Exchange City
Comments
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CML
I am so sorry regarding the loss of your father. I can't imagine having to juggle the grief along with your own healing. My prayers and thoughts will be for you and your family
Liz
PS. We exchanged on the same dad glad that you are doing well0 -
HeftyLefty - My left side was tighter than my right side, have no idea why. Took about six months for everything to loosen up. I wouldn't worry!
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Ok day three since the exchange. PS only able to take one drain out so i am a bit bummed out. He said he will take the other out on monday. There was a lot of pocket work and some lipo on one side. Now he has this crazy tape holding everything in place, then the straightjacket thing they call a bra, and a very tight band thing across the top. I feel like a mummy.
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Hi all I am new to this site had some questions for you girls if thats ok, I had a MX done back in July with a TE , I did pretty well afterwards and after approx 5 to 6 weeks the stinging burning nerve pain had almost gone, and the TE's became quite comfortable, then started chemo and am now on # 4 of 6 TC txs, I have noticed that after each chemo the same nerve pain and tightness comes back and this time its worse than ever the wound is fine it is just so uncomfortable and tight inside and under my arm , no swelling but I feel like I am wearing a tight harness , did any of you experience this and does this pain decrease after TE is removed . ?
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Carroll- sorry to hear about the drain. you are a mummy just in time for Halloween.
I have one of the straightjacket bra things but no band across the top.
Pat- hope you are hanging in there and that things went well today.
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CML0310 - I'm so sorry for the loss of your father. I lost my mother 5 days after my BMX in July. I know how you feel about moving past 2011. It has not been my favorite year.
Glad you are getting along well post exchange and looking forward to a little retail therapy!
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Day 4 since the exchange. MyPS has me wrapped up in tape, a surgical bra, and a strap. he feels this will help everything stay where he put them. It's very uncomfortable though. Super tight and itchy in spots. I am looking forward to taking it all off for a shower in a little while. But then it all has to go right back on. I see the PS on monday. He should be able to take out the other drain. Still doing ice packs and taking hydrocodone and antibiotic. It's not bad pain just more like discomfort. The drain kind of pinched pretty bad when they took it out this time but once it was out it stopped hurting.
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Hello everyone, I had my exchange yesterday at about 12:30-and was home by 4-or 5. You were all right-so much easier than the BMX. I had a little pain in the recovery room at the suture site, but I swear it's because they whipped me through so quickly, because a little pain medication took care of it. The most soreness I have is from the liposuction, but even that is manageable with the pain medication.
I'm wrapped up tight in a bra and my PS called me last night to check in and say everything went well, and I will be pleased when he "unwraps" me on Monday morning. Anxious to see what I look like, but he didn't encourage "sneaking a peek".
I had a long talk with a friend the other night who's fallen " a little " in love with her oncologist-not really-just the stuff fantasies are made of-and then saw an article in the paper about a woman who fell "a little" in love with the PS-and I can see why. LOL
I'll keep you posted-and, as always, thank you for the support. Ginger, I got you PM-THANKS.
Pat
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Pat and Carroll- glad to see you both on here and doing well. I am wrapped up tight in a compression bra and not supposed to shower for 3 days. Of course that will be tomorrow after our snowstorm and if the power goes out we will not have water but whatever...
I also get unwrapped on Monday at 12.
The pain is very manageable with tylenol and it is mostly from the fat grafting sites as well. I heard from a friend that one of the PS over in hartford is very nice looking!
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Faulkh & jyg: thanks for your messages and hope you are feeling well too!
cmlc0310: sorry to hear about your dad. my thought & prayers are with you.
Glad to hear that those you have had your surgies are doing well and wish a speedy recovery for those who are about to have their surgeries.
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Glad everyone is doing well. Can't wait to hear about the unveiling on Monday. I am going over to my fbest friend, a nurse practitioner, tomorrow to let he look at the fatty area and help me decide. She can evaluate risk versus reward really well.
Whoever asked about the antibiotic goo, I sure hope it helps because it is gross putting an ointment in your nose twice a day and then massaging it around. Messy. I did read on the insert that it isnt proven that using it to prevent infection is effective, but it appears to be...something along those lines.
For my first biopsy, they gave me two small bottles of hibiclenz and told me to use them the night before and morning of, from waist to shoulders and arms. They said they were testing to see if it helped to avoid infection.
My poor ps will have to make any marks with gloves on for surgery day. He is allergic to something in it. Lol0 -
Hope our northeast sisters who are most likely in the dark with this massive power outage are doing ok. I am heading back to Boston for recheck and unwrapping today.
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Hi all, I haven't posted here in ages but I just wanted to put in a bit of info that might be useful for others here regarding tattoos. I recently had a "redo" tattoo with Vinnie Myers in MD and I have to say its so much better than what my PS did. Another friend of mine said the same thing about her tattoo redo with Vinnie compared her PS's initial job. I've heard a couple others with the same sentiment, regarding other tattoo artists (good, practiced tattoo artist results better than PS's results). So anyway, while there are likely bad tattoo artist stories out there, personally I favor using our PS's for plastic surgery and tattoo artists for tattoos, so you might think about that before getting your own tattoos. And what I really wanted to note is that you CAN be reimbursed for tattoos outside of medical institutions if you get the right paperwork. Vinnie gave me a receipt with the right medical coding on it for medical tattoos, I added the BC diagnosis code since my insurance company's claim form said there had to be a diagnosis code, and sent it all in. Lo and behold the insurance company allowed $325 of the $350 bill; unfortunately for me I hadn't fulfilled my deductible yet so I still ended up paying (hate deductibles!) but had I already fulfilled it they'd have reimbursed me. So anyway, if you get charged for a tattoo by a tattoo artist do ask if they can give you a receipt with the CPT procedure codes. If they don't know them you may be able to look them up online (there are several websites that list CPT codes) and give them to the tattoo artist to make a proper receipt for you. Of course if you're lucky enough to go to NOLA or the other places Vinnie does tattoos in-house then you'll get a good tattoo from a practiced tattoo artist and have your insurance billed for you and you won't have to worry about it. Happy Monday everyone!
PS I'm almost never online here anymore so if you have any particular questions you for sure want me to see please send me a PM which I'll see in my regular email.
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Hey everyone. Ok it's day 7 since "E" day. Got one drain out on friday and the other one came out today. I have a ton of swelling. My PS had to do some lipo on the prophy side so there is extra skin there now. So the whole thing looks pretty terrible now. I feel like I am starting all over. I keep telling myself it will get better and dont look in the mirror but it's tough. I have this special tape holding everything in place, then a compression bra and then a band that goes over the top part. It's all very uncomfortable. Go back to PS on friday. Hoping to get out of the bra by then.
ugh
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Oh Carrol2, Hang it there! Hope you are feeling much better very soon. I had the stabilizer band for a short time and know how uncomforable that was. Keep us posted.
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Aw Carrol heal up, take it easy, and put on your patience hat. You will go through changes for the first few weeks at least.
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Summergirl: I did not have chemo but I had the tightness that I complained about since I kept thinking after I heal from bmx it will be better, then after I get the T.E.'s out it will be better, then after I heal from exchange it will get better. Finally my PS sent me to a PT and it helped so much.
Some of the ladies on this site started talking about cording and Lymphadema, I don't know if that is what I have but as I read about it it seems to relate more to the ladies who have had chemo, I'm not sure if that is true. I hope someone who is more aware of this tightness and has better information will chime in. I understand how awful that tightness is. I think you explained it very well. At the very least ask you PS or Oncologist if you can get a prescription for PT, I still have tightness but it is not constant and I have some massages and exercises which give me almost instant relief.
Best,
Vickie
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Carol
Sending cyber wishes of healing. It will get better give yourself some time and rest!
Liz0 -
Carroll- sending healing thoughts and extra patience your way.
Rehm046- Pat, I fear you are part of the CT power outage since we have not heard from you and your part of the state looks like it is still 100% out. I hope you have found a place for you and your mom to stay warm and that you are doing ok in your healing. I am thinking of you!
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Vickie -- LE and cording have nothing to do with chemo. LE and cording CAN happen after surgery either MX and/or SNB. Even if you didn't have node removal, you can get truncal LE from MX. Any time lymphatic tissue is removed or cut into -- which both MX and node dissection does -- you are at risk for getting LE. And as I understand it LE can happen at any time... though more likely to present in the first year or so post surgery. I've also heard it said that LE is a bigger risk with node dissection and with MORE nodes removed than less... but I'm not so sure that's true. I had 17 nodes removed and no problem but have seen plenty here with only a few nodes removed who DID get LE.
The same thing is true with cording.
Both with cording and LE there are exercises that you should do to stretch the area. I did have some cording immediately following SNB surgery and my stupid BS at the time gave me NO exercises. I could not lift my arm for three weeks. Then I saw my Onc and she told me to stretch and, lo and behold, after doing a set of stretching exercises (which can be found on the American Cancer Society website under post-MX exercises, I believe) I regained full motion and the pulling feeling went away.
(PS -- I fired that BS
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Thanks Lilah
It really helps to hear these things cleared up.
I hope this gave Summergirl the info. that will help her.
Vickie
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Okay, so the nurse of my breast surgeon said I would be healed from exchange well enough to go on vacation and swim in the sea within 2.5 weeks. Is this crazy? I actually won't be too upset if I have to stay out of the water but now I'm worried I won't be ready to go (Jamaica) at all. Our J trips are really mellow with tons of reading and laying about. Any insight for me please?
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Carroll-hope you are feeling better. I have my exchange Friday at 11:00. He will also be doing lipo under my arms for a fatty area. I'm a nervous wreck, since this is my second set of expanders due to an infection last time.
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Lizardbeth68- I have had a pretty easy recovery from exchange. I am 6 days out. I would totally go to Jamaica and lay around right now if I had the chance. Of course, someone else would have to handle luggage, etc. I did not have any drains to deal with and I do get tired really easily still but pain is minimal and I am no longer napping too much. i have not tried to sleep in a bed yet- still in the recliner because I am actually sleeping well and am afraid to rock the boat yet. My PS saw me 4 days after surgery for a recheck and then I go back weeks after that. So I would say it depends on how easy your recovery is and what you do while you are there. I hope it works out for you.Good luck!
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Hello! I've been pretty much haunting these boards for awhile now, but now I finally have something to say. NOVEMBER 28th!!!! Went in for a fill today, and PS says we can stop now!!! I am aching like mad atm, but I have not been this happy in quite a while! I will definitely be extra thankful this Thanksgiving season...
Carrol2, I hope things start to get better, hon. fluffqueen0..., I have my fingers, eyes and toes crossed for ya girl, it's gonna be just fine.
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Day 9 since the exchange. Not feeling much pain at all now. Just discomfort from the darn surgical bra and tape and bad thing around me. I am also pretty tired. But all in all not bad at all right now. It doesn't look very pretty yet though. I am trying not to look in the mirror. I was planning on going back to work on the 9th. Going back to PS on Friday. I'll keep you all posted.
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Carrol2: I am 5 weeks out today, and while, overall, I am satisfied, I know that things will continue to change. One day I like the look, then a few days later, things look a little different and I don't like the look. Then the opposite happens. So, just give it some time.As far as the "not very pretty" part, it took about 3 weeks for all the bruising, rashes, yellow stains from betadine, and swelling to finally go away. Heck, just last week, a small, but very painful thrombosis in my hand caused by the IV FINALLY, COMPLETELY subsided. I was starting to get a little angry about it and was seriously considering bypassing any nipple reconstruction if it meant I had to have an IV!! But here I sit today with no pain, "dropping & fluffing" like I am supposed to, and looking forward to nipple reconstruction where I will get another IV jabbed into my hand because I know in the long run, it is what I wanted and it is worth all that!
Hang in there, dear!0 -
Carol
It does get better. I am about 2 and 1/2 weeks out. The bruising is all about gone around the pocket work PS did. He told me things look great but I agree with Hefty Lefty some days I am thrill others not so much. I am feeling good. Still hard to sleep totally at night but getting better every day. Today is a good day (maybe has something to do with the Valium I took last night) LOL and the foobs are looking good. I have an appointment last week of Dec to talk about nips. All is good
Elsaporter. Congrats on your EDay!
Liz0 -
Lizardbeth68 - Going to Jamaica 2.5 weeks post exchange sounds great if you don't plan to do any lifting. I wouldn't hit any pools or the ocean if there was the least change my incisions were not totally healed.
Carrol2 - glad to hear you are improving. I had zero bruising, probably because of the drains. Five weeks out today and just dealing with some difficulty sleeping in any position except flat on my back and occasional tightness. Amazing how my chest contintues to be the mighty morphing mammaries - they still swell at times, especially after exercise, and each morning look different.
I'm using silicone tape on my extensive incisions and already noticing a significant improvement. (Maybe they would have improved without the tape, but my scars tend to be very uneven and darken over time.)
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