Exchange City
Comments
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Artsy: Just had a look and they are really looking beautiful. Seems to me a very slight adjustment with the saline and a nipple and you should have the most perfect breasts in the world. You must be very happy!!!
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(((((deecee))))- Just thought you could use a hug. All of this can be so hard emotionally, but I just had my exchange a week and 1/2 ago and I feel great. It was very easy and for me the worst part was just the nausea from anesthesia and dilaudid. I only took 1 pill and then needed just a bit of motrin. There was very little pain and I went walking and to the beach (with 3 children!) just a couple of days later.
Wishing you and all having surgery soon a quick and easy recouperation. HUGS♥
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deekaay, thank you for sharing that. I have to deal with this.. I know. It seems.. as everyone goes on in their lives... even with my "spirit" I just do not get to. So, I am dealing with this.. and then.. I will deal with LE. I hope I can do all this in a timely manner. I will keep my arm up while sitting like you said.. thank you. good info. There is a LE site started by some sisters here on BCO. I suppose I will be studying that sight soon. TY!
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Artsy -- I will go look now!
Deecee -- aw so sorry you are feeling weepy... I'm sure it's just all the emotion of all you've been through till now hitting you like a ton of bricks. Just feel your feelings and they will go their natural course. I hope the exchange is easy and the results pleasing
Hugs from your fellow Herceptin sister!Jennifer-- good luck with surgery this week! Finally
Same for you as deecee: wishing you an easy exchange surgery and pleasing results!Laura -- how was your Thelma/Louise adventure weekend???
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Artsy you look FABULOUS!
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Artsy- DITTO what Lilah said!!!
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Hi Ladies - As the swelling is going down from my exchange (about ten days ago) I've noticed some rippling. My PS warned me that it was likely to happen. Is there anything that I can do to lessen it, make it go away? It's worse in the morning when I wake up and seems to get better t/out the day. Just wondering anyone else's experience with this ... it is normal?
It really is amazing how much the size/shape changes. It's only been 9 days and I'm amazed at how different they look like than five days ago.
Appreciate you all sharing your experiences with the post-surgery blues. I'm definitely going thru it now and it is NO FUN! I didn't have to work this weekend so I went and saw a movie last night - SALT with Angelina Jolie. And I'm here to tell you, it just what this PMSy, grumpy, irritable, post-surgery depressed girl needed! Every once in a while a girl kick butt movie is pretty good therapy! I highly recommend it!
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DeeCee- not much to add to the mountain of support you have gotten already, except that you have put into words what many if not all of us have felt. There is such immense pressure to not "break" from this illness, It's OK to step away from this sometimes and just let the real feelings come through.
Congrats on all of you brave souls who have crossed another hurdle with your exchanges. Glad to hear all the success as well as the real-time ups and downs.
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DeeCee - I had sort of the same feelings going into the exchange (except I was sooo relieved to get rid of those TE's). The exchange is somewhat the final product (if you still plan on getting fips). In any case, I was very pleased with the outcome and it feels so much better than the TE's. Good luck and (((hugs))).
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DeeCee: You have had such sage advice from others about your post. I was so resiliant about everything leading up to the exchange and then I hit a very strange wall. I think you found my wall. You WILL get through this. It is an oddly emotional time for many women - the "exchange ceremony." So hang in there and just know that this will all pass and you WILL feel better and be on the other side of the wall before you know it.
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Deecee~ I was completely calm and matter-of-fact leading up to my surgery. Then on the day,my hubby dropped me off at the hospital with my bag at 7am and he had to go straight back to our daughter wh we had left asleep in bed (she was 12 1/2), and i sat in the corridor outside the ward along with everyone else who was being admitted that day,and i cried like a baby!
I don't really know what set it off. Maybe it's cus i was the only one there on their own? Or maybe it was cus i'm just terrified of anaesthectic and i thought i may never see my little girl again?(ok,thats a bit 'drama queen'!). But i cried and cried. I had snot running down my nose and i looked a complete mess-all red and blotchy.
No doubt i will be exactly the same when i go in for my exchange surgery.
There's no shame in getting upset-even when we don't know why we are. It shows we are human and have emotions.
Wishing you well on your exchange and if you feel like crying then cry. Its a good release
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MBJ, Lilah, Kate33....
Thanks I really appreciate your advice, I was thinking just a little "adjustment" on the augmented side?
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Artsy -- how does your PS adjust the augmented side? Is it one of those saline implants that it's easy to add / subtract from?
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Deecee, hang in there, you will have good days and bad. So much emotion that gets buried and bottled up and then surfaces at odd times. So much anxiety and anticipation of the outcome of the implant. It all has to go somewhere, so better to let it out when you can as you go along in this process. I find myself getting teary for no apparent reason when I least expect it. I could see a sad movie and not cry and then I could be filling the dogs dish with water and tears start to pour.
Kate33, it took me around 3 months to feel like the implants are part of me. You don't realize it and one day your driving and you say to yourself, hmmm, I don't feel any weight or tightness today. When I had direct to implant I thought the iron bra feel was going to be the rest of my life. Keep moving them around.
What I'd like to know is when do you stop thinking boob 24/7? If I'm not thinking about them, I'm looking at other womans who pass me. size, shape, drape, young , old.
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Lilah...Yes there is a little port of some type...I can hardly feel it but he made sure I knew where it was so I wouldn't freak out if I thought there was a lump....he already removed a little last month and it was not a big deal....but he can also add if needed.
PB22....it is 2 months and I still feel a little tightness on the mx side.....but it is starting to feel more like a part of me and.... yes.... when do you stop checking out everyone else's boobs....it is crazy
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Artsy -- well then in that case I say add/subtract all you want or need until YOU are happy
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Artsy- If it is that easy that I would say go for it because it obviously bothers you and after all we've been through we should get exactly what we want!
Dawne-Hope- Good question! I am having the same issues with rippling. Ladies? Any sage advice? I have Alloderm so my PS said I'm not to massage them, yet, but did not say when I could. I see her in a few weeks so I'll ask her then.
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Kate33- Thanks for this suggestion. I would love to email someone with questions about post exchange. It gets overwhelming and oh so much time has been given to get to this point that I just want to do exactly whats right for me. I am sure you all feel the same.I am getting drains out today and have a list of questions about what I should/can do, wear etc.
Trytostaypositve - Have you met with your PS yet about the pain you are having?
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Giselle -- of course the best place to ask questions FIRST is at the doctor's office... bring a list today when you go to get the drains out. Often the nurses (if that is who removes the drains) will have answers for you or can get back to you with answers from the doctor!
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Ladies having their exchanges this week or any procedures: good luck and may you have a painless, beautiful outcome!
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DeeCee & Kay: I held it together up until they called the next "group" going up for surgery and still, I just got a bit wet eyed, but the minute they hooked the IV up to my arm, I completely lost it! I was a blubberying, mess of snot and tears until they put me under. It's a huge, emotional upheaval and as strong as we are, it is still a loss.0
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Need advice - steri strips give me blisters and welts.....so the PS had me take them off yesterday! Wow it is worse this time then the bmx. Huge welts and ozzing blisters - any advice what to do. I really have no pain from the exchange surgery just from the steri strip allergy!!!
I also want to know do the ripples go away??????????????
I had a day I cried about everything before the exchange....and it was so easy I feel a little stupid now. I am now 4 days out from exchange and feel just a little depressed. But I keep telling myself STEP AWAY FROM THE MIRROR and DROP and FLUFF many times a day! Thank you Kate for the advice. It does work!
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Artsy: Ditto what Lilah said....
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ARE ANY OF YOU ABLE TO SLEEP COMFORTABLY ON YOUR STOMACH AFTER EXCHANGE?
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I am not a stomach sleeper and never was... but I used to be a side sleeper before all this surgery started a year ago. Just before exchange I was getting back to sleeping on my side (so that took about 4 months)...now I'm about 2 1/2 months out from exchange and reduction/lift and starting to sleep on side again... gingerly. I actually have gotten so used to sleeping on my back that most of the time I'm just as happy to do that.
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MBJ~ you crack me up! lol
I didn't cry about the fact i was losing my breasts. That really didn't bother me. I was crying cus i'm scared of being put to sleep and not waking up! LOL Not that id know i suppose
But i have a genuine fear of being put to sleep. They have to sedate me before they can sedate me,if that makes sense?!!! I even wrote a letter to my daughter and hid it iin case a didn't make it out alive!!! Soon as i got home i tore it up but no doubt i will do the same again..... =(
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Aw Kay I know that fear ... I felt it intensely before my first surgery (of four in a year) but have to say that it does get easier.
I cried so much over the DECISION to do the MX (because I was told I COULD do a third lumpectomy, though was also encouraged to choose MX over that) that by the time I came to the surgery I was either in complete denial or just wanted to get it over with. That said, I did suffer serious post partum depression after exchange... I think the reality that what you get is really NOT exacly the same as a breast hits you hard at that point; at least I truly experienced that I had lost something irreplaceable. That said, once I got through that feeling of loss, I have come to feel very content with my new body. A foob is not a breast but it is a very good facsimile.
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Ladies.....thanks for your input....I just needed your opinion and not just my "fashion police" daughter...she means well and I love her honest opinion but you ladies have more knowledge about long term effects...been there...done it.
Kate33 - I have alloderm and my PS told me to massage .....I think it was a week after exchange. Really these PS's ...they all have different strategies ....but I guess they have their reasons....
Hope everyone is doing well, and good luck with surgeries this week.
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Hope4future- I have the steri strip allergy, too, but not as extreme as yours. I've been using the silicone tape just so I have something over the incision. I don't know if it is helping it heal any faster but it does keep my bra band from rubbing on it.
I was such a mess before my exchange surgery that my PS gave me a prescription for some Valium at my pre-op appointment. I took one a few hours before surgery and it helped a lot in calming me down.
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Laura: I just wanted to thank you for the Paul Mitchell product. It took me two weeks of new hair growth and three other products with it, but I no longer have a tight curl, just a slight wave and I can now spike my hair rockgirl style!!!!
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