Nipple reconstruction
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H-thought I would jump in here.....I had my Stage 2b DIEP surgery on December 3rd. Besides lipo/fat grafting, and dog-ear revisions, this involved making two new nipples from Skate Flaps, and skin grafts from the hip/dog ear areas for the areolas. I was kept compressed for two weeks with surgical sponge that had been put over the areola, and then stitched right to my foob, with a plastic "nipple protector" over each nipple. My girls looked like they had daisies for nipples! I am now out almost 8 weeks, and things look pretty darn good! The grafted skin has adjusted, and is doing well, and gives a very nice contrasting texture to the rest of the breast skin, which is why my PS does it that way......Things are still a very natural-looking shade of "nipple pink", but I expect that to fade as the healing wraps up. I will have tatts later......I NEED a break!
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I just started scar away- for those that have used it--- to wash it, you just wet them, rub on soap, rinse? then put on their backings to dry? Somehow I dont get how the adhesive still works after it being all wet. Or why you cant just wear/wash them in the shower? thanks!
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I wash the entire strip or piece of strip of scar away....whatever size I cut and used....soap and water on the entire strip...fabric side and silicone side and then put in the little case (I have two now) that comes with it and let it air dry....if you don't have the little case formica/laminate counter top, tile or granite (might leave water marks) and let dry....I usually blot the fabric side with a towel ( sticky silicone side down) and when it is in it's little case or on some kind of smooth plastic surface.
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Islandmom - Thanks for clarifying. I'm bilateral so my PS doesn't have to match anything. He can just go ahead and work his magic.
In the meantime, I may try Scar Away. I've been using Bio-Oil, and doing a lot of massaging, which seems to be making a difference. My masseuse also suggested acupuncture - as it 'releases the heat' from scar tissue. I'm really hoping the scars fade - I still find it hard to look in the mirror.
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thats pretty much what I did this morning. Took them off before shower, washed them, patted and left on a washcloth. Thought Id put on a new set after shower, but they werent sopping so figured Id try and put the first set back on and see what happens. If they fall off or dont adhere well Ill have lesson learned and just alternate sets...They are sticky tho!
One interesting thing is when I had them on and looked in mirror, since the color is close to my skin color it was weird to see my breasts with no scars. I have long (6 inch) scars vertically on each side, along with the ones underneath, and seeing them 'without' scars was odd. But oddly more comforting. I know Ill have the scars, however much they fade, and thats fine. Just was interesting seeing the difference.
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Hi ladies...I've been lurking, since I don't have my "nipple-date" yet, but am jumping in as I just started using the Scar Away strips too.
My tummy incision is more active across the centre "third", of it, while the hip areas are fading really nicely. I was in the States last weekend, so picked up some strips, as I haven't found a local source here. I wear them all night and about 2/3's of the day, and massage/moisturize when they are off. I think the website says something about not exercising while wearing them (heat/moisture related I think), but I know I read it somewhere, that they should be removed for part of each day. I have cut the strips in half, lengthwise, to extend how many I have, and that seems to be working fine. I wash them by rubbing with water and a mild soap, rinsing them really well, then put them sticky side down, on a plastic margerine tub lid. Then I blot off the excess water. They dry fine, and are still sticky, on day 4 of this routine. Too soon, I think, to tell if they are making any difference, but, I do know that using medical grade silicone on scars has been widely researched, and has proven to be somewhat effective. I'm curious by nature, so thought I'd give it a go.
fyi....YES!!!!!......looking at my reflection in the mirror, when the strips are on, was kind of an....oh, gosh.....that's pretty good!!!! I believe all our scars will eventually fade, but it is nice to have that awareness of "things will look better"!!!!!!
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My PS made my nip (I'm a Uni) using the origami method. The whole thing took about 45 minutes from in the door to out the door and we chatted the whole time. He used a local anesthetic. I barely felt the initial pinprink and only a couple of slight "tugs" during the procedure. He put a pile of gauze pads on top and taped them down and said no shower for till recheck in 6 days. During that time, after the first 2 days, I changed the guaze pads each day. I am now 2 months out and the nip looks really good! It's almost a perfect match to the native side and has shrunk down to a nice size and is actually pretty soft. My PS said I could quit covering it after 3 weeks but I actually kept doing it for another month. I now have an appointment with Vinnie in June for areola tattoo. I have pictures on the picture forum if anyone is interested.
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Hi, Janet_M! (And everyone) I am having nipple reconstruction on Feb. 7th. I already had stage II where my dog ear was fixed, ab scar straightened out and a little lipo. I definitely don't want to return to the OR even though more tidying up could be done. I am having "origami" on my "crop circles," no skin grafts, in my PS's procedure room---no IV, no BP (lymphedema so this is great), no general anesthesia, just local. Nervous but let's get this whole shebang over with!
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Hi Jeannie!
Is this the end of your marathon? So exciting!
I was offered to have my crop circles done in my PS's procedure room - without a general - but I'm undecided. I'll be following your progress as you cross the finish line. I know you're nervous, but we just learn to live with being nervous, don't we. 'Feel the fear, and add some courage' has got me through some pretty challenging times.
And you can do it Jeannie. Absolutely no question. You can do anything.
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I'm kind if afraid to actually get the nips for fear something will go wrong or they don't shrink right. It feels like a crapshoot lately. It almost seems safer to just anticipate them, if you know what I mean.
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Mammalou.....go for it! I am so happy with mine......had a "show and tell" with a fellow DIEP sister, and she told me mine were the best looking "fipples" she had seen........(I was happy with them before she said that, but it WAS validation.....and I was VERY nervous to undergo the procedure, too)
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I'm mostly nervous about freaking out while being awake for the procedure but I have been through so many painful biopsies and needle sticks, I know I can handle it if I put my mind to it. At least, I hope so! Thanks for the vote of confidence, Janet.
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Mammalou and anyone else on the fence,
I wish all the best to
everyone going through this and am glad many of you seem to have good
results. From what I understand, there sure can be a lot of problems
with
surgical nip recon....especially for women with thin skin over implants
or radiated tissue.I'd encourage you to check out www.naturallyimpressive.com
I
feel so restored with these custom prosthetic nipples! They are simple
to put on and stay on for weeks without having to think about them. I
can swim or whatever....they won't fall off!. My DH thinks they are great!It's an immediate
solution with no bridges burned. Maybe someday, they will find better
methods to ensure a good outcome (esp without flattening), but until
then, this works really well. I personally can't imagine any better way
to match my natural nipple than with Naturally Impressive nips...made right from an impression of my natural nipple. This is
the long term deal for me!0 -
Nipple recon tomorrow to finish this 2 year journey through surgery!
I have ovals of abdominal skin currently where nipples should be. The ovals are pretty big so I'm not sure how this will work, but the PS says the ovals will pretty much be all used up to make the nipples.
This is being done under general since he's also fixing up a small dog ear to the side of my left reconned breast.
Thanks for everyone for sharing here - it's really appreciated.
Jenn
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Jennt28 - Good luck tomorrow! We'll be anxious to hear what you think!
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Jenn - Good luck tomorrow! You will be surprised how the abdominal skin circle shrink when the nips are done. Mine went from being very large and strange looking to the size of a natural areola. In the spring/summer I'm having that area tattooed. My PS was able to remove or somehow minimize the scar tissue that formed as my one flap was healing. Some of the abdominal skin died and left a nice scar. Its all gone.
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Thanks for that Janet! It will be interesting to see how this happens. Nice to bump into old "friends" like you still here too.
Jenn
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Jenn, wishing you smooth healing and beautiful results! I'm a week and a half out from my surgery--still bandaged so no idea how they came out, but feeling pretty good and better every day.
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softness, I am getting a tattoo also but I don't know exactly when. The stitches fell out and now I have a cute little railroad design scar on either side of the nipple.
Di2012, what is IPL? He said it was a precancer spot so they didn't biopsy, just froze it off.
The spot looks better now, its just flaky and red instead of brown like when I first went to the derm dr.
Have you seen the Chevy car culture? They are promoting World Cancer Day as a day to celebrate the survivors. Its all about purple and they plan to hold it in Feb. probably google it.
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Layla,
IPL=Intense Pulse Light....I have only had this done at two different ARNP practices, (not at a spa or salon....most of the salons IPL do hair removal
All I can say is it cured my rosecea.....and evened my skin tone, "no more ", okay a few brown age spots.....have appeared....but it has been more than 2 years, but now I am sure to ALWAYS, use sunscreen.
All my stiches for my nips were removed at 9 days, my scars are vertical above and below the nips, have been using scar away strips, see my PS on Wed....since nips are NOT even or are my foobs and one nip is larger in diameter...so I have hi foob little nip and low foob big nip
The Chevy car culture, sounds interesting...will check that out tomorrow....
Purple is my favorite color, so half my wardrobe is purple....getting purple sweater and shirt delivered by fedex in the next couple days.
Moviemaniac & Jeannie......sat next to you ladies at Olive Garden in Olympia....on the day of the monsoon last fall!
Di
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Yes, Di, I remember! That was a crazy weather day. So glad you're doing we'll.
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http://www.chevrolet.com/purple-roads-world-cancer-day.html This is the link ladies to the news on that company trying to start a national World Cancer Survivors Day. I think its a great idea!
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Joining in as I now have a date for nipple recon. Feb 27TH! Seems just around the corner. I talked to ps about the origami procedure. Looking forward to this finishing touch. Shouldn't take long to do with no time off work...thinking about all of you as you are awaiting this time as well.
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Surgery yesterday. They are cautious here and it was done under a heavy twilight anaesthetic. PS ended up using the end of my abdominal scar for the areola grafts so my left hip is the thing that hurts the most (no feeling in the breasts).
All padded up with foam and tape and go back in just over a week to get the dressings all off. No-one at my current work knows about my whole bc experience and I just told them I needed time off for a surgery without saying what surgery. It's summer here and I've got no idea what on earth I can wear to work next week that will cover this - ooops...
Jenn
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jenn, I too just had nipple recon and I'm wearing the plastic nursing nipple things with the end cut off that look like go-go cones under my shirt. Fortunately I'll be moving to the more discrete button protectors before returning to work, but they will still require camouflage. With the plastic things I found that if I wore a second bra I could stuff that in such a way that it covered the pointy nipple protectors. However it did rather look like I stuffed my bra so... Thing is that my surgery was public knowledge and now I think everyone will be checking out my breasts, so I feel a bit self conscious. I don't have any frumpy clothes anymore (did not make it through the post DIEP purge) and I'll be darned if I am going to buy any. Tomorrow I am going to try on the button protectors my genie bra with the little foam triangle insert and a little padding and see how that looks under clothes.
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Ladies, I found that after all the PS protection came off (surgical sponge/ plastic nipple protection) that cutting the middle out of four nursing pads and stacking them 2 deep hid and protected the nips, protected the grafted areola skin, and worked rather well under the Genie bra with the foam inserts.......my PS wanted me to spread a layer of antibiotic ointment over the grafts, and I increased the area covered to around the areola, as well. This helped keep the nursing pads in place..........good luck!
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After having a demo from my PS he gave me a supply of foam, using surgical foamcut in into circles with center cut out, (difficult to cut) I I startedthen used the round cosmetic sponges (much easier to cut the nip hole), lightly taped, under a genie type bra with the triangle inserts....been wearing genie type bra since my BMX, since I had skin top and bottom but scooped out in the center I called 'em " screaming muppet mouth"....exactly what they looked like in profile!.....and at least the formed bra made me semi normal, but always worried the bra would invert....and I would not notice....yikes!!!
BTW Nordstrom RACK have those genie type bras for $4.97...so comfortable...they are in the "sports bra section"...I buy bundles of them, like last week, I boughta half dozen!
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Please share your experiences with nipple reconstruction on a radiated breast.
I had radiation on one breast 17 years ago and am preparing for nipple reconstruction on both breasts in the spring. It's up to me to decide on which process I want. I am very interested in hearing experiences and insights on which processes have the best results and or cause more complications on the radiated breast. (cv flaps, skin flaps, tattoos) Many, many thanks!
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After a thigh skin graft, how long do you need to dress/protect the new nipple? I just realised my PS has pencilled me in for right before the summer vacation!
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I have to wear nipple protectors for a total of 4 weeks. Today I graduated from the silicone nursing nipple guard to this other style I will wear for the 3 weeks. I put on a coobie bra with foam insert and I don't need anything else. It looks smooth even under a tight cashmere sweater.
http://www.asteame.com/Products.html
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