Unhappy with Reconstruction (pics) FEEDBACK NEEDED!

StartNew12212

Hi

I had my exchange in October and right away noticed massive rippling particularly on my cancer side. I got a second opinion from a Stanford surgeon who said my breasts look amazing and he wouldn't advise attempting to change anything as it likely won't improve or it would make things worse. He said my outcome is a desirable one. (Yes, when standing straight they look great but a ever so slight bend and it's distorted.)

To me, and anyone, my boob looks like a shriveled up balloon. I leaned over the other day and my daughter yelped seeing my shriveled boob. Is this really as good as it gets?

See photos. Is this basically the norm or can I improve this? The middle photo is me standing up.

Thanks, everyone.

StartNew12212

nobody?!

Calinana4

I have bad rippling on both breasts but plastic surgeon forewarned me I would due to thin skin. I had immediate reconstruction, which at the time was recommended procedure since they didn’t think any lymph nodes were involved. Well…. 3 out of the 5 tested were cancerous but radiation didn’t cause any additional damage (other than shrinking that side a little). With a bra on they look fine so I just avoid looking in mirror when naked

katg

I am only at the one side inflater and so no rippling. I will likely have my other removed in a few months, then both implants put in. Interesting that they said that about rippling. I would want to know what causes it. Is the implant cover the part that has the ripples and does that happen often? I think asking more questions is necessary. There must be an answer.

I hope others post for you.

KatePeony

I think they look great standing up. Some rippling is to be expected. Did your surgeon do any fat grafting during your exchange surgery? Mine does that, and while it's an additional recovery, I think it really helps a lot with this issue. I personally would not have a revision based on what you're experiencing, but if it really bothers you, you may want to look into a revision that includes fat grafting, where they liposuction another area or two (e.g. abdomen, flanks, saddlebags) to harvest fat to inject into your breast area to cushion the implant a bit and prevent the rippling.

NNS121317

My implants are relatively large, and I have quite a bit of rippling even while standing. The surgeon suggested fat grafting would really help the appearance, is that maybe an option for you?

StartNew12212

Maybe I need some new bras, calinana.

StartNew12212

Hi katg,

Thin skin is what I was told by both surgeons. It is thinner on the cancer side due to trying to get all of the cancer out, but in general, my skin is just thin

StartNew12212

Hi Katepeony, Thank you for responding! That’s great that your surgeon did it during the surgery. I’ve discussed this with my surgeon but he is concerned I do not have enough fat to take from my body and it wouldn’t be successful.

Rah2464

startnew I have quite a bit of rippling on my new "set" from my revision surgery. I originally had direct to implant in 2018 but developed a lot of scar tissue. So revision surgery and a different type of implant now I have quite a few ripples. I also am thin, my skin is very thin, so knew this going in. We did as much lipo as we could (a bit on inner thighs) with some fat grafting that hasn't taken very well. Again I think due to my basic thin frame. But if you do have some pockets here and there have a discussion with your plastic about it. Lipo hurts though. And if you have any indication of lymphadema go very carefully about any such type of surgery.

lgottlieb

I can’t see the pics for some reason but I am having a similar situation. Had double mastectomy in January and my exchange surgery in March. I also am thin and have thin skin. My doctor says he always thought I would need another surgery to get me the best results. So in June I am having another surgery - some skin tightening, as much fat grafting as he can do and he is swapping out the implants for a firmer implant. He thinks all of that should help greatly. I’m not sure how much extra skin you have but he seems to think the skin tightening will be the biggest help.

DaughterOfBarb

@startnew12212, I’m sorry you are dealing with this. I can't see your pics, but I was also very dissatisfied with the results of my original reconstruction in November after double nipple sparing MX and was told by my original PS that basically that was as good as it would get. I had pretty severe rippling (even on top in the front when standing with no support), one was larger than the other, they had different shapes, my right nipple (cancer side) pointed off to the side and down and they were much smaller than my pre-MX size. Some posts on my saga can be found on pages 1536, 1537 and 1543 of the thread linked below. You don't mention what type of implants you have, but the FDA recently approved Mentor MemoryGel BOOST implants, which I mention in my follow up post on page 1543. These look and feel way better than the Mentor MemoryGel Xtra implants from my original reconstruction. I have very, very little rippling now (only a bit on the sides when I bend over with no support). HUGE improvement! I am now very satisfied with my results. I cannot tell you how much better I feel about my breasts now and how much less like a cancer patient and more like my regular self I feel. My new PS does both augmentation AND reconstruction vs. my original PS who does reconstruction only. Not sure if that had any bearing, but perhaps surgeons that also do augmentation have a better eye for aesthetics. Please keep consulting! @whippetmom may be able to provide you with some PS recommendations. Best of luck to you.

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topics/746448?page=1536

exbrnxgrl

I believe the moderators removed the pics as posting breast pics is not allowed.

lgottlieb

That’s a shame. All you can find online are pictures of people all done and happy with their results. It would help so much to see others in the same boat as I a

exbrnxgrl

Since this is a public forum,it may be possible to identify the person who has posted pics. Photos are not allowed for privacy reasons. Additionally, some may want to view pics for non-medical and very prurient reasons. .