Exchange City

Love that DulciGirl.......the part about Keep your chin up....is what my PS told me when I had my neck liftted....

so so true...always sneaking a peak "down there"....since implants/revisions

.hasn't been part of my life for a LONG time....like when my real breast seemed to bud and grow overnight, when I was 10 years old.....having C cups by 12 years old.

hips, good luck to you today! Thoughts and prayers are with you during this time. Hoping all goes well and a speedy recovery!

hpjz - Good luck today!  We're all in your pocket on this!  Please let us know how it went when you're able...

YAY hjpz!  Welcome to Squish City!    Now practice the mantra and take it easy!  It sounds like that will be the hardest part of all of this for you...

Hipz,

I'm so impressed that your PS called to check on you.  Glad you are doing well and doing NOTHING.

Sure Previvor! I found this info on reputable PS websites just FYI. 

START 2 weeks BEFORE until 2 weeks AFTER surgery (Strongly Recommended)

• Take a Multivitamin tablet daily. Most multivitamins contain some
  form of vitamin E, however this is acceptable to take prior to surgery.
  We do ask that you refrain from taking additional vitamin E.
• Take Vitamin A – 8,000-10,000 units, twice a day. This has
  well-documented beneficial effects on surgical healing and will also
  fuel your immune system.
• Take Vitamin C – 1,000 mg., twice a day. This is essential for
  collagen synthesis, which is part of normal wound healing. Your need for
  Vitamin C will increase after surgery.
• Take Bromelain – 1,000 mg., twice a day. (Pineapple enzyme – from a
  health food store) This helps to relieve the swelling associated with
  surgery.

  2 Days Before Surgery

  YOU MAY BEGIN TAKING ARNICA MONTANA

• Take every 8 hours as directed and continue for 10 days.
• Continue taking Bromelain as directed every 12 hours between meals.
  This anti-inflammatory promotes healing. As an alternative, eat fresh
  pineapple.

Please be sure to check with your PS before taking ANYTHING in the weeks prior to surgery.  I just had a revision surgery last week and had orders to STOP all vitamins, herbals, etc, including fish oil, vitamin E, vitamin C, and a list of others.  So many of these can cause an increase in bleeding and other complications.  Glad your recovery is going well hipz!

I told my PS about my vitamins so always agree to check with them as well.  I stopped my Fish Oil before surgery and know you are not supposed to take Vit. E beforehand but both my Dr. and the hospital staff were good with me taking Vit A, C, and D. 

hi everyone,

anybody here who doesn't wear bra to support new breast implants? is it ok to not wear one? i find the elastics irritating specially towards the side. during my 1 week post-op visit with my PS, he said i can wear regular bra now. but i forgot to ask if not wearing one is ok. thoughts?

Had my exchange surgery yesterday.  Everything went very well.  I am just a bit sore, especially my abdomen where the PS liposuctioned some belly fat to put up top.  Right now I resemble a Suma wrestler.  Looking forward to the big reveal at the May 7th post-op appointment.

Curlylx - Welcome to the Squishie Side!  Now rest, take it easy, and drink plenty of fluids to flush away that anesthesia!  

MyraVH, my plastic surgeon said there was no need to wear a bra unless I was doing something that would make the new implants (or TE's) bounce...like running. In that case, I should wear a sports bra. Other docs disagree and have their patients in tight bras 24/7 after the exchange or even ace bandages for weeks. I asked my PS if there were any studies or published info about the pros/cons of bras and he said no. There is no proof that for a normal situation, a bra makes a difference one way or the other. It's just the preference of the PS and the patient. He said if I felt better in a bra, I should wear one...as long as it wasn't an underwire. (Other PS insist on nothing but underwires.) Just like virtually EVERY other aspect of breast reconstruction, plastic surgeons disagree about what is best in every situation. That's ok but I wish they would not present their opinions as irrefutable fact. It drives us all crazy and when we read how other do things, it makes us wonder and perhaps mistrust.

Of course, if your surgery is not the normal situation, there may be a good reason why a bra would help. If the pocket the PS created for the TE/implant is even a little too big, the implant can rotate out of place. Some implants are more likely to rotate than others. Perhaps in those situations, a bra helps. I don't know.

sandra - I agree with you about all Dr.'s having their own opinion!  Due to this, I always research everything at reputable websites so I can talk with my Dr.(s) about my findings and do what is best for me.  My hope for all survivors out there is that they take charge of their own bodies and question things when necessary (politely of course).  Doctors are only human too.

Since I was one of those "plastic" and bleached blondes of the early 80s, my PS then made me wear a soft surgical bra even in the shower and no underwires for months, he might have told me to never wear one. I went from a B to a D. Slut.

Anyway, this time, it's nothing like the other. BC makes sure of that. But my PS says he doesn't care just as long as it's not tight and no underwire. I figured out that tightness thing real quick. I did buy a bra a size larger but I don't feel comfortable in it so I just wear the w-beater tshirts for women. We should call them boob beater t-shirts.

I don't know what you guys mean by a cold implant? Do they sometimes go cold?  Do you ever have a wild stitch just show up along a scar?

Lostboob--Love your sense of humor!  I too had the spitting suture after my BMX.  It is very common.