Exchange City

Lilah - facecrafter referred me to a woman who does 3D nips and areolas here in australia. After seeing the PS yesterday and being given a date for the next revision I am really wanting to do 3D as this surgery won't include making nips and then I still would need the tatt's.  #5 surgery and I don't want #6, even for nips.  I would just like to look in the mirror naked and not shock myself!  I've had enough of this 'Barbie Doll' look.  The PS also offered to increase the size of my implants by 50cc but I will stay with my sporty look.  The one implant is fine, so I'm not going to mess with it.  It's just the other one with the LD flap that needs to be tucked up and moved more to the center. If I wasn't a runner I would go bigger.  Luckily my PS says unless I am running I don't need a bra and no one with implants should unless excercising if they were put in correctly.  Hmmmm, I do see lots of women wearing bras all the time.  Maybe she knows I hate bras, always have and always will. 

If we can't have our own breast tissue, at least our new ones should be exactly what we girls want!

Debbie -- oh that is great that you already have a referral from Facecrafter!  I have to say that the 3D nipples look fantastic.  The women I know who have chosen to do that instead of surgical nipples (with or without grafted skin for areolas) are extremely happy.  The photos I've seen (on tattoo sites and of real people I know) look really great.  The illusion is effective!  Sorry you've had to have so many surgeries!   I don't blame on wanting to skip a 6th.

Slinky:  Lol, it's not a bad look, though-I saw the proof!

SATEX12-  Wow, you'll be done before you know it!  I'm one of the lucky ones who didn't mind the TEs too much (other problems along the way - we all seem to run into some sort of roadblock), but 14 months would be a lot to ask!  I'm so glad you're finally able to move on...

Best of luck on Wednesday!  Keep us posted...

Satex- we will all be rooting for you- after so long it is exciting you get to move on to the next step:))))

Tina,

Thanks for the encouraging words, and to the other ladies who offered the same after my post last night! Yes, it's been a long 14 months...I expected to have the exchange surgery in Dec of last year, however after my bmx last July, we found that the cancer was more extensive than was visualized on mammograms and ultrasound ( thanks to extremely dense breast tissue). We initially thought we were dealing with a 3.5 cm tumor and one lymph node so I went with the neoadjuvant chemo regimens. We did get some shrinkage and thought that the breast tumor was approximately 1.8 cm just before my bmx surgery, however pathology revealed residual 6.5 cm tumor, lots of DCIS and another small tumor right next to the large tumor. Approximately 75% of the left breast was involved, so a far cry from the original "visualized" tumor of 3.5 cm! Also had much more extensive node involvement, so this combination required an additional 6 months of chemo. I ended up getting five chemo drugs in all over the course of one year, followed by surgery in Jan of 2011 to move my pacemaker from it's current position in the left chest to the right chest area so that I could receive 33 rads treatments to the left chest.The pacemaker and associated hardware on both the right and left side bump up against the metalic valves of my tissue expanders so that has created some additional discomfort. All in all though, like I said earlier, I am so happy and thankful for making it this far, especially since my diagnosis took a turn for the worse last July. It's been a long road for sure, longer than some, but also much shorter than some ladies on these boards. Their courage and strength amazes me and reminds me that there is always someone worse off than myself.

I will let you all know how it goes later this week. I am excited about tomorrow, the thought of yet another surgery notwithstanding. I also think my family see this is as a very encouraging step. All the surgeries so far have been treatment related, so to actually be doing something resorative is theraputic for my two young sons and my husband.

Funny how time can heal wounds...my breast are now getting softer and softer. I wasn't a happy camper at first now things are starting to look up.

Hi Everyone,

 I hope you all are doing well and good luck to the ladies who are having surgery this week. I am posting after having my surgery 8/31/2011. I spent the night in the hospital with pain/nausia issues and have had more pain than they say is usual for this type of surgery and I am not sure why. I did have the right breast expander/implant exchange and the reduction/lift on my left breast. In addition he did some liposuction he says to the side of the reduction/lift breast. I know I was black and blue on my back and it is still swollen and painful. 

I need some advice ! I had my first view of the new foobs I guess you call them on 9/2/2011, last friday. My breasts are alot smaller than I expected. I knew we were going to be smaller but I was not expecting this. I can live with my left reducted/lifted side because at least there is some curve in clothes but the expanded size is even smaller. Its not as big as it was with the expander and it  look flats on that side in clothes. The implant side is so soft that at first I did not even think he put the implant in there. and there is a deep indentation above it and its endented all down the outside it on my chest.Just loose skin hanging. Like it did not get filled up. I had filled to about 420 cc and he says he put in a 525 cc naturelle implant. He also said that when he got in there that there was fluid buildup on the side of the breast and he had to build a internal bra to hold the implant. I don't know if anyone remembers but when I first started posting in here last July I was concerned I had a leak. They said at this point they could not do anything about a leak because it was too close to surgery. I have been trying to stay calm because I have read that things change as they heal. But I cannot imagine how this is going to change to anything good. I called his nurse today who wanted me to check in after the long weekend and told her how I felt and how discouraged I was and she told me that when she saw it on surgery that she had felt the same way. That it did not look right and she said she had not wanted to say anything but she feels like something is wrong. She tells me not to worry because the Surgeon is very good at making sure his customers are happy and she is going to let him know how I feel. It made me feel a little better that she agreed with me but I am worried. I don't want to do more surgery but I cannot live with this and I don't know who is responsible here. I cannot afford to pay for a bunch of revisions. Has anyone else been through this and what did you do? Do you have any advice for me? I am pretty sad right now. I feel like I wasted the last 8 months of my life doing the expansion. 

Hi All,

 I am scheduled for my exchange surgery a week from today (Sept 13th).  My surgeon, his nurse, and i have talked about the pros and cons of Saline vs Silicone.  At this point, he has ordered both in several of each to "try out".  He said it would be best if I let him/them decide what looks the best.  I trust them but I want the look AND feel to be realistic.  It has been almost 2 years since I have anything close to realistic looking/feeling breast.  I have a lot of hope that they will look good but for my sex life they need to feel realistic.  I had heard that Silicone has a more realistic feeling than Saline.  Is that true?  Also, my expanders were placed above the pec muscle (I had enough tissue to do so).  Your thoughts are apprecited.

...fat grafting in the morning....gotta sleep instead nervous....ack

Where in Florida is this excellent 3D tattoo artist you speak of?

Hi ladies. I am currently going through reconstruction. I had bmx on June 22 after being diagnosed with DCIS. I had te's placed and have been getting fills for almost two months. I am close to the end of the fill process. I don't have an exchange surgery date yet but I am curious about the recovery time after the exchange surgery. Can you all share your experiences? I haven't had (nor do I need) radiation or chemotherapy. Thanks in advance!

enngeeemm69- Hi, I had my bilateral exchange 2 weeks ago today.  Night and day by comparison to the BXM.  Each PS is different, so you'll likely read other comments different from mine.  The following is just what my PS prefers.  I had no drains so could remove my dressings and shower 48 hours after surgery.  Wear the surgical/compression bra as much as possible until further notice (OK to take a "breather" now and then).  No lifting more than 3 pounds, no stretching that "pulls", no exercising (except walking), and just generally taking it easy for 2 weeks.  I work from home so that's not an issue for me.  It's OK to raise arms above head as long as I don't feel it pull too much.  I was told OK to sleep on back or side, but some PS only want you to sleep on back only for a while.  I only needed prescription pain meds for a few days after I got home; otherwise ibuprofen has been sufficient.  Driving OK once off the prescription pain meds as long as comfortable turning and making sudden moves; however, the car doors can be an issue so I've been getting help with that.

After 2 weeks, I was told OK to start things slow and easy.  Also, I am to start implant massage as soon as it's not painful to do so.

I hope the TEs haven't been too bad for you.  Sounds like you're moving right along.  Best of luck with your exchange.  Keep us posted!

Annette:  Thinking about you today!!!

Ladies:  I finally scheduled the tattoo for my areola & nipple at 11:30 am Saturday.  After this I am done!!!