Fat Grafting along with Implants

spunkyboobster

So if only a percentage of the fat is retained, where does the rest go? Back to where it came from?  I know it sounds like a dumb question, but I'm intrigued.

Chantal10

I think the fat just get metabolized? I had fat grafting done in July and the 30 percent success rate I would say is very accurate. It "stuck" in one area and filled it in nicely, but an area that has bad rippling reappeared after only 2 weeks or so. It really bothers me, but my ps says he won't do it again. Says the ripples are too deep and I don't have the amount of fat to spare to fill in the area, and anywAy will probably be reabsorbed again. Bummer. I may go get another opinion.



I also hate the cold feeling of my boobs- kind of like an old school 80's water bed without a sheet on it or a heater, for those of you that have ever owned a water bed

GreenMonkey

Chantal...WOW, you hit it! "water bed" thats IT exactly!  I only feel it on the right side (where I'm told my breast surgeon was "more aggressive") 

hawaiik

Aloha Ladies,

Home from the hospital today,feeling pretty good considering. Stayed just 1 night. Nothing at all like the pain from the BMX. I did not have expanders instead had direct to implant saline Mentor smooth round adjustable's, same time as BMX.



Yesterday Almost 1 year later I Exchanged to silicone , had some scar tissue released, and some fat grafting. My foobs look even better now than they did with the saline . I have those pesky drains again , but PS says they should be out by Wednesday YAY!

My PS took the fat from my abdomen lower and upper, pubic area and from my hip flanks.I don't have very much fat but she sure found a lot! She was much more positive today about the possibility of retaining between 30 % to 80%

My understanding is that if the fat does not " take" or stay where your PS puts it
it just gets re-absorbed into your system. So my PS overfilled them a little. She took about 800 cc of fat and used about 60 cc of fat above each implant and in the cleavage area

I didn't throw up this time either YAY! So I'm pretty sore from below my neck down to my hips but its doable with a few pain pills here and there .

You ladies are great!

Hawaiik

GreenMonkey

GREAT to hear HawaiiK!!! I'm glad they let you spend the night. Let us know how the healing goes. I am still waiting for my surgery date.  

spunkyboobster

Good to hear HawaiiK-healthy healing!

oaktownmom

I had my exchange surgery a couple of weeks ago, and am thinking I may need some fat grafting.  Can anyone describe the process for me?  If the fat grafting is happening at a later date than the exchange, do they have to open up the main incision again, or is it a less invasive procedure?  How about the incision size for the lipo part of it?  Any info appreciated - thanks!

hawaiik

Hi oaktownmom,

I don't know how fat grafting works after you have the exchange, I think it's the same, they do lipo and then swirl the fat in a machine which separates the fat and blood , then they use a big syringe and inject the fat where you want it. That was a simple explanation as I'm sure I'm leaving a lot of steps out. I will tell you my PS did the FG before she put in the final implant because she did not want to take the chance of puncturing it.

I am extremely sore in the areas where my lipo was done. I am also bruised., also no incisions that I can see yet.

♥Hawaiik

oaktownmom

Thanks Hawaiik!

christine47

I have had several rounds of successful fat grafting post implants, very tiny incisions made and then syringe used to inject into the areas.  No pain at breasts, and minimal pain at the harvest sites.  I also had fat grafting to my right axillary area to fill large defect from node disection, have gone from golf ball size defect to almost normal.

janetgreen

Hi Christine, I want to remove my implants and go to fat grafting. You sound so positive about your experience. May I ask who your doctor is and where he/she practices? Thank you!

Janet

janetgreen

Hi fearless, may I ask who your surgeon is? Have you heard of dr khuori down in Miami?

oaktownmom

Thanks Christine!  Great to hear about your positive experience, and to know that it's possible to do the fat grafting at a later time than the exchange surgery.  I too would love to know where you've been having it done. 

Hindsfeet

Either postponing the re-re-construction until Spring, or do it in a few weeks... If so, I maybe taking a chance and letting my ps, who did the first reconstruction do the fg. I'm not sure he's experienced with fg. Hope I'm not making a mistake.

christine47

Hi girls, hope I did not confuse anyone, I still have my implants, just fat grafting to give more fullness upper poles and defects.  All of my fat grafting was done after implant exchange (not at the time of exchange).  I am in NC, private message me if you want more info (name of surgeon).

GreenMonkey

I just received my surgery date - December 13th a week from today. Having fat grafting and also nipples. I've heard recovery from lipo is uncomfortable. Does anyone know how much time I'll need to take off work? 

spunkyboobster

Christine-did you have smaller implants to accomodate the fat grafting?  I would love to look into fat grafting, but don't want to change out my implants as I've had absolutely no problems with them and I'm coming up o 1 yr with them (knocking on wood...)

christine47

Spunky, no, just added fat grafting to compliment the implants and fix small dent. I could have had good result without fat grafting, but both myself and ps wanted a great result! I see ps on Monday for f/u last surgery, excited for his opinion.

fragrantroses

I had a fat graph done this morning.  It is not the worst thing I've lived through but it was not fun.  My right was radiated so I have a lot of rad damage, pain, contracture and contortion of the implant from the bad skin.

I was left awake, the surgery done with local (lidocaine).  That was the worst part of it...all those injections to fill my belly with lidocaine.  

The worst part was that I was awake and not shielded from the surgery.  I was draped but basically I was right there in the surgery.  Part of it was so the doctor could watch my face.  Every time I felt the sting of the needle or grimaced, he was right there asking if I felt it.  He'd add more lidocaine.  It was not the most painful surgery I've had done by any stretch.  But it was very scary in a mental/psych kind of way.  

They did the liposuction just like you see on tv....the giant coring needles shoved into the fat and then the sawing and forth.  Obviously they were careful to stay in the fat field (I have a fat farm around my belly).  But once they got in, he sawed back and forth quite violently.  I got rocked and rolled around and told them it felt just like having a c section.  It was kind of humiliating to see the grab a fist full of fat, pull it away from the belly to poke those needles in.  Yuck.  At one point I groaned.  The assistant was holding the spare needles in his hand right over my face.  The doc thought I was hurting again, but just asked if the resident could please move the ice picks out of my line of sight.  These 14 gauge coring needles were huge and intimidating.  They moved them.    I have 13 stabs all around.  They did a single suture in each that will be taken out in about 10 days.

I had read here in another post to wear compression garments afterward.  The doctor said I didn't need that.  I told him hmmmm...women who had this done say wear it, it will be more comfortable.  Doctor who never had this done said it's not necessary.  Yeah, I'm wearing a binder.  He laughed and told me "well be that way then."  The injections around and over the implant trying to plump up the skin was not painful...I was good and numb.

I felt pretty good, just a little slow so I actually went out for lunch with the hubs.  Came home and took a nap.  Woke up thinking this isn't so bad.  Then I sat up.  As things shifted to gravity, oh my word.  Not awful like I said but DEFINITELY sore.  My belly feels just like it did after a csection.  But my foob is stinging as well.

He only took 240 ccs of fat, spun it then injected the fat.  Since I was awake and watching I was asking questions.  The centrifuge spins and separates the fat molecules.  It separates the oil from the fat molecules, the saline they inject as well as the blood.  So the tube looked layers.  Yellow bottom layer (the skinny fat), then a redish layer that was the saline and blood then a clear layer...it was the oil from the fat cells.  They saved some for me to feel after the surgery.  It felt just like crisco!  GE-ROSS.  My husband so thoughtfully reminded me that eskimos cook whale fat down for the oil.  yay...

The nurse said it would be 45 minutes long.  It was an hour and half for me.  My body was slow with giving up the fat.  Then they spun it 4 times to clarify the fat.  He told me before that it would take 2 procedures, but during this he told me to figure on a third.  My skin damage was so leathery he was having troubl injecting.  He said it was like trying to push a spaggheti string though deer skin.  There was a spot he was simply unable to get the needle under the skin.  He might not be able to fix that spot.  But my goal is not to look perfect.  This implant has still not fallen.  The skin is so bad it acts like a strap holding it up.  I just want the skin to soften so the implant will fall and fit in a bra like the other side.  As it is I have a kind of o O look under my shirts.

That's my fat graph experience.  My exchange was in July.

hawaiik

Hi Ladies and fragrantroses,

Im at a week after EXCHANGE surgery , I've got my drains out and bandages off so I've gotten a good look at a few things. I do have a stitch at each spot where my PS harvested or injected my fat. I am quite bruised and still sore in those areas also. I am also completely off pain meds so it's much better. My PS does have me wearing a compression garmet over my abdomen areas with a surgical foam pad underneath it that covers my abdomen.She says it will help remold the areas and keep them nice and flat. She suggested I wear it consistently for 6 weeks. She is the mother of 2 yr old twins and wore one after her pregnancy and said it worked for her. She also suggested I could wear spanks or tight triathlon/ running biking shorts ( with the foam pad) also as an alternative.

Foobs look good , I have cleavage instead of a bony chest so I'm happy with that I hope it takes and stays.my Ps actually chose bigger implants , which I was a little surprised about cause they don't look bigger just more filled in. I was 500 cc saline implant, I'm now 550 cc silicone implant with 60 cc of Fat Grafted to each breast(. They are over the muscle , no Alloderm, I had nipple skin sparing BMX.with direct to implant saline 1 year ago )

Thanks

spunkyboobster

Frangrantroses and Hawaiik-thank you so much for sharing your experiences.  I am learning so much about this procedure and am looking forward to finding a PS (that my insurance covers) to give me an idea of whether this may work for me.  If you have any recommendations of docs in the Chicago area, please let me know.

Thanks!

GreenMonkey

Thank you everyone for taking the time to explain the procedure and your experience with it. 

fragrantroses

Giving an update.  When the surgery part was over and the doctors and nurses were picking up their stuff, my doctor told me I would be sore...like a bruise.  He said that tylenol or IB would be enough pain meds and the belly binder wasn't necessary.

The pain meds - well I have previous experience with this university and they are STINGY with pain meds.  But I still had pain meds left from my exchange in July.  I used them.  And 6 or so hours after surgery when I was feeling everything, and the IB effect wasn't even noticeable?  I dug out the vicodin.

It's obviously not the worst kind of pain or soreness.  He may have been right...sore like a bruise.  But I've never bruised my belly.  To me it felt the same as my c section....really sore belly.  But I knew my tiny incisions wouldn't rupture open so I made myself move more than I did after a c section.  So getting up and down, laying down, walking...it all hurt.  Which made me not want to move.  So I took a vicodin and it allowed me to move around the house without help.  I took 2 all day Saturday, and then one on Sunday to help me do all my Sunday morning chores.  It was the last one I took.

I did grocery shopping Sunday late afternoon and spent all day in doctor's offices yesterday.  Yesterday (Monday) was a really good day and while the "bruise" is starting to show up on the skin, it did NOT slow me down.

The one thing I am concerned about it, is how this side feels.  Part of me was afraid to massage the implant, fearing I'm mess up the fat graph.  But the whole "breast" is firm and swollen feeling...which being radiated skin reacts very much to being messed with like that.  But I have swelling under my arm.  My appointment with my oncologist yesterday, he examined the swelling and agreed it was firmer and more than firm than the other side - it might be lymphedema.  Last night I did several rolls from the back to that side and then forward.  THis morning I don't feel like there's a water balloon in my arm pit.  So be aware, if you have mild lymphedema, you may need to address swelling.

GreenMonkey

Hello Everyone! 

I had fat grafting and nipple reconstruction on Thursday the 13th. I say this over and over again, but I can't get over how different each PS is. My PS told me ahead of time that she does not like taking fat from the stomach and prefers the waist but that the thigh area works the best. She said its more resistant - meaning it had a better chance of staying put. Before I went under, I told her, take more fat than you need and I think thats exactly what she did. Afterwards she told me that  she started at the waist but that the fat was better from the thighs. So I have four places of entry and LOTS of bruising on my thighs and waist. She placed the fat at my upper pole on both sides, my inner/clevage area on both and on my right outer to try and compensate for scar indentation. She also took off a skin tag under my arm that I was complaining about. Oh, and then the nipples with alloderm in the center. I am in a lot of pain - mainly when I get up and down, in and out of bed, but I don't care as long as it works. My discharge papers say to stay home for a week. I'm wearing a girdle and a stomach compression thing. My nipples are HUGE but I know they'll go down a lot. They look like that gummy candy "drops" that I'd get at the movies when I was a kid - only double the size. This was my 6th surgery in 10 months - and I hope my last! 

Hope everyone else is doing well.  time for a nap zzzzzzz

wildrumara

I am planning on having this procedure done next month.   Question for you all.......we're talking all about how good the "foobs" look after the grafting.  Did you notice if your belly, or thighs, or hips (wherever the donor site was) looked better after the liposuction??  Or do they not take enough out to really notice?  Just curious? 

Buddhahead

wildrumara--I had fat taken from my outer thighs. I think my PS took just enough for what he needed up top. I do know that my legs were/are sore more so right after surgery. My legs didn't look that much different though. Wish he would have taken more! :-) My surgery was 3/5/13.

As far as my new "foobs." They look like round mounds with no nipples. The left side is smaller and not as perky. My PS used alloderm underneath the right side where my TE was poking the skin underneath. The side where I had rads (right) is much harder and tighter, but both sides are tight-feeling and feel inflammed, especially at the end of the day. I've been doing manual lymph drainage because I feel like I'm getting fluid build up behind the implants. I'm hoping it won't always feel like I"m wearing a tight seat belt around my chest. 

Hope that answered some of your questions. Best of luck on your surgery. 

GreenMonkey

Hi Wild, 

I had fat grafting done in December - my PS took fat from my thigs and muffin top. My thighs looked TERRIBLE afterwards. You could see where the canular was inserted and two missing a pocket of fat, one from both sides. Because of this, I had a second surgery on tuesday 4/23. She took more fat from my thighs to even them out. I hope this works. My thighs look much smaller but it's probably going to make my ass look bigger!

spunkyboobster

I hope everything works out. I'm sure your butt is just fine. :-)

Gratigirl

How long after reconstruction did you have fat injections?  

Gratigirl

Has anyone had fat injections to make breasts look larger?