TE/Implant OVER pectoral Can exercise, comfortable &NO RIPPLES!
Comments
-
Renee - I had FG in October and also had some hard knots at the donor sites. Someone here recommended massaging them firmly, which has helped (but check with your PS first). The knots are gone now.
Best wishes
0 -
reneeCA, are you massaging the knots? My PS wants me to aggressively massage donor areas twice a day. She suggests using BioOil or something similar to massage and use on scars. I am 17 days post grafting.
0 -
thx! Yes, I was massaging but I think it made 1 area worse. Doc did ultrasound on it and it shows edema and scar tissue. Just hoping it doesn't turn into fibrosis in that spot. Que ser
0 -
Hi Renee, I had pre-pec exchange and fat grafting about 8 weeks ago. Starting at week 4, I went to a therapist for myofacial release massage on the scar tissue (the hard knots) in my flanks. With that once a week plus daily massage at home, the scar tissue can no longer be felt. The therapist also showed me some stretching to do to help break up the scar tissue. The therapist was recommended by my PS. I also have some scar tissue on the side of my implant that we are working on. Sometimes it is a little painful, but not too bad.
0 -
Hi reneeCA, I would bet that many times there is some inflammatory response to the implants, or stitches or the ADM like Stratice or Alloderm, but that it is not discovered unless there is an implant exchange and pathology. Basically this whole reconstruction process is introducing some degree of foreign body reaction. Unless your docs are getting excited by this, I wouldn't worry.
0 -
hi all,
i am almost 3 months out post exchange.. did any of you experience the feeling as if your implants are plastered to your chest and did it go away?tanks!
0 -
kae_md99 - I get that feeling sometimes. I'm between 7-9 months s/p exchange (depending on which side...I switched each one at a time smaller after the initial exchange which was Feb 2017). While my implants are small (250cc each), some days they feel plastered to my chest wall, most other days they don't. I haven't paid much attention to figure out why. I imagine they could feel different the day after big workouts if it involved push-ups for example. Maybe I'll take note the next time they feel particularly plastered. Glad they don't feel that way all the time.
- xo
0 -
I do occasionally notice that sensation too, but if I vigorously massage my implant around the feeling subsides.
0 -
mine feels that way 90% of the time and im.6 months out. It used to be 100%of the time.
0 -
2fun, wow...are your implants big? mine are 415 cc,bigger than i would have wanted. by the afternoon i feel so tired from carrying them. my PT and i call them coconuts! lol. add that to bilateral frozen shoulders and i havent evenstarted arimidex yet!
0 -
my implant matches my lifted natural side...695! I don't know if I would have done it differently if I knew that was considereal large for pre pectoral. I was a 4oc before, now a 40b.
0 -
Kae, what are you doing for frozen shoulders? I saw an Ortho this week and he suggested a manual manipulation under anesthesia for mine. I would only have a few days of therapy after. I'm thinking I'll do it since I have my big reconstruction surgery coming up in several weeks and it doesn't sound like therapy would have my arm positionable in time for that. Ugh, it's always something!!
0 -
Twills, so far i am doing PT twice a week.. and home exercises.. are both your shoulders frozen?do you mind telling me what caused it? my BS and PT has suggested shoulder manipulation as on option. will ask my ortho about it...it sucks!! cant even drive...
0 -
Kae, im not sure what caused it exactly, im a hairstylist and over the years I've felt a pinch every now and then but nothing too major. It's just my left side. I did notice before my BC surgeries and treatments that I didn't have as good of flexibility in my left shoulder as I did in my right while doing yoga and such but still nothing I thought much of. After I finished rads and an 8 week strength and flexibility class with a trainer is when I really lost a lot of mobility in the shoulder, also pain if I move it the wrong way and such. So I think it's something that started a long time ago and just got worse with the position I had to hold the shoulder in during surgeries and rads. Probably would have happened anyway, just was sped up with those stressors. I'll have my DIEP surgery March 2nd and can't lay my arm out to the side, the Ortho said I could try cortisone shots and therapy but I probably wouldn'thave as good of a result that way. The manual manipulation sure seems easier and quicker. Mine is pretty bad though, sounds like yours is also.
0 -
I'm a PT, and a good PT with frozen shoulder experience mayhelp you get improved motion without manipulation. JMHO
0 -
TWills, i had one cortisone shot. it worked for the pain. then i drove and the pain came back. i was told the manipulation will work faster. but after the manipulation you will need intensive PT.. for now im doing PT and i was told it will take even up to two years.am i right 2Fun?my left shoulder is worse... my PT had a patient who had hers manipulated and it took 2-3 months of PT i think... for now i am doing PT and home exercises. pain is noy so bad. to be honest i am more bothered by my implants than my FS...can you let me know how the manipulation goes when you have it?
0 -
I sure will, Ortho said I would only need 3-5 days of PT after, that's why I'm doing it. It's like having weeks or months of PT all at once. I'll have no restrictions afterward. I'll have it on a Tuesday and go to PT the following 3 days in a row and that might be it. We'll see.
0 -
let me know how the manipulation goes. I haven't worked in ortho for at least 8 years, and things change in that amount of time. Good luck!
0 -
Good mornin Kae_md99
My implants had the same sensation until about 6 months post exchange. Now at 4 years out I’m not bothered by it.
I just had a revision and smaller implants yesterday And Idon’t expect it to happen again.
Mimi
0 -
mimi, what size were you, and what size did you get? I hope you are feeling better soon
0 -
Mimi68, glad all went well and hope you have a quick and smooth recovery.
0 -
mimi,
why did you go for smaller implants if you dont mind? i am almost 3 mos out and i feel my implants to be heavy. by the end of the day,i am already tired and my neck hurts and back hurts already. got 415 cc and my breast tissue taken out was 298 grams... i have frozen shoulders and i cant do much stretching so thal could also be an issue..
0 -
ladies,
do you also have the sensation as if you can feel the edges of your implants sometimes? mine feel likethe edges are made of wires,sorta wearing a bra with wired edges if that even makes sense.. not sure if that is what they call an iron bra..lol
0 -
Hi Sitti & 2Fun,
I'm on post op day #1 and doing pretty well, I had 500cc HP Mentors placed, down from 650cc. I had hoped for 450-475 max but he said these looked the best. Right now under my surgical bra, they look like flat hamburger buns. I'm very swollen and have 2 drains, surprisingly. He had to do a lot of pocket work. My only disappointment was that despite me telling him over and over, that the issue is the large diameter, he put in a smaller HP that was only about a cm smaller. I knew if he had done the Natrelle, the volume difference would have reduced the diameter size between the 650 and the 500 by almost 3 cm's. I'm grateful To be done!
Hi Kae md99,
I chose to go smaller for several reasons. Right from the get go they were heavy and caused me to have scapular discomfort, numb arm/hands and a weak grip. I also felt very heavy. My pre-Cancer size was a B and I ended up as a DD. I'm hoping these will be a nice C. Here is hoping..as a side, I have had far more pain this time around. I'm guessing that it's because over the last 4 years, I gained back some sensation. I went from a 650 Mentor HP to a 500 Mentor HP.
Thanks for the well wishes!
Mimi
0 -
Great to hear you are doing so well Mimi. Did your PS explain why he didn't give you the changes you asked for? I know, you just want to be done. I hope you get to feel comfortable and happy with your implants.
0 -
Happy New Year all! Just popping in to say hi.
Regarding the discussion about how your implants feel, I will say that finally going from TEs to implants was a HUGE improvement but it does often just feel like I have these heavy, foreign objects just laying on my chest wall. Not enough for me to want any further surgeries, but it's definitely not what I would call a "normal" feeling. Or, rather, I guess I should say it's my "new normal" and I'll eventually get used to it.
0 -
raven,
yes i have that feeling but there are times that i dont feel them at all. i hope it goes away.. coz i get tired at the end of the day bec maybe of the heaviness. im still on the lookout for a good bralette and i have tried a lot!
0 -
I went for a PT visit and he released a bunch of scar tissue with more to be released. I was surprised how much less heavy my implant felt afterward.
0 -
oh wow 2FUN. good for you. are your scar tissue on the side of your implants below the armpits? i have a lot in there and i am going to an oncology massage this friday..
0 -
I will say that I notice my implant (somewhat) when I am out walking, but when I am busy at work I usually don't notice it any more.
0
