Follow my Brava and Fat Grafting Day by Day
Comments
-
Congratulations Eileen- love to hear such a success story!
0 -
Eileen I think of you often love your descriptions of your new body, I am still right at the beginning (again) and hoping I get to where youa re one day. My reduced breast (still a D cup) has a slight sag now and I am thinking i may need a further reduction on it as creating a matching D will be a challenge but it has to be said i am not a skinny minny, not a fatty patty either, and surgeon made them as small as possible for my frame.........
So you are giving me hope and I am so delighted for you
0 -
Dancetrancer-certainly wishing the same for you.
Lily-I am also not skinny-not fat-moderate weight. My extra fat certainly made the Fatgrafting much easier-if I lost some-there was plenty more left to graft. When Dr. Ahn recommended a second breast reduction to me-I was quite taken aback. Took a little getting accustomed to, but it seems to outline my lipo body well. Must say that the smaller breasts make me appear thinner as well. The best on this venture. You will get there.Eileen
0 -
Roxy- I have also read that some doctors are concerned about fat grafting creating new cells and reactivating any dormant breast cancer cells that may have remained after treatment. However, I asked my MO and my RO this very question, and they both said I should not worry about it because there is no evidence to support this theory. I am taking their advice and have a consultation planned on May 2 to discuss Brava + AFT and can't wait!! I would suggest you ask your doctors what their opinion is.
0 -
Good choice. I could add another half dozen reasons to Dancetracer's list on why to not choose Dr. K. I would highly recommend Dr. Saint-Cyr, but Minnesota would be too far for you.
0 -
I agree 100%. So glad I did the reduction. Even though the right breast had been perfect after a Diep flap, it would take me another 2-3 fat grafts to meet it. My body can't take any more (I've had a total of 8 surgeries since 12/12, 4 of them fat grafts). I also like the smaller breasts.
I had what I hope will be my last surgery last week. As long as I retain the fat (and I'm eating away!) this is it except the nipples, but I'm in no rush.
I told dr. Saint-Cyr I had been doing brava as much as I possibly can since last June and really couldn't take it any more. He did a procedure with small holes, kind of like a laparoscopy, to pull out the scar from the inside. Then he stitched the holes and added in the fat stem cells. It looks great! I wish it had been offered to me as a possibility before BRAVA hell.
0 -
hopeful can you say more about the scar removal procedure? My guess is you need enough fat cells first or it would not free up without creating more scar tissue
Everything crossed for you......
0 -
lily... I really don't know too many details of the actual procedure, but it had nothing to do with the fat cells.
I had a staph infection that caused me to lose the Diep flap left breast. He was able to do skin sparring again so all the skin was tucked inside.
After I healed from the infection, I was told fat grafting was my only option for rebuilding the breast. I was given the option of a tissue expander or brava. I thought the brava would get me through it quicker and easier (not!)
Back to the 4th procedure since starting brava 6/13... My right breast was reduced in the last procedure and the left breast was close, but despite crying my way thru excess brava (16 hours a day hand pumping at the end while I stayed home alone), I could het the middle of the skin to pop out.
Dr. Saint-Cyr suggested he do it surgically. He couldn't just open it and restitchin it before inserting fat because the day would leak out. So, he made little holes around the outside of the breast and microscopically broke up scar tissue and pushed the scar out.
I have full feeling in the breast so it is rather painful, but not as painful as doing months more of brava and more fat grafts.
0 -
OK, here comes another one to replace the happy graduates! I just made the decision for bilateral mastectomy. I had lumpectomy in 2000 followed by radiation for IDC in L breast and just found a suspicious but (at this time) benign finding in an MRI last month in the R one. Ironically, the MRI was the pre-op for Dr. K to start fat grafting and Brava. And lo and behold, there's a finding. I just want the prophylactic BMX to get the worrying over with. It seems to be the "hot lick" in treatment these days. Lumpectomy was the answer back in 2000 but nobody told me that my irradiated breast would shrink to 1/2 the size of the other one over the years.
Now I won't have to wonder,re-MRI,re-biopsy endlessly only to undo any reconstruction I will have now. The baseball size hematoma in my R breast from the biopsy is still there 5 weeks after the procedure! I think it will be more tolerable to have the challenges of reconstruction versus the challenges of managing pre and actual breast cancer treatments.
0 -
finally tried BRAVA but not that succesful as I lack the tissue on one side to make a seal so alarm kept beeping. I could see there was seal everywhere else by red marks but just that one area nothing - any ideas on how to overcome this? I cant move dome any further over or up or down....
0 -
Sorry, Lily, but my attitude about BRAVA is run! I started my final BRAVA a week after the fat grafting and with 2 hours one day and 3 the next, I ended up with an incision opening and a huge hematoma! I've had NO positive experience with it and have seen others go through smoother, less painful and easier fat grafting without it.
It's going on eBay and I never want to see or hear about BRAVA again. A year long nightmare and I'm not even done
0 -
I only used Brava once, and now it's in my closet--for good.
I just emailed with my surgeon to ask if he would still do next fat grafting if I didn't use Brava and he said no problem. He wanted me to be honest so he got it. It's been six months since I did Brava with fat grafting. Not sure when I will be in mood to be black n blue again.
I think I will enjoy summer and schedule for September.
0 -
oh heck....it has to work for me.........its my only hope and its two years of being lop sided, sore and mutilated for me now
0 -
Lily--I think you have ready my story. Brava was quite a chore. It did wonders for me-- allowing me to skip the extensive surgery required with microsurgery. It should work for you if you continue with the process. The best, Eileen
0 -
any hints on getting a good seal Eileen?
0 -
Hi Lily... You don't have to use BRAVA to do fat grafting. Give it a try and be honest with your doctor about your experience.
Good luck!
0 -
Lily--I used aloe life skin gel. Was difficult to achieve a good lasting seal until after the first fatgrafting session. Was best to have some fat in areas where you are trying to obtain adhesion. After the first fatgrafting session--things became easier, more comfortable. Just do your best at this point. Have patience. Your results will be obtained if you are able to stay with the process. Eileen
0 -
Dear Lilly
I wish you luck with BRAVA. I am in the UK and we can't even get it here and to me it sounds to be the best of the best. Do you know why you couldn't get a seal? Is it because you are thin or some other reason?
My consultant is looking into possibly bringing the procedure over here. There is a PS who does AFT here, but without BRAVA, so it's good to hear from the other ladies that it worked well for them even without the BRAVA.
I wish you luck. Keep in touch with your Dr, he/she should be able to help. Hope the suggestion from Eileen Kaye works for you. Let me know.
Best wishes.
0 -
i have moved the dome around and used the aloe gel. The alarm goes off all the time but there is condensation in it at the end so it must be creating a certain amount of vacuum. I am uneven around that area so seal is nigh on impossible.
I am already itchy and irritated by the silicone even though I am only using it for three to four hours at a time. I am getting pitting and dimpling on the chest area looks like cellulite a bit but is harder - is this normal? I think there are some changes, I have a very reactive body so am not going to push myself to do the ten hours. I worry I will never get there as had so jany challenges, exoected to be near the end now not starting all over again........
Ladybird Dancer they do AFT at the Royal Marsden but i am not sure they build entire breast shapes using it.
0 -
Good luck Lily. Thanks for the suggestion of the Royal Marsden. I'll contact them. My local PS does the AFT but without the BRAVA - I suspect that's what the Marsden does also, but it's worth a try.
What is being suggested to me is a Tissue Expander and gradual AFT - the more fat they put in, the more they let down the TE. Is that a possibility for you? Just a thought. Sorry to hear you are having such a time of it. Aren't we all? This whole business is just horrible.
Best wishes
0 -
thank you, no room even for an expander! I do feel less tight since using the BRAVA but no visible difference, will be interesting to see what PS THINKS
0 -
I'm doing the same, Pinkheart. My body is exhausted from all the surgeries and Brava. I will finish up in sept w/o brava. My surgeon also said no problem.
My brava equip is on eBay.
0 -
lily... They can put an expander on nothing. You'll just have to get slow fills. I watched my friend (who also has fibromyalgia) do this over the last six months. Her pain was nothing like the daily fibro hell. She did the implants, but it can also be done with fat grafting.
I may do a small expander to stretch my skin evenly. Dr. Khouri was set on giving me cleavage on my last surgery with him. While cleavage is nice, I'm still stuck with a lopsided breast. Dr. Saint Cyr has slowly been evening out, but it's so much more in the middle section than on the outer.
0 -
ladybird... I would say do the expander. It will be MUCH quicker, less constant pain, and a lot less money. There's a reason why you are having trouble finding a doctor to do it.
When my doc was in an accident and I had to find another, I found more docs that had stopped doing brava than new ones that had started it.
0 -
my PS told me expander not possible as area so tight ......interesting you say docs giving up the BRAVA, I am first BRAVA patient for my surgeon and he has no vested interest, but I will ask about expander again
0 -
I don't think the docs are giving up because there's anything bad from their point of you, they are telling me that it's a huge (financial, time) commitment for patients and the patients aren't sticking with it/don't want to try it.
My doctor left it totally up to me until my recent hematoma, but I asked him if he had any other patients who wanted to give it a go He hasn't in years.
I can't imagine a doc really refusing it for an established patient, though.
0 -
i am using BRAVA every day but the sport box motor runs ALL the time. I have tried putting the domes on every which way but it makes no difference. I only use it for four hours a day but definitely am less tight, however where it is really stuck there seems no real change. I have tried aloe gel also, nothing works, and i still think the domes are way too big for me, but it is doing something it seems
0 -
Lilly... Have you contacted Darlene at Brava. She was really helpful when I had problems getting started.
0 -
How do i contact Darlene?
0 -
I am considering doing the DIEP or fat grafting and would like to know if anyone has used dr khouri for this procedure and your thoughts of his work. I have had 4 surgeries, cellulitis, had to have implants removed in 2013. I am still dealing with pin size open wounds and go in for yet another surgery next week. Once I am healed I have to wait six months to try anything. I am told DIEP can be an option but here it is a major surgery and recoup time is long. Does anyone know the cost for fat grafting. I called dr khouris office and didn't get a real warm and fuzzy feeling, but have been told by PS in my area that he is the best. They are going to look at my insurance and see what may be covered. Any advice would be helpful. I am just looking to close this chapter in my life with BC so I can move on. I don't feel comfortable being flat and am trying to look at all options. I really didn't have time to plan when I was diagnosed with BC and just want to e more informed this time.
0
