Fat Grafting along with Implants

So if only a percentage of the fat is retained, where does the rest go? Back to where it came from?  I know it sounds like a dumb question, but I'm intrigued.

Chantal...WOW, you hit it! "water bed" thats IT exactly!  I only feel it on the right side (where I'm told my breast surgeon was "more aggressive") 

GREAT to hear HawaiiK!!! I'm glad they let you spend the night. Let us know how the healing goes. I am still waiting for my surgery date.  

I had my exchange surgery a couple of weeks ago, and am thinking I may need some fat grafting.  Can anyone describe the process for me?  If the fat grafting is happening at a later date than the exchange, do they have to open up the main incision again, or is it a less invasive procedure?  How about the incision size for the lipo part of it?  Any info appreciated - thanks!

Thanks Hawaiik!

Hi Christine, I want to remove my implants and go to fat grafting. You sound so positive about your experience. May I ask who your doctor is and where he/she practices? Thank you!

Janet

Thanks Christine!  Great to hear about your positive experience, and to know that it's possible to do the fat grafting at a later time than the exchange surgery.  I too would love to know where you've been having it done. 

Hi girls, hope I did not confuse anyone, I still have my implants, just fat grafting to give more fullness upper poles and defects.  All of my fat grafting was done after implant exchange (not at the time of exchange).  I am in NC, private message me if you want more info (name of surgeon).

Christine-did you have smaller implants to accomodate the fat grafting?  I would love to look into fat grafting, but don't want to change out my implants as I've had absolutely no problems with them and I'm coming up o 1 yr with them (knocking on wood...)

I had a fat graph done this morning.  It is not the worst thing I've lived through but it was not fun.  My right was radiated so I have a lot of rad damage, pain, contracture and contortion of the implant from the bad skin.

I was left awake, the surgery done with local (lidocaine).  That was the worst part of it...all those injections to fill my belly with lidocaine.  

The worst part was that I was awake and not shielded from the surgery.  I was draped but basically I was right there in the surgery.  Part of it was so the doctor could watch my face.  Every time I felt the sting of the needle or grimaced, he was right there asking if I felt it.  He'd add more lidocaine.  It was not the most painful surgery I've had done by any stretch.  But it was very scary in a mental/psych kind of way.  

They did the liposuction just like you see on tv....the giant coring needles shoved into the fat and then the sawing and forth.  Obviously they were careful to stay in the fat field (I have a fat farm around my belly).  But once they got in, he sawed back and forth quite violently.  I got rocked and rolled around and told them it felt just like having a c section.  It was kind of humiliating to see the grab a fist full of fat, pull it away from the belly to poke those needles in.  Yuck.  At one point I groaned.  The assistant was holding the spare needles in his hand right over my face.  The doc thought I was hurting again, but just asked if the resident could please move the ice picks out of my line of sight.  These 14 gauge coring needles were huge and intimidating.  They moved them.    I have 13 stabs all around.  They did a single suture in each that will be taken out in about 10 days.

I had read here in another post to wear compression garments afterward.  The doctor said I didn't need that.  I told him hmmmm...women who had this done say wear it, it will be more comfortable.  Doctor who never had this done said it's not necessary.  Yeah, I'm wearing a binder.  He laughed and told me "well be that way then."  The injections around and over the implant trying to plump up the skin was not painful...I was good and numb.

I felt pretty good, just a little slow so I actually went out for lunch with the hubs.  Came home and took a nap.  Woke up thinking this isn't so bad.  Then I sat up.  As things shifted to gravity, oh my word.  Not awful like I said but DEFINITELY sore.  My belly feels just like it did after a csection.  But my foob is stinging as well.

He only took 240 ccs of fat, spun it then injected the fat.  Since I was awake and watching I was asking questions.  The centrifuge spins and separates the fat molecules.  It separates the oil from the fat molecules, the saline they inject as well as the blood.  So the tube looked layers.  Yellow bottom layer (the skinny fat), then a redish layer that was the saline and blood then a clear layer...it was the oil from the fat cells.  They saved some for me to feel after the surgery.  It felt just like crisco!  GE-ROSS.  My husband so thoughtfully reminded me that eskimos cook whale fat down for the oil.  yay...

The nurse said it would be 45 minutes long.  It was an hour and half for me.  My body was slow with giving up the fat.  Then they spun it 4 times to clarify the fat.  He told me before that it would take 2 procedures, but during this he told me to figure on a third.  My skin damage was so leathery he was having troubl injecting.  He said it was like trying to push a spaggheti string though deer skin.  There was a spot he was simply unable to get the needle under the skin.  He might not be able to fix that spot.  But my goal is not to look perfect.  This implant has still not fallen.  The skin is so bad it acts like a strap holding it up.  I just want the skin to soften so the implant will fall and fit in a bra like the other side.  As it is I have a kind of o O look under my shirts.

That's my fat graph experience.  My exchange was in July.

Frangrantroses and Hawaiik-thank you so much for sharing your experiences.  I am learning so much about this procedure and am looking forward to finding a PS (that my insurance covers) to give me an idea of whether this may work for me.  If you have any recommendations of docs in the Chicago area, please let me know.

Thanks!

Giving an update.  When the surgery part was over and the doctors and nurses were picking up their stuff, my doctor told me I would be sore...like a bruise.  He said that tylenol or IB would be enough pain meds and the belly binder wasn't necessary.

The pain meds - well I have previous experience with this university and they are STINGY with pain meds.  But I still had pain meds left from my exchange in July.  I used them.  And 6 or so hours after surgery when I was feeling everything, and the IB effect wasn't even noticeable?  I dug out the vicodin.

It's obviously not the worst kind of pain or soreness.  He may have been right...sore like a bruise.  But I've never bruised my belly.  To me it felt the same as my c section....really sore belly.  But I knew my tiny incisions wouldn't rupture open so I made myself move more than I did after a c section.  So getting up and down, laying down, walking...it all hurt.  Which made me not want to move.  So I took a vicodin and it allowed me to move around the house without help.  I took 2 all day Saturday, and then one on Sunday to help me do all my Sunday morning chores.  It was the last one I took.

I did grocery shopping Sunday late afternoon and spent all day in doctor's offices yesterday.  Yesterday (Monday) was a really good day and while the "bruise" is starting to show up on the skin, it did NOT slow me down.

The one thing I am concerned about it, is how this side feels.  Part of me was afraid to massage the implant, fearing I'm mess up the fat graph.  But the whole "breast" is firm and swollen feeling...which being radiated skin reacts very much to being messed with like that.  But I have swelling under my arm.  My appointment with my oncologist yesterday, he examined the swelling and agreed it was firmer and more than firm than the other side - it might be lymphedema.  Last night I did several rolls from the back to that side and then forward.  THis morning I don't feel like there's a water balloon in my arm pit.  So be aware, if you have mild lymphedema, you may need to address swelling.

I am planning on having this procedure done next month.   Question for you all.......we're talking all about how good the "foobs" look after the grafting.  Did you notice if your belly, or thighs, or hips (wherever the donor site was) looked better after the liposuction??  Or do they not take enough out to really notice?  Just curious? 

Hi Wild, 

I had fat grafting done in December - my PS took fat from my thigs and muffin top. My thighs looked TERRIBLE afterwards. You could see where the canular was inserted and two missing a pocket of fat, one from both sides. Because of this, I had a second surgery on tuesday 4/23. She took more fat from my thighs to even them out. I hope this works. My thighs look much smaller but it's probably going to make my ass look bigger!

How long after reconstruction did you have fat injections?