March 2014 Surgery

SpecialK, I hope you are doing well after your most recent surgery.  I feel so sorry for what you've been through.

Linda, I also have a triangle patch just like yours but above the incision.  On the day after surgery, it was a white patch with a black spot.  We kept an eye on it all along.  It was a poor blood flow area and I'm hoping it doesn't stay reddish/brownish forever.  My incisions are still pretty red and bumpy.  I'll need to take a picture the next time I take the scar strips off.  I swear they got redder after my last fill.  I guess my incisions are wondering what the heck I'm doing every time I get a fill.

Frostecat, that's great and very sweet of your son.  

It does seem like yesterday since we were all having our surgeries!

Frostecat - It is so sweet and nice your son is being there for you. I think it is a tricky transition for kids to make in young adulthood to realize that parents are vulnerable and need support like they (the kids)  have needed all these years.  My kids are figuring it out too.  I only have to ask my 25 year old 2-3 times to do the dishes!! HA!  My 21 year old daughter graduating next week in New York City -- has recently been calling me a minimum of 4 times a day as her job job search heats up -- and then when she has really talked about her STUFF plenty enough -- out comes a "How are you Mom?  By the way your new boobs looked good and big in the Mother's Day pic!"  She cracks me up.  I am headed to NYC all next week for NYU graduation ceremonies. Really going to pace myself -- and my DH and son and mother will be with me to make sure I am not dancing on roof tops with my daughter as much as I would want to be!  I stood there in the mirror tonight in the dress I will wear -- and cried -- feeling so thankful I am going, that I can go, that I have the scary - unknown stuff behind me -- gosh I am thankful.  

KellyGreen -- I have not done any chicken dances, but I agree, on the moving around stuff -- I feel like I can move a little more with every week that passes, and when I do anything not gentle  -- my TE's are achy most of the next day -- that would be today -- not sure what I did on Mother's Day -- but clearly a little too much. 

Linda -- the good news is -- you are healing -- yeah ! -- and you retained all kinds of good healthy skin for reconstruction yeah! -- and in time that PS of yours will make the hook disappear yeah!  The TEs do tend to make the scar stretch and fade I have noticed. So as fills happen -- hopefully your scar will look better and fade and minimize some. 

So -- I have been on Arimidex for 2 months now -- I do notice the aches -- I kind of try to ignore it -- but it is there. Systemically in my bones -- I just feel it. Not like I have to take pain pills ache -- but real. Movement it the best thing so far and work or activities taking my mind off of it.  When I am Sitting for long and laying down to go to sleep it is quite noticeable. Guess I just have to keep moving for 5 years. I have a bone density test next week -- to get a baseline too.    

Lol Vintagegal - sorry my pic didn't help but at least you know you are not alone in not liking to look at yourself right now.   I have shared with my hubby and he surprisingly is not grossed out and actually I think kind of fascinated with the whole process.  However, my daughter cannot look - it makes her weepy.  She could even look at my port LOl

I did show hubby my bright red rad area tonight....by pulling down my cami he saw the chest area, then I pulled it up & he saw the under arm area. I guess the *burn* was more than he expected. 

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hi sisters.  just checking in.  my surgery side has gotten very sunken in.  I have been on the femara
for about a month, so far i have less of an appetite than usual, so i am eating more healthfully.  i am also full of energy that i did not have before.  i have been exercising about five times a week, and although i only went down a few pounds so far, my clothes are already looser, and the extra fat "boob" under the surgery side arm is moving in front of the arm now, i guess from weight loss and skin moving around?  it no longer hurts to sleep on that side.  my dog ear is getting more hollow now too.  i am nervous now though because the gyno i saw last week left a message on my machine about my bloodwork results (prolactin, FSH, and some other things), but i got the message after they were already closed, so i have to wait until tomorrow.  i also have an ultrasound of ovaries scheduled for next week.  please pray for me gals.  p.s.  you all look great.  since my recon not until the end of next month, i still look like a horror show.  i'll post a pic if anyone is brave enough to look.

Scary - prayers for you.

Stfne - I had my second fill Friday of 100 cc so now at 500cc.  They said I need another fill or two but I think I'm about there.  Since I had a UMX I am very lopsided right now with a 40dd natural breast.  Difficult to find a bra that works now, need a crane on that side and it hurts the new one when I wear a support bra. Got to switch them up throughout the day for comfort.

After being large chested all my life I want to go much smaller.  I keep telling my PS this but I think he's thinking bigger than I am.  Hopefully we can get on the same page next visit. I will be getting a lift and reduction on the other.

Curious and asking you ladies how many cc's did you fill to?  Yes, I realize there are a lot of variations due to height, weight, etc., but just throwing out a generic question.

Hi Frostecat -- my PS filled me to 500ccs -- over 6 weeks. 100 at BMX and then 70 a week -- starting at 3 weeks post surgery until we reached 500ccs.  I was a 36B -- I want to be and we are aiming for a 36C when all is said and done.  I weight 130lbs and am 5'6" -- so this is proportionately about right.  

Absolutely, as you said, # of fills/maximum cc's and ultimate "end game" size varies by each woman, as SpecialK has coached us time and again on.  Ones body and health and as we are all learning a variety of possible events between BMX and Exchange impact the canvas the PS is working with.  My approach is to expect an ok result and hopefully be delighted when it is a little better than ok.  As I look at my mounds each day in passing I realize this is not Kansas anymore and never well be.  

Sandra -- it is so good you got to get away to Florida -- too bad the aches and pains have interfered with activities.  The good news is squishing white sand with your feet is a fabulously worthwhile activity and so is gazing at the ocean over a nice pedicure!!   

Linda, looking good!  I love your smile and two heads are better than one!  ;-)

Sandra,  sorry for your aches. It sounds like the beach is a perfect time to chill out and heal those aches and pains.  Your husband's toes look amazing by the way. 

I'm at 450 cc and expect a few more fills. My PS very slow. 50cc every other week. I get anxious at times to hurry it up but have to admit things are looking pretty good so far and the discomfort is minimal. 

thanks for the prayers and kind thoughts sisters.  my fsh is 60.4, so i guess that means menopause, right?  yay, i'm glad about that.  my prolactin is 7.7, so i guess that's okay?  i can't find reference ranges for women in menopause, and i have googled like crazy, lol.  my hemoA1C is 5.6, which is good.  But, i have bacterial vaginosis, and i haven't been sexually active for at least a year, my hubby has ED (sorry if tmi).  so i guess it's from too many antibiotics lately and not enough yogurt, so i bought a bunch, lol.  the scary thing about the med they prescribed (flagyl) is the extreme warnings about anything containing alcohol.  i don't drink alcohol, but they said to check labels on everything, including cold and cough medications, and i can't even use mouthwash.  i also can't use hand sanitizer, perfume or any lotions, etc. with alcohol while taking this med.  it's 2 pills a day for a week.  next friday is my pelvic ultrasound, so i want to get that over with too.

Frostecat, my recon. isnt' until the end of june, and i want my boobs to be small, real small.  i will make sure they know i want to look like a 14 year old girl who has just started to blossom, lol.  because the more weight i lose, the more they will stick out anyway.

beautiful beach picture.  omg, so jealous, but happy for you sandra.  Linda, you're beautiful; don't forget that.

hope you have a great time at your daughters graduation Sailon.  That is such a special moment.   

Hope to run across you to Footballnut.  I've read your struggles along the way and pray all will become a smooth path of healing for you. 

It is weird to see how quickly the March sisters have gone from fear of surgery to healing and moving on.  I am feeling great, almost normal.  If I overdo it I still get tired but otherwise I feel like me again.  I started Femara (actually LetraZole) yesterday and am totally paranoid about side effects.  I actually told my husband last night "no side effects yet".  After one pill, really!!! I need to get over it.

Hope everyone is well and moving on with health and healing.  Love this group of ladies.

i will stay here.

I'll be around!  Of course I have others on my favorite topics as I go through the next steps.  Footballnut, you will be missed here but we will see you around on other threads.  i hope all goes well for you.

I had my last fill in my expanders.  I'm at 450cc now and my boobs are like Bam Bam!  I'm wearing my agency polo shirt today at work and they are really out there.  I think they look marvelous.  My scars are dark reddish brown in some areas and my PS says I have hyperpigmentation.  Boo.  They may never fade to thin light lines.  I'm using silicone scar strips everyday, hoping they will improve.  My PS ordered Allergan style 20 in 450, 475, and 500.  She will use what looks best.  I have a 3 month wait ahead.

For follow up, every 3 months, I will see either my oncologist or original surgeon.  I won't get any scans or blood tests unless I have symptoms.  All is going well.  I am getting occasional hot flashes but not too severe.

SouthernBling - I haven't had much expander pain after 4 weeks postmastectomy.  Just the very tight bra feeling.  After on big 100cc fill (too much) I had sternum pain for a week from the stretching.  Every time my PS stuck the needle in, she said look to the side and cough.  That was rather pointless because everything is numb and I never felt the needle.

I just got a surgery date for my exchange surgery.  8/8/14 :-D

southernbling - I can feel my valves and mine are located above my scars - towards where the top of my breast used to be.   I was worried about that lump too initially until I saw where he filled then I knew what it was and mine feel squishy in places and those areas do seem to move around, I can hear the liquid move sometimes LOL and they spring back - all normal I think.      I had only 50 CCs at surgery and since have had one fill of 75 CCs - I go on Monday for my second fill which I think he intends to do 100 CCs.   75 didn't bother me until about a week after my first chemo - then it seemed to get tight for a bit - now it is soft again and I know I am physically ready for a fill.  My PS will go as slow as I request and I would ask for a small fill initially just to see how you handle it.