Repeat surgeries? Please share your experience -
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I wanted to get implants that were appropriate for a 48-year-old, but my doctor said they were all out of tube socks.
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Good one, cookie!
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Don't discount the flap surgery. I did at first but by the time it came to actually have the surgery post chemo, I wanted the flaps and found an amazing place in New Orleans (yes lots of people travel there for this) to do it. It matters WHO does this type of surgery. Implants just seem so unnatural and wrong to me now. My breasts not only feel like breasts and look better than before, but they will age with me, get large/small when I gain/lose weight, and will never have to be replaced. Everyone is a candidate for this surgery no matter how thin you are - and if your plastic surgeon says that you're NOT a candidate then they are not a good plastic surgeon. The surgery is longer than with implants but this place has shortened it to 6-8 hours max and they do it routinely so it's not risky. Research it - otherwise you'll be tweaking for the rest of your life. breastcenter.com
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I would love to go to New Orleans and get the Body Lift reconstruction. I just don’t know how I would afford it
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Hi - just checking in after my PS consult. Regarding the heaviness and switching to saline, she said there is no weight difference between saline and silicone, which was surprising to me. She is willing to exchange my implants for smaller ones, but wants to first try physical therapy and acupuncture for the pain. Although I'm tired of these heavy sandbags, I'm not overly anxious to jump into surgery again as I had such a painful experience last time. I'm hoping that PT will ease the funky feeling in my armpit where the scar tissue is and help with the muscular pain. So, this will give me some time to address those issues, do some research, and think about what size I want to be. My PS suggested going from a C to a B cup.
I'd prefer to be rid of the textured gummies and am considering a smooth, round implant, hoping for just little bit of cleavage, but want to look my age, too, lol! It's so hard to envision what it will look like. I really appreciate being able to hear from others here on this thread. The link to the sizing chart really helps a lot - thanks for sharing that, Shoregirl.
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meistere - you're right. There's nothing natural about implants. One of the things I hate the most is having these blobs of silicone made with who-knows-what chemical that MIGHT cause cancer. Sometimes I feel like a walking experiment. If I could have any kind of surgery, the flap sounds like the best choice but I know it's more involved. Still....I'd love to have breasts that don't feel cold to the touch. I wonder - do they feel much lighter than implants?
Shoregirl - My implants are over the muscle. I think I was one of the first who had this done 3 years ago as not many women on this site seemed to know much about it back then. I think my pain was/is due to a lower threshold of sensitivity, so no matter what, I'm probably going to feel it more than most women.
iwannacookie - what you have (Natrelle Inspira cohesive round gels SCX) sounds like a good option for me, although my PS warned about rippling. During my consult this week I held the one that I have now and the smooth round - both seemed to comparable in terms of weight, but I'm seriously considering the rounds. I think I'd rather deal with rippling than worrying about the safety risk of textured implants.
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I had a skin/nipple sparing BMX in May 2016 with TEs over the muscle. My exchange surgery was in August 2016. The PS used 695cc anatomical implants and I absolutely hated them. Prior to my BMX I was a DD and really wanted to be smaller. I was sick of buying clothes to fit my chest and not my body! The anatomicals were heavy and uncomfortable, not to mention as saggy as my originals. I was always uncomfortable in a bra but it wasn't any better to go without. In March 2017 I had them replaced with Inspira SCM 485cc implants......wow, what a difference they have made! I feel so much better, both physically and mentally. Both times I had fat grafting done. With the anatomicals I had quite a bit of rippling and now I don't have much at all. They are perkier, but not obviously fake. It was definitely worth it to me to have another surgery to replace the implants.
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I realized that I never updated you all on the results of my imaging last week.
The US initially had them saying "probable fat necrosis" and I could opt for repeat scan in 3 months or biopsy. I was going to wait and repeat but then they called me before I'd left the parking lot, wanting to do a mammogram. I didn't know you could do one after BMX with implants!
They did a 3D mammo with gentle compression (hand tightening only) and I'm glad they did. The results were apparently much more convincing for fat necrosis and I now have no planned follow up unless something changes.
I spoke with my BS yesterday and she agrees. She says massaging the lump may help. I can go back to my "every 6 months" routine with her.
I'm very grateful that there seemed to be an answer and I'm not left in some ambiguous hell. Thanks for the concern and well wishes.
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Brave--that's a huge relief, I'm sure! I'm glad they caught you before you'd left the parking lot.
bc101--I had textured implants before too. But I hadn't been told about the increased risk. It is scary that so little is known about the long-term effects of having these foreign objects inside us. As for rippling. My doc thought these rounds would be better looking, but she did seem a rather surprised at how they completely eliminated my rippling. To me it makes sense that they would do that since the upper fullness puts more support under the formerly looser rippling skin.
Huskerfan--Congrats on your new implants! If you end up with decent looking and feeling boobs, it somewhat eases the painful memories of all that lead up to them.
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hi! Happy to see your post! Did you go to Center for restorative breast surgery or Dr Allen at the center for microsurgical breast surgery?
Had bilat Mx dec 09 with TE’s and exchange with silicone back in 2010. Radiated side has always been hard and immobile - like a softball - but was ok with it and really did NOT want more surgery - but radiated side started contracting and flattening and pulling implant. Initially the implant herniated thru the Aloderm graft in a small area - but recently experienced an extreme pulling and felt like something ripping from my sternum - skin developed discoloration and pimple like bumps and even started draining old blood!
Was scheduled for consult in New Orleans this past Monday but when my surgeon saw the ‘stuff’, she immediately thought cancer (which never entered my mind) always thought complication from radiation - had biopsy, ultrasound, mri, labs, - very scary!!! Had surgery Monday to remove implant and excise and biopsy the ‘growth’ . Breast cancer was ruled out before surgery but MRI suggested angio sarcoma!! Google that! Frozen section negative and thinking final pathology will be as well. Surgeon thinking radiation fibrosis? Said radiation can do so much that it’s diffucult to evaluate. Anyway - some type of flap will prob be only option as radiated skin obviously not conducive - had concidered no revision but - after seeing so many stitches on this gruesome chest with an area one could probably fit a fist in - def going to New Orleans
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Ok ladies I am all wiped down with clorihexidine wipes (yuck) and am heading to the hospital for my fat grafting procedure. I'll let you know what it's like.
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ooh Hercules, good luck!! HuskerFan, so good you persisted and got what you wanted!! Congrats on the good outcome! I too wanted to be smaller than my D/DD but alas, my male ps didn't see it that way. I am going to get my torpedoes downsized in a little over 2 weeks! Brave, phew!! What a relief!! I have read about the fat necrosis. Will def be doing what I can to avoid it with my upcoming revision and fg! I am so glad you got the all clear!!
DiDiT, you have been through the wringer!! Thank God no more cancer! I have heard/read great things about NOLA, very wise of you to go there. Best wishes for you as you move forward with this.
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Good luck, Hercules! I'll be quite interested to hear the process, recovery, and results.
I think I've resigned myself to not do anything for a while. The rippling is pretty obvious at times and the overall shape isn't quite right, but my BS doesn't really want me to do fat grafting for a few years. In a way - it takes the pressure off me.
Down the road I may feel differently about it. Maybe I'll lose more of the uncomfortable feelings and decide I don't want to stir up trouble. Or maybe everything will be the same and I'll be tired of it and ready to make things better.
I love hearing the success stories!
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Ok I'm home. It went ok but there was scar tissue so she wasn't able to transfer as much fat as she'd hoped. kind of disappointed.
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Sorry to hear that. Where was the scar tissue that it impeded the fat transfer? Does the PS seem hopeful about results?
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Well I'm not sure where the scar tissue is, And the surgeon didn't stick around to talk to me which was a disappointment. She did talk to my husband which is how I know about the scar tissue. But looking at my breasts it's clear very little was done. The worst of the rippling looks better but I can still feel some rippling there. And the larger divots aren't any different. The PS did say she would need several rounds to finish but I guess I was expecting a bigger difference.
As far as recovery there was some pain last night. But there was a mixup with my pain meds which were escribed to Arizona ( I live in Pennsylvania). Then we could not get hold of anyone willing to fix the problem. My husband finally went full Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment, drove to the plastic surgeons house, and asked for a written rx, which he got. After two Percocet the pain was gone and now only bother she me when I stand or sit. NotVeryBrave, I'll keep you posted on recovery.
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notverybrave- that is great news! So happy for you! If something is still prodding you to check out NOLA, I'd encourage you to do it. They have plenty of before/after pics available to view online with all kinds of before starting points. And a consult over the phone with their very knowledgeable nurse educator is free. She can answer pretty much all your questions and then if you decide you'd like to move forward to checking insurance coverage/cost to you that is free too. So if it costs nothing to investigate, why not do it? If you have any questions you'd like to ask about the experience itself, feel free to ask me via PM or on BCO. I'm open to talking live via phone too.
BC01- what do flap breasts feel like? They feel like your old breasts (unless you go bigger or smaller of course!) they look like real breasts too. They are warm and soft. They move with you like your originals did, they will age with you like the originals and they will grow/shrink as you gain/lose weight. Yes the surgery is more involved however if you go with DIEP or SGAP flap (which is what most go with) the surgery is muscle sparing. That makes a HUGE difference in recovery since they're not cutting through muscle. That's why DIEP is likened to getting a tummy tuck and SGAP is likened to getting a butt lift. Happy to answer any questions!
Bird-on affording NOLA: insurance still pays the vast majority of the time. The center does participate as a preferred provider with several national insurance plans. If your insurance is not one of those, it might be out of network with a higher copay, but you can also file for out of area coverage rates from your insurance if no one within a certain radius (usually 20-50 miles) of your house does DIEP flap. This would mean your insurance would reimburse at a higher rate than your out of network rate (mine was out of network, approved for out of area and insurance paid at 100% of reasonable & customary as they would have with a preferred provider). The center also does not balance bill-that means that once they tell you how much your portion is, that won't change regardless of what your insurance actually pays after the claim is filed. They also offer payment plans. Cost of the phone consult & insurance/copay verification is $0. They have a travel coordinator who can help with travel setup. They have contracts with area hotels at all price points with discounted rates and extra perks (like free room service breakfast, free/discounted parking, etc). You can fly or drive. Initial surgery is 10 day minimum stay (3 nights are in the hospital and your spouse/mom/other caregiver stays in the room with you in a Murphy bed), 2nd surgery (if needed/desired) is a 4-6 day minimum stay (1 night in the hospital and companion stays there with you). All meals for you & 1 companion are provided by the hospital while you're there including snacks. Same as above, happy to answer any questions.
I'm VERY happy with the care and results from NOLA and would recommend them to anyone. l never imagined I’d feel like myself again. Yes, choosing which type of recon/no recon is a personal one and l don’t judge anyone for the choice they make. It just breaks my heart when I read how disappointed others are with implants and just want to help any way I can with other options/avenues as a plan B. This disease takes so much from us; we deserve to be thrilled with our recon (not just ok with it considering we had a mastectomy) and as pain free as possible with it.
www.breastcenter.com
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Ok Notverybrave I have an update fir you. I'm 5 days post fat grafting and I'm really loving how everything looks right now. My PS covered over the rippling in my cleavage and filled out the superior poles where I had weird divots. I'd like every single fat cell to stay right where it is.
The pain was considerable the first night but quickly got better. I went on a shopping trip with friends 3 days out and on a college tour with my daughter 4 days out. I'm wearing a compression band around my belly which is where they harvested the fat. I'm not a fan of spanx so I'm not enjoying that but it's not bad.
Any questions let me know. I had regrets the first day or two postop but now I'm really glad I did it. I'd even consider another round if this fat doesn't stick around.
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Thats awesome Hercules!! I am so glad to hear you are pleased and happy with your fg! Did your ps say anything about having to sleep on your back or avoid side sleeping for a while? I really hope your fat sticks around!!
I had my pre-op Wednesday. My ps said for this revision coming up she will only be doing a small amt of fg because she is doing so much other stuff. I was disappointed to hear that. I have been having visions of no more muffin top, but that will have to wait. She feels in order to achieve the goals I have in mind, to look at this as a "staged" revision. But hopefully the future stages will just be more fg. I am still on the fence as to surgical nip recon or just tats. I was a bit upset when looking at pics of her work and noticed a lady that had extremely saggy natural breasts but was able to keep her nipples. I told her my orig team had said I couldn't keep mine because the distance between them and my collar bone was too great. The lady in the picture had far more distance to her collar bone than I did. My ps didn't say anything derogatory about my orig doc, but said she makes it her utmost importance to keep nipples intact unless of course the cancer was too close. If only I had gotten a 2nd opinion....
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HI gals, I just had my fat grafting on Monday. Mastectomy was in May with direct gummy bear anatomical Naturelle implants. I did have radiation back in 2015. The radiated breast definitely developed some rippling over the past 6 months. The fat grafting has completely filled in about 90% of the rippling and has even helped to create a more natural slope. Both breasts look much better. Pain from this surgery is minimal. Breasts feel sore and full.. a little harder. Stomach feels like I did a bunch of sit ups, but not that bad. I have virtually no bruising on my stomach and it looks pretty much the same size as before, just mildly swollen. So far so good. I am hoping the fat survives. But even if a little bit does it's an improvement and brings real tissue back into the breast. Worst part is that my surgeon sent me home in a compression garment that resembled a torture device if you ask me. I switched to a spanx garment yesterday and feel MUCH better in it. Does anyone know if spanx is an acceptable alternative to the surgical compression garments? It was ridiculously bulky and uncomfortable. I called my surgeons office three times in 3 days begging to get out of it. They finally said I could wear spanx. I think they just wanted me to stop calling. Lol. I'm also suppose to sleep on my back for 2 to 3 weeks, that's also a challenge. Other than that, really easy and totally worth It!
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Hercules and Sunrise - Thanks for the updates. So good to hear that things are going well for you! I'm sure it's such a relief. I feel like that's my worst fear - not of surgery but of being more unhappy afterwards!
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hi I am new on this site. I was just diagnosed with breast cancer three months ago stage one in my left breast. Decided to do a double mastectomy. I am a registered nurse and work with a great plastic surgeon so I got him on board with the general surgeon and my double bilateral mastectomy was performed 18 October. Well approximately one week later my skin we can to become necrotic. The doctor had me a Silvadene for a few days is it ate away my tissue. Then he went in and performed surgery. He ended up having to take out the expanders and part of alloderm that he had placed originally. My incisions look horrible at this time and I am so scared. He has been to breeding me in the office about every two days for the past 2 to 3 weeks. It is looking a little bit better as there was still some necrotic tissue but I have a large portion that is still not healing and we are doing wet to dry dressing changes on it as it is so deep. I just wanted to hear if anyone had similar situations and their story maybe some pictures as I can’t find anything online. I just want to have some idea of what to expect how the scarring can be improved and what an end result may look like. I am 35 years old and still love being a woman and my boobs have always just been a part of me and am just so afraid of the unknown!
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I'm so sorry! What a nightmare for you!
I don't have any personal experience but have a few thoughts. What about hyperbaric therapy? Is that an option to improve oxygenation to the tissues?
My SIL had a big surgery for bladder cancer last year and had one area that wouldn't heal. She ended up seeing a wound care person and using a wound vac. It healed within a couple of weeks after dealing with it for months and months before. Maybe you could see a specialist like that?
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tbrunson Im sorry to hear about your necrosis. I don't speak from experience but it seems logical that they could place tissue expanders and work toward a fuller reconstruction once you're healed. Or maybe a flap procedure would work. Don't despair, there are a lot of possibilities.
Shoregirl....yes I do have to sleep on my back which I don't like. But the plastic surgeon said to do it to avoid traction on the newly formed blood supply to the grafted fat and that makes sense to me.
Sunrise fish.....it so nice to know someone in the same boat! I wore spanx from day two, but I really didn't like how the bicycle short style squeezed my thighs so I bought a waist nipper on amazon and that's more comfortable. I switch to the Velcro binder I came home from the hospital in, to sleep at night. I'm going back to work tomorrow so I'll let you know how that goes.
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Tbrunson, welcome to the forums. I am so sorry that you are having trouble with necrosis. I also have no experience, but many women here do. Search in some of the other forums. You will find a wealth of love and support here for you. Don't despair. You have options, it will get better. I am sorry you are so young. I was 45 when diagnosed, young also. I had a lumpectomy and radiation in 2014, and a recurrence in 2017 which led to the mastectomy. I say that because I bet you may be wishing you never did the mastectomy. I wish I would have done it the first time and never had rads. Impossible to know the future, but when we are young there are just so many years ahead of us to deal with this again. I think you made a good choice. You will heal, and you will have many wonderful years ahead of you as a woman. What we lose physically, we gain in spirit, strength and courage. That is where real beauty is. Everyone of us in these forums are more beautiful than before.
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What a beautiful thing to say, Sunrise!
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tbrunson, I get what you are saying. It is traumatic for all of us dealing with the loss of our boobs but then on top of that you are dealing with the necrotic tissue. I am so sorry, I know it must be very hard not to worry. I think NotVeryBrave came up with a great suggestion w/the hyperbaric therapy. I don't have experience w/necrosis but I did have wound vacs following my bilat msx. I had very long incisions, anchor style. And Hercules flap suggestion is also something to consider down the road. A lot of women wish they had gone the flap route because the breasts feel so natural. I know its scary, but I 2nd what Hercules and Sunrise said. There are options, you will heal and you are beautiful. There is so much information on these boards, and so much love and support. You have come to the right place!
Hercules, thanks for the info on the sleeping. I am not looking fwd to that part, but whatever it takes to help the fat survive!!
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Sunrisefish,
.... about compression garments. After my exchange and fat grafting surgery I was instructed to wear Spanx that were 2 sizes too small! I'd like to see a man try to snake themselves into a torture device like that and then try to get it off (and on) with a full bladder while in pain in order to go to the bathroom. I finally just cut a hole in the crotch! It was pure misery. I couldn't even pull up my own pants. Hubby had to help me out there. I'm not sure I would ever go through that again.
Because I had fat taken from my thighs, I was told to wear the Spanx that go from the tops of your knees to high above the waist. I spent hours at the mall trying on different ones only to be told they were too loose. Later on I found out about http://www.belladeena.com/. Just an FYI.
Sending gentle hugs to those of you fresh out of surgery dealing with wounds and pain. I wish you the best of luck and hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving holiday!
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BC101, you had me laughing out loud. Thanks for sharing your story. Wow, a whole website of torture devices! I'm trying to be a good patient and am actually trying to wear the torture device with the Velcro at least while I am home watching TV. Have it on now, watching football. I am quite sure I can't enjoy a beer or glass of wine as there is no room. My stomach must be the size of a pea with this thing on. I do know I'm being an incredible baby and it's not that bad. Everyone in my life is laughing at me.
Btw, Notsobrave, from what I remember you and I have similar implants and have voiced similar issues with them. I think you're going to like the fat grafting. Really, it made a big difference. The breasts both look much better. Not perfect, but better. I know you spoke of being afraid of the change. I was too. I freaked out initially thinking they'e bigger. Gave it a day and realized they're really not bigger. They are just lightly padded with fat... especially in the upper part and inside which I really needed. I think it helped the anatomical implant shape quite a bit. For those of us with implants I think fat grafting is the best option to try to get a little of that natural feeling back.
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Sunrisefish......if your plastic surgeon recommended another round of fat grafting in the future how would you feel about that based on where u are right now?
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