Exchange City
Comments
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So many positive exchange recovery stories. Love to hear that!
Here's a question for you long timers on here...my scar in the IMF on my prophy side is still very sore. My exchange was 9 months ago--isn't that weird? It has been sore from the beginning, red and raised. On my bc/rad side the scar has always been flat and you can hardly see it now, no soreness. When I saw the PS in Jan. he said the sore side will settle down, explained that it was inflamation, "my body doing its job too well". It is incrementally better, but really slow to heal.
Anybody experience anything like this? Not sure if I should go back to PS?
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kjbrown -- call your PS. Low grade fever is, I believe, normal within 48 hours of placement of the implant... but you should always call your PS. As for the itching... it could be normal healing or it could be an allergic reaction to tape (if there is any) on bandages underneath the ace. I would also ask your PS about that.
Deekay -- hmmm... I have to say I don't have that issue. It might be worth a call to the PS's office to say: "hey, any thing I can do to hasten the end of this inflammation?" That's what I would do. Does your bra rub against the scar?
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kj- are you on an antibiotic? I would call PS anyway, again, they are used to calls and better than worrying.
Congrats and welcome Steph!
Mine are softer but not really soft yet as my darn pecs are so tight:(I have squish envy!
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annettek:
are you still wearing your bras? I have to alternate between a sports bra during the day and surgical bra at night. I'm going back to PS on 4/21 an I'm asking about wearing underwires, although I don't like them. I heard they 'lock and load' the girls really well.
Still have some soreness but mostly when I go without support.
I went from a 'b' to a 34D, 36C
Jan
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Me too Jan- 36 b to 36 c. I have to wear a bra 24-7 and no underwires per PS for 6 weeks. I too wear the sports bra during the day and surgical bra at night- right now I am "airing" them out and it feels good. I start aching around 3 or so at work..and when I first wake up- otherwise not so much. I am gonna try to really sleep tonight...
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I wonder if we'll have to wear a bra Always!!! I'd like to get back in my cami's
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Yay Joan! Good to know even those little issues about pain,and i'm going to start looking for comfy bras with support so i will not have to after exchange although i will not know my size i can estimate i think???
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yay!!!!! so good to hear ,thanks for sharing ,knowing u r sleep deprived!!
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So I am now 10 days out from exchange, pain gets better every day, but I find it hard to look at myself objectively. While I am thrilled with my new size, I'm worried that I will never have symmetry! I had a unilateral skin/nipple saving mastectomy, and the nipple on my native side is sooo much lower than on my mastectomy side. I'm not sure if I am being unrealistic with my expectations. I know that the nipple on my mastectomy side will never really look like it did, and I'm fine with that, but it's so far off the mark with my native breast nipple, so much higher! I see my surgeon in 3 mos., maybe during this time things will start to change as I heal, but has anyone had this? It's frustrating to see before and after exchange photos with my criteria and symmetry is much more common in the photos. Any input would be great, thanks! Also I had asked that my port a cath scar be revised, and my surgeon wouldn't do it because she said she might make it worse, and gravity pulls the skin in the chest area, she injected something during exchange and the scar looks worse than it did, has anyone had their scar revised?
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My exchange was Monday. I feel so much better than I thought I would at this point (I only took one painkiller yesterday and napped, then I took one before bed). I think I'm sending my mother home today. The fever is gone, I am on antibiotics, Once I got the ace bandage off, the itching stopped. Now I'm in a hook-front sports bra and it's not even bothering me. I only have to wear a bra until next Tuesday when I see him. They are symmetrical, not in my armpits, and feel like normal squishy breasts. It feels weird since I was so used to those frisbee expanders. And my skin doesn't feel stretched at all. He revised my scars too. Now I just have to wait a few months to get some 3D nipple tattoos. I'm so glad that my PS isn't one of those people that makes you wear a bra for months.
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MBJ - I say, I say, I say.....I LOVE your picture...oh the quotes I constantly use from Bugs and pals...thanks for the smile and well wishes...
DEEKAAY - Yes, contact PS, low grade fever normal but red/inflammation?????? We all heal at our own rate (but red??) and check the fabric of the bra your wearing. I agree to with above, bra irritating this area? 9 months out seems really quite lengthy and it should visually look lighter, however, your body is working to heal itself, I would 1) call PS anitbiotic needed? 2) try and air that area out as well. It helps with healing. Let us know! Gentle hugs.
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Dawn - First congrats on your exchange! DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED....your body needs time to adjust and for things to "settle", I too had expectations and also realized that sometimes things take a little longer to get to what it is we want, revisions, adjustments and so on. I had bi-lat but opted to not keep my nips and don't have any yet of this date, so I cannot understand the higher/lower that your are experiencing, however as you heal, alignment may be obtained, time will only tell and patience a must here....rest assured that "it will be right"...give yourself sometime.
As for the port scar, I'm a sun worhsipper and have freckles and sun spots all over my chest, my scar seems to just blend right in, I personally didn't want to have anything done to that, no more than I wanted my tats from radiation fixed or removed. Just personal choice, it didn't really bother me and what exactly did your doc inject into your skin?????
Hope some things helped here and here's wishing you well...stephanie
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Welcome to those just joining us! And so happy to hear of those on the other side of this now! The healing process begins, hopefully for the last time in many cases. Just keep in mind each person is different in terms of healing so give yourself time, and lots of fluids.
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onetoughwoman- Thank you so much for your encouraging words, I think that patience is the key, and I need to chill out! I definitely don't want to go through life completely lopsided, but I also know that it's early, and like you said time will tell. My surgeon used Kenalog (sp?) for my port scar, so we'll see what happens with that too. Thank you again
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Dawn:
Take it easy. I was very disappointed a couple of days and weeks after my exchange but it seems now that I'm going on a month things are starting to calm down a bit. I, too, do not have patience.
Be gentle with yourself, that's what I found I had to do.
Jan
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Dawn: I agree with all the posts above--you should give yourself a few months to settle and see how the girls look then. There is usually a drop and fluff that happens and although I haven't heard of the injection your dr. used, I am hoping it works for you. I now realize that reconstruction is a process and sometimes it takes a few "corrections" for everything to be addressed and it doesn't always happen with the exchange. Use this time to be gentle with yourself, avoid mirrors, and try maybe taking a picture once a week so that you can track your progress. You will notice the changes over time. Gentle hugs!
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Regarding wearing a bra forever with the new girls...that's one of the down sides of going up in size...the actual weight of the new girls will make you want to keep them in a bra for comfort's sake. The silicone is more dense than our original breast tissue, so it weighs more even tho the cup size may be close to the original. You can slip in and out of the cami's but bra-less is a thing of the past...unless you go 'pendulum' like one of my friends
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LOL Ruth -- "go pendulum"!
So when do you see your PS next about the size of your implants?
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Just curious.... does anyone get through this exchange process with no revisions? And, good to know that I can blame some weight gain on these new silicone implants.
Just emailed my PS who replied: no tennis, swimming, working out or golf for another 3-4 weeks. Gosh, that is going to take alot of patience. I will stick to daily walks. MBJ ... I like the idea of taking a weekly picture to remind myself that things are progressing. kjbrown... glad to hear that the fever and itch is gone! Whew!
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Joan: I would like to call it fine tuning which hopefully can be done when they do the nipple/areola. This is what my PS did, so unless you had lots of extra work, or skin problems, or pocket problems...It just seems that the fine tuning can take a bit of time. Hopefully, less surgery, more satisfactory results.
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Lilah - no appts lined up w/ps...when I'm ready he (or some other ps) will certainly do it, but I'm not ready for surgery nor fed up enough to get that ball rolling. I'm sure you know the feeling.
Joan - my ps did an outstanding job and I wouldn't change a thing EXCEPT THE SIZE, damn it.
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tnbc- what is wrong with your size? did you want less or more?
The pics each week or couple of weeks makes all the sense in the world- it really is amazing to look back to right after the BMX and see the changes.
Everyone who just went through exchnage recently,believe us when we say it all keeps changing...it truly does...one a few months have passed then you can really see if anything needs *work*
Jan- my doc said I would be able to go braless or in camis after the healing is done.
I am gonna post some new pics tonight on pic forum- 3 weeks ago today since the exchange and they do look diff...but damn, right about now the pec muscles are tightening up after a long day and it feels like heaven to be without the bra for awhile
If I can say try not to compare yourself somuch to all the pics- the pics are great for all of us and help each other but one's results that may look better at that moment may not be the end result...and visa versa...initially, I thought I am getting so many revisions I will demand them, blah blah, but now, I want to wait and see if I make it to a place where I am satisfied and haveno infections, etc.
I stare at em all the time and I whip them out and show hubby at the oddest times...i don't want them to be foreign to me or him at all...it makes it all more normal somehow...although I have never done that prior to BMX!
Sheesh...now, bam, i haul em out! I have three large mirrors in bath and sometimes just stare- the longer I stare the less I fear...if that makes sense...I am amzed at what our bodies are doing...how with some major help they heal...and yet again today I told another person that these are in no way fake- I grew them, thank you very much. Not just to be witty- it helps me to remember that important fact- all the fear and pain and care of the TEs...we all have gone through a lot and how wonderful it is we have this place to help ech other along the way ...if we cry, it is ok, for we aren't crying alone and if we laugh, we all laugh together - that is just COOL to me:)
Onetoughwoman-it was funny what you said about freckles on your chest- for some reason those very things that used to really tick me off before BC were a reassuring sight when I first had my badnages off after the BMX...it was me! I looked down and didnt see the scars and lumpy sunken TEs quite as badly because my old friendly freckles were still right there! how whacked I am:)
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Ruth -- I hear you! I've been putting off nips for that reason... just don't feel like "healing" anything for awhile
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It really is pretty amazing. I jsut had my tissue expanders put in a week ago. That hurt a lot more than the bmx for me. The pain is not so bad but i did get really sick to my tummy from the meds. I also got thrush and now i have a post nasal drip making my throat scratchy and making me cough.
I can already see myslef looking more like the old me. The little deflated skin flaps i have had since august are a little puffed up. The scars are looking pretty thin. I don't feel as sunken in as i was.
I think i will be happy with the end result, right now jsut to be at the end sounds great. I am still at the beginning of the end.
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Hang in there Carrol -- it really does get better from here.
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Friday will be 4 weeks post exchange for me and I still can feel some stiches when I rub my hand over my incision. Shouldn't they have dissolved by now? They actually are sharp little buggers too.
Jan
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Carroll:
I agree with Lilah, it does get better and I'm sure you will have great results. Just give your body time to heal.
Jan
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jan, I was told it can take up to 6 months for internal stitches to completely dissolve.
Lilah, onetoughwoman, yeah, the bottom of my bra which is not an underwire does rub on the IMF but I don't think that's it. Here's why, after my exchange but before nips I hardly ever wore a bra since that side was so sore. Of course that was only two months out from exchange. Now I strip out of my bra as soon as I get home from work to give the area a "rest". Guess I will call PS. It doesn't seem like an infection, just irritation that doesn't resolve. It's raised and very sore to touch. And this is my prophy side, my rads side has never bothered me and looks great. Weird.
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thanks deekaay and good luck with your soreness.
Jan
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For those of you considering Nipple/Areolas: I just hit my 3 week mark and all of the dead, scabby skin "fell" off today and the stiches and remaining gunk was trimmed away by my PS. Very excited as they are now looking much better and closer to what they did initially. What a difference a little time makes.
Lilah: You don't have to get put under for this surgery (I did "twilight"), I had no anesthesia side effects this time and also, even though I had them, never had to take a pain killer. So worth it.
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