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TE/Implant OVER pectoral Can exercise, comfortable &NO RIPPLES!

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Comments

  • 2FUN
    2FUN Member Posts: 789

    I found my pre pec implant is more comfortable than the TE, but it is still heavy, and I feel like I need to wear a bra to hold up some of the weight.

  • cyclegal
    cyclegal Member Posts: 49

    thanks, macb04 and 2FUN. The airxpanders aren't really heavy, they are just so much more firm than my 41 year old, nursed three kids, being an athlete, stomach sleeper boobs were! And the shape is obviously not what I am used to

  • sitti
    sitti Member Posts: 89

    Raven, thinking about you and you're surgery tomorrow; you have lots of us pulling for you! Update when you can.

  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 756

    Best, of best wishes to you Raven, for tomorrow. Hugs

  • SMBgirl
    SMBgirl Member Posts: 2

    Hello you wonderful and amazing ladies!

    I have read every post on this thread over the last 2 days. You are ALL soooo amazing! To go through everything you have.... I am in awe of you!

    Thank you so much to macb04 for starting this thread. It was just what I was looking for in my PBM search. Raven - sending prayers to you. And to all the others who have posted - my sincere thanks!

    I am BRCA2+ - no cancer dx - but lost my mom and grandmother to breast cancer and witnessed all the hell it brings. I am choosing prophylactic surgeries and have had the luxury of interviewing breast and plastic surgeons. Long story short, was trying to decide on DTI under the muscle or PBM with TE over the muscle - and you ladies are the tipping point! I'm going with TE over the muscle and will call this week to schedule the surgeries. Hoping/planning for Thanksgiving time due to being a teacher and taking advantage of planned breaks off.

    Again - many thanks! You ladies ROCK!

  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 756

    Welcome SMBgirl! Glad and sorry you joined us, all at the same time. Seriously, I am glad this thread has helped you to feel better about the how of your breast reconstruction. That's why I started this thread, to make sure women knew about this excellent reconstruction option. Much easier recovery for most women, no loss of strength and return to normal function much faster. Good Luck with your surgery to come.

    Hey Raven, I hope you are doing ok, and that all went well. Let us know how you are when you feel up to it.

  • raven4mi
    raven4mi Member Posts: 215

    SMGgirl, I'm glad you found this thread and are opting for pre-pectoral. I wish you the best of luck going forward!

    My exchange surgery yesterday went well. It took longer than I expected but I'm sure that was due to the lift he had to do on my left prophylactic side. I can already see that I'm still not symmetrical – the left side is noticeably bigger than the right but the horizontal plane is MUCH better. I'm hoping the size difference may be due to some swelling on the left but I haven't really taken a good look at anything yet to know – it always takes me a couple of days to work up the nerve.

    I do have a drain on each side (which I was expecting but still doesn't make me happy) and I'm having an issue with leaking from the drain incision on the right. Have a call into the PS's office to see what we can do about that. It's completely soaking through gauze pads every few hours or so and is just another avenue for infection so would like to have it fixed ASAP.

    Otherwise, I'm doing OK. Didn't sleep very well last night worrying about the leak but I have very little pain – more on the left side because of the lift. I took one Norco at the surgery center before I left and another at 2:30 p.m. when I got home yesterday but have since switched to extra strength Tylenol.

    So far, so good. Thanks again to all of you for the kind thoughts and well wishes. It's lovely to have a place to come to with people who understand.

  • cyclegal
    cyclegal Member Posts: 49

    raven, I'm so happy you are on the other side of the exchange! While the drains stink, at least you know they are there for a reason and once you get the leakage stopped, hopefully they will be more comfortable. Fingers crossed the swelling goes down evenly and that you have more symmetry, but woohoo on the horizontal plane :) . I hear ya on looking at things right away - give it time to settle...and in the meantime, focus on healing.

    I am confirmed for my exchange on 11/6. I am soooo pumped that they moved me up - otherwise I would have had to wait until January. It will be a couple weeks shy of the 3 month mark, but I guess my PS thinks it will be ok. I will ask more at my appt next week.

  • 2FUN
    2FUN Member Posts: 789

    glad you are doing well raven!

  • kathrynjune3005
    kathrynjune3005 Member Posts: 1

    Hi Ladies

    I have been following this thread for a while. I had a preventative double mastectomy with immediate placement of tissue expanders over the muscle on 2 August 2017. I have a very strong family history. My mum was diagnosed with cancer at age 31, recurrence at 41 and then stage iv at 58, she sadly passed away at the beginning of the year at age 61 after it had spread to her brain and she developed Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis. Both my aunties on my mothers side have also had breast cancer - this isn't the right thread to tell my full story but a preventative mastectomy was an easy decision for me!

    I am 27 now and had been seeing a male breast surgeon who first treated my mum, since I was 22 for mammograms and MRI's. When I told my breast surgeon I wanted to go through with a preventative mastectomy he referred me to two male plastic surgeons, who both spoke about under the muscle, not once was over the muscle mentioned, I stumbled across an amazing female breast surgeon while at an appointment with my Mum in the last 12 months of her life. The breast surgeon placed my mums port and I booked an appointment with her immediately. She worked with an equally amazing female plastic surgeon. Straight away I felt at ease with the both of them, they are both caring, kind and humerous which is exactly what you need in this situation. On the day of surgery as I was about to go under on the operating table, my breast surgeon came over and held my hand and said "I held your mothers hand", that moment was very special for me and it made it seem like my mum was there with me, something that every girl no matter her age wants.

    I was a very large unfortunate G cup and believe this played a part in me being a good candidate for above the muscle.

    Surgery was 2 1/2 hours and went well, I was given endone and tramadol post surgery (not sure what the US equivalent to these drugs are? They are strong!) however felt so awful on these drugs and they did not really do anything for the pain which was mainly a burning sensation at the incision sites (anchor scars), the day after surgery the plastic surgeon advised not to bother with the strong medication and to try ibuprofen which worked a trick! I was discharged after two nights in hospital and my recovery was smooth. I would say the feeling for a couple of weeks was discomfort and nerve pain, but no real pain. I managed on paracetamol and ibuprofen just fine for 3 weeks. I was able to wash my own hair and tie it up on day 5 and could probably have managed this on day 4 if I didn't have any help available. I went back to work at three weeks (office based).

    Today was my first fill. During surgery I was filled to 250cc's in each, and was pleasantly surprised to wake up with a nice C cup. I had mentally prepared myself to wake up to two very small mounds but what I woke up with was two breasts that looked 100% normal under clothes and suited my body. After having been a G cup it was so lovely to suddenly have a waist again! I don't want to go particularity bigger and am focusing more on shaping and filling out. The implants will fix any outstanding shaping issues hopefully. I actually forgot to ask my surgeon today how much she filled me but it was a painless process!

    At this stage I will probably only have one more fill, that is scheduled for the end of October and it is up to me when I book my exchange surgery. I don't have any discomfort from my tissue expanders at the moment so not particularly in a rush, I want to enjoy Christmas and the warm weather over December and January so at this stage I'm looking at February or March for my exchange surgery.

    I am located in Adelaide, South Australia and I'm not sure how many Australian women are on this site but wanted to add my two surgeons to the list. I hope this site is more widely used in Australia as it was a wealth of knowledge for me when my mum was diagnosed with Stage Iv, I frequented the Stage IV thread to read through all the different topics although never actually posted anything.

    I would do this surgery again in a heartbeat and strangly feel more connected to my new 'breasts' than I ever did with my old real ones. I do note that maybe this was easier mentally for me as I was able to make the decision to have the surgery myself without a cancer diagnosis.

    Happy to answer any questions.

    Breast Surgeon: Dr Beverley Fosh, Adelaide, South Australia

    Plastic Surgeon: Dr Amy Jeeves, Adelaide, South Australia


  • sitti
    sitti Member Posts: 89

    Hi all and welcome Kathrynjune3005 and SMBgir. l had my exchange surgery yesterday. Over all it went pretty well. I was surprised to wake up & find out my implants were placed subpectoral. My skin was just too thin too place above pectoral. I also had fat grafting; and more Alloderm placed for the same reason. I'm having a fair amount of discomfort but I think the placement subpectoral is why or maybe all of it. I'm assuming it will subside. At least the TEs were prepectoral.

    Raven, good to hear from you, praying that leak is taken care of quickly. I also came home with drains....really wasn't expecting or wanting them but if I need them I'll take them.

    Over all doing okay (other than not sleeping much).

  • raven4mi
    raven4mi Member Posts: 215

    Cyclegal, so glad they moved your exchange date up and that you don't have to wait so long. The waiting is sometimes the hardest part!

    Kathrynjune3005, welcome. I'm so sorry for the loss of you beautiful mom but it sounds like you are in the right head space for doing what is best for you moving forward. Great good luck throughout the rest of your fill and exchange process.

    Sitti! I'm kind of shocked they put your implants in sub-pectorally when the implants were pre-pectoral. I hope you don't have too much discomfort. Please keep us posted on how things progress for you.

    For my part, happy to report that the leak seems to have resolved on its own. Slept about 9 hours last night (which I really needed!) and there was only a little spot on the gauze this morning so I think I'm in the clear now.

  • SMBgirl
    SMBgirl Member Posts: 2

    Kathrynjune - welcome! Thank you for the wealth of information you gave! I am so sorry about your mum. I lost my mom at age 28. You will never be the same. I was pregnant with my first child, who is now 20, when my mom passed. The hurt fades but I still cry sometimes. I then lost my dad when I was 32 - to a different form of cancer of course! I hate this disease which is why I'm choosing PBM myself. I called the doctor today and got the ball rolling for a late Nov. surgery date. :-) HUGE kudos to you thought Kathrynjune - you are making this tough choice at such a young age. Are you familiar with the BRCA Sisterhood group on Facebook? It is WONDERFUL! So many young ladies like yourself who are previvors! I am in awe of all of you! And again, thank you so much for your post. I appreciate all the information you shared. You are AMAZING!

    Sitti - Sounds like you are plugging along and hanging in there. I'm sorry about your implant placement. I'm sure you are disappointed. Wishing you lots of rest and sleep to aid in your recovery!

    Raven - keeping you in my thoughts!

  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 756

    Hi Kathrynjune, glad to hear from you. I am especially glad to hear about your Australian PS's. I would really like to make sure progressive PS from Australia and other countries around the world doing Prepectoral Implant Reconstruction are easy for women to find. I will definitely start an Australian listing , with your two doctors being the first of hopefully many doing the Prepectoral Implant Reconstruction technique. Iam sorry to hear about your Mom, too.

    Raven, hope things even up much, much more as the swelling subsides. That's great that your drain issue seems to be resolving on its own.

    Sitti, that's a shame about having to switch to Subpectoral , I hope it feels better soon, and that you heal up really well.

    All the best to you wonderful ladies. I am so glad to know your stories, even if we only meet on this thread.

  • raven4mi
    raven4mi Member Posts: 215

    As it turns out, drain is still leaking at incision but at this point I may as well wait until my follow-up appointment with PS on Monday. It seems to vary in volume and intensity and he's in surgery on Fridays and wouldn't be able to do anything today anyhow.

    Took off the surgical bra in order to take a good sponge bath and get cleaned up this morning and got a good look at the results. Extremely disappointed. I didn't think it would be too much to ask, that after all the shit I've been through, I could at least get a decent looking result. My expectations were so freaking low going into this exchange that all I even really wanted was to look good in clothes. Evidently that's never going to happen. I still look like I have two breasts from two completely different women, with and without clothes. I realize I should give it a couple of weeks to "settle" but I can tell you with 100% certainty that it's not ever going to look or be OK. I'm so over this bullshit. I guess at this point I'm going to have to learn to live with it.

    Sorry for the downer post but just needed to vent.

  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 756

    Oh Raven. I am so sorry... .... I was really hoping this was the one that would be good. Vent away. It's totally sucks! All of this is just a pile of sh*t. Most of the time, for most of us I think.

    Hugs to you.

  • veggal
    veggal Member Posts: 261

    Raven, your disappointment and frustration is palpable. I'm so sorry.

    Please consider letting the PS know about the leak. I know leaks were one of the things I was to report after my revision. Risk of infection is too great, he is the surgeon who did this, and he gets paid the big bucks to take care of complications. Give him a chance to at least get this right.

    Hugs.



  • Shoregirl
    Shoregirl Member Posts: 338

    Raven, I am truly sorry about your disappointment. I'm praying as time goes by you will get more symmetry. I did not have rads but it was a good 3 months after my exchange before all the swelling subsided and I saw the need for fat grafting. I hope you get some improvement over the next few months as things settle. This bullshit sucks and the emotions it puts us through makes it even harder. Yes, thank God we have each other to vent to because those who haven't walked in our shoes can't possibly understand.

    Sitti, what an unexpected turn of events! I hope your recovery goes well. I know there are some ladies who had issues with thin skin and the problem was addressed with extensive fat grafting to help the integrity of the skin. I don't know if that would be an option for you going forward if you just can't stand sub-pec. Perhaps they will chime in.

    SMBgirl and kathrynjune, so sorry to hear of your mums and your dad SMB. Kathrynjune, it sounds like you are healing nicely. Congrats on finding doctors you love. Your surgeon's comment in the OR brought tears to my eyes.

    I will be joining cyclegal and SMBgirl in the November surgery pool. Having a major revision to correct pockets that are so loose my round silicone implants have each flipped over backwards! I found a new ps, a female who is kind, compassionate and totally on the same page as me. Willing to do things I want that my original ps who, while he is very talented, does not offer these procedures.

    The plan is to downsize slightly, from 470cc to 450. Add more Alloderm, tighten the pockets, lift the implants a bit by tightening my skin so they stay more firmly attached to my chest wall, and extensive fat grafting over the entire implants, not just the upper pole. The new ps told me the fat grafting will be in stages, so will likely go back in for 2-3 repeat sessions. She also offered to add fat to my long dog ear scars as I feel the 1st ps took too much tissue, and down the road a surgical nip recon!! I am scheduled for Nov 29.

    macb04, this new ps also does pre-pec if you want to add her to the list. Her name is Claire Duggal of Annapolis, MD. Thank you for this thread, it is quite lively!!

  • sitti
    sitti Member Posts: 89

    Raven, I'm sorry for your results. I really hope that as you heal it will get better and more evenly balanced. Vent away. I know it's been such a long journey for you and then to end up disappointed in the results has got to be so hard.

  • grandma3X
    grandma3X Member Posts: 297

    Raven, I'm so sorry to hear about the leak and your disappointment in the outcome. I had a PS (not mine) recently tell me to "step away from the mirror", even though it's been nearly a year since my exchange. It took all my effort not to scream at the guy. We know that things are never going to look perfect, but the smug responses and advice from people who have not gone through this shit is more than I can handle at times. That said, please give it time. Your new foob will settle and will take on a more breast-like shape over time. Right now, just deal with the leak and let yourself heal. And feel free to vent. We're here for you. Hugs to everyone - have a peaceful weekend :)
  • veggal
    veggal Member Posts: 261

    I'm 15 days out from my revision/switch to prepectoral and had my drains removed on Thursday. I'd been collecting around 10 mls a day of drainage for 3 days before removal. Yesterday I began hearing bubbling, gurgling and squeaking noises when I raise my arms. I assume this is fluid being moved around when the implant presses against the pecs.

    Anyone have this and how long did it last? It's a pretty gross party trick right now!

  • raven4mi
    raven4mi Member Posts: 215

    Thanks, everyone, for all your kind words. I'm just so down right now. BUT...........I'm not giving up. If the radiated breast would just "drop" everything would look better, so I'm e-mailing my PS the information from macb on pentoxifyllene and vitamin E to see if he'll prescribe it. If he won't do it I'll get my naturopath to do it. Onward! I'm just so happy to have surgery behind me. It's such a relief.

    I have my post-op appointment with PS tomorrow and will let you know how it goes. For the first time in my life I am having very little drainage so I'm sure the drains will come out tomorrow and I'm hoping that's an upward trend for good things going forward!

  • raven4mi
    raven4mi Member Posts: 215

    Had my post-op appointment with PS today. Both drains came out (thank God!) For the first time ever I had quite a bit of pain when he took the right drain out – usually doesn't bother me but this time it hurt like a mother. He took off the original dressings and replaced with clean steri-strips. That made things look slightly better in clothes – the bandage over the incision on the left areola was bulkier than it looked, I guess. He said he lifted the left as much as he could without "damaging" the nipple. OK, first of all, he means the areola – my nipples are long gone. Regardless I'm a little pissed off because he tried to be really conservative even after I told him I didn't CARE about the areola. I told him to remove whatever was necessary for a good result and now because he didn't listen to me there may be another surgery for me down the road but at this point it's going to be WAAAYYYY down the road. I need a break.

    He hasn't prescribed the pentoxifylline or vitamin E yet because he hadn't had time to look at the studies I sent him. So, for now, my plan is to get those prescriptions to see if that will help make the right radiated side drop a little and then maybe in a year or two we can discuss exchanging to more evenly sized implants. He at least had the decency not to say anything stupid like "they look really good!" Bleargh. If I work up the nerve I'll post a picture in the next couple of days so that you can see my unfortunate results.

    I go back next week for what he called "one more appointment" to make sure I'm continuing to heal and then I guess, for him, we're all done. Guess again, boy-o.

  • veggal
    veggal Member Posts: 261

    So sorry. It's such a letdown when you think you have a plan and literally offer up your body to someone you trust and hired to help you and then Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! it doesn't go at all like you hoped.

    Maybe get some new eyeballs on the situation when you feel ready. It may or may not help.

  • 2FUN
    2FUN Member Posts: 789

    Raven, I dont have anything to say other than I am sorry you are in this situation. HUGS

  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 756

    Raven, I am bummed too hearing that your PS wouldn't listen. You have worked so hard with this reconstruction thing, and the PS's should never presume they know better what we really want. I am sure you were crystal clear about what you wanted, he should have listened, or told you he couldn't do it for some reason. Then he is being so inanely cautious about the Pentoxifylline and Vitamin E. I totally get this is so frustrating. Like I said, any doctor can prescribe it, try your Naturopath, or the BS or even your primary care provider. It's worth a shot.

    Hi VegGal, are you still having "squelching" like sounds from you implant?

  • raven4mi
    raven4mi Member Posts: 215

    So, here it is. I figured I'd spare you all the full monty and went with a camisole over a bra. Lest you think I may be making mountains out of mole hills, this is what I'm supposed to learn to live with. Obviously, I won't be wearing anything so clingy in public but this is what I get to try to camouflage from now on and why I don't even get the "look good in clothes" result I've lowered my expectations about. I promise this is my last whiny post about this. There are some good take-aways here too, after all. First, they are pre-pectoral so YAY for that! And, secondly, I'm done with surgeries for a long while until I can figure out my next steps to try to fix this and I'm very relieved to have a lot of this behind me.


    image

  • veggal
    veggal Member Posts: 261

    MacB, the squelching is gone. I gues I absorbed all of the serous fluid.

    Raven, I am so sorry. That is just unacceptable. My 410's did a similar thing on the right and my PS managed to "shore up" the pocket on that side when I switched to prepecs. I am pretty confident if she could fix that (two surgeons said it would be impossible) yours can be improved as well.

    Hugs.

  • AlteredArtgirl72
    AlteredArtgirl72 Member Posts: 16

    Raven, thank you so much for posting that photo though I wish there weren't a need for a photo like that in the first place – I'm so sorry. My reconstruction is tentatively scheduled for early Dec. It'll be a DIEP but your situation and insight have given me things to write down and ask my surgeon regarding how he'll differ his technique for my left side due to having been radiated vs the right "normal" side.

    My surgeon has said to remember "they're sisters, not twins" to which I replied, "I'm 5'4" with dark hair and one of my sisters is 5'10" and blond. I'd like to at least see a family resemblance please!" (not sure whether to insert an eyeroll emoji or a laughing emoji at this point.)

  • AlteredArtgirl72
    AlteredArtgirl72 Member Posts: 16

    I forgot the second part of why I was posting ::eye-rolling at myself::

    Surgery has been pushed back to early Dec due to surgical schedules and my progress with expanders (surgeon is out of town two different weeks in the next few months.) So my husband and I are going to Florida next week (YAY!) I was at Old Navy yesterday and tried on this really great soft tank top. Loved the fit but noticed in the lighter colors it's very noticable that my expanders are in mid-fill and kind of lumpy instead of smooth and rounded, especially the left side. I was going to look for some sort of sports bra with a bit of padding but they all seemed like too much or not enough.

    Do any of you have any good recommendations? I don't need support for these rocks stuck to my chest ;) Just smoothing out. I'm a size large t-shirt right now if that helps with what I should look for? Thanks for any input you can share!

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