Exchange City

Deborah - I thought of you today at Costco....made the mistake of going when I was starving after missing lunch because of a dr. appt.....consumed an entire frozen yogurt .....guess that just undid all the work I did this morning!

okay....I've got to go work on supper, etc. and quit hogging the board.  Have a lovely night - sleep well, Judy, and drink a bunch of water before midnight!

Kristen:  Good Luck with your first week back at work! What is worse as far as stress--research or teaching?  I feel that it is nice to be distracted a little.  Problem is with the valuim is sometimes I really need it for my back.  Hoping my getting back into exercise will lesson the need.

Hood: good luck with your surgery. Sounds like a lot so take care after the surgery and your prize will be worth it!

My appt went really well!  Was it all roses and fairies..no.  But I understand now whay I have a golf divut on my left side. It is from the stupid MX and how I dont have fat in some places so it lays down funny and doesnt match up with the boob.  So we will watch it and if it gets really bad we could talk fat injections (Does that mean fat grafting that i here about on here?). 

He doesnt think I have a CC but got a script for PT anyway because my PT is amazing with implant mobility and scar help.  She has this little suction thing that sucks the indented drain scars away from the muscle--frees the skin to release and heal flat. 

Isnt it all about perspective sometimes.  You have crappy days where everything is doom and gloom and then days where everything has a rhyme and a reason and you feel blessed for what you have.

Sorry, I am a long-winded 300 club member

Kristen

Best of luck tomorrow, Judy.  It will feel so wonderful to have squishy things instead of those terrible TEs. 

Jan and Candi, good luck to you on Wednesday!  It's a big exchange week this week, and may everything go smoothly for all of you.

I saw my PS today and he likes how my implants look (5 wks out).  There's nothing he wants to do about my stubborn left foob which is a little high, but he says that time will soften the look of it.  He and I both really like the right one.  He says he'll even out the areolas with tattoos before the nipple surgery.  Interesting, huh?  Then after surgery he'll tweak any areas that still need tattooing.  Nips for me in June at the earliest.  I was wearing my nice Freya bra, and he goes "now that's a cute bra, really cute!"  Cracked me up.

Wbuggie..

Thank you so much!  It has been a week and they look really good...especially in bras.  The prophy side which had given me so much trouble looks way way better and is now up level and perfectly even with the other one.  Even the upper points (like the ends of darts) of the vertical part of the original incisions are currently exactly level.... like you would use those points for where nipples would go.   So the left was brought up to match the right and I am very impressed with the job my PS did.  From other pictures I have seen...these sure look like good ones!!!   But, I know it has only been a week and too early to tell the end result.  

Regarding the push em' up...I don't really think the bottom is any higher.  They still seem at least an inch too low on my ribcage which is why I was hoping with the switch to the Allergan 45 and pushing them up a bit that the upper chest wouldn't have the definite line between flat upper chest and breasts.... you know like when you see a picture of an unnatural looking boob job.  Sooooo maybe the upper chest is how it is going to be no matter what because of all the missing tissue and this is "where they are supposed to go".  It has only been a week and I am probably being way too picky.  I never looked at my old boobs nearly this much and it has been so long I'm not really sure how low they actually were on my rib cage.  Plus when I piled the old ones into a bra, it created a lot of upper cleavage which cannot be re-created now.  So maybe the flat upper chest is more noticeable to me than it should be.

If I end up wearing bras to keep them exactly where I want them, then that is fine since before BC I always needed a bra anyway and these new ones probably won't pull on my shoulders as much as the old ones.

Wbuggie    I'm with you....I need a break from surgery, too.  And really from what I have just seen on the "push 'em up".... If your breasts are even and you don't need to have one brought to be level with the other....then you could have a new surgery and still not think they are up high enough.

I'm hoping NO MORE SURGERIES !!!  Except I would like to try 3 D nips and hopefully be very happy...  I guess if 3 D nips don't seem enough, I can always add nipples.  But any of that can wait until cold weather.

Best wishes and prayers for you all and especially those having surgeries!!!

Congrats Judy...today is your day!  Candi, good luck to you on Wednesday!  Wishing you both great results and a smooth recovery.

Thank you all for the warm welcome and kind wishes for my exchange surgery Wednesday.  I'm so excited...a bit nervous, but more excited.  I have total confidence in my PS...just praying for a smooth, uncomplicated recovery.

This thread moves so fast that it's hard to keep up with, but you ladies crack me up!  Also lots of great advice here, too.

Proud to be in the 300 Club!  Hey, I'll actually be a little bigger than I was prior to BMX.

~Jan

Just want to wish all the best to Judy, Candy and Jan on your big day  

Terri you look beautiful. 

I have one more fill and then I'll have my date  I'm looking so forward to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Best to all...healing and strength,

Laura 

Hi everyone--Yep, Colorado, my husband complains too, but he's at the dentist at the moment, so I'm here.

Jennifer, I had an old rad breast that, like yours, sat up high and very firm with the TEs. My skin let me get to 560cc and I ended up with a 550 silicone implant on the rad side and a 450 on the prophy side. I think after radiation, what tissue we have left after the MX, has shrunk so much that they need to put a larger implant on that side. Mine look fairly even now in size, but the rad side is still a little higher, not noticable in clothes. Don't be discouraged if it looks really high right at first after exchange. Mine looked just awful for the first couple of weeks but it has been gently settling down ever since. I am three and a half months out now.

I have a question for the post exchange girls. My PS put me back together with internal sutures that were supposed to dissolve, and steri strips on the surface. I healed well but at three and a hlf months out, I can still feel the knots under my scar, evenly spaced at about a half inch apart. My DH, bless his heart, calls me 'zipper chest.' I think the knots may have finally started to dissolve a little, but has anyone else taken quite so long for them to go away? Just curious.

Good luck to all having surgeries coming up and good healing for everyone.

Bobbi

dublin4, That your TEs feel "tight" is very common, whether or not a person is simultaneously on chemo.  Your TEs are under some muscle that's normally sitting flat agst your ribs, so it's being stretched beyond anything ever before.  The skin is too, although how much depends on how much "skin-sparing" you had in the MX.  The feeling will get a bit better as your tissue stretches (at least mine did), but then you get another fill and that takes up the "slack" and it's tight again.   Talk to your PS about how (un)comfortable you are throughout the filling process so he can adjust fill volume or interval between fills to accomodate that.

I've said it before but I don't think you were on then so I'll mention again that, at least for me, stretching every single day has been immensely helpful to relieve the TE tightness. If you don't already, I'd encourage you to try it.   For the first few wks after MX I did very simple stretches, perhaps 5 min, several times a day:  straight arm over head, arm over head turned out and walking fingers up wall, reaching over head to touch opposite ear, laying on back and doing "snow angels".  All done VERY GENTLY!!  Over time I added a bunch more & now stretch arm, chest, & shoulder at least 20-30 min/day.  If anyone's interested in hearing about the whole series let me know and I can summarize a list.

JenJo, welcome to EC!  I'm still in a TE and I didn't have rad, but mine is also sitting too high, and my PS said what yours did - he'll adjust the pocket downwards at my exchange.  I think it's really common. Do you have an exchange date?

Happy Tues everyone!

CS

JOYCE---------------- I AM BEYOND HAPPY FOR YOU !!!! PLEASE PM me or Email me your exact date so I can pray... WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO for oyu sister! I just feel you are making the right choice for you... wonderful to pop on here and see this. Wonderful

ANNIE... 25th... yeah... you gotta be with da man....

JUDY JUDY.... OH HOW I HOPE YOUR exchange is going AOK with no no no problems! CANNOT wait to hear from you!

Baxter I hope this is it for you to lady!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

NEW MEMBERS of EC... WELCOME !!!!!

OLD MEMBERS... HELLO!!!!!

I have been of the boards for three days ( NEVER IN MY BC HISTORY...lol has that happened)... and I have so much reading and catching up. I missed  you all!

Your sister in the fight,

Laura

For those of you who are interested in BRCA testing, the company who does it (Myriad) had a ruling against them and their patents.  Read here for more info:  http://www.aclu.org/free-speech-womens-rights/patents-breast-cancer-genes-ruled-invalid-aclupubpat-case

bobbi -  I'm pretty sure that I have what you're talking about on my revision side, but I'm only 8 weeks out.  Since that incision has been used 3 times now, it had a bit of a hard time healing anyway.   I will say that even the other side's incision, which is from my exchange in Sept, still has those little bumps, .  I assume it's because my skin is ultra thin.  The inner third of my bmx incisions have flattened out beautifully, though, so I'm thinking there's hope for the other 2/3s.....

luna - so happy that you're happy!  To some degree, I think most of us have that "transition" that you're talking about.  I never did have any tissue there before my bmx, so there definitely wasn't any there afterwards.  Maybe Whippetmom can enlighten us on the issue....

KristenPink - you're absolutely right..... it's all about perspective.....and some days our perspective is positive.......some days not so positive.....that's when we come here to cry on each other's shoulders....

Kristinka - Yippee for a great ps appt!

allisontom911 - pm alitman and ask her! she is in NE!

Lilah:  FYI I shared your exercise ritual with a group of women in another thread.  Thanks again.

Brenda 

Second day back teaching and thought I was doing so well, on my game, etc. etc. ... all four of my kids have sports at different times/places this afternoon/tonight and it all seemed to be holding together until one didn't have the right tennis shoes. Amazing how easily it can all feel too overwhelming. Made dinner then told everyone I just needed time alone in my room. After an hour I feel like I have a grip. Of course it's not about sneakers. Hard to take baby steps when life is zooming. I feel for my family for taking this journey with me without a ticket sometimes...

Love and healing wishes to Judy and my other sisters who are having surgeries, procedures and freak-out moments this week. Maggie

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with a complaining spouse.  I complain about his sports though on the TV all the time.  They call it March "madness" for a reason!

To everyone with kids still at home, I definitely feel for you.  It is hard enough on me with my mom living with us and my husband, who is disabled and 2 grown kids.  They are still "on the journey" that none of us signed up for.