Exchange City

Hi Ladies,  I had DMX on 9/20/11 with TE's. I was an AA before and am going for a B cup now. I am at 320cc with hopefully 50cc more to go on 1/3/12. Exchange set for 1/23/12. My PS initially told me he preferred silicone for recon patients and that is what I was expecting. I called today to get the details on what was ordered for me and was told that saline were ordered. I don't know if this is an error or not and Dr and Surgical co-ordinator are unavailable for consult until next Tuesday 1/2/12.

My question is this - any input on silicone vs saline? Everything I have read sas silicone is better and I want to be prepared in case the saline order is not a mistake. He has ordered textured implants - any input on that?

Also, they are only waiting 3 weeks after my last fill before doing exchange. Is that long enough? I have been fairly tight throughout and have a slim frame, I am 5'7" and 130#.

Any input on FG to soften the look of the implants? I have anatomical TE's in and have quite a shelf. PS wants to do FG to soften. What was the recovery like from the lipo and did you have good results?

Any imput would be so welcome as I am getting really nervous about this whole thing. Is anyone out there happy with thier results and not living in pain from the implants?

HELP!!!!

Thanks So much, Liz!

Hello Ladies,

I have not been on the board in awhile.  I check in a lot but just don't have much to add.  I like to know that everyone is doing O.K., hopefully.

Anyway, it has been 3mths since my exchange, so I thought I would give a report for the recent exchanges and also I have a question for the older exchanges.

1st off all is going well.  They have dropped and fluffed nicely.  I do have the fat blobs on the sides but they are not too bad.  I still have tightness under my arms.  I was kind of hoping the tightness would go away.  I have exercises that they PT taught me for the tightness and it works pretty good, I just thought at some point it would go away and not come back.  It is not too bad so I guess I can live with it.  I am just glad the exercises work so well in relieving the tightness quickly. 

I am flat at the top on one side.  I think many get fat graphs for this.  I wasn't planning on it.  But, today I was looking in the mirror and it really didn't look very flat in the upper poles.  I have never heard of it filling in up there.  I'm glad but a little confused.  Has anyone ever heard of that happening through the drop and fluff process.  I am thinking it could be this new bra I got but it has very little support, still I am not ever going to take it off just in case.ha  I have also loss about 15lbs, maybe that did something.  I would love to hear if anyone has ever heard of that happening because I am hoping it is not just one of those one day changes.  I really like the fullness and since I really do not plan on doing anything else it would be nice for them to just some how fix themselves.  I guess I'll go over ask Whippet Mom is she has ever heard of that happening. 

Anyway-  All is pretty good, I can't really complain.  I hope speedy and nice recovery to you all.

Happy New Years,

Vickie  

J Bennett, I had my exchange on 12/20 and like you, the lap flat left me with part of the TE in my armpit and I still have quite a bit of discomfort on that side. The implant looks much better but is still not perfect. This was my 2nd exchange, first was 12/2010 but myrightdmplant rejected and had to be removed in March. I have one side where allodern was used for the flap and the other side were my own muscle was used. I had some fat graphing on the left side which was the alloderm side. That side looks great but the other side is ehhhh, not quite perfect, to say the least. My cleavage is a little crooked, ironically, my original cleavage looked the same way. I am also already showing ripples on the side that was just exchanged again. After ten breast surgeries, I am not quite ready to go through any of this again soon. I have learned that I was greatly mistaken in thinking that I would get beautiful new foobs out of having BC. At this point, my expectations have dropped and I am good with that.

A question for one of you, how long did your PS keep you in a compression bra? I stupidly failed to ask and my PS never told me. I seem to remember two weeks being the timeframe but am wondering what you were all told. 

And I will second the suggestion to utilize Whippet Mom for questions about sizing. She is amazing, she helped me as I felt that my implants were also too small. I was a DDD prior to the bmx and am now a full C. But that is do to my PS adding fat to the left side and using a larger implant on the right. They still look a little flat but oh well, I am alive and have two boobs and they seem to finally be healing perfectly. 

I am wishing all you lovely ladies a Blessed 2012 and a year filled with love, peace and good health! I'll drink to that!! Cheers! ~Dorothy 

Golden, we are traveling a very similar path. My lump was 7/5 and BMX was 8/8. Am scheduled for exchange 1/9, yay! I would call PS and not wait, why worry? Don't beat yourself up, you gotta live your life. Hope the PS can address your concerns, we are in the home stretch here!

janhart,  Are you getting excited?  I am sure you will be so much happier post exchange, you will have squishy boobs again!  Good luck, keep us posted.

Christine, yes, I am excited. I don't think I even remember what squishy is. I have to work this coming week and then I took the week following the exchange off. I hope I'm feeling good enough to go out to lunch and maybe do some shopping? What do you think?

I had my exchange on the 19th, I received mentor gel high profile round 600cc compared to the TE I think they look small but I think anything compared to the TE's are small. My TE were very high up on my chest so not having that when you look down makes them seem small. I am 5'7 152 lbs with a 34 inch rib cage. I think in the long run I am going to love them very much. I have had no pain since 2 days after surgery and I feel great.... I love that they feel soft and that they are symmetrical and I can sleep on my side. So far I have had good experience. I hope all of the other ladies going in have a good experience. My doctor also told me that it takes 6 mos to a year for it to all come together.... and I hope all the other ladies start to feel better and that things will work out, for all that we have been through this part has got to be a bit better...

janhart, I took a week off after my exchange and was well enough to enjoy the time.  Roughest part was taking it easy and now showering for a few days.  Enjoy!

Good luck Janhart! I hope it goes really great.

  I felt better just waking up from surgery. I didn't have any pain - remember - you are probably not having tissue removed like the mastectomy, and you probably have little nerve sensation to the area. Was working out (cardio) 2 days later (don't tell my PS ).

Four weeks later (Mentor medium profile silicone gels)   - what little swelling there was has gone down, I see some ripples/wrinkles, I believe they will be correctible with fat grafts. I do masage for 5 mins a day (husband thinks it is the funniest thing). All in all, looking good and I am planning on going the whole distance! Looking completely normal in clothes and bathing suits. And, sleeping on either side - priceless!

Happy HEALTHY new year to all. 

I had my exchange surgery on Dec. 23.  I have a question for those of you who have already had your exchange.  Do any of you still have discomfort?  I still feel almost like I have the TEs still in.  It's not as bad but still uncomfortable.  Many have said they had little pain after surgery and the implants felt so much better.  That is not my experience so far.  I'm less than two weeks post surgery but just wanted to know if anyone else has felt the same?

JBennett- I am like Summer. My surgery was Nov 16 and I am still swollen and tight. My PS had me wear a compression band over the upper poles to push the implants down and reduce swelling for almost a month. Things are getting better, the implants are in a better position, but the swelling is going down slowly. Mine feel tight, not as bad as TEs but definitely not soft and squishy like everyone talks about. My PS said he did a lot of sculpting on the back of the pec muscle to form the pocket and it would take about 3 months for the stitches to heal. If I bend forward--ouch! I am in physical therapy and she said I have a lot of scar tissue at the sides of my foobs, so she is working to break that up. All that being said, I am still in pain. I know it is discouraging to not have it all be perfect after the exchange, but I think some of us need more time to heal.

I think so much depends on what the conditions are inside and what they did at the time of the exchange. Was there a lot of revision to pocket etc.  I was pretty much back to normal after 7-8 weeks.  I still feel tight after I have been laying down for any length of time but other than that it is much better. I had the exchange 10-20-11.  Also what has happened prior would play into it I think.

I had my exchange 10/27. Because I was having such pain and muscle spasms with the TE I would say the relief was instant. But that does not mean that the implants feel perfect. They are still tight and I am aware of them a lot. I have lymphedema and truncal swelling so some of it might be from that. They look pretty good although I have a pretty large flat space in between the breast mounds. I hope that sometime in the future I will be able to forget that they are there altogether but that time has not yet come.