women so pleased with even going with smaller implants and some fat grafting. Their breasts feel warm again, pain goes away and they have sensation! (Dr. Roger Khouri, miamibreastcenter.com, has done many of these....I'm sure there are other MDs too). Not sure if you're going for that much...but don't settle for less than being able to feel good about yourself again.
Will be interested in following your nip recon journey!0
