Exchange City

I saw my ps yesterday at the one week follow up. Everything is healing and I can go back to work on Monday.  

Ladies, I am feeling a little discouraged. My foob is a decent match to my natural, but it does not have the same tear drop shape (even with the gummie implant).  Ok, I can live with that, but what I am struggling with is the big dent on the side and off balance cleavage. Heavy sigh.

 My ps says he wants to do some fat grafting to correct the shape.  Good right. However, he says it would not be wise to start on that until OCTOBER.  That means I will be starting my THIRD year of reconstruction!  I started this whole process with immediate diep reconstruction in 2009!  

chinablue:  Are you on the picture forum?  Have you shared your pictures with Whippetmom or on the forum?   It was so helpful for my own recon.  Sorry it isn't finished and perfect the way you expected it to be.  Gentle hugs!

chinablue:  I felt the same way, but I finally swallowed hard and posted my photos.  It didn't hurt that much .  I have seen other's photos that helped me get used to this whole reconstruction idea.  It's more helpful than many of the "before and after" photos on the plastic surgery websites because there is commentary along with the photos and you can ask specific questions.  For some reason I'm feeling it's especially important for me to share because I had nipple-sparing surgery which a lot of people seem to be curious about.  I know I want to do something down the road to bring awareness to newly diagnosed women that this is available.  I thought perhaps this would be a good start! 

Lilah, thanks for the comments and encouragement.  Good to know this soreness will eventually disappear.

SuebeeBC, let's hear it for the waifs!  Yay!  This concept still cracks me up, because I feel like I've felt fat my entire life (even though I know I'm not).

hillck -- Now there's a mental image!  The idea of us flashing each other is pretty funny!

chinablue -- I don't blame you for not wanting to post.  I finally did...still not sure how I worked up the nerve to do it.  That is not to say you should.  You have to do what is right for you.  Hugs and I  hope things work out for you!  It's awful that you've been going through this for so long.

LOL about the company we keep!  Hm, well, waif or not, petite I will never ever be, at 5'8"!   Sometimes I can't even fit normal clothes with my long legs and longer arms...yet not quite tall enough for the tall girl shops!

I can imagine how it must have been in Japan!  Not to hijack this thread, but how did you end up there?  Not military by any chance, are you?  Just wondering; DH and I are both retired Air Force officers.

LOL Carrol -- my belly definitely seems bigger to me since my boobs got smaller   I think I just never could see below them!

Oh Lilah - this is true about the belly.  I need to get back to the gym.

And SueBee, at 5'8" I'm more like citykitty.  I don't have a hard time imagining Japan though since my daughter-in-law is maybe 5 ft tall and wears something like a size zero.  My brother once had an outfit made for me in the Phillipines that he said was the biggest they could imagine.  Unfortunately I couldn't begin to get it around me.

Thanks to all of you for making every evening a joy when I check in.

Lilah that's funny i did notice a few freckles i never saw before lol.

After my bmx with no recon I kept thinking how thin i looked. But at the gym i felt like I looked very boyish kind of butch without my curves. Once i got the TE even with only filled a small amount it seemed to balance out better. I have very small hips and butt.

Now I gained 10 pounds after this surgery because i had a sore throat that I kept eating to soothe. So now I have my work cut out for me to lose that. I did it on weight watchers before just have to get back to it. 

Ladies who want access to the picture forum -- please send a PM to me, MBJ, Whippetmom, Estepp or Firni.  Timtam is the creator/operator of the site but has asked the rest of us to help with new member inquiries.  Thanks.

Suebee -- I am a uni and when I was in a TE I had to use a sort of falsie/insert to even myself out (at first on TE side and then on non-TE side).  My hospital had a shop in their breast center that gave me an insert with fluff inside that I could pull out or add to as needed (to help even me out).  You might see if there is a local mastectomy shop that sells something similar if it really bothers you.

Carroll -- I feel your pain with the weight gain!  I lost 15 pounds on chemo but then gained it back (plus 5)... and so now I'm working on losing weight.  Have lost 8.5 pounds so far (so I guess that means I have 13.5 to go?  Who knows -- maybe a little more   Wahoo!  Doing it by counting calories and keeping carbs between 60 and 100 mgs a day.  It's really working well for me.

Suebee:  If you look at my pictures fully expanded, I was huge on one side and an A cup on the other.  I went on line to JCPennies and they carried some adhesive foam inserts that stick to your clothes, not to your skin and also silicone inserts. Summer kind of sucked last year because I had my expander untill late August  but the inserts and a loose bra worked.  You can do it!

Lilah and MBJ thanks for the ideas and encouragement.  I looked up a nearby shop and will see how things go Tuesday before deciding what to do....loose Ts and a little extra fluff might do me if its only 3 weeks and I have nowhere to go.

Hello...I am sure there are previous posts on here but I can't seem to find them. I am going in to schedule my exchange surgery on Mon. I am not sure what to expect...what is the recovery time like? I am hoping it is nothing like the surgery to get these suckers in! Also my PS said that we wilkl discuss the types of implants...how did everyone decide which route to go?  If someone coul djust walk me through their expeience I would really appreciate it. I have had these expanders in since sept 09 and am anxious to get these rocks out...although I do like the size.:) I am afraid that the implants will be much smaller..thanks!

wow thats a long time to have expanders in, how did you put up with them.  i had my exchange on wed in april and went back to work on monday. still sore but not a big deal.  i am about 3 weeks out and i feel pretty good.  I had to go smaller with the implants due to radiation, i was hoping to be a tad bigger but it is what it is, they look pretty good, get nips the beginning of june, and hope after that i am all done

good luck!!

pegs 

Are you supposed to massage the 410 Gummies?

How many weeks after exchange do you start massage?

Is that to soften them? Thanks!

WOW yes that IS a long time!  But youre almost there!!! Good for you!!!

MBJ I like scarves....its how I got through the spring....but I am a cold weather baby and now that its in the 70's, I feel like Im DYING of the heat already!!!  Oh brother!