Exchange City
Comments
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Yes sherry I do. Nothing like the TEs and it gets better every day. But if I'm tired or cold I feel tight.
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yeah i think my ps recommended silicone, but we will discuss i guess at next appt in March...and..drumroll....................... my surgery is scheduled!!! April 23rd!!!! I am soo excited!!
yay!0 -
CindyLooWhoo,
Just hope the itchiness goes away soon driving me nuts...no news from Annemarie yet..0 -
It's been a while since I've been here, I've read from this thread but not actually visited. I had my prophylactic mastectomy with TEs placed on December 3rd. I'm up to 500cc and scheduled for 2 more fills. I was excited when they gave me my exchange date of May 1st. I'm hoping all is going well with all of you dear ladies.
I chose this name due to a drain issue from my first mastectomy...it was in for 10 weeks. I was about crazy and went to another doctor, I now feel I'm in good hands. I've since had my other breast removed and had no problems with the drains. Good docs = good results!
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mamatwinz, congrats on getting your surgery date! It'll be here before you know it!
Welcome Jackie! Wow, your drain was in for 10 weeks? That must have been awful! Glad to hear you have a new doctor now!
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Mamatwinz: Congrats on getting the date!!!! You need PM Mykidsmom and ask her to add your name and date to the list at the top of this string! Whoo hoo!
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to those who were waiting on Sientra implants, saw my PS today and he said there is a bit of a turf war going on about who gets them, so it's
not just your PS who is having problems with them.
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JamieB86,
I finally got mine ...after the swelling goes down better have been worth the wait and pain of the TE..there was 8 of use waiting for the same size and they only shipped 6..0 -
Hi, everyone I am having my mastecomy and tissue expander placed march 1st. I am having a skin and nipple sparring mastecomy. If I didn't have 2 get radiation I would get my implants at the time of my mastecomy
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Any who I was wondering if any of you ladies had a skin sparring mastecomy , with this I am hoping that I won't need the tissue expanders that long since I will still have most of the skin. Also any other advice would be useful. Thank you0 -
Trina25,
All depends if your having radiation or not ..most PS like to wait 6 months to a year ..I had to wait Longer..good luck0 -
Trina the TE is really for the muscle. The pec is not used to having something under it. It needs to get used to the idea. I hope yours are more willing than mine were.
Radiation damages the skin, the degree of damage depends on the patient. I did not have radiation and my BMX was 10/23 and my exchange was 1/24....very quick. From what I have learned here many ps don't even fill until after radiation is done and there is quite a wait before exchange, but that depends on your skin and tissue.
I'm sure some of the girls that had similar treatment will respond. Best of luck and we are here for you.0 -
Trina I had nipple/skin sparring. I had rads before my BMX and I had to wait a year to have the BMX. My skin was pretty messed up from rads and needed time to recover. The TE was for the pec, but now everything looks great. And I loved being able to keep my nipples.
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Mamatwinz ps uses cohesive gel. Pics are on the picture forum. Pm lilah. I saw pics of 300 this week and loved them. Would like to be no more than 400 myself.
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What is the difference between "skin sparing" and "nipple sparing?" I have heard various explanations and am curious what / how your surgeons descibe it. According to my GENERAL surgeon it's "skin" sparing. According to my PLASTIC surgeon it's "nipple" sparing. And they're the "same" thing???
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Didn't know there is a turf war going on with Sientra's.. I'm with Kaiser, and I got em in! Still too soon to really tell.. Had tons of swelling on one side as he ad to redo mastectomy. Now in sports bra till next appointment in two weeks.
Guess I should consider myself lucky to get the Sientra's! I heard they are the closest thing to gummies that are actually available.0 -
C-Squared, they are not the same thing. You can have a skin sparing mastectomy which does not spare the nipple. The skin envelopes are one thing and the nipples are another. I had skin sparing/nipple sparing mastectomies, but you can have only skin sparing which is the case when the cancer is too close to the nipple, or when the general surgeon is not trained in the technique, or does not believe in it and thinks it unsafe.
Most mastectomies these days are skin sparing if the patient plans reconstruction. But many, many are not also nipple sparing.
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Does anyone who has had their exchange notice if there is a difference with one over the other if you have had radiation ....
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Where is the "picture forum" some of you are talking about? It would be nice to see 500 vs 600. My fear is getting too big.
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Trina, I had a skin sparing bmx on September 5, 2012. I had tissue expanders placed at the same time. Turns out I had to have rads too, so my reconstruction won't happen till early fall. After radiation, most plastic surgeons insist on waiting at least half a year before exchange, for healing purposes. My PS did all my fills before I started rads, as it's more difficult for the skin/tissue to stretch after treatment. Hope that helped and good luck with your surgery!
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i also dont know where forum is??!?
thnx cmartin! my ps put my mind at ease re going smaller if i wanted..i dont know if he.offers/does gel? thinking of u guys today! i tried to pm annemarieh..but no reply..she pm me on the 5th before surgery, but nothing since..
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I am scheduled to have my exchange surgery on Feb 25. I am excited and can't wait to get rid of the rocks. We are going with Silicone - not sure what size it will be in CC's . The PS said I should be about a 34/36 C. I am happy with that - I did not want to be too large again.
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Hello ladies, I am sort of new here. I don't post very often. I am scheduled for my exchange on March 13th and I am getting really nervous. I dont know if it is just my emotions and that this long road is almost over or what. Anyway, I saw the PS today and went over last minute paperwork and measurements. It really looks like I will be a small B cup when it's all said and done. Not what I wanted, but it's all I can do. My radiated skin just won't stretch with the expanders and the flap surgery just isnt what I want to go through. I just pray the skin heals properly or all of this will be for nothing. I love reading everyone's stories of their success
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Hi, Ladies -
The Picture Forum is a totally separate website that requires authorization to join.
It's not just a gallery of pictures to be looked at, but rather a very private photojournal of each woman's progression through breast cancer treatment, surgery, and beyond.
To join, you must have a certain number of posts here on BCO (separates out the lurkers) (no, I don't know what the minimum number is), and must show that you are willing to share your own information and be supportive and encouraging of others who do.
Right now, nowheregirl and Lilah are the gatekeepers.
PM either one of those if you are interested in gaining authorization.
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Hopex 3 and Mamatwinz...send a private message to Lilah and you should hear back on accessing the forum.
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Hi Ladies,
I am almost 3 months post exchange and still feel tight and uncomfortable (iron bra). I see that most of you had relief from the TE's so I am guessing I am in the minority. My mastectomies were propylactic so there was no radiation.
Just wondering if anyone has or is experiencing this. I am hoping that this gets better.
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shabby: I am almost 9 months post exchange and I get tighter all the time. I kept waiting for the drop and fluff but it never came. Now I feel like it has moved up into my armpit, but at the same time I have a double bubble down below. I am having fat grafting in 3 weeks to try and fix defects and an attempt to soften up the breast from the hardening scar tissue. I am hoping it works cause the next step is to remove implant.
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Thanks, Mammalou
I am also having fat transfer in April for correction. Would be great if it helps with this tightness. Best of luck to you.
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Thanks Blessings!
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shabby: I'm 5 months post-Exchange, and except for the softness of my saline implants, it still feels like I have the Iron Bra on.
When it was obvious that my PS was done with me, and the "LE Specialist" they referred me to was useless, I started seeing a Myofascial Release Massage Therapist.
O.M.G. After 5 months of HUGE swelling above Left (which the PS said was fluid leftover from the surgery, and "might" go away), it has nearly disappeared in 5 visits to this therapist, thanks to her Manual Lymph Drainage and Kinesio Tape.
But the most exciting thing for me was the day she did some very intense Myofascial Release massage on my upper back.... it hurt, but in a good way. And when I walked out of her office, I felt....looser! Even my LOWER back felt looser.
Today, she did even more MFR.
She started on my neck, which was extremely tight. She worked my shoulders. I told her how tight and painful my lower back and piriformis muscles were (I also have spinal stenosis and degenerative disk disease) so she worked on my psoas muscles while I was still on my back.
Then she had me flip over onto my stomach (first time on my stomach since implants
) and really worked on my trapezius muscles. This is NOT gentle, relaxing massage... it can really hurt, but the relief afterwards is amazing.She told me that the fascia over my trapezius muscles was completely stuck and that the muscles themselves were almost frozen. A few times I almost yelled out loud it hurt so much, but when she stopped, I could feel the difference immediately.
We had been working on stretching the anterior serratus muscles and the pectoral muscles (and I still do exercises at home), but now, seeing how tight I am in my back, she understands even more what is contributing to my Iron Bra feeling.
I came home feeling a bit beat up, but taller, looser, and just more mobile all over if that makes sense.
I am hopeful that releasing this fascia will lead to the end of the dreaded Iron Bra feeling!!!
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I am just 5 days post exchange surgery and feel so sore still. I got the drains out today and that was a huge relief. I had a great deal of issues with this process because my skin is so thin. Thin and not a lot of it, not that I am thin, nope just the skin;)
Anyhow, my implants are very small as I expected them to be. I just couldn't face another big surgery for bigger boobs. I'm ok with my tinny boobs.
I am wondering if my upper body strength will ever return to pre mastectomy? I worry about the physical aspects of my job.0
