Exchange City
Comments
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OH ANNIE......it is sooooooooooooo great to see you getting finished. I miss you kid! I am so glad I check back here before your surgery.!!!!!!!!! Ladies...I had my final surgery in 2010 I believe......and this thread connected soooooooooo many of us. We are still BFF's to this day....all 51 of us.....lol. JEAN IS A DOLL FOR KEEP EC GOING ALL THESE YEARS. JEAN......BLESS YOU! I AM FROM. KANSAS CITY. MY AMAZING PLASTIC SURGEON has fixed more ladies from BCO than I can imagine. He had taken on ladies 4 hours away. If anyone needs help finding a good PS....and you are close to Missouri ....please contact me. I cannot post his name here .....but can discuss it in private messages. God Speed to you all...and I offer my help to you new sisters if I can help. Laura.
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Oh, thank you so much, beautiful "Estepp"...I am both scared that they will find something else (rationally, prob. not, emotionally, well you know how it is....that kneejerk).
I am ready. I have prayed over it and it's the right time I feel. I give it all up to the universe and the Lord and I know it will all work out.
How are YOU????? I am almost 5 years out (again, for 2nd time) on Dec. 11th of this year. I hope all is OK with you and that your life has calmed down and you are happy, sweetie.
Thank you so very much for the good wishes, and good wishes to ALL of us going thru any exchanges, surgeries, anything. We are all in this together, gals. If I can help anyone at all, I have had the whole enchilada of it thrown at me. Ask away and as soon as I have use of arms again (I think a week or so? For a downsize/lift?) I will answer.
God bless all and Estepp, my dear, thank you.
xoxox
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((((HUG))))
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I'm so happy finally got the date for my exchange October 23 it's been along time coming..hope it's better then these expanders because they are awful..
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Rosetx...
thinking of you tomorrow.0 -
Thanks so much, Cindy. I'll let you know how it goes....as soon as I'm relatively coherent!
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Go gettem' AnnieAlso...........you got this girl!!!!
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Congratulations Sherry. I'm only a week out from exchange, but the implant definitely felt better immediately after surgery. It is soft. It doesn't stick out under my arm. I hadn't even realized how much the expander must have been doing that. I get some pain toward evening but can get by without pain meds -- although I chose not to today. It is easier to care for, too.
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Good luck today Rosetx! I hope all goes well for you today. Sending prayers to you from Fort Worth.
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my last little spot healed from exchange and I took a wonderful lavender bubble bath last night. I have so been looking forward to that.
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Yay Sherry - am still waiting on the all clear for that. Can't wait!
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I am two weeks out from exchange. I had chemo, UMX on left side with expander, then radiation. I was fully expanded before radiation, fast expansion, then I have 100 more ccs two weeks before exchange. My PS waited six months before she would schedule the exchange. Everything went well. Had lift and implant on right side for symmetry. Has anyone else had implant after radiation? I was wondering if the left will drop and fluff like the right? I also cannot have nipple added as my PS says there is too high a rate of failure after radiation. I will have the 3D tattoo. Carolyn
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Carolyn...I had rads and implants. Being fully expanded first was the BEST for a good outcome. My rads side did not drop. That breast is about a inch higher....but it does not really look like it. Massage ...squeeze....the heck out of the rads foob ....for the rest of your life. It will help keep it soft....and keep the scar tissue at bay.
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http://www.womensplasticsurgery.com/video_massage-recon.html. Carolyn.....this is the massage you should do on the rads boob forever. I have done it daily for 3 years ....so far so good for me.
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Esstep,how much do we have to do the massage? One lady said her dr told her everytime she goes to restrm, one PS says every 2-3 hrs at first. I complained so much my PS never got around to telling me how often to do that,just that I should do that the rest of my life. No pain til that now the new foobs are sore and achy.
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My PS showed me how to massage the non rad side and told me not to do anything to the rad side yet. I see her again tomorrow for my two week post-op check. I'll see what she says about massage then. Estepp - I cannot get the link to the video to work.
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@Cindy and Loriio--Thanks so much for your positve thoughts for my exchange day (it was yesterday) They are definitely softer with the squishes and I think the size and shape will be great, once the swelling is over. The funny things is when the hopital rep called me the day before for some preop questions, someone had the wrong info and had me listed for a breast reduction instead of reconstruction. I said,
Oh, please dont let take out any more! I had a bilateral mastectomy there's nothing left to take out! She fixed it in the records, so they did get it right before sugery. I 'm sure my PS who was doing the surgery certainly would have done the right thing anything.I got home between 11:30 and 12:00 last night because apparently my blood presure kept dropping significantly while on the table, and then they had trouble getting me to wake up. Haven't taken any of the prescribed pain rx today. My PS removed more skin at the IMF area and then some of the extra "lip" under each breast as well as the sides. He lipo'ed a little of the extra fluff around to the sides before reaching that area. Surgery took about 3 hours. I am happy with the shape, size and projection. But still no nips. Going to for the 3D tats in about 3 monthes.
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Gosh Esstep,thanks so much for the link,I am driving my PS office nuts,I get so OCD when I worry about all the details and its probably not a big deal.
Rose, glad you are ok,guess some surg are different from others,they just cut me open and took the TE ones out and put the implants in,in at 6 am,talked with the BS and she had to go work then the anesthesia came by and talked and then the PS came by and drew on me and then the anesthes came back and told me I probably wouldnt remember most of it so nurse would give me papers with everythg printed on there for post op and such,they were right,forgot most of it. Made about 4 appts with PS and only needed one cuz I kept forgetting that I already had one and their office didnt even tell me. How are you feeling now? How many days out are you? What kind of implants did you get? they already dropped and fluffed? My pancakes have turned into Vita Muffin tops but I wanted C,I thk I had about a large A,completely flat without my padded underwire from Vic Secret. So I am disappointed that I am looked A-ish still,my TE were so cute,they were definitely C material. However, PS says not to despair (splg?)that it will take several mths for the puppies to get their teeth and eyes opened,huh? oh,drop & fluff,the cancer side looks just like my old one minus the nip stuff and add in the earthworm. The other one is still high and squarish but the scar is good,just like an ink pen line.
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Rose...so glad you are home and squishee! I'm going to Nola for nips...you? Too bad we cant meet!
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Your PS needs to give you the AOK to start massage after exchange first. THEN.... do it daily. I do it every morning when I lather on my body lotion ... and sometimes at night... when I relather on my body lotion...
I have this weird thing about really soft skin...:)0 -
LADIES.... I am going to find the post about IMPLANT MASSAGE, Linda54 posted it in 2009 or 2010.... I will BUMP IT NOW....... LOOK FOR IT!
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ALso....... the original video might not work... but at the end of this thread... two other ladies posted a massage video.
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@Cindy --Yes, home never looked so good. I have a follow-up appt. with my PS Monday morning. He just called to check on me. Actually my PS has someone come into his office once a month to do the "tit tats". However, they didn't have any pictures of his work. They said they would ask him to bring some. It would be convenient to do it here, but I don't want to do it unless they can show me what he can do. But they won't do it until the patient is 3 months past the exchange. So I'm a little behind you, but definitely considering Vinnie as an option if the work from the one here doesn't seem aesthetically pleasing or if I can't preview his work. I decided that I didn't want to have anything done surgically because that's the area where the incision failed and had to be recut and restitched, so it will be tats for me. I wish we could meet as well, but it looks as though the earliest I could have it done would mid December.
@Layla --My implants are high profile silicone. I am feeling good today. No pain meds at all, just having tenderness where he extended the incision to the side and did some lipo work there. I am a little shaky and have to be really careful not to fall. I've been bumping into edges of doors and staggering a bit. I ordinally have good spatial awareness (don't park my basket in the middle of the aisle at the grocery store), so I'm surprised that I'm bumping into what seems like every inanimate around the house. But it's getting better as the day progresses.
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Hi Ladies, I had my exchange exactly one week ago today and I'm no longer taking Vicodin (surgery pain has mostly disappeared) BUT I am definitely more swollen on my right side than my left.
I got my drains out yesterday and since then, I can hear fluid swishing around my right implant. I remember hearing this when I had my TE too. (My TE ended up coming out and going back in eventually, though I never had an infection).
Has anyone else experienced a buildup of fluid around their implant? There is no redness on my skin, but I am running a low-grade temp (99.2). Going to take more tylenol now.
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Hi ladies - New to the site and appreciate all your wisdom and input! I'm having TE exchange surgery on Sept. 24th - -
Rosetx - Hope you're feeing better today! I remember you from June forum (my original BMX surgery was to be in June, ended up having it later in July) - wow - no pain meds? You're amazing - still wobbly?
Rennasus - Did you really have drains put in with the exchange surgery? I guess I didn't realize that - -I actually don't know much about the exchange. . . .seems like I researched the BMX surgery to the hilt, but I haven't learned much about this next step. . . just know it's supposed to not be as bad as the BMX and TE placement. Did you find that to be the case?
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Annievan: I had a drain put in on each side after exchange b/c PS did a lot of pocket work. I am also a "drainer" — my body produces fluid in response to the TE (and now the implant, but only one one side!). I will be honest, the pain of exchange (for me) was worse than I anticipated. But *nothing* compares to the BMX, it is no where near as painful as that. Depends on how much interior work your PS does and if you have the swelling tendancy. I went into exchange certain I would have one drain and possibly two, so was a tad disappointed when I had 2 drains again! They hurt the most!
Rosetx: Sounds like you are getting better quickly. Yay!
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Renn - I had my exchange on 8/22. It took almost as long as the initial BMX w/TEs, due to all the pocket work the PS had to do. One thing is fer sure....these babies are NOT migrating under my armpits when I lie down any time soon!
Righty is behaving nicely....sooo much softer than 3 weeks ago, and is starting to D&F.
Lefty, unfortunately, has issues. I am still swollen almost up to my collarbone. I didn't have drains after exchange. At Post-Op, the PS said it was swollen tissue and excess fluid from all the work he did in there. He did not believe it was a seroma or an infection, and said it would resolve on its own...possibly in 2 - 3 months
.I hear little bubbly/squishy sounds around the permeter of my implants, but the left-sided swelling is pretty firm.
My MO asked if I heard Rice Krispies....apparently some women hear crackling sounds after exchange, as the tissues fill up with fluid AND air. Thankfully, no Snap, Crackle, Pop for me....
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OK, they who say the second day after surgery is the worst, are right. Actually, I'm not in real pain today but a lot more soreness. Most of it is where the PS lipo'd the areas of side boobage, I think. Still don't think I need the Vicodin. I'll just try the Tylenol today. Hope everyone else is doing well!
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My PS didn't even mention massage! Then I forgot to ask because I couldn't believe he said see you in three months, four days post-op!
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My PS said 3 months, too. It means we are doing well. No complications. Mine told me not to massage, but maybe a couple times a day I could squeeze them together for about 10 seconds. He thinks that too much massaging can cause capsular contraction, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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