Exchange City
Comments
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Hi ladies, Due to seroma, I had to have my right TE removed. It can't be replaced until a month after chemo has ended. Did any of you have a similar experience?
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Chinney,
Thanks for the welcome. I have been lurking over at Implant 101 too, and it's all interesting, and confusing.
I asked my PS nurse what kind of expanders I had when I went for my last fill, and all she said was they were 500 cc. I asked what kind and shape, and she seemed annoyed. Then she said probably Allergan.
I am a little ways off from exchange, and will see my PS sometime soon, so I will ask him next time. I like his idea of the anatomical shape. I was never big breasted, but I like the natural slope of my chest down to my breasts. Since I exercise with weights, which is kind of at a stand still now, my pecs were accentuated, and I like the way it looked. I wonder how much that will be affected by the implants? I hear women go on with whatever they want eventually.
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Kat:
It's not that I'm AGAINST fat grafting...it just sounds really painful & I'm very thin so I don't know WHERE they'd be able to take any extra fat from...;) Also, I know the grafts don't always take, so it's not unusual to have to redo them a few times--OUCHIE!!!!
My PS just mentioned once that SHE doesn't do fat grafting...not sure why. Maybe she isn't trained in it...? I'd have to ask her...but she's a tough one to talk to...
I might ask her Patient Coordinator about fat grafting today when I call to schedule my nip recon. I'm probably going to make my nip surgery date at the END of the 90 day insurance window...since I'm STILL unsure if I WANT nip recon. IF I want to wait longer...for more healing and more time for me to do research on it, at the end of the 90 days they can always begin a new submission to insurance for approval again...;)
I'm also thinking it might be a good idea to wait longer than the min. 3 months post exchange surgery date to get nip recon...in case my implants move a bit or other cosmetic issues arise...cuz then she could fix it ALL during nip surgery...:) I'm still pondering it all...& the 3 D option instead...
Violet0 -
Jnprsn - I am having seroma issues and hoping not to lose my TE. What happened with you? How many timed did they drain it?
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Hi walkinginfaith,
when my port was inserted on the right side, my right breast immediately swelled with fluid. I continued with another fill. That's when the pain intensified.
My PS first removed saline from both breasts. That didn't help the pain. It was excrutiating. The following week he removed fluid from my breast. Then two days later removed fluid again. That night I met him in the ER to have right TE removed.
now its been three days post op. Still in pain but gets a little less each day.
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Hello, I had my BMX in 2011, on my good side I have an achiness and the skin is loose and normal as it should be, but I have a little more fat inbetween the arm and breast (you know near the armpit). The effected side has it to but not as much and I dont feel the achy feeling as I do on the non effected side? Is this normal, did I maybe do to much with my arms? I dont feel anything there, I have an achiness around shoulder and back, I did have implants and have scar tissue. Anyone else?
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Chinney,
Thanks for the welcome. I have been lurking over at Implant 101 too, and it's all interesting, and confusing.
I asked my PS nurse what kind of expanders I had when I went for my last fill, and all she said was they were 500 cc. I asked what kind and shape, and she seemed annoyed. Then she said probably Allergan.
I am a little ways off from exchange, and will see my PS sometime soon, so I will ask him next time. I like his idea of the anatomical shape. I was never big breasted, but I like the natural slope of my chest down to my breasts. Since I exercise with weights, which is kind of at a stand still now, my pecs were accentuated, and I like the way it looked. I wonder how much that will be affected by the implants? I hear women go on with whatever they want eventually
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Ritamarie60: Your PS should have given you ID cards for your TEs before you left the hospital after surgery. They're kind of like a credit card and tell you the brand, model and capacity information. For example mine are Natrelle Style 133V series. Model is 133MV-15, which tells me they're 15cm wide. It also lists the capacity as 600cc. The following link is available on the implant sizing 101 thread and has information on all the Allergan TEs. When I look up 133MV-15 I see that my TEs are 15cm wide, 14cm in height and have a projection of 6.3cm.
http://breastimplantadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Allergan-catalogue-file.pdf
Your PS's nurse has no right to act annoyed when you request this information. Your TEs are a medical device inside your body and you need the ID card(s) to carry with you in case of accident or injury (or 2nd opinions). I didn't have any trouble getting through the airport with mine but had my cards with me just in case.
You can also go here: http://www.justbreastimplants.com/breast_implants/allergan_specs.htm to see the various Allergan implants available. Just remember your implant size needs to closely match the imprint (pocket) size that your TE is creating (width,etc)
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HELP!!!!
I must be an idiot but man oh man do I have a hard time finding actual pictures on the picture site! I can read hundreds of posts but how do you narrow it down to find just the posts with photos attached????? How in the world do you do it?? Thanks so much!
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Sweet,
I don't think you can narrow a search like that. I'm always trying to find particular implant sizes. That's tricky too...so I changed my thread title to include that info to make it easier for others.
But most all I've seen do include pictures when you scroll down through them. Many have lots of pics. Keep scrolling. Each thread kind of lets you walk through each woman's journey. That's what makes it really special.0 -
Sweetandspecial
Thank you so much. I really appreciate all the info. The next time I go for a fill I will ask about the id card for my expanders, and see what they have to say. I know all the implants are registered, etc. but I had no idea about the expanders.
Does, or did anybody notice that your expanders get really warm when you exercise. I am surprised because I have heard women complain about their implants feeling cold.
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Ritamarie: I never noticed that the TEs themselves got warm, per se, but my breast skin covering them has stayed nice and warm even through the winter, if that's what you mean. Warm and dry. You're newer to this thread so you may have missed my earlier posts about the fact that my boobs don't sweat anymore where the skin has been stretched. After I work out I'm all sticky and stinky above, below, in-between and on the outsides of my boobs, but across the middle where I have no feeling it stays absolutely bone dry....go figure
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I never got an ID card for my either. Never really thought about it. Not going to see him till pre-op for exchange.
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Sweetandspecial
To me it always feels like I have a heavy duty bra on all the time with the expanders, and when I try to exercise I feel very warm where the expanders. I don't know why because they are under my skin and shouldn't make me warmer, but the do. Maybe it's because like you say, if they don't sweat, they they can't cool.
How much upper body exercise do you guys do with the expanders in, if any. I am trying to keep my arms toned, but am not doing any pec exercises. I hate this!!! I am so close to getting a diep, but I want to save it as a last resort if the implants don't work out. My PS can't promise me that iron bra will go away at exchange, but it will get better.
I trust my surgeon, and I know there are no guarantees. I just wish it all could got a little faster.
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Rita and Mama,
I didn't get my TE card either..AND my PS couldn't understand WHY I wanted/needed it!!! SHE is Somthing Else...lemme-tell-ya! Her WORK is EXCELLENT; her PERSONALITY sucketh.
Think chip-on-her-shoulder, neurotic God-Complex-y, hyper defensive when challeged with too many questions, short fused, lot-o-bit passive-aggressive, isn't too KEEN on patients who have inquiring minds, NOR who are Research Queens, AND the woman is wound waaaay too bloody
tight...;) LOL! BUT, I have to say, she IS a PERFECTIONIST and really KNOWS what she's doing work-wise...and does indeed do AWESOME breast recon. Yet, I nearly fired her arse SEVERAL times...;) Glad I didn't though...
and she finally apologized after Exchange Surgery and thanked me for "putting up with her"...I nearly fainted...LOL!
I just knew from the Get Go not to take her horrid bedside manner PERSONALLY...and I often called her on her shet...;)
Still, NO patient should have to deal w this kind of crap...OY!
ANYHOO...I'M digressing...;)
RE: NEEDING THE TE INFO.:
*** I just called my PS's office and told the girl to look up the info. in my medical chart...VOILA--she read the info. to me on the phone...;)
I'd sugg0 -
Oops! My post sent before I was done...darn Smart Phone--HA!!
I'd suggest calling first/ get info. on phone and then STILL ask for your TE card...;)
Hope that helps a bit...:)
violet0 -
I didn't get the card with my TEs either and had to request the information. PS thought I was nuts, but had his assistant send me a copy by email. I didn't get one for my implants either, so I'll have to ask him for that when I see him on Monday. When I accepted him as my PS, I didn't question anything; didn't know better. He was the PS that worked in the same clinic as my BS. Now I'm beginning to think he was new to breast reconstruction.
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Rita: I started back at the gym about two months post-op from BMX with both my PS and BS blessings. It was a slow start but my 'muscle-memory' kicked in and I strengthened back up quickly. My PS has absolutely no objections to upper body work, including pecs. Now if I were a body-builder it might be different because that's a bit extreme. I see him on Thursday for one week post exchange visit and will ask if he feels the same about upper body with implants as he does with TEs. Other PSs have told their patients no upper body work ever again. Personally, I don't see how that's possible. You use your upper body in just about everything you do, from pulling on your panties to opening/closing doors, vacuuming, carrying groceries, mowing lawn, washing windows/mirrors, even arm-swinging when walking......you get my drift. Check with your PS, if he's OK with it go for it
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Dulcigirl, that's a good idea. I just edited my thread on the picture forum to include my style and ccs.
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Rita: I resumed both light weight training (including pecs) and running 6 wks post BMX with my PS's blessings. Boy was I ready to do SOMETHING again! And really, I think that's when my TE's started feeling more comfortable in my body. I'm pretty sure I'm looking at the same wait now after my exchange, as I had some pretty extensive internal stitchwork to get the new ladies positioned correctly.
I got ID cards for both my TE's and now my Implants right after my surgeries.
Violet1: You're a hoot! Sounds like you PS knows herself that she is bedside-challenged.
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That is interesting about the exercise with the TE's in place. I am trying, but am afraid to do too much upper body because I am so scared to screw up the TE's.
Andrea, my PS is not new to the business, and works about of a big prestigious hospital, and did not give me my TE info either.
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Goldie: Unless your PS did a pretty poor job in the first place you're not going to mess up your TEs with some upper body work. It's a weird feeling to get used to at first because the pecs are stretched and no longer under all the breast tissue, but you'll become accustomed to it.
Once I got back into the swing of things this past winter I didn't let the TEs hold me back from any upper body work that my instructor throws at us and my TEs always looked pretty darn good. Now that I've exchanged for implants my PS's primary concern is to let the pec incisions/sutures heal completely and properly before any targeted upper body work (pretty much 6 weeks). As far as daily stuff he just told me to do what's comfortable, no specific restrictions.
All: I plan to post my pix on the picture forum some time soon. Whippetmom was over the moon tickled with my exchange results when she saw the 3-day post-op pix. I plan to take photos every few days or at least weekly to track any changes due to 'drop and fluff'.
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My PS told me NOT to do upper body work that builds my pecs since exchange cuz I'm having some ongoing pain in my L foob--always the Wayward side (started really bothering me when I was going through TE expansion/fills). Think it's prob. a bit of Post Mast. Pain Syndrome (no infection, lymphdema, etc.)
{Sidenote: I was also told not to do my arm weights during TE expansion--they don't want your pecs tight cuz they are trying to stretch them}
The L foob pain gets set off from bra pressure (save 2 bras that seem to be okay on some days/have tried 3,872 bras by now!!
) & seatbelt pressure when driving mainly, but it sure doesn't take much pressure at ALL to make it hurt deep inside and on top of L. foob. I do use a small pillow in the car that I place under the seatbelt & make sure all the bras I wear are well outside the Entire implant--blah-blah. Also, my PS has ALWAYS said NO ICING FOOBS because it can impede blood flow circulation/healing...she forbid it w/ TE's and now even though I'm almost 3 months out from Exchange, she still says NO ICE...my Onc. Surgeon agrees. Well, of course, in Desperate Times, I've gone ahead and iced my foob anyway...ppppffffffttttt!
It's interesting that it seems some of you talk about icing your foobs...can anyone share their experience here? Does your PS think it's fine/okay? THANKS!
Have a good day Everyone...:)
VIOLET
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Violet, I was having swelling issues (pain mainly in IMF where bra was rubbing) asked PS about icing. She said as long as it was light in weight (so I put ice chips in a ziplock) and only about 15 minutes max or stop when it hurt. Haven't done it a lot, but at times it really helps relieve the pain. Hope this helps
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2nd:
Thanks! I still ice sometimes..
but not for too long...:)0 -
Runnermom- good luck tomorrow, you will be in my thoughts and prayers. I'm right behind you. Going for my pre-op tomorrow.
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RunnerMom. Good luck tomorrow and good,luck to TLR
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Runnermom - I'll be thinking of you tomorrow!
TLR - Have your questions ready for your pre-op, and good luck Friday.
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Runnermom and TLR, your day is just about here! Good luck and I'll be thinking about you!
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Good luck to TLR & Runner Mom...& Momto7!
We'll be thinking of you all!!
Violet..
Who just ate her seventh mini Reese's peanut butter cups;)
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