Nipple reconstruction
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Just reading this thread for the first time. Looks like more new vocabulary to learn. I don't know what to think. I have one nip and will look forward to getting the next one down the road. Had reconstruction and reduction on March 26.
Am so grateful for this message board, I've be lost without all of you.
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Thanks, Lala1 will be sharing with others
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so how long after everyones exchange were you able to get the nips back? i know everyone is different... im just still undecided...
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I'm healing well from my nipple reconstruction that was about 8 weeks ago. Mine have "softened" a lot and actually quite natural looking and feeling. My radiated side isn't nearly as nice as my non-radiated side and that is no different for this. But I'm grateful for the result and very much looking forward to my first tattoo appt scheduled for 5/15.
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New nipple looks great, from what I can see of it. Area above breast where he did some fat grafting is sore and bruising up nicely, thigh where he did the lipo is getting sorer...but nothing unbearable. Sooooo glad I went through with this. It is amazing to have everything "back", after all this time!
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Congratulations Nihahi! Hope your pain level continues to be manageable. Good to hear you're happy so far!
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congrats nahahi! I'm 2 weeks out and the thighs feel good. I've even been walking 5-10 miles a day in my Spanx. I have to say that my nipple looks really real. I'm going to see my dermatologist tomorrow and I'm going to ask her to put some steroids into my hypertrophic DEIP scar. In the new scar on my biopsy breast, my BS put on this new dressing which was invented by my PS. It is supposed to help with hypertrophic and keloid scars.
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hmmm....nipple still looking good.....but......has anyone else found the shape of the breast itself significantly changed after the nipple recon???
I was very happy with the breast shape before, not so much now. Really, really hoping it's just swelling?????
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Nihahi, I think it's swelling. Mine looked different afterwards, too, but settled down after a couple of weeks. The new fat has to settle in or melt away, so patience, as always, is the best bet. You have waited longer than anyone, so hope this speeds along for you.
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I did not have any fat grafting, but I did feel that my shape changed a bit right after. It looked a bit flat across the front around the nipples. I don't notice it now, so I'd just wait for changes (again...as usual...
).Never a dull moment in bc/recon land!
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Dulcigil...YES...that is exactly what's happened!!!! I certainly wasn't "conical", but did have a semblance of it before the new nip. Now, around the nip recon it looks quite flat, which makes the sides look "bulgey" (not sure if that's a real word?)...at least to me. I did have fat grafting, but that was above the flap, so I don't think it's related to that.
Thanks to you and jeannie for responding..I think I'm just having a bit of a melt-down day. Told hubby in tears this afternoon, that I wished I'd never had the nip recon. It's quite an adjustment after all this time.....I feel like jekyll and hyde.....happy and disappointed all rolled together. I know I'll end up happy....just need to get there.
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me too on the little flattening. I don't like it either, but I figure the nipple has to come from somewhere. My nipple looks good but I feel it still needs more fat in the cleavage area. I may just have to accept as is. After all, I did have a mastectomy and I can't expect it to look like before.
I got some steroid shots into my DEIP hypertrophic scar and I'm actually excited about that.
I guess I must look ok because I've had 3 other docs comment on what a good job my PS did.
Hang in there nahahi. I do think we get after surgery blues and it seems to pass, so we just have to ride the waves. Up and down, up and down.
While at the dermatologist just now, she froze like 10 things on my back and in my ear and did a biopsy on something on my chest that had vascular supply. None of this was bad, but I come out feeling a little overwhelmed. It's like I just don't handle these things as well as I used to. Feel like crying.
So, I'm flying down to San Diego with high school friends for 4 days and I am going to unwind! Or maybe unload is a better word! I know I'm going to be drinking for sure!
I have been working hard and doing so well at feeling good and trying to move on with my life and one little dr. Appointment and I need to drink😁. Oh well.
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omg....you ladies are THE BEST!!!! hmmm.....maybe I should put down the bag of potato chips after all, and fix a regular dinner? Another grey, snowy day isn't helping my mindset either.
mammalou....I hate derm appts. Everytime I go, they seem to find something else to cut off my face.....I'm looking more and more like raggedy ann!
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nihahi...
I DID THAT TOO!!
I cried and thought I should not have done this. Especially when the bill came!
But...I've adjusted and I am glad they are there. I like seeing them in the shower and when I walk past the mirror having them makes me feel more like the old me. Looking forward to tattoos some day.
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Love you all.......honest emotions mean so much to me....thanks all for sharing and encouraging.
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Dulcigirl, we got our nips at about the same time. Are yours still shrinking? Mine shrunk by about half but they started out big so I was ok with it. I think they are still shrinking though and that makes me so sad. There may be nothing to tattoo in May!
It is good to see the emotions expressed here, like Nihahi said. We all share some of the same ones. I am always running to the Derm. with some new concern. The last time turned out to be excema, a new joy. The doc said, "Stress!" Haha, you think?
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My emotions are in a much better place today, ladies...thanks for all your support and understanding.
re:shinking nips.....sounds like a rollercoaster ride....I'm certainly at the PLEASE DEAR LORD LET IT SHRINK phase. Why can't we have a "stop" button when they get to where we want????
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Mine SEEM to have stopped shrinking. I'd like that Stop button now! But I'm not planning on them staying this way. Got a bra that conceals them for t-shirts and is still comfortable, so I'd like to keep them where they're at!
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A Stop button would be perfect! I try not to wear any bra that will compress my nips for very long. Don't know what else I can do.
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Hi Ladies....my nips were installed on Dec 31....one is higher than the other, and one is flat and small and one is not, and is larger in circumference ....went to PS soon after getting back from Mexico in March and He said put your arms out and then said they are looking even to me...I said NO, they are like they were on the OR table....I put my arms down and "low biggie
is 2 CM lower and also is a colored nip, made with a strip of areola that was left behind, that was not removed at BMX, July revision, or the making of the nip so I still have a colored line above and below colored nip (a consult with a local tattoo artist said it would be better to remove remaining areola, to removed nips, as the areola would be too large was covered with a tattoo, and would need to be lightened (if it remained) ....pooooor "flatie with no color is quietly flatly hanging out on a colorless foob TWO CM higher
I want both of them removed, even though I have feeling in both...
And then when healed, take a trip to Vinnie Meyers, King of 3-D nips
Di
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Di.....that sounds like such a disappointing and frustrating scenario for you. I hope you find the results you are seeking!!!!!!
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@ gauze padding I have to use for a number of weeks is reminding me of then long ago "tissue expander" unbalanced look....which I HATED....so that has put things in perspective for me too. I am NOT going to be held emotionally hostage by a stupid nipple though, so......TOWANDA!!!!!! This whole recon experience has plunged me way back into the bc mindset, and there are times I have to struggle to remember where I actually am today.
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Towanda is right, Nihahi! You can do it! I only wore the gauze for two weeks because I didn't want to feel like a "patient" anymore. My PS only required it for a week or so but I was trying to be protective of my huge (then) nipples. I just couldn't do it any longer. My DH says to just forget how they look, he thinks i look great. I love how you don't want to be held "emotionally hostage to a nipple." I will be applying that to myself regarding nips and other challenges, too, like my one disappointing boob. I hope you can "fahgeddaboutit" this weekend and enjoy yourself and God's creation. I figure you'll be out and about in it!
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mine held me hostage for 7 weeks. Ugh!!! I hear you, Nihahi!
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Nahahi...I just tape on one of those nursing nipple guards with the tip cut off. I don't even think about it or notice it.
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ladies who've had 3d tattoos:
can I ask how you came to that decision vs reconstruction and if you are happy with your decision?
i had my exchange surgery 2 weeks ago and am now trying to think ahead to the next stage.
thanks!
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udi....sorry, can't relate to the choice of nip or 3D, since I'm a uni, and am wanting a matched set.
the saga continues for me, apparently....
Yesterday....spots around my flap were getting red and itchy, so.....smart little me decides it's the tape. Went to the store and got a different type of tape to hold the gauze stuffing on. Things didn't get better, in fact got worse. Went back to the store, bought one of the nipple guard things, cut the tip off, and thought....EUREKA!!!! Went for a long walk, because for once it was a lovely spring day here. Got home....checked things out....OMG!!!! Not only is there an indented circle around the nip, from the guard.... Now everything was red!! Looked and felt like cellulitis, because it wasn't just the tape spots....it was large parts of the flap and around the new nip....red, warm, YIKES!!!!!!! Took some reactin, took everything off and sat around all night in almost nothing on top, watching, analyzing, stressing......you get the picture. This morning, definitely not as red or warm or swollen looking......so NOW WHAT...sit around top naked for three weeks??? Of course it's Easter, which means family dinner and of course PS is on holiday (hence the three week comment).......sigh.......this will be an easter for the record books for sure.
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Nihahi, I'm sorry for your hard days lately. Not what you signed up for. If it were me, I'd be calling PS, holiday or not, for advice.
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Nihahi, I agree, holiday or not, I would call my PS too. However, thankfully it didn't get worse over night. I hope you make it thru the day today having to wear clothes. Maybe wear something like a blouse and very loose. Let us know how you are at the end of the day.
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If you really can't get hold of the PS I suggest Betadine cream and cotton swabs. Grab a little "pack" of the cotton swabs - cut a hole in the middle for the nipple to sit in. Put a generous dollop of Betadine ointment and wipe it around to cover the area, then put on the cotton swab topper and cover it all with a wireless soft bra of some sort.
That's what my PS had me do for 3 weeks after surgery everyday. It kept infection away and the skin moist to allow it to heal without drying out.
Jenn
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