All About Gummies

Lilah

Everyone I know who has those gels loves them Pickle.  I hear they are softer than the Allergan 410s.  They are cohesive gel like the gummy (which means you can cut them in half and they form two pieces rather than leak) but are not TECHNICALLY gummies -- which is a nickname specifically for the Allergan 410 (at least as I understand it).

sweetie2040

Lilah-I wish my Dr had those available to use. The 410's are very firm!

Claire82

Where are the softer ones available? They sound perfect.

Sharon2010

OK Ladies, I'm off for a week in Turks & Cacios!  My 5 year old son is excited to bake cookies with Cookie Monster, and my 2 year old daughter says she wants to give Elmo and Zoe a big hug.  My husband and I are looking forward to some much needed stress relief and R&R.  I may check in here via iphone if I can get wifi there, but I may also try not to think BC for the week.  I have a feeling that's not going to happen though.  We'll see how it goes.  I'll be living in a bathing suit for 7 days and I'm a little nervous about that.  Have a good week!  -Sharon

Lilah

Enjoy Sharon!

Claire -- they are Mentor CPGs.  Ask your PS about them.  They are Mentor's version of the gummy and pretty much everyone who posts who has them says they are squishy

elizzim

Sharon - hope you have a WONDERFUL time in T & C - enjoy the time with your family!

sweetie2040

Sharon- have a great time for yourself and for all of us stuck here!

Claire82- Our Dr doesn't use Mentor, I already asked him. He uses Allergan.

bcincolorado

Mine are Allergan and my husband says (after some pysical therapy is getting rid of muscles spams) that he can tell it is softer.  Not the same as my "good side" but not bad either.   Definitely better then TE!

jillyG

Hello ladies!  I got a fill yesterday of 120cc's so now I am 380 out of  500.  My fills will be done on Sept 23rd (2 more to go) and then he said exchange to gummies will be in December, the week before Christmas.  That will be 3 months from the final fill.  He mentioned that he usually has the patient back one month before the surgery where he does one more fill if required.  I am so excited.  My original mastectomy was Nov 2008 so this is 2 years in the making.  I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

sweetie2040

JillyG- your really moving along! Does your Dr. overfill for gummies? I know mine said he doesn't go much bigger than the gummy so he can get a tighter fit. Do you know what size gummy you might be? I'm only at 400cc's and he has stopped me right there so I'm thinking mine would be smaller than that. I see him soon for details of surgery!

heebie_jeebie

Sweeite:  I just noticed JIlly and some others saying they waited 3 months after the last fill for the exchange surgery.  Do you know how long our PS has you wait?  I am trying to make plans for vacations and stuff for next year and it would be nice to have some idea when to expect it.

Lilah

My PS said 6 - 8 weeks after last fill for exchange; I did it at 7 weeks.  Many other doctors like to wait more like 2 - 3 months.  I think it varies.

Jilly -- you're getting close to the finish line!

jillyG

My PS said he overfills by 20%.  We haven't talked about size yet for the implant, he said we can't talk about that until we know what my skin is going to do, so maybe on my last fill we'll decide on the size.  I also will see him 1 month before surgery to finalize all that. 

sweetie2040

heebie-jeebie- I had my last fill the end of July and my surgery is for Oct so that's about two months right there. I'd ask him on you next visit so you can plan around it.

JillyG-that makes sense. I think they ask you around your last fill if you like the size and then if everything is place they do what is appropriate for your skin, frame,etc.

Sharon2010

Hello Ladies!  I'm back from vacation, and well rested.  We had a great time, with the exception being when our camera and my husband's iPhone were stolen out of our bag at an evening activity. Fortunately I had taken a lot of pics with my own iPhone, so we have some memories in print.

It was interesting, I found it very hard NOT to stare at every woman's breasts.  Seeing how they move, rest, giggle, etc.  People are in bathing suits about 85% of the day. I had some initial anxiety walking around in a suit all the time, but I didn't get any "OMG, hers are so fake!" stares from people, which I half expected.  I know, it's all in my head.  I came to the conclusion though, that my foobs look best in a bathing suit. Naked, you can see the flaws, in clothes, they don't look fabulous, but in a swimsuit, they looked great, and I felt super confident!

I had my PS appointment today, and came with a written list of the things I'm not happy with... bottom heavy giving a sagging appearance, weight heavy giving me back pain, appear to point down, ripples, bubbles, etc.  He told me he could do a procedure to correct pretty much all of them, that is minimally invasive!  He is going to go into my existing scars, on the outside end of both of them, and "pinch" the skin up/in/over.  This will give a lift to my foobs, making them perkier and point out instead of down, and it will take the heaviest part (the bottom) and redistribute the weight more to the center, alleviating the "pull down" that's causing my back pain.  It will push them in a bit so they aren't going to the sides as much, giving me a fuller cleavage and filling in some of the ripples and bubbles.  If he needs to do any fat grafting, he'll do it at that time as well, but he thinks this might take away most of the ripples so I may not need it.  This is all done with a local anesthetic, and I'll be up and running in 2-3 days.  No restrictions on lifting, which means I won't have to get a nanny to help with lifting my daughter.  My PS said that as he's only moving the skin, and the skin can stretch, that it might not be a forever solution.  If it does, he could use alloderm to create a sling that will support them, but that might also push the implant up too much creating a shelf.  We are trying this first, as it's the least invasive.  I came away from the appointment feeling really good.  I am totally fine with the firmness of them, so if he can make the gummies work, and it's a safer implant, then I'll keep them.

sweetie2040

Sharon2010-welcome back! Sorry about your husband's stuff, but glad you had a good time! Glad to hear you rocked your bathing suit. You go girl! Awesome news from your PS. That's very encouraging and I'm sure you feel relieved. I hope everything works out for you and you get more of the look you've been wanting. I do think it's fairly common to have need of some type of revision work from what I've read on here. Wish you the best, keep us updated.

Lilah

Sharon -- that all sounds very cool, what your PS plans!  I hope it does the trick   And wtg on rocking the bathing suit.  Sounds like a fab vacation in spite of the theft, which I was sorry to read about.

Sharon2010

My mom is having a breast biopsy tomorrow.  They found a "thickened area" on a routine mammogram.  She has always been cystic, but I don't think they ever used that term to describe anything in her breasts before.  That's what I had, a thickened area.  She had a clean MRI in April, and my husband says that bodes well for her, as it wasn't to long ago, and an MRI would have picked up on something.  But mine quadrupled in size in six months, from a small narrow fibrous ridge, to a 6.5 cm tumor.  I'm freaking out, and I can't get my mind to stop going to the worst case scenario.

bcincolorado

Sharon, I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers and hope all goes well. 

jillyG

Sharon, I hope everything goes well with the biopsy tomorrow.  My mother is 58 and she had never had a mammogram until I got cancer, she was s scared to go, and of course they call her back and say there is an area they want to biopsy.  She was terrified, but it came back negative and it was a fibroadenoma.  I am hoping it'll be the same for your mother, just something benign.  It's so natural for us to go to the worst case scenario, especially when we've been there.  Keep us posted on how she's doing.  (((HUGS)))

elizzim

Sharon,

It's so hard to stay calm - especially given your own recent history - while waiting for your Mom's biopsy results. I feel such admiration for those who can think positive thoughts at a time like this. Intellectually, we all know that's the best thing to do, but I just haven't mastered that ability yet, and it sounds like you're struggling with it, too. It really is almost harder to worry about someone we love than to be afraid for ourselves.

Having said that, I have SO MANY friends who have had similar scares, and it turned out to be nothing serious. So, until we hear more from you, I'll say prayers that your Mom is fine and healthy. Please let us know when you know for sure. 

I'll be thinking of you,

Liz 

sweetie2040

Sharon-thinking of you and your mom. We're here for you.

Lilah

Sorry Sharon -- saying a prayer for your mom.  Let us know what happens.

Sharon2010

My mother's biopsy was negative!!!!!!!  They put a rush order on it so we didn't have to wait out the holiday weekend, and it came through in one day.  I'm so relieved I feel like I can finally breath again.  Thank you for all your support.  It really helped, and meant so much.

elizzim

I'm so happy to hear that, Sharon! Hooray for good news! Have a wonderful weekend.

Lilah

Wonderful news Sharon!  Thanks for letting us know.

sweetie2040

Sharon-great news, so happy all is fine! My sister just had a mamo too. She had suspicous cells on her last one like 7 years ago and was supposed to follow up in six months and never did. She just went Friday which was seven years later, they had placed a marker of the spot so they could locate it. When they got there this time there was nothing there! She got a report everything was fine! I am so happy for her because she was very worried about waiting so long and because of my recent history.

jillyG

Great news Sharon, that's awesome!  What a relief.  That's great you didn't have to wait over the weekend for the results

jillyG

OK ladies, I have posted some pics of my expanders up to now (380cc's).  Have a look and let me know what you think  

heebie_jeebie

is it possible to get entrance into the photo pages yet?