Visible ripples in implants

Kate -- Yes, I believe the insurance covered the fat grafting... I didn't hear otherwise from my hubby.  I found a lot of relief in the pain by using the underwire bras.... thanks to y'all.  Do you get any relief with the different bras?  How about with 2 tabs of Aleve?  My pain goes away with the Aleve, as well as massage, and heat.... I use the muscle Head-On directly to the area.  I reeled in the hose the other day, you know, the type on a handle in a box.... I was hurting for 2 days afterwards.  Again, never had this trouble with the TE because I think it balanced the muscle properly.  Even washing dishes is bothersome because of the motion.  Opening doors too.  At 5 months out, this is frustrating.  What type of pain do you have?  Have you tried Iodine for your fibro? I think MBJ takes it too and we have a thread on here about that. I can't live without it.   

Another thought about NSM and rippling.  They have to leave some tissue under the nipple and I wonder if that may be the cause of some of the rippling.  Was thinking about that after my posts last night.  If that is the case, not really much we can do about that.  I'm trying to stay positive about the revision, but I'm not going to get excited....realize some things may not be fixable but I hope I just don't do any damage.  That's the worrisome part.  Pam

Sunnyhou-I'm sorry your going through a rough emotional time right now about your surgery. It is so hard when everyone depends on us and then we need to do something for ourselves. I can't tell you what to do but the fact that you had the surgery scheduled means you weren't happy with something. If you cancel it, it is likely you will still be unhappy. There are so many ups and down with this stuff, but we need to take time to focus on our self and our health and getting well emotionally,physically and mentally. If that means doing one more surgery, then don't feel bad about it. Put yourself first and everyone will be happier because when mama is happy everyone is happy. Wish you the best, keep us posted.

Vanderlady-thanks for sharing your story. It helps to know I'm not alone. Interesting that your Dr over stretched you and used a larger TE than the actual implant. My Dr did not overstretch me at all. He stopped at 400 and used a 450 implant with a slighter larger dimension than the TE. Still rippling though. I saw your pics and I understand what your saying about the natural look. I think you look really good but I also understand you wanting more upper pole fullness. I feel the same way. When I look down I see the rippling and and more of a slope. I would be ok with that look if I didn't have to deal with the rippling.  Regarding what you asked about NSM. I think it does make a difference in the implant choice to an extent. He told me he has to make sure the implants leaves the nipple in reasonable position. So that would mean not going too big or small. I will say this, I have a friend who had a reg BMX and her Dr does a procedure where he tucks the extra skin and sutures the ribs to the fold of her breast. He also said he uses the extra skin for nipples. He also told her she could expect some rippling. Your wt and ht is so close to mine. I'm only about a inch taller around the same weight. I think Whippetmom is right about filling the pocket. It would seem to make sense that the implant needs to fit that width created by the TE. My TE was only 12.5 so I don't know what the biggest implant he could get in on a revision.  I wonder about the pain you have though. What did your Dr say about that?

I saw my Dr today to ask about my rippling. He knew right away what I was going to ask and agreed it was more than normal and more than expected. He said the pocket was tight at the time of surgery. He does not do fat grafting for ripples and only uses it for indentations and is not really keen on it. He said they may do more of it in the future but wasn't recommending it for me. He said for me to wait about 2 more months and if I wanted to he could put in a larger implant. He doesn't think the rippling will get any better or worse for that matter. I told him I really liked the shape and size and don't really wanted to go too much larger. He said it will be a little fuller but should take care a good portion of the rippling, hopefully. So for now I'm going to live with it for a while and see how I feel. I am not really happy about going back into surgery and worried about coming out too big because now I'm getting used to and liking the size I am now.

Sweetie - Do you have your OP report from the BS portion of the MX?  IF not, get it.... find out what size the defect / pocket created it,  My doc dictated it -- it was the same size as the TE that was put in by the PS.... 14 cm.  It sounds like you had a good visit with your PS... seems understanding.  All 4 PS I saw in 2nd consult said to wait 6 months.  Oh, my 475 is 12.5 cm wide not sure what the 450 is.  All that info is on-line from the manufacturer... just google... my are Allergan Natrelle.   You had rippling with your TE?  In the same spots?  Oh about my pain, I liked their response..... if there is a visible pucker or something they can see, then they know what to fix.... with mine there is nothing visible.  He wanted to do an MRI but I told him the pain is not where the CA was, I believe it is muscle related because it is brought on by use and goes away with Aleve, massage, and heat, and is worse with ice. 

Determined -- I was pretty down about 4 weeks postop.... very, very down.  My family doctor who is into supplements told me to try 5HTP which did wonders.  Never really had anything like that before and was fine all along through the MX phases with infection too, but the exchange was rough emotionally.  I wonder too if part of it is the chemicals from the implants getting absorbed into the body. I'm super sensitive to smells and plastics. I wonder if that will happen again with my revision. I did a lot of epsom salts baths once I was allowed to.  I'd sit and cry in the tub. 

Vanderlady- I didn't think of getting the op note. Good idea. I do think the pockets are pretty close the implant size. They actually feel tight if I pull my shoulders back. They don't move around or anything or appear lose. It just seems like extra space at the top where all the ripples are. I did start to see rippling with my TE and basically the same spots. I remember thinking the implants should fill up that void and take care of it, wrong!  I have some muscle pain and soreness to. I think it's pretty common from what I hear from other women.

Deekay-I guess size doesn't matter with ripples. I hear fat grafting is covered but I haven't had it so don't know for sure. Maybe it is the way your Dr. bills it.

Determined-I must have missed your last post. I felt very much the same as you after the exchange. It is a hard time trying to adjust to all this and then not being happy with your results.  I had a NSM but I lost one of nipples and you know I have the rippling too. I relate to everything you said. I have ups and downs too. Days when I get so frustrated with everything and then days when I'm thinking I might be starting to feel like me again. The winter is the worst though because it's so cold and dark and all I want to do is sleep! I think walking is great. I walk an hour a day, every day. I have been doing  it for six years straight. I did it pretty much through all my treatment and surgery. There are times I don't feel like doing it but I make myself and I do think it helps. Give yourself time, the old you is still in there and she'll back full strengh!

Determined- The feelings you are describing are very normal.  For me the feelings of sadness post exchange was the biggest surprise throughout this whole thing.  I felt like I sailed through the MX and the whole TE process.  But a few weeks after exchange I got very down.  I think that's the time we can finally take a breath and deal with the emotional stuff finally.  It's tough accepting this new reality of ourselves but it does get better.  I had my exchange the end of June and I can actually have entire days where I don't think about it at all.  (Except when I'm naked and see these damn ripples, of course!)  Anyway, just wanted to tell you there will come a time when you'll feel like your old self again- or at least the new version of your old self and you'll like her just as much if not more.

Determined-awww, your sweet for saying that. I know complications are hard. I had some too with my TE and had to have another surgery to replace it.  I relate very much to what your saying about "grieving for the loss of how it was supposed to go" I think we all have such high expectations through all of this and really we don't know how things are going to turn out. When they don't turn out like we hoped we have to deal with the let down again and finally the acceptance. The main thing is getting healthy again and I think it's a process. We have to deal with our emotional and physical well being too. We don't know how are emotions are affecting us sometimes and other times we worry about our physical well being. I'm also about six weeks out too and think it is still early. Healing from surgery takes a long time. Every day we are one day closer. Hang in there, your doing great and we are all in this together!

I agree. I even asked for a NSM and was told it wasn't done there. But I found out from this website that one of my PS's partners does them... grr

Thats been my rant since my surgery as well.  Wasn't aware of the sensory nerve sparing procedure. Going to have to inquire about that.  There is a web site call breast reconstruction.org which is informative on the options.  I have been thinking about this for awhile and would like to see a law instituted like in NYS.  This past Aug, the breast reconstruction options law was signed by the outgoing Gov. Paterson.  It goes something like any woman having a lumpectomy, mast.,lymph node removal must sign off that she received in writing all her options and she must have the right to go to another facility that offers the options and must be told of these optionss despite insurance.  This is to assist those woman who are either underpriviledged who say went to a community hospital that doesn't offer much in terms of reconstruction  or saw a general surgeon who only offered mast. and not reconstruction.  Most of us get our information on internet but there are those who don't have access to internet.  I was thinking of visiting my district congress woman to get the same thing into law here in Fl.  I was involved in three local tv station news interviews which included my PS and breast surgeon.  All gave an hour of their time being interviewed and one station even went into the OR during a mast.  I gave my story.  When it aired it was so fluffy, no mention of NSM but referred to it as "cutting edge procedure" and didn't say what the beauty of the procedure was,  no other valuable information.  They pulled a line here and there. What they pulled from my breast surgeon was him saying "my job is to remove the cancer". It was stupid. I was so mad.  The other interview made it sound like an augmentation. I was disappointed for weeks because I thought I was getting the word out.

Hi gals:

Maybe I'm wrong in this, but I just kept on using my arm...I am left handed and somewhat ambidextrous, but after the lat flap, I just began to use as normal.

I saw my BS the other day and asked him why I had no loss of strength in that arm on that side (left)

He tells me that all of my other muscles have learned to compensate for the loss of the lattisimus muscle.  So I guess it worked out, anyway.

But no pec exercises or push ups...he says that is what causes the "iron bra" .  And yup, my boob flexes too.  DH says "hey, new party trick!"...hm, I think I won't be showing anyone but him that trick!

I would not go thru the recovery again either....when I get the prophy late next summer, I will just get the old regular mastectomy, except the core technique one that spares the nipple if I can.

xox

P.S. I'll take a Szechuan nip, General Tzao areolae, and 1,000 cc's of egg drop gel! 

Just found an article back in April 2003 (!!!) where surgeons were preserving the sensory nerve way back then.  I'll try to post the link but if it doesn't work just google "Use of sensory nerve provides feeling in reconstructed breast".

http://www.debakeydepartmentofsurgery.org/home/content.cfm?menu_id=44&pageview=news&article=133 

Lee - Ditto! Let's just hope that our experiences help to raise awareness about options and in that light, raise the standards of what women with BC demand and are offered. It is like so many doctors are only seeing their view of the elephant.  I truly hope our dissatisfaction raises awareness as well as gets the attention of PS and BS alike to what we really need in terms of the greater picture.

Lee, Yes. It's supply and demand.  I think we are on the brink of a knowledge shift where folks who are not up to speed with best practices are going to be outpaced/out-chosen and thus out-dated in comparison to their peers with more modern skills.  You can see that in how attitudes are changing about how women used to accept disfiguring surgeries as the standard with MX.  I am really hopeful things will change as we make some noise!

Yep, know exactly what you mean!  I've heard comments like "what? another surgery? is this your last one?"  It's to the point that I haven't told most people that I have another one in mid-December.  I shouldn't have to justify myself in wanting to have somewhat decent looking breasts.  The scars are there.  Even if they fade, they will always be a constant reminder.  Like you said, the sensation is gone.  Your muscles never feel the same.  The nipples are fake, don't move and stand at attention.  At least stand by us and support us while we try to get the best possible outcome.  I'm sorry to vent right with you, but I refuse to make apologies or try to justify something that I feel I deserve.  A lot of times I really have to bite my tongue - my brain is yelling "Right!  I'm ENJOYING getting cut open AGAIN and risking infection, complications, new scars, and the fear of what I'll see when I wake up! Surgeries are my new hobby - what, are you totally STUPID?!!"

I've had three surgeries and December will be my fourth.  I also understand that many women refuse to go through more surgery.  It's hard.  I see it as a real life version of Chutes & Ladders.  You recover from surgery, start getting your flexibility and strength back, life has some semblance of normalcy, and then you have another surgery that knocks you right back to square one and you start it all again.  and again....and again! 

Good luck with your appointment.  Hang in there!