Exchange City
Comments
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Goldie and Bayoubabe----I am 3 months post exchange surgery (6 months post mx) and can tell you that I still have the iron bra feeling!! For the first 2 months after mx it was horrific! Then I discovered PT which made a big difference. I had exchange surgery and my PS said it would all go away and guess what...it didn't! But I started really pushing myself on PT and once I got back 100% ROM I improved more. I still have the iron bra and also have the problem that I can't go without a bra as the compression keeps my muscle spasms at bay. Last week I joined a cancer program at the gym (very cheap with dr referral) and started doing the machines that stretch the different muscle groups. I'm now on my 6th day and have to say I feel a pretty big difference in the iron bra feeling. It's really starting to fade. Feels very weird to do some of the exercises but I'm careful and try not to overdo it. And afterwards I swim in the pool (breaststroke) for about 20 minutes which also helps. I firmly believe that PT is keeping me from ripping this implant out. I'm finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. And Goldie, my PT was fully covered under insurance once I met my deductible so ask your insurance company!!
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Sweetandspecial, I am so glad I found this site. It has been a life saver. Nobody understands better than somebody else who has been there, or is going through it too. I actually had a very good friend say to me, "when are you going to move on and get over this?" That was six weeks after my bmx. I cried for hours because I knew she wouldn't be there for me, but I am blessed with a great hubby, and an awesome bff, plus my family. I have more than most. But, this place has been the best!!!!!
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Thanks, Lala. I am going to call my local hospital to see if they have it. The breast center I am using for my BS and PS is very far away. I am hoping they will write me a script for PT and I can pick the place I want to go. The traveling is exhausting.
I have to say it doesn't make me feel better that you still have Iron Bra. Did you have Alloderm with your reconstruction? I was told that they weld that stuff to your rib cage, and that is the cause of Iron Bra. Don't know if it's true, but sounds reasonable.
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Goldie--Actually I do have Alloderm and that's very interesting what you heard about it. I do find that most of my pain comes from directly under the foob or just to the side, notably where my drains were. I have heard that the drain scars can be painful for a long time too. I think the machines I have started exercising on are stretching my pec muscle and maybe even the Alloderm so nothing is quite as tight. As a matter of fact, as I was typing this, I realized that I haven't felt the usual tightness for the last 3 hours or so! This is the first time that I've actually forgotten about my mx, at least for a little while!!
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That is great news, Lala. I hope you continue to stay pain free!!!!! Keep me posted.
Are you happy with your final reconstruction, as far as how it looks, not the iron bra?
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Pretty happy so far. I'm very symmetrical in clothes. And also very perky with my new cleavage! Nekkid....not so much! My native boob is still a bit lower and the implant side is still pretty high and round. I just posted pictures in the picture forum to get some opinions so we'll see. I'm still a nip short and am still wavering on whether to get it done in the fall. I think my implant side is too big but I really can't see me doing another surgery and running the risk of even more iron bra pain so I'm really going to have to think it through. And while I know it's hard to match an old and new boob, I was one of the (apparently) rare ones to have symmetrical breasts so this lopsided c**p is killing me!
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NYCMom, the docs have waited a yr for mine to settle and they are about a B, I wanted to go to a C. Wish I could quit wishing because the right one with the cancer operation scarred up. Now I have to have a capulectomy and PS says the implant will be damaged to remove that so gotta get new one. Then to have the implants match,we are replacing implants on both sides to the Natrelle 45 for more projection. I was a saggy A before all this happened. I was wishing for more projection and my body said ok lets do this!
I am with you tho on the Danskin from Walmart. I loaded up on those. Love them,so comfy sports bras in lots of diff colors and styles. I have a few expensive things from TLC online,like the drain cami. Theirs is fantastic with little flowers trimming it and the velcro. I will be using it again for this surg because PS says I will have drains again.
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Lala1, from experience, there will be hours, then days and weeks you won't be thinking about mx. Give it time, this is still new (hoping it happens soon for you and others)
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Lala 1, thinking about you as my future may look like your in 6 months. Reading your challenges is helpful. I do hope things work out!
As for swimming and exercising, oh my! I went for a quick dip in our cold pool yesterday and started to do my fav stroke, the breast stroke ( go figure!). Anyway the whole iron bra om my TE side feeling was awful. I also worried that I would move the TE out of place but I guess I won't if many of you are swimming lengths. From what I read here the exercise can only help and the feeling might diminish if I stick with it. Thanks0 -
Hey Ladies,
Posted last week but then dropped off the face of the earth...had my exchange last Wednesday....I THOUGHT the iron bra feeling was gone, but I guess that was the anesthesia...because it is back. The implants are definitely softer, but when I wake up I am still feeling tightness, like I am lugging rocks around.
They really don't hurt, just burning/itching at the incisions. I have not taken a pain pill since the first night, and that was more to help me sleep. Just ibuprofen. On Thursday I thought maybe I was getting and infection, as the lower half of both breasts was pink and warm, but when I got up Friday it had faded a great deal, and by Friday afternoon it was gone.
I have been going out to keep my mind occupied. I walked two miles yesterday....I am getting antsy not being able to garden, go to the gym, refinish furniture, etc. I am still so tired though...not sure if it is surgery, tamoxifen, stress...my energy has been nill since my BMX in February.
Overall I guess the gals are looking good. There is some "sloshing", that I assume is fluid or "air" trapped. Also, my right side still has the darn ridge that I had with my TE up on my chest. I have the Natrelle 410s MF (not sure if they are a 525 or 580), and the left side has a gentle slope, and I have a hard time feeling where the implant begins. But on the right side, I can see and feel the round bulge where the implant starts (2.5-3" from my collar bone)! I had this with the TE and hated it. PS said it would be gone. I hope this thing will drop drown some. The projection is ok...they are looking more wide than "out" to me. I question my decision to do this sometimes. I did not have enough skin/fat for a DIEP, but wonder if I should have done another flap procedure. Or just done a lumpectomy and put up with mammos, U/S, and MRIs like I have been doing for the past 20 years (had a lumpectomy at 23).
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Tangles,
Sorry to hear about your pain. I am having a lot of burning/searing pain across my whole breast area. So different from the MX pain. I had a pain pump in my left side that he did augmentation/lift on, but we had to take it out on Friday because it was leaking so much. I have a hard time with narcotics so am taking Tramadol every 6 hrs. It pretty much takes the edge off for me. I go today at 2:00 to get the drain removed from right side. Yeah!
I think I may be having a harder time emotionally. Two days before surgery I had a melt down and almost cancelled the surgery. I just didn't feel ready. My DH helped me push thru, reminding me that I was as ready as I would ever be. Now, I feel kind of down. I am worried that once the swelling goes away I am going to be disappointed with the new girls:( I really haven't looked at them much, as I didn't want to judge them too early. It's all just sooo weird to me. It's such an unnatural obsession for me with this body part that was always just quietly a part of me. I know that as time goes by this intense focus will fade, for now I just have to try and be present in each moment. My counselor encouraged me to approach it all as an observer, just taking in the facts like a reporter and not attaching emotion. I am trying to do that, it has helped some.
I am so thankful for you and the other wonderful women that are walking this out with me. As wonderful and supportive as my family is, there is a part that they just cannot get. I have been praying and will continue to pray for your complete healing. I do believe we will get thru this part of it, and come out the other side stronger than before.
Blessings,
Leah0 -
Leah,
My family and friends are supportive, but you are right, there is a part they will never get. My husband keeps telling me I will be fine, it will get better...and yes, I know it will get better, but I have to get over the fact that it will never be "the same". I knew that before the BMX...shoot, I have such a strong family and personal history, that I had made the decision, and was confident in my choice, long before the IDC dx. Still, it is hard. For the last 6 months I feel like all I do is think about my boobs/foobs. Very annoying
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Funny I was also hearing the sloshing but it is getting less and less. Was hoping that would not happen every time I moved. I am having a hard time with the emotion thing. I know the #1 most important thing should be having the cancer gone, But going through all the fills and TE pain I thought it would all be worth it in the end to have nice breast. My surgery was last Tues. I dont feel I have a ton of swelling. I am so so disappointed in the way they look. I was hoping for a large C cup and that is what I told the PS. I even had a professional measure my TE at 550cc and she said It was a full C to small D and I look at these 550cc implants and to me I look like a small B at best. I feel I am smaller then before the surgery. They are very wide and flat looking. Was all this worth it?? Getting my drain out in at hour so Im sure that will help me feel better, but all in all I am very depressed......
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Tangles, I could have written that post. I guess I need to give things time, but I am so annoyed that this implant is in the same spot as the TE and I have a noticable ridge where it begins! I was hoping with the "tear drop" implants I would not have this. Mine are also flat and wide. After 5 kids I was a loose B before. I was hoping for a fuller "c" cup. They are so damn wide though....I still feel like they are in my arm pits. Not sure if the PS put in a 525 or 580...I will find out tomorrow. I had no drains this time, but I am sure you will feel much better once that is out.
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momof5kids, tangles- Feel for all you are going through. I too feel family and friends do not understand all we go through. Many of my co-workers think I should be back to "normal". I wake up feeling these tight foobs and go to bed feeling them dig into my chest and armpits. I hear you get "use" to them yet I have yet to feel them get much better, 2 weeks out from fills. These just are still not a part of me, very alien, not like the old ones. The good news is I did get a call today and have a date for my exchange! September 25th. Seems like a long way off but will be here before we know it. Can't believe I have to put up with these TEs till then, yet another surgery doesn't really appeal to me either, yet know it will be for the good. The emotions and fatique I also agree has been hanging on since my bmx in March. Just can't feel like my old self just yet. Starting PT next week hope the stretching will help. Hope you ladies get to feeling better over this holiday and the new girls settle in better each day. Gentle (HUGS!)
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After my exchange in Feb (410's-550cc), I was very unhappy. Swelling significant and they were very flat and wide. I felt like they were big masculine pecks, like a female Russian wrestler!! It took me 3 whole months to sort of like them, and i became depressed and breast obsessed! As a patient you have no control over your body and what it will look like. They definitely changed for the better over time. I am so annoyed and angry that I was not informed how reconstructed breasts would look and feel like in real life from the start. I was so naive and excited to be rid of the TE.
I am in a D bra as the gummy width is what it is, however do not feel I have the matching projection. Still look a B in clothes.
Hang in there, they should definitely change over the coming months.
From what I have read and deducted, you always get the implant width but not necessarily the projection, giving it that flatness. Big Bummer.0 -
welll mamasix talk to your PS about what I have went through. I felt I did lots of research. I even turned down the gummy implants because I was afraid they would look too small on me. I asked lots of ladies on this board if they thought the TE size was true to the size of the implant. I researched the impalnt. I even asked my PS if they will look the same or should I go larger as the softer implant might look smaller and he said no it should look the same. I am just grateful to have the TE out but disapointed I will have to go buy all new smaller bras as my old ones will surely be too big. No one will ever expect I have "fake boobs" as not many people would pay to have fake boobs this small LOL
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Tangles which implants did you go with...
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Sherry I have allergan style20 silicone 550cc
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The thing that those of you waiting for exchange need to know is this...without your own breast tissue you are never going to get the projection you had before.
They don't tell us this. I'm VERY happy, but I was a small B at best. Now I am a large C. They look natural and look great in clothes, especially with my 18 lb weight loss.
But they weigh 3.67 lbs combined. Think of how heavy that is, I can't imagine how uncomfortable they would be if they were bigger and heavier.
I still get iron bra at times...especially when I'm cold, but it's much better than with TEs and some massage makes it go away.
I can't wait for the time when I can go days without being aware of them but for now I am happy to be cancer free. They are not perfect, but they were not perfect before BC either.0 -
My TEs are way up to the top of my chest. Has anyone had this and if so will the implants be way up like that too?
My PA says that the implants will drop and fluff but it may take up to six months to a year for them to get to where they are going to be permanently.
I was just wondering if anyone on here that has gone through this could tell me if this is true.0 -
Chinneymae - my left expander was up very high as well. Mine was filled extremely fast to get me into radiation ASAP, thus no time for the muscle to relax. It was causing me pain in my shoulder and arm pit as well. After radiation, my plastic surgeon had me start massaging my TE downward twice a day. I still do this almost daily. It has relieved the pressure/pain in my arm pit and shoulder, and it has started to drop/fluff as well. Has any one mentioned massage to you?
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Hi Chinneymae! My TE's were up very high as well and more so each time I had another fill. I used to joke that they came up to my chin. The implants were up fairly high right after the exchange, but within a week or so they started to drop. I think the initial post-op swelling likely contributed to their high appearance as well. Hopefully it will not be too long after your exchange before they begin to take on a more natural appearance. The good news for me was that I had immediate relief from the rock hardness of the TE's following my exchange surgery.
Wishing you the best!
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Bayoubabe: No one has said anything to me about massage. I will start doing that to see if it will give me a little relief. I feel like they are up to my chin almost.
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Thanks, Sharon, I feel like mine are at my chin too. It makes me feel so much better that yours dropped some. Thanks for your input. My husband said that when I lay down they look huge and really project out, but when I stand up they get round and flat looking. He said my mountains turn in to mole hills.
That seems backwards. Before my BMX when I laid down my boobs would dissappear under my arms and then get bigger when I stood up. I sure hope the implants will have more projection than the TEs.0 -
So much to look forward to! I know we will be going with Mentor high profile round 750-800cc. My TEs are at 800cc each and are higher on my chest but look symetrical, left is slightly rounder. I had large breasts and know these still will be smaller but, I am ok with it. The weight of the implants was the concern which is why we did the lat flap to help add muscle to support the implants. I really feel my PS understood what I wanted and has made it work so far. It's a big surgery to not get what we want out of it! But, for me massaging the TEs is out of the question, at least for now. I can't stand the muscle spasms it causes in the armpit and back due to the lat muscle. Just putting on lotion causes muscle contractions and makes it hard to take a deep breath. Iron bra feeling is constant, still need tylenol, ibu during the day and some muscle relaxer at night to help sleep. It is going to be a long 12 week wait. Hope PT next week helps some and things start to settle down to feel little bit of normal. My co-workers still think I should be back to normal by now. It is hard for them to realize how long this takes to recover from and how much time it takes to adjust to each expansion. Thank goodness for all of you, as you do know what I am going through!
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CindyLooWho: You are absolutely right. Nothing can replace the natural tissue and the natural and/or age-related droop that went along with it. And it makes sense that, especially without a nipple, the TEs or implants are going to seem 'flatter'. I am so glad that I decided to over-expand. I was not happy at all when I hit the 600cc capacity level of my TEs, but at 750cc they really look pretty damn good. I'm exchanging to 750cc high profile implants and I expect they'll look very similar to the TEs at first (riding high) but maybe a little flat, but I do intend to give it time. Not to say I won't be upset about the initial appearance but if there's anything I've learned in the last several months, it's that EVERYTHING with this journey requires an incredible amount of patience!
I had a thought about why implants seem so flat at first and why the 'drop and fluff' or 'settling' takes time. I'm assuming these implants are packaged in a horizontal position, right? Doesn't it make sense that when you take it from horizontal after who knows how long and put it in a vertical pocket that it might take a while to reshape? Also, we all know the TEs have rather rigid backs so the expansion takes place away from instead of into the ribs. The fronts of the TEs are also much firmer than the eventual implants, so it makes sense to me that once the implants are in place and since they're a bit more malleable (good word, huh??) than the TEs, their weight is what causes the drop and fluff in the pocket that was created.
All theory, of course, because I haven't had my exchange yet. And I wasn't that great at science, but I do have a fairly logical thought process and these theories just seem to make sense to me. Plus, I just don't like not having a good explanation for something that seems like it should be explanable.....
((((((hugs)))))) to all!
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sweetandspecial: You sound like my dh. He's a deep thinker and he is always trying to figure out why things are like they are.
It does make sense though. I hope you are right.
I am at 700cc and hope to get 80cc more in two weeks. I'm looking to get 750cc high profile implants too.0 -
Sweetandspecial--You're just like me....I always want to know how it works, why do it this way, what should I expect, etc. Makes my PS crazy since he thinks I shouldn't ask any questions or offer any opinions but my Onco is just like me so he's my go-to guy. I've researched all this implants/mx stuff so much that I feel like I could perform a mx!! One theory I've come up with....when you get a bigger implant than what you were expanded to, your pec muscle now need to expand some more. However, it doesn't have the hard TE to help with expansion so at first your boob looks like the hamburger bun. But as you get your pec expanded and stretched, it lets your implant start to drop. And the more you exercise and stretch, the faster your implant will drop into the position it should be in. But that's just my theory!! And the stretching for me at least helps with the ongoing pain/muscle spasms!
And Bayoubabe---did you get specific instructions on how to massage so it would drop or did they say to just move it around?
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Was told to move it around, but to focus on pushing it downward near the arm pit. Using lotion or in the shower works best. I do this for about 4 - 5 minutes at a time. Gives me relief just from the massage. I have often wondered if it pushing on a nerve in there. Hoping for total relief after exchange (please, please, let me have total relief after the exchange!)
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