Exchange City
Comments
-
Mooleen and Blessings2011 looks like you are up next, good luck and I'll be watching for your updates on how it goes!
0 -
Mooleen I'm with Blessings-hope you have a wonderful experience to tell us about.
I am SO envious of you having your exchanges soon. I was all set for the beginning of Sep and got a call that they have to cancel that day. They called to tell me that cant fit me now until the beginning of Oct. AHHHHHHHHHHH
0 -
2friedeggs and blessings, thank you and I will. That really sucks when they cancel you. My PS is booked out 2 months in advance. I cant have revision on my native breast until Nov 13. I am going smaller so i am going to be lopsided for 3 months.
0 -
Moleen- Try not to worry about the exhange. I was in and out the same day. No pain, just a little sore. I was back at work in 6 days when the drains were removed. And you will feel so good having those expanders out. It's a feeling of relief.
GreenMonkey- are you still going in for revison? Do they have to take out implants and put new ones in?
0 -
Moleen looks like you , me and Karenr1028c will be triplets all having exchange on the 21st. I am also getting very nervous and excited all at the same time.
0 -
Ok Sherryc now I'm REAL jealous 3 of you getting your squishees. Waiting until Sept didn't seem so far away but now having to wait until Oct-seems SO far away. Oh well. I don't blame you for being anxious but I'm sure it will turn out great. Now Blessings and I will have 3 great stories to hear.
Oh Moleen that is a bummer that you can't have the revision until Nov. I'm just being whiney and I shouldnt be;I was just disappointed not to be getting this all done with.
Dipad So glad to hear you are doing so well. What encouraging words!
0 -
Hi girls, I'm baaaaack! And finally scheduled for Sept. 11th to get a reduction so that I will match ...only waited 4.5 years or so.
Great luck to all about to exchange! That is the m ost comfortable thing, ever and a quick recovery, except for the little tyrannosaurus arms one must use.
Best of luck to all, on the swimming issue, I was told 6 weeks no exceptions, no chlorine or salt water. Every single PS is different I think.
xxo
0 -
good luck to everyone and have a great day
0 -
husker123: Keep up with your exchange! I am glad they are doing everything all at once. Lucky you!
0 -
I haven't seen any info about how long after exchange do we begin implant massage.
0 -
anniealso - "little tyrannosaurus arms" LOL!!! That's exactly how I felt!!!
lisa96 - my PS told me he'd have me massage the implants, but he didn't say starting when. I'll try to remember to ask him on Monday when I see him for the Pre-Op appt.
0 -
Thanks Blessings! My PS is so vague with answers. I asked about bras and he said whatever is comfortable. He never was the one who did fills. Neither the surgeon nor the PS made an appearance after my surgeries to say how it went. I just don't understand. Does anyone else have this problem?
0 -
lisa96 yur PS did not come to you after the surgery to talk to you? perhaps you don;t remember because of the anesthesia?
0 -
Hi, Ladies. I am new to this thread. i had BMX on April 23rd and am scheduled for exchange surgery on October 18th (my choice to delay-- have work and travel obligations). i was surprised when i called my surgeons's office to leaern that there is not an overnight stay for the surgery. Have any of you who had exchanges stayed overnight? or is it all same day? Also curious-- any of you pick saline instead of silicone? thanks!
0 -
Hi, longislandmom! My exchange is coming up on the 22nd. It's an outpatient procedure, as I believe most exchange surgeries are. The real invasive procedures took place during your MX.
All they do in the exchange is open up the incision (my PS uses my MX incisions), reach in behind the pectoral muscle, deflate and remove the TE, and insert the implant. Usually the PS will take several sizes of implants into the OR and try them out to get the perfect fit.
Once he is certain he's got the right fit, the sutures are closed up again, bandaged, and off to Recovery you go. I'm told to expect 2 hours max in the OR (I've got a few minor other issues to address), then about 2 hours in Recovery, then home I go with new squishies!
From all the ladies who report here, this is nothing compared to the BMX or UMX surgery!
I'm getting saline implants - Allergan Natrelle 68HP. The beauty of the saline implant is that it can be deflated before being inserted into the pocket, so the incision can be much smaller than that for a silicone implant. It can also be adjusted in size once in place, so both sides match perfectly.
Each type has its pros and cons, and different women want different things. Since all my PS does is saline, that's fine with me.
0 -
longislandmom i picked Saline and i am happy with it did not stay overnight home the same day not much pain no painpills
good luck
0 -
Update: My bilateral exchange was completed on 7/23. Everything seemed well. I will never understand the idea that you are NOT to remove or change post op bandages until the surgeon does it on your first follow up. Seems crazy to keep those dirty post op bandages on so long. The night after surgery I took my post-op antibiotic and got itchy all over. The next morning I called the PS and was told to discontinue the antibiotic, and, because they were prophylactic, they would not prescribe a replacement.
On Thursday, 8/2, I went in for my first follow up. My left breast was angry red, tender and I had a temp of 101.2. Apparent infection. They admitted me to the hospital for IV antibiotics. I was kept in the hospital for 9 days, on IV antibiotics, for observation to determine whether to remove the infected implant or treat with antibiotics. During the course of my hospital stay the left breast improved 100%. However, the right breast developed redness, no swelling, no tenderness and I had no fever after admission. I was discharged today with both implants in place, on home IV antibiotics for 21 days. We are hoping to save the implants, but are proceeding with caution and the understanding that IF it gets worse, or goes bad, they will remove the affected implant.
Argh.....
Considering this is my first complication, I'm dealing. But, a little depressed about this setback and the prison I have been in for the last week.
0 -
She chirple, I am so sorry you have had t hese issues! Hopefully, all is well now.
It sounds like your PS should clarify the bandage issue with you. I have never, ever heard of any dr. ever saying that one should not change a post op bandage!!! Yes, that is not clean, and gee, I would think that an infection would happen as a matter of course if one did that. Please call and clarify this with the office.
What is usual, is that yes, of course, one does change the outside bandage. One cannot get it wet, but it will be blood encrused and dirty so it does need to be changed. One generally has steri strips or gauze bandages over the incisions. I was told to wash the surgical bra and while waiting for it to be clean, to very gently clean with (clean hands) a sterile Q tip or swab and hydrogen peroxide the incisions or steri strips. To let this air dry, then with another swab or Q tip, to gently apply bacitriacin to the incisions. After that, you put a fresh dressing of sterile gauze or a sterile pad (I used 9" x 5" sterile abdominal pads, perfect size) and put back on your now clean surgical bra or sport bra. It was my understanding each time (and I've had 5 surgeries) that yes, treat it like the sterile surgical site it is. We went so far as to put a chair in the shower, put me into a hefty garbarge bag and use a hand held shower to get what needed to be clean, clean, which was so funny I heartily reccomend it. But not to change a bandage for two weeks!!!! Surely the nurses screwed up telling you how to care for it. If you have steri strips, yes, leave t hose right in place, don't touch them. They fall off by themselves when it is time.
Please call right away and clear all of this up for yourself. ..no need to suffer over unclear directions!
I'm sure it will all be straightened out and that you will be absolutely AOK!! Sending hugs...
0 -
Thanks, ladies. I think my Doc will have a lot of "tailoring" to do on my breasts during my exchange. I have a lot of extra skin that was kind of sewn up in a messy fashion during my BMX. I was 34DDD and am going to be much smaller, so there is lots of extra skin that needs to be cut off (yuk). So i'm thinking my exchange may be a bit of a production with lots of sculpting and finishing to do. I have appointment to discuss implants on october 3rd. i wish it were earlier!!
0 -
She Chirble
i am so sorry i am with Anniealso i had the same information for cleaning
after a week i had to replace my sterostrips myself and put new one's on
good luck
0 -
She Chirple: So sorry for all the problems you are having. I hope those antiobiotics are doing their work and getting at that infection minute by minute. So happy you are out of the hospital!
With each of my surgeries, I had "big bandages" (ace like things) that stayed on until my first visit with the surgeon after the surgery, usually 3-5 days. Then they took off all the bandages except the steri strips. After that I could shower. I changed "no stick" guaze pads held with paper tape daily for awhile. The steri strips were not changed until they fell off or the doctor took one remaining off after quite awhile (seems like 6 weeks for one!). I wasn't sure it was ever going to come off!
0 -
longislandmom, My surgeon's office had told me I would be staying overnight and that was written in my scheduling orders, so I was surprised when I was told after surgery that I was leaving right then. Even when wheeling into the OR I expected to be staying so I was caught very off guard to find out while in recovery that I would be going home. So it is a good thing that you now know that ahead of time so you can prepare and not return to an empty house. It does seem that most go home same day, so be certain you know of the plans for you and maybe prepare for both in case someone either did not tell you the truth or an unexpected change occurs.
The extra skin sewn into a clump may need to stay. I actually did not have that until after exchange. The incisions were all smooth after four other surgeries. But at exchange, extra skin was removed on one side and now I have a little bunch up of skin at the outer edge of one of the IMF scars. Sort of like a drawn up in a purse string but not exactly. More like it was just all pulled together in a pile and stitched together to purposely stay bunched up. It flattened some in the last 9 months, but it still a little pile and darker and just not an attractive scar. It is not a dog ear because it is not just a flap of skin to be removed. It almost looks like the modification of one of the techniques to build a nipple where skin is gathered then sutured. The scars that were smooth, including the rest of that one have faded a little, but this part stays dark and there are shadows from the creases of the little pile. It shows in some sleeveless shirts. If it was done that way to avoid extending it further, it was not a good choice. I scar well and a flat one would have gone close to skin color, just like the scar under my arm from the nodes being removed. You cannot see that one at all anymore unless really looking for it, but this bunch up one will always show because of the bunching. So if you do need skin removed, you might want to talk to your surgeon about options for that ahead of time so the two of you can make a good decision on the trade offs.
0 -
My PS requests a 24-hr hospital hold from my insurance. I think my exchange surgery will be early in the morning, so if I feel okay, I can probably go home that night. I would rather just stay the night and go home in the morning. I live 40 miles from the hospital, and I also live alone, but my sister has been my caregiver. I was allowed to shower the next day after my UMX drain and all. When I had my UMX surgery, I went home the next morning.
0 -
Oh, SheChirple - SOOO sorry to hear of your complications!!! How scary for you....hope at least by now you are showing signs of improvement.
I never had to change any bandages myself, because my PS is one of the ones who leaves them on until HE takes them off.
In the OR, I got my incisions (dissolving sutures) covered with Xeriform (that gooey, yellow, gauzy stuff that is saturated with antibiotics), then a layer of dry gauze, then a layer of fluffy padding, then a very tight, HUGE Ace bandage. I was instructed to leave everything alone until my Post-Op visit a week later.
I had no adhesive whatsoever on me. My PS says too many of his patients are allergic or sensitive to it, so he doesn't use it.
I stayed wrapped up like a mummy for a week, then went in for the Grand Unveiling. The PS unwrapped me, proclaimed that everything looked good, then put on new Xeriform strips across the incisions, some dry gauze over that, and a new Ace bandage, which he said to keep on for one more week.
By the two week mark, my drains were removed, my incisions looked great, and I had no rashes from adhesives. I was cleared to take a shower, and truthfully, I never felt like leaving the bandages on for a week at a time was "dirty".
At the two week mark, I just wore a freshly laundered sports bra, and everything that touched me was freshly laundered. I never touched my incisions once, until they were all healed and I was in the shower. Even then, I never used a towel twice. I was really a germophobe about the whole thing, and I'm glad I was.
I have my exchange in 11 days, and I know I will get the same kind of bandages.
0 -
Isn't it amazing how instructions differ??? Whenever I read something that is not what I was directed to do, my first reaction is WTF! The bra instructions varied from surgeon to surgeon. Do we wear one, which kind, how often???? That's why we just need to use common sense. If something doesn't look or feel right it's a signal to not do it. I should have listened to the voice in my head that said the pain I was experiencing with the expander was not normal. Many women on this board had pain, so I figured it was normal. I ended up with an infection and a five-day hospital stay. I wish there was a clear-cut answer, but unfortunately there's not.
0 -
Hi Everyone,
I've Scheduled my surgery for Nov 29th. For those of you who dont know, I had direct to implant bilat mastectomy on Dec,27 2011, with adjustable saline implants. I have been very happy overall.
I knew I had to have the "ports "removed, they were used to fill up the adjustable implants the few weeks following the original bi-lat and immediate recon. Now I am choosing to exchange to silicone, due to rippling etc although if you saw my boobies you'd say why? But I am a perfectionist as is my surgeon. Also I am having a little fat transfer to fill in. I am a novice when it comes to silicone and the different kinds out there, My surgeon says she will have numerous kinds to choose from in the operating room and will make a decision when she sees my space etc. Any suggestions?
Love all you girls
Karen
0 -
Karen~ Contact Whippetmom, she is our resident expert. You will find her on the Implant Sizing 101 board that Tina referenced. Good Luck!
0 -
OK ladies, I just had to share. I had a dream last night that I had my nipple back, but it was on my midriff. I was so upset. Oh my, the things you dream about.
0 -
another question for you post-exchange ladies....do you have drains after exchange surgery? thanks!
0
