Exchange City

oaktownmom - Like you, I was really disappointed right after my TE exchange. I decided to give it time and I'm much happier 10 months down the road. For me though, I still miss my old ones! When I find I am particularly disappointed with the reconstruction, I find it really is that I wish I'd never had BC not that my PS hasn't done an amazing job. My PS recommended sports type bras for quite awhile (I wore those zip up ones in gray and white from Penney's). Once he recommended that I move to underwires and I bought some beautiful new "real bras", I began to feel better about the reconstruction.

Carrol2 - You might try this thread:  http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/58/topic/758352?page=49#post_3297348. My BS also provided information on seeing the Oncology Dietitian at the Cancer Center. In our city, there is no charge and patients do not need to be seen at the cancer center to access the services (same is true for the Cancer Navigator there). I saw her and she was awesome. I've lost eleven pounds, in spite of being inactive after four surgeries. Slow describes my progress but it is progress. Some say that our Tamoxifen makes it harder too.  Good luck.

Thanks so much Carol and Golden! I feel better - just need to be patient I guess. I see my PS today, and will ask about the strap.



Cindy - I didn't need drains either. But even if you do, hopefully they will be short-lived, and the exchange surgery in general is SO much easier than the mastectomy. Good luck!

It wasn't a big deal.

Here's the kind of support band my PS gave me after my BMX to help get the TEs in place and again after the TE exchange. He told me he'd stayed up all night to sew on the little rose. A nice touch. I wore the first one so much that I wore out the velcro!

http://www.makemeheal.com/mmh/product.do?id=10197

My worst pain was always in the shower. I hated taking showers after both the BMX and the TE exchange. I always did the dressing changes after my shower, maybe that was why it was so hard.

 SimplyAudrey - Hope someone else is cooking. I think surgery the week of Thanksgiving is a good reason for a pass this year on being the main chef.

Simply Audrey I am having about 35 to 40 over but luckily it is this Saturday.  We always do ours the Saturday before because our family is so large.

I had exchange the end of August and no drains.  I received the pre dermination approval today from my insurance so waiting for the scheduler to call me back to get my revision scheduled before the end of the year.  I really need to get this done while in 100% pay.  I have spent way too much on medical bills the last two years and I was really hoping the surgery in August was my last.  Oh well I am certain my PS can fix the bottoming out I am having.

Simply Aud, congrats on quitting the cigarettes. Its tough.

Carroll,you got the surg nips! Hurray,do you like those? I cant decide whether to get surg nips or tatoos but guess I will get surg nips since thats what the PS clinic seems to go with. Just hate to get another surg.

I hated my drains too but the pain post nsbmx was the worst.  Got my 2nd to last fill yesterday, up to 465 cc and 35 cc more to go on Dec 10.  Then exchange mid January. PS told me yesterday that I will need drains, he has scar tissue to break up where my 4 Alloderms are at and also clean up on my sides. He'll use the same incisions that my original drains came out, get rid of my vertical mastectomy scars and give me fresh smaller incisions so they heal more beautifully.  Months after the exchange, he'll do my right nipple de-construction, I'll cross that bridge when it arrives, right now I'm stoked to see the end of the TE tunnel, this is a long process. 

CindyLouWho -

At exchange, I had a significant amount of pocket work done, and was in the OR for almost as long as I was for the BMX.

He removed scar tissue, released more of the pectoral muscles at the tops and bottoms on both sides, and performed lateral capsulorraphies on both sides (stitched completely around the pockets to elminate migration).

HOWEVER - I had no drains.

I wish he had used them. I came home with a left side that was bigger than the right from all the fluid build-up from the reconstruction. He said it would take 2 - 3 months for the body to reabsorb it.

I'm now almost 3 months out, and I have to tell you, that swelling was the single most annoying thing about my New Girls.

Oh, it's much better than it was, and goes down weekly, and the New Girls really do look fabulous in a bra or even nekkid. But I was SO picky in the beginning, and I really think a drain would have made a big difference.

I guess I had a good experience with my BMX drains....they were totally annoying but not painful, and when he removed them after 2 weeks I didn't feel a thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's very difficult right after exchange. After all we've been through, I think most of us want perfection....at least the illusion of perfection, even if it's just for a few minutes. I know I wanted to wake up and see MELONS....big, honkin', perfectly round, fake-looking movie star boobs for just a brief moment. Then I could deal with the reality later.

But it was not to be. I tried to be totally grateful that I was healthy, with no complications, yet I still found little picky things to worry about.

Now, three months later, I am happy. They are what they are. The size is perfect, I love the fact that there is no rippling, that they are always warm, and the scars are fading quickly.

It just takes time to get to that point.

And - wearing a good underwire support bra every day, I see the shape still changing and getting better...so who knows what they'll look like months down the road?

Blessings 2011 - thanks so much for sharing detail on your post exchange experience.  I think knowing where to set expectations is important and challenging - For me, the relief  of being through "the cancer part" and focusing on the "aesthetic part" is exciting...but I also find myself fixated on "perfect" or someone else's definition of what "perfect" looks like.  I think I need to settle for perfectly imperfect and healthy.   Anyway, just wanted to say thanks - your perspective and reality check really helped me.

Grier beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. My Ps wasn't happy at all that I didn't do nipple recon. It was a tough decision but one I knew in my gut was right for me and that I wanted to go with.

Hi Rosetx. The day was long but Vinnie is a class act. Ill post pics in a few days. Its all still emotionally draining. I would choose to do it again though.

Well, here I go again! I am feeling bummed about the uneven results. How many ladies end up with matching pair? I wonder how realistic I am. Then I wonder if they are uneven and get nipples are they centered on each breast or level with body

Thanks

Mine are still pretty darn firm (3 mos out) but that's OK. My PS said regular bras, not underwire. I have a tiny bit of rippling on one underside. Not particularly noticeable but I can feel it. But who cares? I have a friend whose rippling is above and she is annoyed. But still- better than not having anything and they look decent. I'm using the temporary tattoos and that seems to normalize things in my mind quite a bit.

My PS is a bit of a minimalist. His advice on not going to wired bras was quite practical for me "Don't spend a lot of money on bras until we're all done and the swelling is completely gone". Once I got to that point, he recommended wired bras especially to help get my right one stay where we wanted it (I had a fair amount of pocket work at both the TE exchange and nipple surgeries). Since then, I've probably spent more on bras than I had spent in the last 40 years! I'm glad I didn't end up doing that for more than one size!