TE/Implant OVER pectoral Can exercise, comfortable &NO RIPPLES!

raven4mi

macb04, that's awesome that the tats look great! Congrats!

macb04

Thanks JessieJake. He tattooed my areola on the right so he could more easily make it match as my R areola was fairly light colored. I used a generic of EMLA numbing cream for an hour first. Still hurt like mad , guess it would have been worse without the Cream. Thank goodness he could do my right side so fast. Left side where he created the 3D nipple /areola is mostly still numb. When I would use the EMLA cream in the past over their port it never helped,so I guess it doesn't work for me for some reason.

I am glad that I got it done. I can't get any money reimbursement from my health insurance $1400 I will never see again because I had the tattooing done by Vinnie Myers at a resort suite they were staying in instead of a doctor's office. Despite that I don't regret spending the money.

Looks good. Hopes it doesn't fade too much. Now planning to get laser therapy to my breast to get rid of the red blotches. Also thinking about medical scar camoflage tattooing of the remaining 1 1/2 inch of scar from their incision, seeing if that can be covered up better. That will be it then. Whew. I know people have asked me if I was vain for doing this (a cousin, my fathers girlfriend and my sister-in-law ). I just want to erase painful reminders of what horrifying things were done to me without my fully informed consent. I hope to some day have a day that I don't think about bc at all, that I just take a shower, put on my bra and get dressed without thinking about anything other than getting on with my day.

HuskerFan

macb04, that's awesome! Glad you like the results. It's so hard going into all of this to know what kind of outcome we will have. That's my biggest fear. So, far the glimpses I've gotten of my breasts have been positive . My scars are underneath the breast, so I think when it's all said and done they won't even be visible. I worry a lot about people thinking I'm vain, but until they walk in our shoes they have no right to judge

raven4mi

Amen, macb04, to looking forward to a day when the thought of bc doesn't consume my every waking moment. It's always, always on my mind and it's become quite tiresome. Hard to avoid when your life revolves around it, though, as mine does at the moment.

JessieJake

Don't think you're vain at all Macb04 - your reasoning makes complete sense to me and I'm all for finding that day you don't need to think about BC. Erasing the visible reminder sound perfect. I'm cringing at how it must have felt! Too mad that EMLA cream didn't work...hmmmm....

macb04

Thanks alot HuskerFan, raven4mi and JessieJake. It helps me so much to have you all understand what this is like. It's hard dealing with other people about this awful experience, they seldom get it and are impatient that we should get over it and not mention it anymore. Only here can I say how life for me really is.

HuskerFan

Hey everyone! I hope all of you "over the muscle" gals are doing great! I had my first fill on Wednesday. The PA first removed all the air and then replaced with saline. She put in 450cc.....seems like a lot, but I was a 36DD before BMX. I have another appointment in two weeks and need to decide how much more I want to be filled. I need to find out what type of implants my PS will be using. I asked about sizing at my appointment and the PA said the implants will look the same size as my fills. I'm curious about others experience with this as I've read on the Breast Implant Sizing thread that you want to fill larger than the implants.

macb04

Hi HuskerFan, that is great you have started your fills. I think overfilling somewhat helps make sure your PS has enough skin to work with. The problem for me was that my skin got thinned out too much. That made it a little harder to do the implant exchange. I found that the first implant I got was a 420cc moderate profile Anatomic MENTOR implant. I was trying to match my real right 36D cup breast. Wound up thinking it was too small and too flat immediately after waking up from implant exchange. Tried to live with it, but wound up hating it. Looked like the breasts of two different women on my chest. So went back in seven months later, March 2016, and had an exchange and scar repair to a 495cc Mentor high profile Anatomic silicone implant. Still a little small, about 90%match when naked, and 95 plus % in clothes. I should have had a 550cc or so, but the skin was gone, and I didn't want to do another round of TE's to try and get more skin. My PS made a mistake, because my TE was inflated to 600cc's, and was not much bigger looking than my real right breast. He used some stupid computer photo program to estimate how big an implant to put in. Well it was completely wrong, which even he had to admit had happened. Partially my fault too as I somehow did not discuss enough what size implant, had kind of left it up to him, not a good idea. I was just worn out with the whole thing, but please learn from my mistake and be politely very fusy to make sure you get the right types/sizes and avoid costly mistakes.

raven4mi

HuskerFan, congrats on the first fill. From what I'm reading on other boards the fills for under the chest muscle people can be quite agonizing. I've had several fills on my left TE side so far and am 550 ccs without a single moment of pain. Once again, i thank my lucky stars that I just happened to run into a PS that does over the muscle! What a stroke of luck.

I'm also interested in figuring out if my implants will look smaller than the TEs - I hadn't heard that this can happen until recently. I'm going to e-mail my PS's office on Monday and ask for the details on my implants and then post on the implants 101 board to see what they have to say.

macb04, bummer that you had to have a replacement. Hopefully I'll get the information I need and will avoid something like that. I must say my left side is looking pretty buxom right now and I'm really happy with it and I wouldn't want to lose a good portion of that fullness after implant.

HuskerFan

Raven, I was looking through the implant 101 thread about sizing for over the muscle, but didn't run across anything. I'm thinking most of those ladies are under the muscle.

raven4mi

HuskerFan, hmmm......that's a very good point. I'll bet that makes a difference in the outcome. I think I'll talk to my PS first next week about it before I post there. Thanks!

macb04

Implants do look different than TE's, shaped differently first off. I think unless you get high profile, even moderate profile implants look too flat, even in the Mentor Anatomic silicone type. Also, the TE filled out more lower because the saline fluid is heavy and pulls more in that direction. Yeah, all the Implant 101 people are under pectoral, so not exactly the same. But great, no pain fills Over pectoral!

Hopeful07

hi there,

Any of you had direct to implant over the muscle? If yes, what about rippling? I read somewhere that the downside is also possibly more sagging, is this true?

Thanks!

macb04

Hi hopeful07. Maybe someone else will chime in. I wasn't lucky enough to have a short reconstruction process like that. But, I would imagine in the case of rippling, a little fat grafting might improve that.

raven4mi

Hopeful07, sorry I can't help you either. My PS won't do direct-to-implant.

littleblueflowers

Second round of pre expander fag grafting tomorrow! Yaaaaaaay! And a lump biopsy. Booooooo ((((

raven4mi

Good luck with the biopsy, littleblueflowers!

macb04

oh my, littleblueflowers, hope that biopsy comes out just fine. Crossing my fingers for you.

littleblueflowers

Thank you! I am going nuts waiting for path results, but the fat grafting looks good. It's been 96 hours since I've been allowed to work out, but who's counting?

macb04

You know, littleblueflowers, keep on keepin on. Just take it easy as much as possible. Watch a movie marathon or something distracting. I especially love Star Trek. It is so out this world's current misery. How much longer till you get that biopsy result? Good Luck!

littleblueflowers

Thanks Mac! I'm a terrible patient. The longer I sit the more depressed I get. I actually waxed my hall floors today to distract myself. Did you ever experience lumps in your fat grafting that turned out to be nothing???

macb04

Yes i did littleblueflowers. Had that happen a few times, unfortunately

Still Crossing my fingers for you.

TealWarrior

Hello Ladies - I've got a few more questions.

First off, my PS is Dr. Joseph Woods at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta GA, please feel free to add him to your list.

My surgery is July 15th to take out the under the muscle implants, wrap them in Alloderm and put them back in over the muscle. My question is for those that have had this revision, what should I expect recovery wise? I know I'll have drains again for about a week afterwards but not sure if I'll be able to lift anything or will I have t-rex arms again? I'll be doing this whole thing alone this time around. Might even uber to and from surgery if the hospital will let me. Will I be able to cook and do dishes? Will I be able to drive short distances to CVS?

Newgirls

teal,

How does the muscle react after removal. Can you expect it to eventually be like it was before the implants were placed under it! Does it return to normal?

Thank you!

macb04

Hi TealWarrior, and Newgirls I did things in a different order, had an under Pectoral TE initially after uni mx. Then changed my mind and decided to try Fat Grafting with BRAVA instead of a DIEP. Had the TE taken out at that time. Fat grafting didn't suceed enough for me (had PS who didn't know how to do it well), so got new PS and opted to have new TE put in OVER my pectoral. My pectoral muscle went back to about 95% of Pre bc strength. No pain, and markedly decreased tightness. KMAHALICK is someone who took out her implant out from under her Pectoral and put it in OVER her Pectoral. She commented about that on the 2nd page of this thread. Perhaps you could PM her to find more detailed and specific information.

Thanks for your PS's name. I added it to the list. We are up to 11 now.

wildflower7

Please add my PS to the list.

Dr. Samir Rao

3299 Woodburn Rd Ste 490
Annandale, VA 22003

macb04

Hi wildflower7, thanks for your PS's name. I added it to the list. We are now up to12 PS's to who are willing and able to do OVER Pectoral muscle Implants.

littleblueflowers

Dropping in to say the lump was scar tissue!!!!! Yipeeeeeeeee!

grandma3X

that is good to hear littleblurflowers!

macb04

Just lovely, littleblueflowers. Glad to hear your good news. HI grandma3X, did your reconstruction do OVER Pectoral?