All About Gummies

Oh, and bcincolo - YAY on the good followup and being "done"!  I'm also supposedly done too unless I decide to do a nip & areola....haven't decided yet. 

Lilah, I had NSM so as far as that goes, that part is done already.

Sweetie, I love the gummy cake idea! 

Oh sorry BC I bet you said that too and my chemo brain would not absorb it   Woot on being DONE!

Hear hear BCinCol!

BCincolo - I'll second Lilah's "Hear hear" for sure.  Definitely with you on no more surgery!

Sweetie - No I didn't have back or neck pain with fills, but I think its pretty common.  I was going to say check into PT but you already have one.  Mine did a lot of gentle soft tissue massage all over the TE during that period - that's mostly what my PT was.  You might check with your PS again to see if he'd relax his restriction since now you're in pain.  In addition, I don't know if you stretch a lot but if not then I highly recommend stretching several times a day.  Let me know if you're unsure of what stretches might be good & I can list them.  Stretching is what really got me through the TEs.  And now the implant too, actually.  Good luck!

Kitwe -- the American Cancer Society has a bunch of exercises on its website.

Sweetie -- I found that if my boyfriend massaged my shoulder blade it relieved (for me) a LOT of the pain from the TEs (shoulder blade muscle is connected to the pectoral muscle that is being stretched -- or for all I know, since anatomy/science is not my strong suit -- the pectoral muscle goes from chest to shoulder blade).  See what your PT says.  Or get your loved one to do same

Lilah-Your so right! My PT said the same thing about the whole area being connected. My shoulder blade area is so tight too. My hubsand will massage me if I ask him, if he's not falling a sleep from working overtime every day! I have been tyring ice and Advil when it gets bad. Does the tightness get better after exchange at all? I know it's pulled very taunt with the TE but it's still the pec muscles and implant is placed there so it seems it would still be somewhat tight no matter what.

M-star-thanks for the link, I printed out the excerises to start doing them at home.

ok well if you go back to the post of the exercises, (but you must be logged in) and click on my name where my photo is on the post,it will take you to my page.

Hope you find them helpful

Kitwe and all, I'll second the list of stretches Kay gave - even w/o the pics its very comprehensive.  The ones that I do are a bit different but essentially cover the same areas.  I just typed up a description and then lost my post by accidently clicking on a link (I HATE that!!) and I don't have the time to retype, sorry.  So, go with Kay's list and you'll be covered. Just go slow to start with and don't overdo things too quickly; work gently and slowly; work your way up in terms of repetitions or time to hold things.  And,  for any stretch where your arms are hanging in the air out to the sides or overhead and thereby stretching your chest, put some kind of support out to your sides so that your arms are supported (e.g., folded or rolled blankets or towels).  Make them small enough that you get some stretch but not so small that the full weight of your arms is hanging off your chest  After a few weeks when you feel comfortable with the stretches then you could remove the supports and you'll get more stretch, but you'll know you can handle it. Just my 2-cents-worth.

Kay, I was just looking at your pics on the picture forum and you look amazing.  wow!  I cannot wait to see the final results.

Are Mentor gummies different than Allegan gummies? I had thought gummies didn't come in round shape but maybe different manufacturers offer different types. I know my PS said mine will be Allergan textured anatomical and I thought she said that is the only shape they come in. I might be thinking about something else.

So glad to hear you are feeling great 11 days post op. I'm anxiously awaiting my exchange date. It is supposed to be end of August or beginning of September but I haven't been given an exact date yet.

Congrats, pickle, on your great outcome!  Glad you're happy!

Mantra, both Allergan and Mentor make implants that use what they call "cohesive silicone", which has more crosslinking between molecules (compared to standard silicone implants) to keep it held together rather than running like a liquid.  The Allergan ones are exactly what you described (anatomical shaped, textured), and officially they are the Allergan 410 (or Inamed 410...Allergan bought Inamed but the Inamed name is sometimes used).  These are always called gummy bears, and if you cut one it truly looks like a gummy bear candy after you bite a chunk off. Mentor makes implants with several levels of crosslinked gels and therefore several levels of cohesivity.  Some of the gooier ones (i.e. more liquidy) come in rounds; their highest cohesivity comes in an anatomical shape.  You can see the description of the latter here: http://www.mentorcorp.com/global/breast-augmentation/contour-profile-gel.htm. 

There seems to be ongoing discussion about Mentor's different levels of cohesivity and what "cohesive" means when some of them are still somewhat liquidy...sometimes people call Mentor's gummies and sometimes they don't.  So it's a bit confusing.  Better to describe specifically what brand and model you have than just say gummy.  Oh, in the US, the Allergan 410 is only available through the clinical trial, and the highest cohesive Mentor ones (the link above) is also only in clinical trial.  Hope that helps.

Not sure what the correct term is for the Mentors but I know they can be cut in two and nothing leaks out. The sample in PS looks exactly like a gummy bear inside...without the nice colors of course...lol

I know I've seen a video online where a sugeon cut one in half.  He also showed what happened to the old silicone ones and how they leaked and also how easily saline ones leak.  These seemed to me to be much more stable and hopefully more durable.

Hey girls,

I'm just catching up on the thread. I am seeing my PS tomorrow and I have reviewed and read everything you kind and lovely ladies have shared about your gummies.  Most of you seem really happy with them,explained the W,HT,projection issues, love the shape, state they are firm, say the look natural and say the PS usually puts in a smaller implant than the TE cc's. So armed with the knowledge you have given me I am going to ask him exactly what he is going to be able to do in my case. I am hoping to be the size I am now, maybe a little bigger (300's) and not too narrow. Also I need to talk about the wide space. I will let you know what he says and hopefully I'll only need a couple more fills before I will officially be a gummy girl!