Exchange City

Annette I went through that. I had my TE in and got an infection on both sides. The BMX was 12/29/09 next surgery was 1/15/10 where my BS opened both incisions flushed me out and unfortunately had to remove both nipples. On IV antibiotics in the hospital for 3 days then home on Cipro.  12/21/10 another surgery as she did not like the way it looked. Opened both incisions flushed put in a PICC line and on antibiotics two of them 14 hours a day for 6.5 weeks. They also brought in an infections disease.  They typically remove the TE but I said do whatever it takes to keep them.  So we were in new territory.  They tried to send my home after the second surgery on Cipro again. I said no way it didn't work the first time why would it work now. They had cultured the TE and identified the bacteria which I am sorry to say is almost exclusively hospital aquired so thank you hospital staff. Anyway I was able to save the TE.  I had to delay fills and exchange until 10-1-10 to make sure the infection was gone. I also had an incision break open so they wanted to make sure it was healed. So be sure to ask questions, make known what you want to happen and advocate for yourself. Each one is different though so I hope it works out for you.

Wow Determined! You really are! Kudos for your determination!

Hi everybody--

I forgot to post yesterday.  My first fill--50cc--was no way as bad as I afraid it was going to be.  Just a "stick" from the needle and then I didn't feel anything.  I have to admit the syringes looked frightening, but I survived!  

Hope you feel better  beacher.  I am not  near as flexible as I was before the surgery--but my PS is really adamant that she wants to be gentle on myself right now.  I do shoulder rolls, neck rolls, some stretching of my arms above and behind my back and neck--but just a few a day.  It feels good when I am done, but I don't push myself, I just breathe (3 or 4 deep, relaxation breaths) with the movements. When I get the green light, I  plan to work at getting stronger and more flexible--I did it before, I figure I can do it again.  Right now I am just trying to be patient and take care of myself. 

WHATS STARTING? LYMPHADEMA?? OM GOODNESS I HAVE SURGERY IN 1 MONTH I THOUGHT I WOULD BE OK:(

beacher: Get yourself a good PT.  I don't know why we aren't sent to one immediately after the MX.  I still have one shoulder forward even though I do tons of excercises.  PT helps alot and so does the stretching.

I got put on an iv antibiotic that I take at home for the next ten days.  I felt fine until I started the antibiotics, then my low grade fever went higher and I felt much worse :-(. Today I am feeling a bit better and fever is back to being low grade.

Wow, determined, I am so sorry to hear of your challenging journey.  This is quite a journey.

hooray for you chinablue! yes a very long journey ....take a long deep breath

Chinablue -- ditto what Dawn said.  Rest!  Please!  I also urge you not to shower (i.e. to follow instructions) while you've got the drain in place.  You don't want to get an infection (which is a potential as long as you have that drain in) and risk losing the implant.

congrats everyone on your exchanges and good luck to everyone moving closer to theirs...I have to chime in and just reinforce what most are saying about taking it easy after exchange-the first couple of months are crucial to your end result. So much is going on internally that has to heal and if you have had alloderm added, it needs a chance to blend in with the other tissue...try to be patient- it had been hard for me I just got the ok today to not wear the bras virtually around the clock and it had been 8 weeks. Anyway, not trying to nag, just trying to help:)

I took a peek today. My lifted augmented breast is gorgeous! My foob is much better than it was, but there is a dent in the side.  My ps told my husband that he will do some fat grafting later after things have healed.  I am just glad I am making progress.

I got on the scale today. Ug. I gained seven pounds in three days!

kerry32 - You will feel like going to the beach, but I am not sure you will want to wear a bathing suit.  I am also not sure your incisions will be healed enough for you to go into the water.  I can't imagine salt water would be good for them.  Still, the idea of relaxing in the sun, reading a good book, and taking walks on the beach sound good to me.  Ultimately, you better ask your ps.

Chinablue, My PS told me I could walk as well 9 days out. I walked for 30 minutes and then decided I didn't want to push. Like you I am a runner, who has had to take a long break. The day before my BMX I ran 10 miles. During my expansion, I was back to 5 miles a couple of times a week. Now I am trying to be patient. i have decided to wait a little bit longer because i don't want to cause any problems. I am almost 2 weeks out.

kerry:  I imagine you wouldn't be strong enough to swim yet 2 weeks after exchange, although you might feel just fine, it took me 6 months of stretching and PT and I still have issues with my MX side as far as strength goes.  Annettek is right-it takes along time to heal internally!  Every time my new breasts jiggled they hurt afterwards.  Also, after two weeks your incisions could still be healing and you don't want to expose fresh scars to sun as they can become permanent scars!  There is always walking in the water and only wading in to the waist--not enough to require swimming or getting the upper body wet.  I went through last summer with one TE--crazy looking I know-but that was all I could do and it was enough. 

chinablue:  Yes, I have had it twice-the first at exchange and it completely went away, and again in March when I had the nipple/areola done.  So far so good though I had a minor scare with a lump of fat that didn't "take"-the results are amazing:  no step off and my indentation on my side has been lessoned quite a bit.  I highly recommend it to give us a more natural look and should be part of every recon.  I will have one more round to get more projection under the areola.

chinablue:  They went through my bellybutton and took it from my belly--he wants to smooth this area a bit and also sculpt the sides, too.  I am hoping for a smaller waist since I don't really have one   I should add, they can take it from just about anywhere!