TE TROUBLE

Hi everyone,



Back to feeling better. Thanks SpecialK for your muscle relaxer advice...it helped so much on Sunday. Sorry to hear you are in discomfort....how are you doing today?



I'm so glad to learn new info on how the matching will take place because I've been wondering the same thing since my right side needs to catch up to the left. I also had dead tissue removed after my infection so there is less skin on the right. I didn't even consider 2 different sized implants. Go in for my next fill next Thursday.



Momof3: so envious you can have fills so frequently. My doctor's schedule is so booked the wait is long (3 weeks) for the next fill.



Wishing everyone a comfy day!



T

Humph - No fill for me this week due to the missing port!  See the PS next Tuesday.....We'll have to wait and see.  I could have went in for a fill on my right, but I really didn't see the point of that.

olgah - depending on your Feb. operation they should be able to tell you about when to swap out to implants.  Femara is similar to Tamoxifen, but it is for post-menopausal women only.  Tamoxifen is usually given to pre-menopausal, and sometimes to post.  Femara supresses estrogen, Tamoxifen blocks it.

All - since I took that one Vicodin, I have had less pain.  Slept better night before last but last night - not so well.  Had a nightmare in which I was being attacked (very rare for me to have a nightmare!)
 and I didn't go back to sleep after that.  Went to have an eye appt today - the good news is no problems and even though I have not had eyes examined since Mar. '08 no real change in eyesight!  Yay!

KrystalRose, you and I had about the same experience- I had a bmx on 12-8 and had an infection in my L TE which was removed almost two weeks ago.  I have a boobette on the right (about 500 cc's - my PS fills 100 cc's each time and I had 2 fills I was going for a "C" cup. MY BS saved some skin so I didn't have to stretch so much) and a crater on my left.  I will start chemo probably next week, so will be stuck like this for months.  Oh well.  You are at least not alone!  LOL.

To all the other wonderful ladies on this board, I hope you get your squishies soon and the exchange goes well.  Take care.

lstreett - I would medicate with pain meds and muscle relaxers and max out the fill.  Then continue taking the pain meds/muscle relaxers until the pain subsides.  If you want a full B, small C you will need quite a bit more saline.  Can you split the fills with 2 appts. between the Friday and the 7th - like maybe 75cc each time?  I think you will be uncomfortable but once you radiate that side you are stuck with that filled amount, don't want you to be disappointed when you exchange.

Thank you SpecialK.  I think my only option if I want to fill more is to delay my radiation by a week (if they'll let me).  They could barely get 50 in last week after a full week off, so I think it's highly unlikely that I'll be able to do 2 fills of 75 in the next week.  Do you know how the size of the breasts after implants compares with what they look like now?  My 32C bras are actually fitting pretty snugly with my 300ccs, but I know that the implants tend to be smaller than the TEs?

SpecialK, I definetely have a chemo head... I was told , that I cannot start Tamoxifen before operation, because of its side effects and risk of blood clots. But I see, you are taking it ( Femara) and have operations , and everything is Ok... so I was wondering.. MAY be it is Ok for me to take it later before June ( my  silicone time, I guess)I just, probabaly cannot express myself clearly, because of chemo...I left my doggie outside in the back yard yesterday and completely forgot about it...Poor thing was sitting at the door waiting...What can I do? chemo head...

Had my first fill. He only put 20cc . Didn't feel a thing then or now

Krystal. That's great you have a chemo class! All I got was a brochure.



Olgah I get the chemo brain thing. I once went to visit a friend and brought my 7 year old son with me. I left without him and got halfway home before I remembered!



5 days out from my TE removal and feeling okay physically, some pain, but manageable. Emotionally, not so great. I am so depressed about these wonky craters that were once my breasts, Ugggghhhh. My PS thinks we can try the TEs again several months after radiation. I can only hope so! Going to the PS tomorrow and hopefully will get the drains out, although they are not bothering me at all like they did after the BMX.

Kim-i am either having a chemo moment or a total blonde moment. All this time I have been reading about your missing port and trying to figure out why no one is just totally freaked out about it. However, I have been thinking all along that it is the port for iv infusions! Just realized how stupid I am when you wrote that you didnt have a fill and I was trying to figure out how a missing iv port would affect that. Bahahahaha!!!!!



Special K-because pf my infection and the skin being thinner, i ended up with implants at exactly what I was filled too, instead of what he wanted. For me, the biggest difference is softness. If you want to, it is easy to squish them flatter. It is also easy for me to make them look bigger. If I go out without a bra, i feel slightly flatter, but with a bra, I feel pretty much the same as my expander, just more flexible.



Lstreet-loom for whippet mom on the sizing boards. She is an expert at how to determine what you need for sizing. You can pm her with all your details and she will tell you what works best. Specialk is right....it does sound like you need more. Skelaxin is a good muscle relaxer also. On one plastic surgeon site I found, they tell their patients to take ibuprofen the night before a fill and the morning of, and then take a skelaxin about an hour before the fill. Said they have good results.

tatina-my implants feel great. They are very soft and natural feeling to me. My original ones were very dense, do they have a similar feel. The only thing that weirds me out a little is that the pec muscles, especially on my right side, will occasionally flex and it feels weird. when it is cold, and I shiver, the muscles tighten p a little...at least that is the best way I can describe how it feels. I went smaller and they look really good. I have cleavage, good slope (almost too much slope) etc. And if I put on my bombshell bra...yowza!



For me, the most uncomfortable thing is wearing bras. The band area goes right across where my drains have been nad it just isn't completely comfortable. It is getting better however.

Thanks everyone! I will try for as big a fill as I can on Friday before I start radiation next week. I dont know how so many of you have gotten into the 400s and beyond! My skin and muscle just dont seem to want to stretch (or else I'm just a big baby). My PS said they can also often do one or two more fills after radiation depending on how my skin does. Were any of you who had radiation able to do that? I will get the details on what type of expanders I have when I go in this week, and follow up with whippet mom as some of you suggested. And thanks for the tips on muscle relaxants!

Hi Marcy,



It took me about a week to feel almost back to normal. For the first few days, I had pain right near my ribs where the PS replaced the TE. I did not need a draining tube. My PS filled my TE at 150cc.



Will be thinking of you tomorrow.

T

I know this really isn't the thread for this, but I post so much on this one... thought you'd all like to know that I get the results of my oncotype dx test today! 

Ironically, I also feel like today is te first day I have admitted to myself that I am being treated for cancer... If I hear that I need chemo, I am no longer afraid  

DM-let us know what you find out! You're in my thoughts today.