Tissue Expander Size Vs Actual Implant Size need to decide soon

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babyo20
babyo20 Member Posts: 143
edited July 2014 in Breast Reconstruction

Hello I recently had a bilateral mascetomy and am in the process of fills. I currently am at the size I would like to be but wondering how implants looked as opposed to tissue expanders. I am 130 lbs, 5' 4" and was a 34b but would like to go to a full C for everything I went through. I have a 350 cc in my chest and am now at 375 cc which usually they go over in fills to allow for more space. My PS said that he will do extra fills to allow for larger implants if that were the case and also to stretch the skin too but other times he said he didn't need to do that so am wondering what others experienced.

Also, yesterday I had my fill that put me over by 25 cc and have been in extreme pain mostly on the left side which Is more round and where I had a lymph node removed, Is this common for those who have been overfilled or is there something I should be concerned about?

As with regular implants, do these settle and go down in size or since this is in between the muscles will the implant placed be true to size after the exchange too? If I tell my PS that I want the size I am now and get that same size will the size be the same or did you find it was smaller like i have been reading about size here? Were most of you happy with the size you choose or did you think maybe you should have gone bigger? My PS scheduled it for 3 weeks after my last refill if not less but I have been reading that most wait at least six weeks. Have any of you experienced the exchange that soon after fills?

Sorry for the questions. The pain caused by yesterday's fill is leaving me with numerous questions and I want to be a bigger size than I was but I also know TE look different than implants so want to pick the right size based on how it will look after the exchange happens. 

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited July 2014

    Because tissue expanders have a hard back they project forward as they are filled with saline.  When you exchange to an implant it is uniformly soft all the way around so they tend not to have as much forward projection so you can potentially lose some size.  Most women experience a reduction in visual size when they have exchange surgery, sometimes up to half.  I am 5'2", approximately 120 lbs, and had 550cc maximum volume expanders that were filled to 575 on the left side and 650 on the right.  The TE can be filled quite a bit beyond its fill size.  I have a chest wall anomaly but even at differing fill amounts I looked symmetrical.  I exchanged to a 600cc on the left and a 650cc on the right, lost some size visually, but not a lot - likely due to the large size of my implants.  I wear a 34DD in an underwire bra for the underwire to get all the way around the implant and not sit on top of it, but visually look like a full C.  All plastic surgeons are different in the time between last fill and exchange - I filled slowly so I also exchanged relatively quickly after the last fill, about four weeks.  I recommend that you go to this thread and provide whippetmom with the information requested in the header, she is very good at advising size matters - she was spot on with her recommendation for me.

    https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topic/746448?page=376#post_4093908

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  • babyo20
    babyo20 Member Posts: 143
    edited July 2014

    thank you for your response. It was great to hear your situation too but need to find out the info required to see what size is right. I only had a 350 put in due to my chest wall and 375 is very sore now so dreading next weeks fill. I truly want to appear a Full c but size wis the same. This is one thing we have some control over. Just figure I would have more fills tan I do now but he was aiming for what size I want which I am almost there now so I want to be sure there is room for it then. He told me if the size I get is not big enough can go bigger. I want the right one Begin with though don't want to mess around with all that 

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  • babyo20
    babyo20 Member Posts: 143
    edited July 2014

    your response was great! Woud love to hear others too and see pictures but the moderator has not often back to me yet :(

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