Exchange City
Comments
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good luck Juneau-It will be over before you know it and you'll be drinking that coffee in no time (lol-atleast thats what I keep telling myself!) Getting ready to leave so I'll check in with you later!
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Good luck Juneau! I'm following next week so keep us posted. Best wishes for successful surgery, quick healing and lots of coffee!
Lori0 -
You too 2Fried!!!!!!
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I can't wait to hear you all are doing post exchange. Its what is keeping me going through these horrible TEs.
I wish they told you about the potential to be uncomfortale all the time. I wouldn't have. CHanged my mind but at least I would have been emotionally ready for the possibility to have only varying degrees of feeling crappy.
I guess I actually thought I might feel somewhat normal...oh silly me.
Haven't had a pity party in a few weeks, I guess it's today...sorry.0 -
oaktownmom, you sound like me. My radiated side stayed pretty well put and non rads side dropped. They both look fine but one much higher. I can wear a bra and they look fine. i am about 10 weeks out. I met with ps and he said if i want it fixed he will make right side even with a pig skin (ewwwww) sling. He doesn't want to mess with radiated side. I am glad and am going to do it, in fact pre op app today. I couldn't see how nipples would be placed if uneven, although ps did say they would help with asymmetrical look. No popping or bubbling though. They will settle and look better, massaging will help loosen rad side too.
Good luck Juneau!!!
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Thanks so much sarasowise! It's so helpful to know I'm not the only one. I know it's still pretty early for me, so I'm trying to give it some time.
Good luck to everyone waiting for or getting their exchange done this week. The implants are SO much more comfortable than the expanders! Cindy - hang in there, you'll get more used to them, and your exchange will be here before you know it!0 -
First time posting... Having my exchange in the morning and just found the site. So thankful to all of you for sharing.
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Oaktownmom can you "feel" the implants the way you can the TEs?
I'm afraid I'm never going to feel normal again in that I'm always going to be aware of those objects being there.0 -
Cindy - I know what you mean about the horrible tight feeling of the expanders. I had mine in for a really long time - almost a year and a half while I went through chemo and rads. I actually got pretty used to them after a few months. But when I had my exchange a few weeks ago, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest and shoulders - literally. I had been having lots of problems with my arm and shoulder, and that all went away. The implants are so much softer and more comfortable - they do feel like nothing compared to the expanders. It will get so much better!! As far as comfort and softness go I have no complaints!
Dx 6/23/2011, IDC, Stage IIIa, 6/14 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-
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Omg over a year....I don't know what I would do.
Luckily I do not need chemo at all and I am sitting here wondering how I'm going handle this until maybe March. I'm supposed to go back to work in two weeks and I don't know how am going to be able to....0 -
With this revision I am alot more sore, but taking my pain meds and doing OK. The strange thing is that my PS set the impants higher on my chest. He used the same implants but they actually look a tad smaller than before this revision I guess I will do that drop and fluff all over again, but not sure that much of my pocket will give way now. My girls still look great just a little different than before. I also did not get drains but I have a slushy sound in breast. I have silicone implants. I spoke to the nurse and she said that it happens sometimes and that my body will absorb it.
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Oaktownmom – I didn’t have rads, but I did have a considerable amount of swelling in my left side after all the pocket work the PS did at exchange. Righty was nice and round and symmetrical, and in just the right place. Lefty, however, looked like she was trying to crawl over my left shoulder.
The PS said it was “fluid” left over from surgery (I didn’t have drains at exchange) and that it could take 2 – 3 months for the swelling to go down. THAT was not what I wanted to hear.
However, I am now 3 months out from exchange; the swelling has decreased, the implants have softened, dropped, and fluffed, and with massage and a good supportive bra, you really can’t tell there is much difference. I did ask about massaging the swollen part downward, as I felt that perhaps the left implant was not sitting as firmly in the pocket as the right one, and he said that would be fine.
What I can tell you is that even three months out, the New Girls take on different personalities every day! The shape is still changing, and I’ve read posts from women whose implants were still changing 9 months after exchange. So I guess what I’m saying is give it time.
Yes, I can feel the “bubbles” in the edges of my implants, but they don’t show on the outside.
Juneaubugg – how was the exchange? Did you get your coffee yet? Congratulations on crossing over to the Squishy Side!!!
CindyLooWho – I know when I was just a month out from my BMX, I was fixated on how bad the TEs felt. They hurt so much I told DH I could not stand to have them in for one more day, much less for the length of time to get filled, and then the wait for exchange.
Even when they stopped causing me pain (when fills started) I was aware of them 24/7. But gradually, our brains get used to the feeling of something “foreign” in there, and one of these days I think you will find yourself so distracted by some activity that you forget to think about the TEs…maybe for an hour, a few hours, or all day. I remember that day for me…it was such a relief. I had my TEs in for 9 months. At the very end it was really difficult because they were huge, and I wasn’t anymore. I’d lost weight, and these big honkin’ boulders made life challenging, to say the least. But I always told myself it was TEMPORARY, and it was. I’ve had my New Girls for 3 months now. I know they’re in there, especially when I flex my pectoral muscles for any reason. But I’m still really glad I stuck it out. Big gentle hugs to you!!!
Sarasowise – let us know when your surgery will be!
Welcome, oldafw! Good luck on your exchange tomorrow…be sure to come back and let us know how you are doing!
Sherryc – glad your revision went well. My MO said the weirdest thing that some women hear after surgery is not the bubbling or the slushing sounds, but Rice Krispy sounds!!! She said those were normal, too, and would go away. Here’s hoping for a quick recovery for you!!!
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Thanks Blessings!
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sherry, nice to have your revision done! hope you feel better fast.
I met with ps today for revision pre op. He said he is using the pig skin sling and i will have a drain for TWO weeks, boohoo for me. I didn't think it would be that involved but want good results so i will have to tolerate it. My surgery is next Friday am. Nervous but glad to have opportunity to get them evened out. Hopefully at some point I will be able not even think about the foobs!
Anyone else have a sling used?
thanks
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Thanks blessings...it's 5.5 weeks and I really hope you are right. I get mt third fill tomorrow.
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I'm home, I'm sore and I'm hungry! .... And I can push on my right breast and it DOESN'T OFFER RESISITANCE!!!! Yay!!! More later.. Thanks for the company ladies. (2fried: hope yours doing well too!)
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Hi Ladies! I have my exchange tomorrow morning. I have to be there at 8:15. I'm so excited but of course nervous. Can't wait for this process to be over. Wish me luck
Jess
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juneaubugg - YAYYYYY!!!!
Good luck, Jessfili!!! Come back and let us know how you are doing!!!
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Yay Jess! Go y be nervous. My TE Side barely hurts; the other side feels like I got a MASSIVE FILL all at once! OUCH!
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Oldawa; how did you make out? Feeling ok?
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Good luck this morning Jessfill! Juneaubug, hope you get lots of rest today.
Best wishes!
Lori0 -
Hi everyone ... my name is movetomaui (Julie) and I have enjoyed reading all of this thread. I am a noobie and just love how you are all here for each other and really get to know each others struggles/stories! So heartwarming! I have to admit that in my immediate friend base, there isn’t too many to reach out to that have had experience with BC. So I am so happy to have found this site and all of you!
I'm in the waiting stages for the exchange surgery, finished with fills. I should have the exchange surgery sometime in early February. The whole process has been uncomfortable but the fills have helped. My concern has remained that the TE still seems to be buckled under my arm which has given me this new "side boob". My PS says that this is normal and due to the size/shape of it. I have been wearing a sports bra 24/7 to give support to this side boob. I almost feel as if the whole TE has stretched the pec muscle and am worried that the implant will not be supported well. I do however have a sling (I think it’s human skin though) which supports the TE along the bottom.
In my reading of this thread, I have learned so much! In particular, the whole idea of “pocket work”. Can someone please give me more info on this and how and why it is done? Also, if you all might think that this side boob of mine sounds like it would need some of that pocket work.
BTW … that is our plan, to move to Maui! Happy Aloha Friday!
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Welcome, movetomaui ! (I'm soooooo envious!!!)
“Pocket work” refers to any surgical refinements the PS does on the implant pockets at the time of exchange. For example, I got VERY large TEs during my BMX because neither of us knew that I’d be losing so much weight. When that became apparent, I stopped the fills process at 620ccs. But the TE’s were still much wider than my 700cc saline implants (16 cm vs 14 cm).
The shapes of the TEs were ridiculous. On the right, I had a diagonal loaf of rock-hard french bread, and on the right, I had SpongeBob Square Foob. I think I had more side boob than front boob, and believe me, at 620ccs, it became nearly impossible to sleep on my sides again.
I think most of us have had to deal with the dreaded side boobs.
During my exchange, the PS removed a lot of scar tissue, and released the pectoral muscles more, so that the implants would sit more firmly in the pocket without the tight muscle getting in the way.
He also performed what is called a “lateral capsulorraphy” on both sides….he actually stitched all the way around each individual pocket to make sure the implants did not migrate under my armpits when I lay on my back. Because of the size difference, this could have been a possibility.
The exchange process was the same, but the pocket work just strengthened the pockets the implants sit in.
It sounds like you have an Alloderm sling - that should help keeping your new implant in place, and once the PS gets in there on E-day, he can tell if he needs to do any stitching to tighten up a pec muscle.
Keep in mind that your implant will fit your chest totally different than the TE does just because of the construction. TEs are made with hard plastic backs, so that during fills, everything pushes outward, stretching skin and muscle.
Implants are squishy all over, and during the "drop and fluff" process, they soften up, conform more to your rib cage, and settle down into the surgical pocket.
Even if you do have an implant that is somewhat wide, it will be softer than a TE, will fit in a bra, and won't look or feel like you're smuggling baseballs under your armpit.
I highly suggest that you take a look at whippetmom's thread, Breast Implant Sizing 101, and ask her about potential implants. She's really our Implant Guru.
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Hi Blessings ... don't be too envious it's still just a plan; not my reality - yet!
Thank you so much for your detailed explanation of pocket work. I know I should have complete faith in my PS but still am searching out info here. I know at my next appointment we will be finalizing and scheduling my E-day (love that acronym BTW). Anything I learn only helps my future appointments and my overall knowledge of the surgery.
So thank you so much! Oh, and that's a new phrase I just learned, "drop and fluff". I'm learning!
Have a great weekend!
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Well I had another double fill today. She feels bad that I am so uncomfortable still. She actually called the other surgeon to discuss. They are looking into using Botox to numb the muscle. More to come.
Then we discussed wether we should slow the fills down. We decided that since I feel cruddy either way we should keep going and get to exchange ASAP.
She did say that she will most likely have to release the pec a bit. But she is happy with healing and my skin and thinks that I will have a great outcome.
So onward...0 -
CindyLooWho ... I had my unilaterial mastectomy on 10-12 (just a few weeks before you). Sorry to read that you are having so much discomfort. I have found that with each filling, I felt better. I am now completely filled and my PS has a plan for the exchange surgery around the beginning of February. How soon will you be having your exchange? I had wanted to speed mine up and have the surgery before the end of the calendar year (for obvious financial reasons) but my PS said that was moving too quickly and wanted me to have some recovery time for not only the continued healing of the mastectomy but also for full stretch of the skin and muscle. What really sucks is that I will, in the end, pretty much be paying in full for a cosmetic implant and a "lift" of my normal boob. My sister had a cosmetic augmentation that cost about what my out-of-pocket expenses will be for two calendar years. I was happy with what God gave me. People try to pass off all of this BC stuff and tell me that I'll have a new set of "perky" 20-year old girls and try to disregard the whole fight that goes into getting through all of it. That's why I like this forum.
Hope as the weekend progresses you will become more comfortable. I'll be thinking about you.
Julie
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movetomaui - you are very welcome. Just remembered that I didn't put the link to the Breast Implant Sizing 101 thread in the same place I mentioned it above, so here it is:
http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topic/746448?page=241#idx_7227
Even if you have complete faith in your PS, it's good to research. I found that this allowed me to ask better questions when I was actually with him at appointments. I'd read through posts, then type up a list of questions to ask at my next appt. Fortunately, he was one of the patient ones and answered all my questions....
Don't be surprised, though, if he hasn't heard the term "drop and fluff"... many docs have not. They know the process, of course, but not the names we call it.
CindyLooWho - when you say you are getting double fills, do you mean that you are getting fills on both sides, or that you are getting double the amount of saline each time? If that's the case, why?
When I got my fills, I was quite overweight, had LOTS of loose skin, and my pectorals were very lax due to lack of exercise over the years. I was able to handle large amounts of saline at each fill, like 120ccs.
However, for more slender women, women who are more in shape physically, or women who have undergone rads, they could have more problems with larger fills. For them, their motto should be "Low and Slow." In other words, not too much saline at once, and spread your visits out farther apart.
You have the ability to direct this. (Wait, I just read where you said you felt cruddy either way....) So sorry.....hope they come up with some relief for you!!!
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sarasowise - Many (most?) of us with implant reconstruction have ADM (acellular dermal matrix) slings to help support the implant. It's pretty common. There are a number of different materials used. They can be made from human cadaver collagen, pig tissue, silk, etc. The most common one in the US is Alloderm (made from human collagen). I have SeriScaffold, which is the silk support material, which is currently only available under a clinical trial. These materials are also sometimes used to line the implant pocket to thicken the skin.
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I have an Alloderm sling too!
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Julie I wanted to do it all this year too, but she said no way. I have a $3200 ded and $7200 oop max so I hear what you're saying. I have been at 100% for a long time.
Blessings she usually does only 60 cc at time. I have had three of 120. I was equally uncomfortable without fills. She wanted to get me to this point because most women feel better as the fills progress. She lets me decide when I want to come in. I worked out a lot so tight muscles.
She said that when I get to a size I like, keeping in mind projection is different, then we wait 3-4 weeks minimum before exchange.
They really grew this time so maybe I will start to get a good stretch and get more comfortable.
I'm supposed to go back to work on the 17th but I going to ask for an extension until fills are done. Hoping I will feel better...0
