Exchange City
Comments
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Rowan,
I try not to get into the jargon used here. I don't want to assimilate.
The gummies do refer to specific implant types that are available in Canada, and were used in a clinical trial in the US. From what i can tell, the substance must be thicker than silicone and i guess it must not leak. I had my exchange a week ago yesterday, with silicone. Mentor smooth 400cc high profiles, both sides. I went to my PS last Friday, and she said the implants settle into the pockets, and the swelling goes down. They will project more than they do now and will have a better contour. She did some work between them to improve the cleavage. As of Friday I was still somewhat swollen. She said they will get much softer over time too. I believe this is what some refer to as drop and fluff.
At first I was a little disappointed in the size, because it is smaller than the TEs. I was always small chested and liked the big ones! Now that the swelling has gone down some, and she told me about the projection, I am really happy. They are 100x softer than the cereal bowls I had on my chest last week. There is no way you can't be happy after the exchange (barring complications). They are nice and squishy, and they look really good. The surgery itself was absolute cake. I get a new nipple in 2 months! Good luck to you!
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Annette -- wahoo and I am not a bit surprised
MBJ -- thanks for that extra D3 info!
Re: Drop and Fluff -- it's what happens with silicone as it settles in post-exchange... gravity works its magic and the hamburger buns take on a more breast like shape. Takes 2 - 6 months.
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Great news, Annette!!!!!!!!! Whew!!!!!!!!
Re the Vit D, you all gave me lots of info I didn't know since my knowledge of Vit D levels was zero. My level now is 11 so they want me to take the Rx dose of 50,000 IUs/once a week for 8 weeks. My NP said it's the new "it" med. Good for the heart as Lilah said and the NP said it may help me avoid all the upper respiratory bugs I seem to be a magnet for. So when onc gives the all clear, I will be on it. Laura, can't believe you were a 4! Maybe we are wearing too much sun screen??!!
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Deekay -- and unless it's not completely obvious, they also think it's good for fighting cancer
My Onc, who is a colon cancer survivor, also takes 5,000 IUs a day .... so as far as I'm concerned if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me.0 -
Hey ladies, chiming in on the vitamin D, my level was 10 at diagnosis, and I though I was low, 4 must be a record. I have been on 50,000 weekly since Jan, and now up to 39, I am going to continue weekly for several more months and we will recheck. My friend is an endocrinologist, she suggests I get to 60. She also suggests I take the D with a "high fat" meal, can you believe she is recommending a "high fat " meal. I take mine on a weekend, with cheese burger or cheese omlet, with no guilt! Low vitamin D levels also associated now with Diabetes.
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Wow Christine that is interesting! I am diabetic. Makes me want to up my Vitamin D3 dose
I don't know what my Vit D level was at diagnosis... I think the news came out about D while I was getting chemo and at 20 - 22 it was low but not as bad as some. Still... I'm glad its up to 40 and here's hoping that, if a low reading indicates diabetes, then a higher level is beneficial.
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Lilah,
My endocrinologist friend (disclaimer, she is friend, I am not her patient), specializes in diabetes she is now recommending all of her diabetics get to 50-60. There is little chance of toxicity from vitamin D, she does check liver enzymes on her patients taking high doses of Vit D.
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here is another interesting tidbit i picked up at last year annual BIO conference...I went to a seminar on the flu vaccine and spoke with one of the NIH researchers at the reception afterward- he said that Vit D was in many ways as effective as any of the russian roulette flu vaccines put out on any given year. That if everybody would spend at least 15 minutes in the daylight per day they would be doing a huge benefit to their immune systems. I said, is it like in the old days whenever anybody was ill they would send them to the shore and have them out there in the sun? He laughed and said pretty much-we all got too scared of melanoma and people do not get enough sunlight. He was also a big believer in vitamin d therapy as we can't get enough to boost it high enough -and that more doc's should pay attention to it as a warning something is off in the body when it is very low...that the majority of his coworkers swore by it....it is so scary in retrospect as this was a scant three months before I was diagnosed with BC...and had no idea my Vit D was so low...and I live in the sun in the summer...I was never tested until after the fact. Of course after the conference I was preaching it to the hilltops to everybody and making sure my mom was out in the sun more...never dreaming to get myself tested
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Annette -- when it comes to sunshine I am a vampire
Christine -- very interesting! Thank you so much for sharing that. I will talk to my doctors about going higher than 5,000 IUs... or maybe I will just start taking what I DO take with a nice meal (instead of in the AM on an empty stomach).
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Hi all -- Sorry I haven't been able to be here more. Putting in lots of overtime at work after having finished chemo. My exchange surgery is Friday and I'm started to get excited but really nervous....!
And just one stupid quick question: If you did your exchange after chemo, did you go into the surgery bald? It seems like you would, but I haven't "gone commando" in public yet! I always wear my wig -- or, when running, a hat. I don't even wear a scarf in public. I don't know if they'd even allow the wig in the OR...and I don't know if I want to bother. Just one trivial thing to focus on in addition to trying to clean house, renew my driver's license (which I'm sure will require a new photo in the wig, ugh), and a million other things in the next 24 hours!
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I wore a scarf to the hospital. I don't usually wear scarves either. I didn't want to misplace my wig just in case! And now that I think about it, that's probably where it is! I've been looking all over for it. They didn't lose it, I just forgot where i put it!
When you go to the hospital, mine at least, they give you a poofy head cover. Blue, poofy cotton/paper thingys you see on like Greys Anatomy on TV.
Exchange surgery was cake for me. Don't worry about it
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City Kitty -- I wore my wig for MX (which was about a month after chemo was done -- and if I remember right I put the blue poofy thing over the wig LOL -- vanity thy name is woman with breast cancer!)... by the time I got to exchange I had enough hair to go commando. My PS, who had never seen me without my wig and never seen me before I lost my hair, was so surprised!
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Thanks Lilah and Dawn--now I get it. I'm glad to hear the final results are worth the suffering--I know that sounds like self pity--just venting. I'm tired of being in pain and uncomfortable, although it is much better. I am in my fifth week after having TEs inserted. Still taking moderate does of percocet.
My sister in law said, "Oh, something like jello molds without the jello." apt description.
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Lilah - I never thought of the hamberger bun analagy but you are right. Made me giggle. Thanks:)
CityKitty - no wigs were allowed when I had any of my surgaries. You can wear it to the hospital and put it on after surgery but the operating room is a no no from what I understand.
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rowan I am sorry you are so uncomfortable. Maybe you are just a slow healer and will take a little longer to get to feeling better. I know that once I got out and moving around and living my life I felt much better. I love the jello mold analogy
JenC mine so look like hamburger buns to me. I can't wait to see them all puffed up and round.
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annette... yeah for you. Everybody loves good news!
Have to pipe in with my Vit D experience. I had my level checked for the first time about six weeks after completing chemo and it was 28 which my ONC considered near enough "normal" which is 30-100. We rechecked again six weeks later and it had dropped to 14 for some odd reason. That's when my ONC prescribed the 50,000 a week for 8 weeks which brought it up to 48. I will get it checked again next month. Have been taking about 4,000/day.
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Ladies, popping in to ask if Vit D levels are checked only if you have had chemo? (I have not.) Is this something I should be getting checked regardless?
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Renausus: I would get it checked along with any other blood tests you are having done. Most cancer patients and people with diabetes have low Vit D and they are only just now making the connection.
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rowan I had a lot of discomfort with my TE's too. The only thing to hold on to is they will eventually come out. It does take time. Mine felt tight and like a band around my chest most of the time I had them in. I think it is different for everyone. I hope yours continue to get better.
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Vitamin D levels should be checked regardless of whether you've had chemo or not, IMHO.
Re: wigs in hospital -- I asked and was told it was OK to wear mine into the OR. I guess it just depends on the hospital. Mine was a cancer hospital so perhaps they are just more sympathetic?
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On the Vit D subject. My Onc never said that mine was low or to take any supplements. Is that something I should bring up next time I see him in 4 months or call about?
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I am curious was there a specific symptom you all felt when you had your VitD levels checked? I am also wondering if I should have mine checked?
Survivorwoman looks like we are surgery sisters for next week. How are you feeling? I am getting nervous about it. I know I have been through so many I should be fine but I think its the fear of anesthesia again.
Well I hope everyone has a great day.
Rebecca
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Rebecca,
My symptom was breast cancer. That's why I had mine checked
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Rebetata: I asked that they not do general for the nips and fat graffting and I woke up without any side effects. I requested this going into surgery and they said it was fine but if I needed general during the surgery they would use it. You might want to ask for this from the anesthesiologist. Some call it a twilight anesthesia-similar to what they use to take out teeth and do facial plastic surgery. I am so excited for you! This surgery caused me so much anxiety and I am so thrilled with the results! Very good luck to you!
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6 week check up with PS today. All is fine. Having nips done in July and tattoo right after that. It looks like I can actually see an end in sight, thank God.
Jan
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Thanks for the Vitamin D head's up, ladies! I will add it to my "doc to-do" list.
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Ask to have your Vit D level tested, ladies. It is just a simple blood test that can be done alone with any other routine tests.
Claire -- LOL -- good answer
There are no symptoms but some recent studies are finding that there is a connection between cancer (BC?) and low Vit D levels. So it can't hurt to test yours and, if it is low, boost it!
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Thanks Determined and Carrol2 thanks for the encouragement. Determined, maybe we are just on the other side of the curve.
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Thanks, all, for your comments about wigs! Lilah, I was thinking you and I are at the same hospital, not sure. Today when the nurse called to go over the last-minute prep stuff, she said no to the wig in the OR. I wasn't really sure I wanted to do it anyway...but like you said, this will be the first time my PS sees me without hair. I just keep telling myself it's not my hair she's going to be focusing on!
Also, great comment (sorry I can't credit the writer, can't get back to it on my phone right now) about the possibility of losing the wig at the hospital. This sucker cost a pretty penny and I don't want to risk losing it, so home it will stay!0
