Still Uncomfortable with Implants

I think the computer-generated image idea is great -- with all the technology out there, you wonder why they can't do that. I had that same moment in the dressing room, 11BC -- actually I feel like I'm having that moment every day when I put on a bra. I put in a call to my BS, who originally recommended the PS, to see if he could recommend someone else. I figure I'll at least get a second opinion about what I can do to be more comfortable. I think my PS is more concerned with his Armani suits and his hair products (he's a Brad Pitt look-alike) than with what I want, so I would not be comfortable going back there. When you downsized, Kate, did the PS remove skin, too? Do you have much wrinkling? Did it take long to heal?

I found this Breast Reconstruction Center in Long Island and Manhattan that is doing computer generated imaging for recon results so it can be done!

http://www.breastreconstructionhelp.com/about/ 

thank you Kate for the links i should have looked at all this sides befor 

Joanna- My original PS was in Tucson and my revision was with a PS in Miami.  Unfortunately, I don't have a recommendation for someone in the Phoenix area.  

Hi all. It is 5 days since my recon surgery. LD Flap. bc side was to have a te (had mx last may and chemo and rads in 2011), and other side was to have a mx with an implant.  I ended up not getting a TE and got 2 implants instead. My back is tight, my chest is tight, I have been unable to take a full breath due to back pain. Not sure if it is at incision or muscle, it actually feels like I pulled a muscle. I am not sure I like the implants. They are hard and heavy. I am hoping that they settle in a few weeks to the point where I can at least take a full breath. I was excited about going from an A to a full B, the implants are 400cc.  The flap side is a  little bigger than the other side, PS said it will settle or he will fix in a few months. Still have drains, hoping they come out on Tuesday.  I have read a few posts here where ppl have had the implants taken out. I may consider that if they do not get softer. I do not have enough belly to do both sides though. I am not sure if having boobs is worth this discomfort. Can anyone tell me if they are better after a few months?

I wonder as well how long is it going to be for the implant to feel like it's me? I feel as though I am wearing a heavier than normal bra. Doesn't feel like me. I can see myself sometime in the future getting it removed for fat grafting. I shouldn't be so wary about it all since I just had the exchange from Tissue Expander to implant just a few days ago.

Erika8 - I had my BMX aug8 and implants Oct2. This after fills to 700cc. Waited about month after fills. Then Dec 18 exchange to larger implants and nipples/areola. Of course I did not have chemo or rads

Erika - Yes, overall I am very pleased with my results. I have saline 960cc Mentor Mod. Prof.Plus.

It has not been a walk in the park, but worth the surgeries and alloderm and all. Sleep in a bra every night and it has been 2 1/2 years. My fills were 100ml X 3 and 50 cc last fill. He put in 350 initially.

Good luck with everything in your journey.

All/JoannaT/Kate33:

I did a quick Internet search and found that some surgeons do use the computer generated imaging model.

Here's a link to one:

http://www.lipsg.com/breast-procedures/breast-revision-new-york/ 

Here's what it says:

At your initial consultation, we can also provide you with a 3-D Vectra computer image of the likely results from your procedure. This state-of-the-art technology combines patient data and photos of you into a computer-generated image. The image displays the possible outcome of breast revision surgery to give you an idea of how you may ultimately look. 

i am going for my 3th fill tomorrow

good night have a great day everybody 

Please bear with me - there IS a point to this long story!!!  

I was dx'd in September, and had a BMX w/TEs in December. The BMX went fine, but I cried every single day for three weeks after that because I thought the TEs were trying to kill me. I could just picture these horrid foreign bodies inside me, causing me excruciating, burning, stabbing, cramping pain. I begged DH to take me back to the hospital to have them removed, because there was no way I could tolerate another day of pain, much less fills, much less the waiting period for exchange!

Let me just say up front that I am a smart person. I did my research after my dx. I loved my medical team, but found that they were not exactly forthcoming with information I needed to know. The Breast Care Coordinator glossed over the likelihood of LE, since I "only" had a SNB. The BS was horrified to learn that I was still taking pain meds at my one-week Post Op appt. (Fortunately, the PS was awesome and said I needed to take the meds as long as I was having pain, in order to let my body rest and heal.)

About the PS - the first time I saw him I was 5'5" and 188 pounds. "The girls" were 38DD/38DDD. I begged him for smaller boobs, and he explained that a too-small implant would look strange on my body. He did his measurements, and off I went.

During surgery, he placed very large expanders in me and filled them to 180ccs. After surgery, the pain lessened and I was able to have fills with absolutely no side effects or pain. Believe me, this was a huge relief, as I have been living with chronic pain and fibromyalgia for the past 15 years. Thanks to my being so out of shape (both skin and muscles were very lax) I got to 620ccs in only five fills.

However, in the meantime, I found BCO and started reading these forums. I realized that there were a gazillion questions I DIDN'T ask, because I didn't know to how to ask them.

Each time I went in to see the PS, I had a list of at least two dozen questions, and he answered them very patiently. I asked him exactly how he had made the incisions for the TEs, and he showed me which muscles had been cut, stitched, and where they attached to bone, possibly creating referred pain. That helped a lot.

On my last visit, in which he was supposed to do my final fills up to 700 ccs, I refused and said this would just be a consultation. I had been over on the picture site for several weeks, as well as reading every single page of whippetmom's "Breast Implant Sizing 101" thread.

I'd also realized that if he inserted the implants to match my TEs, and I lost weight later, I'd look like I had stripper boobs (SO not what I want!) So I'd joined a medically-supervised Optifast program at Kaiser with the intention of losing 40-50 pounds by the end of summer. I realized that I wanted NORMAL size implants from the get-go.

I whipped out my Allergan catalog, and made sure he explained everything he planned to do at exchange. He circled the catalog numbers of the implants he would take into the OR, and promised me the best fit according to my new weight.

He will be using Allergan Smooth Saline High Profile implants, and depending on how much weight I lose, will have to do some pocket work while he is in there. My TEs are 16cm wide; the implants will be 14 or 15 cm wide. He does not use Alloderm. He'll go in through the MX incisions, which normally would be small, as the saline implants can be inserted partially deflated and filled to capacity once they are in place.

However, he'll also have to do some cosmetic work, including removing loose skin, which could make my incisions go all the way under my armpits, and some lipo around the upper armpit area. I am praying that this does not set off LE, even though I "only" had a SNB (3 clear nodes) on the left.

NOW - MY POINT!

How many of us have gone through this whole process without the information we really needed to make good choices?

What if we had never found BCO with all its wise women and wealth of information?

Everything important I have needed to know about my surgery I have learned here, and I feel like I have become my own best advocate because of what I have learned.

I won't have my exchange until August or September, when I have lost the weight, and have gotten healthy enough for more surgery. This does not thrill me, as the right TE is really painful right now. But I am hoping that with the understanding I have with the PS, I'll have a better chance of getting it right the first time.

There are no guarantees, I know, and $#it happens. But I thank ALL of you who have posted here. Every little fact, experience, opinion, really does help all us relative newbies.

For those of you in severe pain after implants you have my sincere sympathy and gentlest hugs. May you find relief soon.

thank you Ladies for all the geat information

i went for my 4th fill yesterday 100cc for some reson i am very much in pain this time i am up to 480cc and just have to go one more time

i still dont know what implant i am getting

wishing you all a very nice Easter 

I am right there with you Kate! I was given no options, no discussion of methodology.I also did not understand that because my hospital was a university teaching hospital, that students would be involved in the actual mx and incisions. I wish I had a nipple-sparing and had known enough to insist on keeping the axilla intact. Boy, oh boy!! Hindsight is not much help here.

Hi Kate it's been awhile-------Had craniotomy on March 27th------B9 Yeah.    I read the Times article link you posted. Boy was it on mark.

Blessings, your story was ditto to my story. It's now since July 09 for saline implant exchange. I can say that perhaps as of may be 2 -3 months ago, I could say that I was down to plus 90 % less pain. That's approximately 2 3/4 years. My left side still has to be worked-massaged and maneuvers because it likely has some scar tissue that I break up with the maneuver. But it's more just a daily irritation---have to do thing. The pain is basically gone( April 2012). I still have the BRA feeling which is a permanent thing. BUT in no way is it like the earlier IRON BRA/ PAIN feeling---Thank you GOD.  In a do over, had I been taught better by my PS, I MAY ----May have chosen silicone implants. Don't know. I do know that I have ripples in my saline implants.

I likely would look better with some fat grafting too. AS Kate described her central area, it's also ditto to me. So, from Kate's description, I know I have a future choice.

Evebarry it also has been a long time ----hope everything else in your life is going well.  The plastic in you is really Silicone versus plastic. Silicone has been around since the  pre-70's. Used in many different products for surgical use.  From wiki it says we are on 5th generation silicone. I would suggest studying the differences before worrying too much about silicone. I haven't read the link you posted, but I will after I post this.

(((((Hugs)))))))) sheila

 Edit: read link-----it's good info about PLASTICS, but it is not what you have in you EVE.

I remember at PS Office, I had to sign off on pages and pages of what I agreed to, not knowing what I agreed to, just that it was going to be a mast. AT BS's office, I was given a menu of what I wanted, partial mast, lump, or full. I remember him telling me that you can only have radiation once and that if the cancer came back, you would need the mast. Back to PS office, tissue expanders and tram. I remember him telling me the operation would be longer and more expensive so I chose the t/es. Don't they realize that WE ARE NOT THINKING WHEN WE LEARNED WE HAVE JUST BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER.

I have not been complaining for a few days. Just lurking on the boards, almost wish I had a double so I would not feel the difference. Going for a dx mamo on thur. I don't go back PS until 5-1. Same old stuff, tired of it all.

Hugs,