Exchange City

Jackie- I am sorry you had to have another surgery. Don't beat yourself up. We all make mistakes. I helped pack up my sisters house 2 weeks after My MX with TE and it never healed right. Big mistake. DID TOO MUCH. Now you have had 2 surgeries! Be gentle with yourself. Watch a lot of TV. I hope your new implants are better fitting and you can start to heal. Let us know !!

Patty

thank you Kingster and Patty

Surgery went well. PS chose a 440 high profile medium height implant memory shape. I pray that the shape will be better in the future. To me they look like saggy national geographic boobs. I had high profile rounds 530cc previously and liked the shape much better. My MX was nipple sparing so with these anatomical my nipple is aT the bottom of the implant. For those of you who have been blessed with a PS who really listens to you and what your expectations are you are so lucky. I've had 2. Although. The 2nd ps did carry out my wishes the first time she made no attempt to hear me the 2nd surgery. I was told to trust her. Here's to hoping they will look better soon.

It has been almost two weeks. I return back to work tomorrow. I definitely feel well enough to work. I have a massive bruise on my right breast and my right side (TE side) is still sore and arm mobility is limited. But better! Left side which was just a lift and a small saline implant feels pretty normal.

So overall - for those ladies wondering what to expect....I was surprised at how much discomfort I was in. I thought it would be nothing - but it definitely takes awhile to get back to yourself. I am not there yet!

I miss my exercise. I think I have to wait 4 weeks total? I am not sure. All I know is right now I can just walk. That's ok. But I will look forward to getting back to my routine.

hi ladies. I am day 6 post exchange and everything is still tightly wrappe. Fron what i can see it looks like there is a lot of bruising on my boobs is that norma? I did have fat grafts. Drains at 35 and 22 for 24 hrs. See PS tomorrow for firs post op. Worried. Just don't want anything to go wrong this late in the game.

Hello everyone! I just got back from seeing the PS nurse who does my fills. She had told me last appt this would be a mini fill and I thought she said right side only (that side nipple is still a bit inverted, while the left side, the cancer side, is on high beam all the time....they tell me this is good because it shows I still have really good blood circulation left which can be a problem with nipple sparring). Well, my mini fill ended up being 45 cc on each side instead of the usual 50 cc.....not sure what is "mini" about that 5 cc difference. I am now walking around with 360 cc total on each side in 200 cc TEs. But, this should be my last fill. Exchange surgery is scheduled for April 28 so I only have 37 more "sleeps" before these rocks are exchanged for my gummybear anatomical implants. I can hardly believe how excited I am to get this surgery done....not just excited for the outcome, but excited to have it. Sounds crazy even to me, but that's how I feel. I know 360 cc doesn't sound like a lot compared to most, but that is a little more than 30 cc than was removed with my original BMX. I've always been small chested and used to wish I had more to work with....I've changed my mind on that one, at least with the increase in the TEs form. They get in my way and I keep elbowing myself in the chest! Now that is NOT fun and the constant pressure/pain is NOT fun. I just keep telling myself that I'm almost done and keep the pain meds to a minimum. Not sure how well I'll be able to sleep on my side now, but I absolutely can NOT sleep on my back.

I see my PS in 2 weeks for my final appt before surgery just to make sure he doesn't want to add just a little bit more. Apparently by having nipple sparring BMX the exchange is a bit more complex because he is trying to get both nipples pointed in the right direction. Surprisingly the nurse told me today that this upcoming surgery may be much more painful than the BMX.....this is the same nurse who told me before my first surgery that I would only need Motrin after BMX.........boy was that one wrong since I ended up with Norco 10/325 in addition to the Motrin. Not too worried though cause even though my last few fills have caused me to have more constant discomfort and outright pain which requires medication, I still have about 8 Norco left from my original #90 pills I was given a day or two after BMX December 18. Since I'm past the 3 month mark, I think I'm doing pretty well with my pain management.

Gotta get going now, but I just HAD to share my good news about my upcoming exchange surgery with all of you whom I know truly understand why I am so excited. My DH and family don't get it......but then none of them have ever had to live with these torturous TEs like we all have. I truly wouldn't wish TEs on my worst enemy.

Cyber hugs to all.....

molly - I did not have rads but have skin issues stemming from necrosis after my original surgery that mimic the same things that happen with rads skin. I lost my left expander after several surgeries to try to save it due to this so that I could proceed to chemo without further delay, and afterward had it replaced and filled and exchanged successfully without incident, but we went very slowly. I had a repair surgery a couple of years later and again had skin issues that ultimately resulted in the loss of the left implant, again after several surgeries. I did have two fat grafts, six months apart, to the flat side in prep for a new TE, which I have now - fully filled and waiting to exchange in May. The fat grafting done for those who have had rads is less for capsular contracture and more to help with skin integrity - the issue with radiated skin is that it has more trouble stretching. If you decide to go with expander/implant I would counsel you to do the FG and then proceed very slowly while expanding. How long you would have the TE would be dependent on how large you want to go, or can go, and how well your skin tolerates the stretch. Most PS leave the fully filled in place for a minimum of a month - up to three months, sometimes more. How long your TE stays in on the non-rads side would be more dependent on how long the rads side takes to fill and rest prior to exchange. Just remember that placing an expander on the side that has already had MX will potentially be less painful than the non-rads side that will have MX plus TE. Also, most PS won't initiate expander recon for someone who has had rads for at least six months, often a year or longer.

Felt like I needed to post this and MAYBE someone will benefit from it. I am 6 months post exchange this week! Woohoo for the most part. Debating some minor FG still but my big issue now is shoulder pain and lack of mobility. It has been going on for months and I kept thinking it would "go away" with time. It is my left shoulder. I saw my PS this week and he said get this fixed now. Or else they will have to do it surgically. So I am in PT and the therapist said I should have been here at the 3 month post exchange point. Again, I just kept thinking time would heal. So if anyone is having rang of motion issues still, or pain or anything above the ordinary healing ASK your doctors! I am mad at myself for not listening to my body but it was the holidays and I was happy to have a doctor free spell for awhile. But now I am paying for it. The therapist said I am functioning at about 40% on my left shoulder. I can't use it much without pain. My posture is affected as well. I know physical therapy after our surgeries is a debatable topic and maybe most ladies don't need it but for me, I needed it and just hope I can recover and gain all that mobility and strength back!

molly - thanks, it has been a long haul recon-wise, but most of these issues didn't happen all at once - it has been stretched (no pun intended, lol!) out over a span of time. It has now been so long since my BMX I almost don't even connect the recon problems to the cancer anymore. I am not sure how much fat grafted to the area can cut down on scarring - which is what CC is. You might discuss taking Singulair, an asthma med, as it is thought to potentially be preventative for CC. Was your TE maximally filled prior to rads? Would the need be to have the right side MX and fill to match the left, and then exchange, prior to Dec and the MRI? When I originally had the left TE put back in 2011, it took about six months to go from zero fill at surgery, some healing time prior to fills, and then to 550ccs - it was put in mid-July and exchanged in Feb of the following year. I did weekly small (25cc fills) so as not to stress the skin, and my PS only needed to wait a month prior to exchange because we had gone so slowly.

lkscolo. . .I postponed PT until after EX because insurance only pays for 25 visits per year. I am 8 Mos post EX and have been in PT since last August. I'm a work in progress and still do not have full ROM. I am slowly getting there and am dealing with continued nerve pain. It too is slowly getting better.

Scottie

I had a double masectomy Oct 20 followed by 4 rounds of chemo (no radiation). I am scheduled for my exchange on 4/27. I guess I am excited but not really sure what to expect. I look at myself and feel like my body has been taken over by aliens (no hair, no eye lashes, rock hard boobs with giant scars). I guess I don't think this is going to make me feel 'normal' again but I hope it is a step. My expanders have been tolerable. I never forget they are there (i.e., can constantly feel heaviness and mild discomfort). But I guess I feel like this is normal and maybe hoping it will go away after the exchange....but I don't know. Fingers crossed. Taking 3 days off work with a long weekend. I work from home and have a desk job so I am hoping that is enough. I was told it would be easier than the double masectomy but certainly would like to hear others experiences. Thanks! Virtual hugs!

proctor 1725, I am just one step ahead of you. I had my BMX in September followed by 4 rounds of TC no rads. I had my EX just 8 weeks ago. I took three weeks off, although i was feeling pretty good after 2 so I did work form home. The pain very much depends on how extensive the pocket work is. I had pretty extensive so the pain did linger in certain spots but I can honestly say I don't feel any pain. I do still have slight tightness right near my underarms when when my pectoral muscles contract. (i.e. trying to open a jar, washing down a counter, folding laundry etc)

Good luck with your exchange. Phyllis

I saw my PS today - 2 weeks post surgery. He removed the surgical tape and said everything look good. My mastectomy side seems to be a big higher. He said that it may settle down lower - I had a lot of scar tissue due to radiation. If it doesn't he said he can go back in and correct. Ugh. I don't want to do that. But I think I just have to wait and see. He told me we were looking for "sisters not twins". I get that. I just want to look normal in clothes. My other side got a lift and a small saline implant to give me same shape. I have to massage both sides 1x a day and that may help things "settle".

thanks for the response. Glad you are doing better!

Nebraska, oh honey, don't go back to work even from home that soon. Give yourself time and rest. Remember, "just because you can doesn't mean you should ". If you don't have drains the amount of movement can make fluid build up. Please take it easy. 😉

Robin

I had my pre-op appointment with PS on Monday and I'm scheduled to remove the rocks for squishy implants on Apr 7th. I'm right behind you Nebraska and right before you Proctor

I plan on taking about 11 days off work including the weekends. Hope that will be enough. I said I felt a little like I was buying a set of tires when she told me I would be getting 550cc smooth high profile gel implants

I was a DD before and she said this would make me a full C. She didn't overfill my expanders because I was having a lot of pain with fills. I'm just nervous that the implants won't fill out all my skin because I still have saggy skin at the bottom right now with my TE's. Totally ready to get this over with. She seemed to think the recovery would be fairly easy without a lot of pain. As I have read through this thread it seems a lot have had significant pain with exchange surgery. My PS said I wouldn't need drains either.