thanks for replying! sorry you're in pain also,but glad im not the only one (if that makes sense??).

Wow,your hub does your fills??? LOL. Me ans my hub joked about putting the air compressor on mine to boost them! I would be awful if we were doing my fills at home. Id be forever saying "just put a little bit more in"!! 

Its def getting more painful each time and i've stopped my exercise (tae kwondo) until my expansions have ended. I had my nipples removed also and its real nice wearing a top with no bra! Even at the size i'm at now! Still undecided on whether to have nipple recon.

toni67- 120cc fills, 580 cc's, and TE's 3 times the size of the implant?  You, I think, have set a new record on here.  I have never heard of anyone having fills that large and expanding that much past your desired size!  Most PS's say just one more fill past where you want to be and then waiting about 2 months for the exchange surgery.  I guess it depends on how big you were to begin with and whether or not you had skin saving mastectomy.  I was quite small to begin with, and did have skin saving, but I did two 100 cc fills and never again after.  it was way too painful.    You must be one tough girl!

m-star-

I had the nipple saving mastectomy but never realized the down side.  I now have the constant "headlights on" so going braless isn't really an option for this almost 50 year old mom with a young son.  (Well, it might be tacky anyway.)  So dressing has become kind of a problem.  I have yet to find a sports bra that is comfortable because the TE's are so uncomfortable.  So there would be a definite advantage to not having nipples!

yeah i can def see the advantage of not having nipple reccon~even now. but it will def depend on how even they are once the exchange has been done and the swelling goes down. If they are uneven anyway,so i'll HAVE to wera a bra,then i'll go for nipple recon as i'll be wearing a bra anyway.If they look good in a tight top and are pretty symmetrical,i may just leave it there,of get some of the prosthetic 'stick on' nips!

Im a bit concerned that once the silicone implants are in,i wont be able to push them up to form cleavage. Im not sure how much you can move them about once they're in,or if they just stay where they're put??

Just going off topic here~ how come we can only post 5 times in a 24 hour period?????

Yeah,when i tried to put another post on a few days ago,a notice came up and said i couldn't post more than 5 times in 24 hours! I was shocked!

I have put my video of my 2nd expansion on YouTube. My daughter filmed it with my PS's permission and i've finally had the guts to show it to the world!

If it just reassures ONE woman that's going through,or about to go through the same process,it will have been worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/JKKJ12

Click on this link if anyone would like to take a look. My friend Michele is added as 1 of my friends (username: CourageismyStrength) and she also has some good video blogs on her channel. She helped me loads as i contacted her a few weeks before my surgery.

Kay

m-star I just watch your fill on youtube, I have also had TE's I noticed they were not  wearing gloves, I got and infection and I think because they were not using gloves after that I made sure gloves were used and that they used one needle per side. Good luck on your fills and exchange. Lynda

Angel10-

So glad to hear you had the same cleavage issues with the TE's, but not the implants.  I was really starting to get worried I was going to look really odd when done.

m-star-

What a brave thing to do posting your fills online!  Wish I'd seen it before mine.  I was so nervous.

 I'm having the same pain when I wake up.  It seems to help if I try to sleep propped up quite a bit with pillows under my arms. The TE's feel like they're pushing too hard on the top of my ribs, though.  

Has your PS given you a date, yet, for your exchange surgery?  I have an appointment with mine on the 19th and I'm hoping she'll tell me then.  I need something to look forward to.

Kate 

m-star-

Sorry!  Some women say they can actually manage to sleep on their sides.  I cannot imagine how they can do that.  I feel like I haven't had a good night's sleep in 2 months.

I'm with you- I want these out!

I have been struggling with finding non-revealing comfortable clothes to wear in public.  Can't find a single sports bra that I can stand to have on for more than 5 minutes.  I feel like an alien with these strange shaped breasts that don't fit into any bra and my husband wants to take our vacation to the Bahamas where I would be in a swim suit 24/7!  I told him, um no, how about after the exchange surgery?  I couldn't believe he didn't get it.

I think it a hundred times a day, but-

I WANT MY BODY BACK!  Sorry I'm a grouch today.

Kate 

The Beau Institute is known for tattooing and scar camoflage.  rose Marie Beauchemin is a well known parmanent makeup artist.. You are lucky to have her near you..  JUDY

Hi Ladies,

I'm new to this thread, I was sent here from Feb Mastectomy,

M-Star, you are such an inspiration to soooo many, wow what guts you have.

Jennifer, If you don'y mind, I have a few questions for you........

I had a bilateral mastectomy on feb 23, with immediate recon, w/TE. I came out of surgery with 300 cc of air in my expanders.  My sister could not believe that i had boobs when i came out, but oh how painfull.  my right drain stitch was too tight, so the first nite it did not drain at all.   so after fixing that at bedside, that drain was a week behind getting pulled.  I feared it too long and sure enough i was back in the hosp with infection, for 6 days on heavy duty antibiotics then home infusions 6 times a day for 10 more days.  since then my expander has been getting harder and harder.  my PS told my last monday that since the infection, my skin is capsulating around the expander.  My right breast was radiated 2 years ago for cancer, this time the cancer was recurrant, my PS told my stright out that she doesn't do TE on breasts that were radiated but told me that without me telling her which breast was radiated she would not be able to tell.

soooooo now that radiated tissue is showing it's true colors, and they are not so pretty, my breasts are not symetrical anymore.  one looks and feels like a baseball and the other feels like a softball. LOL.  there has been so much pain.  but Hey at least I'm ALIVE.......

Has anyone else experienced anything like this?????? I have to vigorously massage my breast many times a day.  It is almost immovable.  I'm making a little progress, but it is very slow.

Thanks to everyone one this community BC site.  It is so helpful to talk to others who can relate to all we have been through and still have a ways to go. 

girls have any of you been prescribed a muscle relaxer? That has helped me so much.

The fist night of my surgery, I did not sleep more than 10 minutes per hour.  The next morning I was giving Flexerile and it worked wonders.  My surgeon has given me many prescriptions of it.  Maybe you could ask on your next fill.  Ask and you shall receive!!!!!!!!!

I would like to invite anyone over to Febuary Mastectomy thread and click on last go to some of the last pages and see some of the links to songs and photos of some very inspirational women going through the same life changing experiences. 

I also miss my before bilateral mastectomy body, but it helps me not to look back, but to look  forward to a much brighter and pain free tommorrow.

I pray for everyone & their families going through cancer,

God Bless, Tammy

m-star-

Thanks for the planet grouch comments.  Sometimes I feel like such a baby but then I realize I'm not the only one feeling that way!  I like the underwear shopping date!  Sounds like a great friend!

My PS said the implants will be soft enough to "push" into cleavage.  I hope she is right.  I swear you could drive a truck through the space between my boobs right now!

TaminoMo-

Welcome!  Sorry you have had so many challenges with your surgery.  I haven't had the same issues as you but I've seen other women post that they have.  I'm amazed your PS put that much saline in your TE's initially.  I haven't seen that before.  (Mine put in 100.)    I didn't have radiation but my breast is really hard as well.  I think that's just part of having TE's.  Our boobs become boulders.  

You know you are the 3rd person to recommend Flexerile in the last few days.  I've been having trouble with my fills, lately.  I think I'll call my PS and ask for some of that.  Everyone seems to think it really helps!  Thanks! 

Hi Ladies,  I must say that you have all put a smile on my face tonight!!!!!!!!

I was feeling pretty down today...  Had lat flap with expander (right breast) on April 1 (no April fools!)...  Anyhow, I was slowly improving until I got that first filling (75cc, next 100, then 100 last Friday)...  It's been rough!  I thought expanding would be a piece of cake...  My PS gave me Robaxin for the muscle spasms & thank god it helps!  After hearing so many comments from friends/family "Wow, you're still taking prescription meds for the pain?  Couldn't you get addicted?... You're not back to normal?"...  I was feeling extremely grouchy and miserable!!!

Luckily I found this thread!  I've laughed & cried!  Now I feel much better & not alone!  You are all amazing women!

 It's been two long years... Mx June 2008, chemo 4 AC, 11 Taxol (terrible neuropathy), 25 rads, oophorectomy last November, now this pain from the expander...  My TE has slipped to the side, so my PS wants to over inflate big time to fix things up during the exchange...  My left side (c cup), "to match up with" is a free tram flap I had done in Dec. of 2002 (due to extensive DCIS)....  I'm going to look pretty freaky starting next time I get another 100cc's (right now they match up okay - still a lot of swelling under the armpit).  People are going to think that I decided to go big!  Oh well!

 Thanks for helping me see the light at the end of the tunnel!!

Kathy

To answer your question I think saline (if so very little maybe 30 cc's) was put in the expander at the time of the reconstruction after the mastectomy. I now have 4 fills and will get my fifth tomorrow. My PS wants me to have a total of 7 fills. I hope the infection is gone forever though my PS seems to think that it was the fluid causing the whole problem and the infection was NEVER there. My PS was on vacation at the time when I was having the issues with swelling and redness. My "infected" foob was twice the size of my non-infected boob). Now a month later the side that was infected is still a bit larger than the other but not too much. I am hoping that I am on the right path now and everything from hee on out be go smoothly. My bilat-mastectomy was on March 16... had my final 2 drains removed on April1st, back in the hospital on April 3rd, another surgery on April 9th, on antibiotics oral and interveneous for the next 3 weeks. So far so good. Keep praying for me. Good luck to you too.

m-star-  I know what you mean about looking down and seeing boobs.  Kind of surreal.  The only time I've ever had them is when I was pregnant with my son but then I had the big belly, too.  Of course, if I keep laying around eating junk food I'll have the big belly this time, too!  

I'm not sure how to get to the photos, either.  I remember reading something about it but can't remember what forum.  I did find another web site that had a photo of a woman whose natural breasts were spaced far apart and the surgeon was able to do a boob job on her and bring them closer together.  I'm going to show my PS and see what she things.  The web site is justbreastimplants.com, click on Photo Gallery, then click on Start and the Beginning and I think she is the 5th one you can look at.  If I find the forum on here I'll let you know.

Good luck with your fill.  Someone on here recommended Flexeril to help with fills.  It is a muscle relaxant.  My PS phoned it in yesterday.  It really helped!  We did a fill at home last night and I don't have any pain.  (I only did 25 cc's, though.)  I was wondering how many cc's you have right now and what your PS wants you to get to.  I'm only at 340 right now.  I see my PS on the 19th so I'm going to ask her again.  I can't remember what she wanted me to get to.

TaminoMo-  Thanks for the recommendation of the Flexeril.  It really worked!  I took 2 yesterday and another this morning and I feel great.  Thanks!  My PS probably will start prescribing it to other patients now.

CalypsoGirl-  I've had a few friends who have made the same judgements.  I just ignore them now.  I have a few girlfriends who have had boob jobs, too, and they keep questioning me about why I'm having such trouble with tissue expansion when they went in as A's and came out as C's with no problem.   I tell them I don't know why it is different but it is.  Hmmm, maybe because I have absolutely no breast tissue anymore?!?!!!  You'd think your friends and family would take your word for it that this hurts!  

Glad you got cheered up coming on here.  This is a great place when I'm feeling down.  Somehow just knowing others feel the same way helps.  Until you've been there you just don't get it.  You have had quite a long battle.  You're entitled to have some down days and as many pain free days as you can.  I still take pain meds when I know I'm going to have a really busy day.  I used to feel guilty about it but I don't anymore.  My Mom said it's only a problem if you're taking them and you're not in pain.  If you are in pain and taking them you are not an addict.  (My Mom is so smart!)  So now I'm ok with it and I don't take them every day.

jkz-  You had your MX about a week after me.   Sorry about all the problems you've been having with infection.  Hope it is all getting better now.

How many cc's were you doing with each fill?  I'm trying to gauge where I'm at in terms of being done with fills.  I'm really just trying to be a full B when this is all over. 

I'm still in the filler-er-up stage and have some questions. At some point, does the PS ask you to bring in one of your pre-mastectomy bras to see if you're happy with the size of the tissue expander?

GOOD MORNING GIRLS,

Best Wishes for Pain-Free days!!!!!!!!!!They are just around the corner.

I'm 11 and a half weeks out.  I can now through a ball and play catch with my boys.  I'ts pretty painful if I throw too hard, but good therapy.

Girls, I was told to take the Flexerile @ 9pm and @ 9am.  I also liked that it was an inexpensive script.  It only cost around $1.85.  That made it that much better.

M-Star-- Please tell me about this "Bio Oil" Is it only available in the UK?????? I have been using different kinds of Young Living oils and they are very expensive..  ALSO, I love the thought of deciding "WHAT"' kinds of foobs we want.  I guess I really haven't given much thought toward those issues.  Madonna connicles, My husband is going to LOVE that Idea, I'm just trying to get through this TE stage, I've got alot of time to think about the exchange. 

I have an appt with my miracle worker, (Hair stylist) I really need Hilites to cover this grey that I have sooooo earned.

I also checked out deborahs blog.  How sad, I know that we're all in the same boat, but I'm sure that at times she felt she was sinking.

God Bless & PRAYERS to all battling cancer.  We are just one more day closer to the FINISH  LINE>

TAMMY