Exchange City
Comments
-
All I can say right now is thank you ladies for the support you have given me. I logged into this website this morning because I was up all night scared and unsure if I could go through with bilateral mx, but now I feel better and not so scared. Thank you to all of you for the encouragment and info. Muah
!!0 -
Chantel... Keep coming back - you're not alone (unless you want to be)
0 -
Chantel -
Try not to be too worried about the upcoming procedure. Looking back at mine a little over 2 months ago, it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The TEs are uncomfortable, but you get used to them and 3 months goes by really fast. Some women have them in longer because they have the BMX first then need to have other treatments before they do reconstruction.
So, I'll tell you the worst part: right after surgery you are so relieved it's over you want to dance a jig. Then about a week or so later, the swellling and pain goes down, and the iron bra effect sets in. It takes getting used to, but just do some deep breathing, take a muscle relaxer, have a shoulder massage or whatever makes you feel better and hang in there for a few weeks, you will adapt pretty fast.
The worst part about this whole deal is the fear beforehand. So....take a deep breath, enjoy the beauty around you, exercise every day so you are super fit going in to surgery, eat healthy, and get enough rest.
Yes, it is a challenging time, and you will be fine 💛
0 -
Chantel..these ladies have given me so much..the site has been amazing for me. Mastectomy was not as bad as I thought and many folks could not believe how "great" I was doing post op. I had drains for about 10 days and those were the most troublesome for me and painful..just because they would pull and just not comfortable for me. I used pain meds fairly consistently the first 2-3 weeks. From Percocet to Hydrocodone to then ibuprofen and hydrocodone only at night to ibuprofen to nothing! Once the drains came out, I felt a lot better. My TEs were filled to 200cc at time of mastectomy so I think that was some of the pain as well. I (and my family) was shocked that it didn't look that bad because the TEs were already expanded some, so there was "something" already there. Now i did have pain with my fills. I would do 50cc at a time and would hurt later that day with rib pain and especially upper back pain. I used hydrocodone after my first few fills. Then I either got used to it or it got better, because then I needed ibuprofen only as needed or nothing. I started stretching a lot and helped tremendously for me. I have had funny sporadic twinges, odd pains here and there which is odd, but a lot of the ladies have this as well. Sleeping is very tough for me. I have had to sleep on my back, which I normally would never do. I have been on the couch nearly every night since surgery 12/3/12 because it is softer and initially better for me to stay elevated. I am now able to do a decent side lying position most nights on the couch, so that has been great! My ps requires 2-3 months minimum wait after last fill for exchange,,,so depending on how many fills, my exchange date would vary. I am scheduled for exchange 4/23 and my last fill was 2/11/13. I felt very scared and alone with diagnosis and going through biopsy and then meeting surgeons, then options, etc. I didn't log onto here until after my mastectomy. I initially just read posts/groups and was just amazed at how many women were going through what I was and sometimes saying word for word what I was feeling/experiencing and it helped me sooo much.. :') hope this site helps you... this is an incredible group of ladies... thanks so much to all of you!!!
0 -
Thank you ladies... I won't see my PS until the day of my surgery... Not sure if I can change my mind this late into things. I did speak with my oncologist and she told me that whether it's over or under the muscle shouldn't make a difference with mammograms, but every website I look at says otherwise.
0 -
Mama....Oh, man, you just brought back some bad memories....drain tubes suck! omg how I hated those things
. I had six with three coming out at 7 days and the other 3 at 14 days. I used some bad words when the last three came out! My PS tells me I'll have one or two drain tubes with the exchange and only for about 5 days. At least I know what to expect this time (and I won't look/feel like I'm playing the part of the suicide bomber in the school play!)Chantel: Again, you can do this. It's quite amazing what we're able to handle when we have to. God will provide you with the strength, fortitude and grace to do what needs to be done and handle the discomforts of recovery and reconstruction. When I look back at the first few weeks after BMX/TE placement I realize now how miserable I was compared to how great I feel today. I see it kinda sorta like childbirth. It's really scary to think of how painful it might/will be. Then you're in the middle of it and you simply do what you have to do to get it done. Then it's over and you manage the pains and discomforts while you recover. Of course, with childbirth you get a wonderful new baby to love
. With BMX/reconstruction you get replacement boobs. Oh well 
.0 -
I'm actually glad to find someone in similar situation... But when you say 300 may be too large, how so? I'm a natural B cup, I did decide to go bigger and since I told him I was satisfied at about 600cc with my tissue expander, he said I would need 300cc augment on my natural breast.
To be honest this has been a long journey... I had my mastectomy and tissue expander placed, then developed a staph infection (I burst open at my incision site 4 weeks in, 2 weeks of fills... and had been in pain the entire time). He had to remove my tissue expander and do a lot of scraping (almost had to have a transfusion bc I lost so much blood). When I went back in to have my TE placed again, he went ahead and did the breast lift on my other breast bc he said it would be better to be healed from that before having the implant placed in it. Since I can't wear a normal bra, hard to say for sure, but I think I'm probably more like a full A cup now after the lift (weird that it changed so much).
He has been pretty insistant that I go over the muscle instead of under, so I don't know what to do. I'm 30 years old, and am scared to death of getting cancer again, so the idea that a mammogram may not catch it due to the placement of the implant is getting to me. Surgery is Friday
0 -
I'm actually glad to find someone in similar situation... But when you say 300 may be too large, how so? I'm a natural B cup, I did decide to go bigger and since I told him I was satisfied at about 600cc with my tissue expander, he said I would need 300cc augment on my natural breast.
To be honest this has been a long journey... I had my mastectomy and tissue expander placed, then developed a staph infection (I burst open at my incision site 4 weeks in, 2 weeks of fills... and had been in pain the entire time). He had to remove my tissue expander and do a lot of scraping (almost had to have a transfusion bc I lost so much blood). When I went back in to have my TE placed again, he went ahead and did the breast lift on my other breast bc he said it would be better to be healed from that before having the implant placed in it. Since I can't wear a normal bra, hard to say for sure, but I think I'm probably more like a full A cup now after the lift (weird that it changed so much).
He has been pretty insistant that I go over the muscle instead of under, so I don't know what to do. I'm 30 years old, and am scared to death of getting cancer again, so the idea that a mammogram may not catch it due to the placement of the implant is getting to me. Surgery is Friday
0 -
Hi Chantel, Welcome!.....I am also from WA.....
I am so sorry you are going through this, especially so young and with little one to care for, I hope you have help. I don't know if Cancerlifeline in is Vancouver, but I do know that they have help available for free, as well as counseling, classes, all for free. (cancerlifeline.org)
I had a skin sparing BMX and then had my expander placed a month later. So I can't compare what you are doing....my bilateral MX was a piece of cake.... so easy, as was recovery. I think I am the exception but the expanders for me knocked me on my butt for almost 3 weeks....but my fills were a relief for me, taking the sticking/stabbing feeling under my arm away (my PS this is from the edges of the expanders).
I am on "overfill" now and it feels like two serving bowls on my chest, (but does not hurt) and this time next MONDAY I will be in surgery (under conscious sedation) at my PS office surgical suite getting my gel implants!......WHOO HOOO!
Di
0 -
Tina T--->
Thinking of you today as you go through your exchange surgery.....let us know how it all went, when you are up to posting.
Hugs and good healing thought.....
Di
0 -
Jdevonm, please call all of your local mammgram centers and ask to speak to a technologist or a radiologist. In my neck of the woods its suggested to get tehm under the muscle. Maybe where you live that isnt as important. If you could call 5 different places and get their opinion you would feel better and/or have some basis to talk to your ps about. I would also print off any articles that state it is better under the muscle. Healing hugs.
0 -
Di2012,
Yay for next Monday! We will be under at the same time and I'm counting the days. It can't come a minute too soon. I have one expander that feels like it is playing see-saw on my ribs. Oooohhhhh for a good nights sleep. Hope things go smoothly for us both!
Prayers for TinaT and her exchange revision surgery today.0 -
Yes Penutsgal....next Monday is OUR MONDAY....APRIL 15...I am so ready.....
The expanders haven't bothered me lately, I can sleep on my sides, when I sleep...darn sleep apnea and "hot jolts" keeps me awake....but I noticed one FOOB looks rather flat except the "top of the bowl"....but still rock hard..... I feel I have the need for Fix-a-Flat
(which I keep in my CAR)Just think you will be done with these "Rib ticklers"....in a WEEK!!!
I am scheduled at 7am, so I will be home and done with expanders in a week.....one more surgery after next week
Di
0 -
I'm excited for both of you Penutsgal and Di2012!!! My surgery is this Friday the 12th, I'm sooooo excited (yet kinda nervous about results).
0 -
Jdevonm---->
Congrats!........not too many days for you! I will be thinking of you , for sure!
I think we all are nervous and concerned about our results....I know I am too.
I know this upcoming surgery won't be what I want because I have LOTS of extra skin, since I had skin sparing BMX (WAY TOO MUCH SKIN on one side!), no nips, and PS what to wait 3 month after this coming surgery, to fix the skin issue....wants me to "drop and fluff" too.
Di
0 -
Just introducing myself...I will have my exchange on 4-26, I am getting my port out and having a opherectomy at the same time. I am very tiny, like 109 lbs and 5'2" so I am only filled to like 280 cc...or maybe it is 210 don't remember...he said I look the same size as most women who are filled to 500cc...cant wait to get the TEs out of me!!!
0 -
Thanks Di2012
Welcome to the page keetmom! Good luck with your upcoming surgery as well!0 -
jdevonm,
Yay! I have date envy! I could have had my exchange today, but my husband wanted to go out of town on a fishing trip and being the wonderful spouse that I am (cough, cough), I let him go. How could I not? He's been so good to me over the last 28 years, but especially the last few weeks! I hear ya on the concerns with the results. I know I don't want to go the size of my TE's. I have no clothes that fit right at the present. So hoping I made the right choice on implant size. I keep telling myself that it can't be any worse than what I started with so anything is an improvement!
Di2012,
I'm still chuckling over the fix a flat comment. I really think the TE's main purpose is to mess with our minds!
keetmom,
Welcome! Looking forward to sharing our experiences. Only you are having quite a bit more done than I am. I'm delaying the GYN side of things for just a little longer. Here's hoping time will fly quickly for you!0 -
peasnutsgal
LOL I begged for my PS to move my date up a few days but no such luck. And yes, my husband too has been so helpful and supportive (we are quite the pair, between my breast cancer and him needing a heart transplant, our 2 kids are going to have quite the stories to tell when they are grown). I think I may treat him to a weekend away once we are all done with my surgeries. And I'm in complete agreement about the TE's... they HAD to have been created by a man, because no woman would put other women through this hahaha. I pile pillows under my head and stomach to be able to sleep on my stomach at night... guess after Friday it will be a while before I can do that again so I will enjoy it while I can
0 -
Date Envy - Yes - I have it too!!!!
Brava for our sisters who are coming up soon, we will live vicariously through you 💛
0 -
jedevonm---Whippetmom could definitely tell you better than me. I just know that he said I had about 500cc of tissue in my native breast. I was a 38C for years and last year lost 20 pounds and could fit nicely into a full B cup. I expanded to 500cc which looked about right for me but ended up with a 600cc implant due to need for more projection. He then added a 120cc to my native breast (assuming it's about 500cc already). He wanted to only add 80cc but didn't have that size. He and I can both tell that the lifted and augmented native side is bigger than my MX side. He (and I) both feel the 80 would have been better. I guess you just need to know how big you want to be. Most PS can tell you about how many cc you are now and how many you'd need to achieve your goal size. I wanted to stay the same. I'm close but definitely a bigger C or small D as opposed to a bigger B or small C like I was before. Seems like it's a mathematics game!!
0 -
Hi ladies, congrats to all who have passed over to the squishy side and those that are headed there soon. I'm scheduled for my exchange on 04/24 and am so thrilled to get these hard rocks out of my chest! I'll have exchange 2 months after BMX. Does that seem too soon? So many others that post say they have a long waiting period from between last fill and exchange. Just wondering if there are disadvantages to exchanging too soon?
Only thing that will delay my surgery is needing chemo treatments. Right now waiting on Oncotype results to say for sure. If no chemo then I can proceed to exchange.
Jen0 -
jedevonm- I agree with lala 1, if you can get on the bra size 101 forum and talk to whippet mom, she can help you with information on sizing. It is based on several measurements that she will tell you, height, rib cage measurement, ect. She can probably help you with your lift side as well. I wrote down what her suggestions were and discussed it with my PS. If you aren't going to see him before surgery, then, do you know the size he has ordered for you? They usually will have a couple of sizes they plan on using and decide in the OR.
Di 2012, I had skin sparing on my non cancer side, and that skin was used to make my skin grafted nipples and aerolas. Until that surgery, I had alot of saggy skin hanging out on the side of my boob. It didn't look great, but once that revision was done and it was tightened up, it looked fine.
I went for my pre op appt today. I am having revision done to both sides on 4/17. He will be doing another round of fat grafting trying to improve the symmetry. And working on nipple projection.
Also, look at the Cooks biometric nipple scaffolding, just recently approved by FDC, and ladies on here that have had it love it. I asked my PS, but he hasn't used it yet. If I dont like how this last revision goes, I will go somewhere that uses it and get it. the pics are amazingly real looking.
Everyone is different, but there are so many shapes and types of implants they have something for everyone. I have 800 cc silicone implants. sounds huge !, but I am 6' tall, and am still smaller than I was before BMX. Now, I am a 38 D, so don't let the numbers get you worried.
Good Luck to everyone on their upcoming exchanges !
0 -
Here is a funny exchange day story for everyone. I was in pre-op, ready to go, already met with PS, nurse came in and said there was going to be a delay, and she was sorry and Dr was not happy. My implants were missing ! My implants had been ordered and had arrived at the hospital a few days earlier. When they went to get them to bring to the OR, they couldn't be found. After much searching , it was discovered that the sales rep needed exactly that size for someone in NC a day earlier, so he took mine and ordered some new one to be delivered the next day. Unfortunately the "brown truck" had not arrived with my order yet. They tracked the package and it just said out for delivery...... I am sure the UPS guy wasn't used to being greeted on the loading dock by a group of OR staff members like he was that morning. In the end, I was told they had arrived , and within 15 minutes I was on the table getting my new Foobs !
0 -
Also remember, as someone else said (sorry, can't remember who said it), "just because you can, doesn't mean you should."
That was said to us by Blessings2011. She gives lots of great advice.
I hope TinaT is doing well. She and Blessings are two of our best cheerleaders and supporters and I look forward to her return telling us things went as she wished.
0 -
Trail2, that is hilarious. Sorry it happened to you but it is funny.
Jdevonm, my heart goes out to you and your husband. Prayers sent. I am so excited that your exchange date is coming up. That is good news for you and soon you will be able to lay on your stomach with no pain. Yay.
Welcome Keetmom, so sorry that you have to be here but glad you found us.
Congrats to all the ladies with upcoming dates. I know you have to be excited and I am so jealous. lol
Tina I hope you are feeling well.
Tonight my te's are killing me I cant wait to get a surgery date. Healing hugs to all.
0 -
trail2... Had exchange pre-op appt. today. Seeing the finish line! Surgery next week and now it's feeling real. Thanks to all for the support.
0 -
2nd time around, this is so exciting for you. Best wishes on your surgery. Healing hugs.
0 -
Thirdgen...: my PS is one of those that requires a 3-4 month wait after final fill before exchange. I see him this Thursday for another fill and will try to remember to ask him for the reasoning behind that practice.
Jdevonm, Di2012, Angielee, Christinabelle, 2nd_time..., Mamatwinz, Keetmom, Unowho...: I'm having major exchange envy! I wish you all well in your upcoming surgeries and hope you all have reasonably easy recoveries and most of all are happy and satisfied with the result
.Trail2: Wow......I'm so glad you were still able to have the exchange. It sure would have been a downer to have to reschedule surgery. I hope everything went well for you.
0 -
I had my last fill yesterday. Woo-freakin-who! I'm now filled to 620ccs on each side.
I'm a snowbird and have been getting my fills with my FL doc. My "up north" doc will be doing the exchange, and although she doesn't require any wait time beyond six months from original BMX, she doesn't have any open slots until late June. I was reallyreallyreally hoping I could have my exchange in mid May. I have an appointment with her on May 14, so maybe if everything looks good, she can squeeze me in sooner. Fingers crossed.
I'm sending warm, squishy thoughts out to those coming up on their exchanges! And hugs!!
0
