Fat Grafting, pros and cons
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I had both breasts completely rebuilt, and I'm pretty petite. After the second surgery (I had four) I was told to gain ten pounds. I did it, but it definitely ws not the healthiest thing I've ever done, and I would not want to do it again.
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don't gain weight! If you were to lose it you would lose the grafted fat too. I am thin and my ps was able to get enough fat. Do your research on this but gaining weight won't help.
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if you have a " touch up fat grafting" to fill some rippling on one side how long off from work time does that require?? My implants look pretty good and the ripples are not real big. My ps mentioned the option of fat grafting but it's up to me if I want it. Yesterday when he mentioned it I thought more surgery😬, but i am kinda leaning toward doing it now since I've went this far I may as well get the best result possible. Is there a time limit on how long your recon is covered by insurance
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keep - pain with FG is pretty proportional to the amount of fat harvested. I have had some small FG surgeries that had almost no limitation or recovery period, but also had some much bigger ones where I was quite sore for the first week, with tapering discomfort after that. My original surgery was in 2010, and I am still undergoing revisions due to healing issues, and it is still being covered by my insurance. Whether it is covered or not has to do with how your doc codes the reason for the procedure, but you can ask your surgeon to get pre-authorization from your insurance company so you will know in advance if it will be covered.
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I had some fat grafting with exchange and my abdomen was used. I was sore there more than breasts but did well. I ended up taking 9 months off work due to agreesive chemo and may wait until after first of the year to persue it. My original surgery date is 11-12-15 so I was afraid maybe there was a year limit or something. My insurance is good but they are still not wanting to pay for the alloderm used first time . And they gave me a lot of push back on my wig!!! ( I had gotten a reasonably priced synthetic one thank goodness
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I had my first round of fat grafting in August. My left, nonradiated side took netter than my right, radiated side. I don't have enough fat to even out the asymmetry so my PS is placing small Mentor anatomical implants under the muscle next month. He will be adding a small amount of fat transfer at the same time to the scar and divot.I'm afraid the fat won't take as well with both procedures being done at the same time. He wants me to wear a non-wire bra 24/7 for the first six weeks. I know this is common practice for implants, but it is opposite for fat transfer. I wore nothing for 6 weeks. What are the chances my fat will survive?
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has anyone who has had fat grafting to fix divots/ripples etc had a problem with necrosis? I get these lumps that fill with fluid and I have to have them aspirated every 6 mos. I had my bmx January 2014 and fat grafting march 201
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Hi, I had my phase 2 fat grafting to the upper poles 8 months after my Diep surgery.
The days following my surgery, the site where the fat was harvesting from was super sore, yet numb and had a burning sensation when moving around. Especially in bed trying to rollover. The harvest site was from my flanks (sides, near abdomen). One side was completely black/purple and the other side was black and blue but not as bad. Most of what I heard ahead of time was that phase 2 would be a breeze. I found it to be not so fun.
I am now 4 weeks out. In my chest that the fat was transferred too, I can see a bit of an outline that was filled. I am hoping I won't lose anymore of the fat. From what the dr tells me is that most people need more than one fat graft for it to take for such a huge indentation like me. He indicated that surgeonthat did my mastectomy is aggressive in taking all of the breast tissue and that it leaves big gaps to fill. I would hope that any dr performing a mastectomy would be sure to get all breast tissue to be sure the cancer doesn't come back. So I don't blame thesurgeon for causing indents. But I really can't imagine doing this fat grafting surgery again, but it's too early to tell. They say it could taken 3 months to really know what fat will stick around.
My sides are still numb feeling-I'm hoping this is just temporary and will get feeling back.
I was sent home with a binder which didn't fit the contour of a woman's body so not sure why they bother. My nurse suggested wearing spanx until the swelling has subsided. I found this awesome maidenform firm camisole at Walmart that works great and is actually as comfortable as can be.
Anyway, just wanted to share my experience
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Cedee, I'm now planning FG surgery, so this was very helpful. Thank you!
Edited to say that I've gone back and read more of the thread, and see more garment options. Such good info!
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I understand the amount of fat used varies from person to person, but in general, does FG make much difference in the appearance, of the donor site (stomach, thighs)? Will the donor sites be noticibly reduced? I guess I'm not really thrilled to be doing FG, but looking for a silver lining, other than symmetry.
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wild - not in my experience, and I have done FG a number of times. It definitely does depend on how much fat is extracted, and how much is at the donor sites initially - that said, insurance usually looks pretty carefully at the amount harvested to be sure that it is also close to the amount grafted, within reason, because if there is a great disparity the procedure is tantamount to being cosmetic and gives them grounds to deny coverage for it.
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Has anyone had fat grafting using outer thighs for donor site? My PS said that I could get some spanx for compression but doesn't usually require use of compression for that area. I had FG using flanks for stage 2 diep and wore a binder (I think mainly for hernia repair) and healed quickly with minimal bruising of donor site. I'm also wondering if taking a week off work is enough time or too much?
Thanks for input ladies
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SpecialK, Thanks for sharing!
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Wildtulip, I had fat grafting done twice and I don't see a big difference in my donor site - my belly. It's maybe a little tiny bit flatter (I'll take it!
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because I'm doing the full breast reconstruction (post radiation) with fat grafting only (no implants) I have had six fat grafts. Seventh in 3 weeks. During the first two I was religious about the compression garments. Then only until I was comfortable. Then a week.
No difference in final out comes. I think the compression garmets may have helped things along faster, but full results were still 5 to 6 months out. Then swelling gone.
Is say what ever brings you comfort. The compression garners do ease pain during the first several days.
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Compression garments are to keep the cannula tunnels created by the fat harvest from filling with fluid and causing hard edema. My first PS was adamant about wearing compression 24/7 for 8 weeks following FG. I did this for the two FG procedures I had with him and didn't have issues at the donor site. I had two small FG with my new PS who doesn't advocate compression as strongly, especially for a small fat harvest. I had some firmness that I massaged away for the two initial FG I did with her. My last FG with the new PS was larger volume and I had a multitude of areas that had fluid collection that are just now completely resolved - this surgery was last November. If I ever do FG again, I will wear compression for the full 8 week period. These areas of edema can form a seroma, which can be a serious issue. I am not someone who ever had drains long, even though I had them for a number of different surgeries, but if you are one who had drains after MX/BMX for any duration beyond a week or two, I would wear the compression. I found it more supportive and comfortable, and I am a better safe than sorry personality anyway.
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SpecialK, thank you for that explanation. I will get some spanx although I found them intolerable for diep and preferred to wear the abdominal binder. I was actually thinking of cutting my two flap binder into two and use that on each thigh. It would be Velcro closure still. If you get hard edema (I've never heard of that) can it be massaged away?
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I had my second round of FG yesterday. I had nipple sparing bilateral MX 3 years ago. Does anyone know if there's a risk of the nipple dying from yesterday's surgery? The color is perfect but I see 2 small incisions near the Areola. Also what is the typical percentage of fat that survives? And at what point in time is it safe to say what fat is there will be permanent? Thanks everyone I am so grateful for this site.
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Jackie, do you have implants? Or is your reconstruction fat only? My PS said 4-6 months to see how much of the fat is permanent. Also, I think it's normal to lose about half of what is grafted. I only had one fat graft after implant reconstruction. They took a long time to settle.
Does anyone know if it's normal to still have pain after 2 1/2 years? I am still having pain outer left side, worse in the AM and if I sleep braless. Should I be concerned? I keep waiting for it to go away, but it never has. Doesn't seem to be getting any worse either though. I have more scar tissue on that side.
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I do have gummy bear implants.
As for your pain I too had severe pain on my left side from scar tissue. That was removed yesterday. No more pain.
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are there any suggestions on how to help the transferred fat survive? Ie., diet, supplements, massage etc.
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Having my exchange surgery on Wednesday, my PS is removing my TEs and will be doing FG from my abdominal area. He doesn't seem to think I need compression garments however I have learned a ton from all of you and plan on going shopping tomorrow. Im guessing he's using the fat to 'fill in the blanks' between my skin & the implants or at least that's how I understand it. Am I incorrect in my thinking?
Not sure what I'd do without this site, it has been so helpful getting me through every phase of this process. I am so thankful for you all, hope everyone is doing well whatever phase of the journey you may be in {hugs}
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I have hollow areas behind my muscle, near the armpit. My PS says that it is due to BMX being so aggressive and that he can add fat there to smooth things out during FG surgery. Has anyone else had FG behind the muscle?
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i had FG yesterday. The PS put me in a compression bra - this is a first since they did not use compression for either MX or for the exchange. I switched out to a stretchy sports bra when I got home. I thought we were supposed to avoid compression on the acceptor site and just use it on the donor site. Any thoughts on this? I am also wearing compression on the donor sites).
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Three days after FG I feel amost back to normal. I don't know how much fat was transferred, but will find out next week at my post-op. I think if I do this again, I'll schedule it for a Friday so that I can be back to work on Monday. So far it looks pretty good. Ripples are gone and my right side filled out more. Will need to see how long it lasts!
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Hi Jackie, At my last consult with a PS who is affiliated with an Educational Institution and who also has a private practice, I was told that fat loss from grafting can be as low as 20% and as high as 80%! Quite a range!
I have read through a lot of posts, too, and thank everyone for sharing! I keep wondering about and lamenting the fact that there doesn't seem to be a centralized reference source that compiles all these gems and other information we need and want as we make this journey.
Have a good weekend everyone
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Wildtulip-I had FG done behind the muscle at the time of my exchange surgery. Im 10 days post op and things look great! Symmetrical and no funny gaps or rippling. Good luck on the FG procedure.
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lmkopy, thanks for your input!
Grandma, glad you're doing well.
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Hi friends! I had my expanders changed for implants with fat grafting six months ago. I saw my surgeon last week and he told me to wait 6 more months to be sure if I will need more fat grafting. He said he will need to open my breast again to do the fat grafting. I was surprised because I thought fat grafting did not require your breast to be open. Has anyone had their breast open during a fat grafting procedure? Thank you in advance.
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Hi Faith2017, as far as I can tell, for both of my fat grafting procedures the fat was injected into my breast through tiny incisions.
I'm curious why your PS wants to cut your breast open.
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