Exchange City

robinblessed54

Scottie, welcome to squishy side!! Hang in there and do what your PS requires. Don't forget our mantra, "just because you can doesn't mean you should"

Robin

mysunshine48

Scottiemom, even though you are miserable, do you feel relief? I see you had just one. My BMX was so painful and am looking forward to my exchange, but also scared about another surgery.

Can anyone else comment? I sure would appreciate it. Thank you.

Scottiemom11

Thanks Robin. Definitely happy to finally have my squishes. Can't shower or remove surgical bra until tomorrow night. Then I can finally get a look at the new girls.

December. . .I've had a lot of trouble sleeping. About two weeks after BMx, DH bought me a total body pillow. It supports head, shoulders, Arms and legs. I also have a great gel foam pillow that supports my neck. MO put me on Gabapentin for the nerve pain and exercising every night/ afternoon helped as well as eating only a light dinner.

Mysunshine. . .too much muscle pain from surgery right now but I expected that. I have very tight pecks. I will say that the burning nerve pain from the BMx and TEs is better. Also I no longer feel like I am wearing an iron bra.

I waited 8 months for EX so I could exercise as much as possible. I had my BMx in Dec after undergoing 3 lumbar epidurals for a degenerated disk. Long story short, I could barely move around or get up without help. After 6 months of slowly working up an exercise regime, I am able to get up and walk around by myself without pain except for the new girls of course.

My worst enemy right now is lack of patience. I'm anxious to get back to the gym and hiking.

Scottie

mjh1

scottie - welcome to the squishy side!!  I hope you will love your new girls.  Be patient with them until they drop and fluff.  Our other mantra is "stay away from the mirror".  that's the one that gets broken the most often.  Rest well!!

mysunshine - being scared of surgery is common but rest assured that I along with most of the other sisters can tell you that an exchange is a breeze compared to the BMX and TE.  yes, there is some pain but that's only a few days and nowhere near the level of pain of the BMX and then enduring the lingering discomfort of the TE for months.

robinblessed54

I had my surgical bra and ace bandage tightly on for 1 week. No shower. But it was totally worth it! I have my Allergan 410 FF 475cc gummies. I had a little discomfort after EX because he had to do some pocket work to make them even. But they are awesome and even. EX is much easier than BMX. So give them a chance and I hope they are everything you wanted. I am excited because tomorrow I get my 3D nipple tattoos!!! The icing on the cake and hopefully the finish to this process. I don't see any revisions or fat grafting in my future. I was released from the PS in June not to be back for a year. Don't get impatient with your limitations. It will all be worth it!

Robin

Scottiemom11

Feel much better now that I got to shower. I did, however, break the second mantra and looked (my bath has a wall of mirrors so hard not to). I'm pleasantly surprised. I know they still have to settle and fluff but they look pretty good.

For those getting the 3D tattoos, is there an option to cover the main scar? I have thin horizontal scars. Just curious, be cause I was okay with them from BMx.

Scottie

Sulev21

Scottiemomm11 - I had my exchange on the 27th as well. I saw that you said you have the 350 mentor implants . Mine is the 450cc Mentors. I assume that the number stands for the Size? I feel like I am larger than I wanted to be - small c cup. Is there swelling after the procedure?

I guess I am being impatient. Just want to get this over with! However I should feel lucky that it only took me 3 months!

Sue

Scottiemom11

Sulev21. . .congrats on your exchange. I had to look them up from the warranty card they gave me. The mentor high profile gel I got are actually 300 cc filed. The 350 is part of the catalog number. Here is a link:

http://www.simplybreastimplants.com/breast_implant...

I appear to be bigger than I thought I would be. I was a B before BMX and now think I may be a small C cup. I did tell PS to put in the largest she could with my expansion which stopped at 250 cc due to too much nerve pain. Guess I may be shopping for new bras after I recover, although it's not like I'll have to wear one. It's very liberating to be permanently perky.

I don't appear to have much swelling but time will tell.

Scottie

Scottiemom11

Mykidsmom. . .thanks for the addy. EX was 7/27 though. 🌈

Scottie

AZ85048

Scottiemom11 - In answer to your question about 3D tattoos - my tattoos go right over my horizontal scars - and thereby become the focal point. In other words, you see the tattoos before you notice the scars. I can PM you a picture, if that would help. And yes, it takes at least a month for all of the swelling to go down after exchange.

robinblessed54

Got my 3D tattoos today!!! So excited, they look great! Unbelievable!

robinblessed54

They do take your eye away from scar. I can you a pic

Robin

robinblessed54

Arizona, How long did it take you to heal after your tattoos? When I saw them before she bandaged them, I cried. such an emotional experience. you realize you are complete. I think she did a great job. It is done at my PS office in their OR on site. No pain, just vibration. She does use Laidocane/epinephrine to numb and control bleeding.

Robin

Badgergirl

Robin -

So happy you have your tattoos! ;-) Yay! I'm recovering well from the EX surgery...truly, the EX was no problem - it was the fat grafting that slowed me down...ouch. But I'm so glad to hear that you're happy and they look great!!

Badger

mjh1

Robin - Congratulations in finally reaching the end of your BC journey!!  I can only imagine how emotional it was knowing that you're finally done.  I hope you will go out and celebrate, maybe even go away and go topless on the beach.  Be proud of what you've accomplishd and show those "girls" off.  I hope you will continue to stay healthy for years to come.

Xinghong

Leslienva, the left side is lat flap due to radiation. They do look and feel different. The right side is slight lower than the left side, but it's ok under clothes, especially with bra. I was wearing swimming suit in the pictures. As you saw, they are fine.

Sulev21

Scottiemom11

Thanks. I wish I asked more questions or listened better when I first met with my PS. I have to look again on the card to see exactly what I have or better yet as the PS when I see home next wk. good luck to you! Su

AudreyB

Hi everyone.

Robin, congratulations on getting your tattoos and finally over this hurdle.

I have a question. Exchange is 8/19. Dr is not prescribing any pain meds. Does that sound normal?

I've been told I can shower in 24 yours. I will wake up in a bra with no ace bandaging. Sounds very doable

mjh1

audrey - I'm not sure if it's a NS-LIJ thing, but in any of my surgeries I didn't get scripts directly from my PS.  I got them all from the hospital when I was being discharged and they were written by someone else.  However, at NYU they do things totally different.  When I go in to see the PS a week before for pre-op she said she'll give me a script for pain, muscle relaxer and antibiotic.  I can't imagine that they're not going to give you something when you're being discharged.  I would either ask your PS again or make sure you don't leave the hospital without the pain med and antibiotic.  You'll probably only need the pain med for a day or two but you need to have it on hand just in case and you know how important it is to take the antibiotic.  I was told I can shower in 48 hours and I left the hospital in a surgical bra, no bandage.

Scottiemom11

How long after EX did you have to wear a compression/surgical bra? I was able to shower after 48 hours and then switched to more comfortable surgical bra (from BMx) last night to sleep. Put EX bra back on today and switched again tonight. PS didn't specify except for the first 48 hrs and I have surgical glue on outside.

Aubrey I have pain meds, muscle relaxers and antibiotics prescribed by PS from EX. I still had a lot of nerve pain from BMx though so don't know if that made a difference in treatment plan. I had no ace bandage, just a tight surgical bra and padding over the two sides where PS did a bit of lipo to even things out.

Scottie

robinblessed54

After EX I had a surgical bra and ace bandage tightly for a week. No shower no peeking! Removed then sports bra 24/7 for 6 weeks. I have anatomicals so they need to be held in place to stay put. I had pain meds but didn't really need the

Badgergirl

Audrey -

My recovery was more in line with Mj...the morning of EX, my PS wrote and gave my scripts to my family and I got an antibiotic, a muscle relaxer and pain meds. I was in a surgical bra for 48 hours, then switched to a soft bra (Coobie-style). I could shower after 48 hours too. My PS said no sports bra or compression bra - just soft camisoles or a soft bra. I had no padding or ace wrap.

I will say that I have not needed to take any pain meds after the EX. Just muscle relaxers.

AudreyB

Thanks all for the responses.

mjh1, for my 3 previous surgeries I was given pain med scripts prior to surgery by my BS so I could get them filled and have them home ready.

This is the first surgery with PS alone (just realized this now, my brain is not functioning properly at all) and his nurse told me yesterday I won't need any pain meds. I am hoping she is right, just can't imagine having no pain at all. Maybe OTC pain meds will be enough? I am not adverse to no pain meds as they do a number on my system anyway.

Scottiemom11

Thanks all. I have a followup with PS on Monday so will just keep using surgical bra till then. It zips up and is easy to sleep in. I'm still having pain but that may be from the pocket work and lipo on the sides.

Scottie

ThinkingPositive

I will given all my scripts one week before at my appt with PS. Gave me enough time to have them filled and available to me when I got home from the hospital. Had a followup appt with the PS the next day where he took off the bandages and binder bra...and put on my sports bra. 2 1/2 months later I am still in my sports bra. Still having that issue on my right side where I just had reconstruction and implant to lift so that it would match my mx side. Feels like the implant is on the side of my boob. MY MO confirmed it for me yesterday, he said he felt what I was feeling and said he thought it was the implant as well... but didn't know if it was that it had moved or was supposed to be there. Have to bring it up the next time I visit PS. Can't imagine any reason why the implant would need to be on the side of my boob.. PS told me he needed to do work on that side to make it look like my MX side... so now I wonder if its possible its supposed to be there??

middleagedmama

Audrey, I had my exchange yesterday. My ps did prescribe pain meds but said that I wouldn't need muscle relaxers anymore because my muscles were already stretched. First of all what a huge relief to have the expanders removed! I did have lipo in my stomach for some fat grafting to fill in around the implants. The surgery was easy and took about 2 hours. I was up and walking around with not much pain. So much easier than the first surgery. I am on oxy with acetaminophen in it and I did take it yesterday because they said to stay ahead of the pain. This morning I have very little pain in the chest area but the lipo area is quite sore. I would say my pain level is about a five compared to an eleven plus after my BMX. I am able to shower today and can take off my stomach binder after tomorrow. I have mentor high profile round memory gel implants. They put me me in a sports type bra and ps said I can change it to supportive bra with no underwire for the next four weeks. I would say that if I didn't have lipo that Tylenol would probably be sufficient. I wish you luck Audrey and can't wait to welcome you to the squishy side!

Tis

mysunshine48

I am following all of you because I am 2 weeks out from my last chemo and meet with my Plastic Surgeon on August 19 to discuss exchange. I need 2 or 3 more fills. I did not get any during chemo. How do they do the fat transfer? Did you discuss thst with your PS prior to surgery? I am nervous already. Chemo has been so awful and my BMX was pretty painful.....now I have to face this. It is good to hear exchange is not as painful. Also hsve to start Arimidex and am scared of that too.

AudreyB

thank you middleagedmama. I am counting the days, I cannot wait for my exchange surgery. I am not doing fat grafting, just straight exchange. I am so happy for you and wish you continued healing.

Scottiemom11

I concur with middleagemama, I think most of my pain is from lipo. PS did put larger implants (mentor high profile round) than we thought she could and I have very tight pecks so that's probably why I'm still on muscle relaxers and pain meds. In any case, the iron bra is history and all in all I'm doing well. Post-op check is tomorrow.

Best wishes to all with EX comingbup.

Scottie

middleagedmama

my sunshine,

You should find this far less painful. Today my chest has little to no pain. My stomach is still sore but it is like having done too many sit-ups so not bad. My PS told me prior to surgery that he would do the fat grafting for fill in around the implant. I asked him to use my stomach because I had some I could lose there. I had a c-section years ago so he pulled the fat From the old scar area. He injected the fat into a small hole in the middle of my breasts by the sternum and then one at the top of each breast near the arm pit. I wish lots of luck and will pray for less pain for you! I think the worst is behind you. Stay strong😊

Audrey, thank you for the well wishes. I will be praying for you to have an easy exchange. I know you will do great you have a wonderful attitude and that is half of the battle!😉

My sunshine, I am glad to hear your exchange went well. I have my post op check tomorrow also. It has been nice to know that we are not alone in this journey!

Good luck to those who have exchanges coming up. You will instantly feel relief from the expanders that we have all come to love and hate