Exchange City

Hi all,

I had my exchange surgery on 4/22. Silicone implant with fat grafting. Everything is going well and I feel so much better after this surgery than my BMX. Still pretty tired though, and sore. My PS said no exercise that gets my heart rate up for 1 month, so the fat grafting sticks. So been trying to do easy walks with the dog every day and a gentle modified yoga class.

Does anyone hear their implant sound like its squishing around? Kind of a strange suction almost farty sound. Weird

I have this exact issue and I am 4-5 months from exchange. My PS initially told me to wait a year to allow myself to get back to regular exercise and then we can address what might need to be done. Seems like what used to be soft contiguous side/back fat now hits the implant/suture area and leaves an unnatural flabby area. I'm only 5'2" and 120 and fairly lean so this bugs me. I hope to ask him to adjust if possible. Meeting with him on 5/10 so I'll post what I learn! Glad I am not alone!

How careful do you have to be with implants?

I think that rupture is more common if implant is over 10 years old. Not 5 months for sure. Maybe something during a surgery?

An update on my ruptured implant: I am now officially one of a kind. I had an appointment on Monday, I thought with the PS because he said he specifically wanted to see me. Found out it was just with the nurse because normally the nurse sees the patient a week post op and the PS after 5 weeks. Well, this wasn't normal but I couldn't do anything about it because the PS was in surgery all day. The nurse was new and basically clueless (I'll be polite). She removed my stitches and said it looked fine and come back in 5 weeks. The next day, it looked like my incision was opening up a little, and being overly cautious, I went in and made sure my appointment was with the PS.

It was a good thing, because he really did want to see me after surgery, but the message didn't get through to his staff. The incision is no problem-he just put some steri-strips on it to hold it in place. But the rupture was a long discussion. He showed me a video of the ruptured implant, and it had two long tears across the back. He has only seen two ruptures in his career (12 years). One was a bad car accident and the other was a lady kicked by a horse. He consulted his two partners as well as the rep from Mentor and they all concurred that the ONLY thing that can cause a rupture is a VERY SEVERE TRAUMA. He even took me aside and asked if I was a victim of abuse (not if you know my husband-we had a good laugh about that). The only thing I can think of is that I fell on the ice towards the end of March, but I landed on my back in a snowbank and my tailbone was sore for a couple days. He doesn't think that would do it.

So I guess it will remain a mystery.According to Mentor they "just don't rupture" so they will never admit that it was defective.I've lost a few months of recovery time and I will always wonder what happened. But the good thing is that my chart is flagged now so that I will only see the PS personally.

bikefam and kingster - Hugs

jr114 - I have had FG several times - one time with implants in for aesthetics - the same situation you describe - and it was really helpful, improved things a great deal and I endorse doing it. I have had two additional FG done after the loss of the left implant after skin issues during a repair surgery, this was done to the flat area to improve skin integrity, much like is now being done for radiation patients. I will not lie - the donor site can be painful, but I have found that how much it hurts - and when - is dependent on the quantity of fat that is removed. More fat harvested = more pain. Compression helps with discomfort, getting up and down and moving while seated or laying down seems to hurt more than just being up and walking around, or sitting or laying still. This is not usually constant pain, rather pain generated by specific movement. If you have FG done, and your donor area is abdominal, I highly recommend a compression garment with a snap crotch opening. Taking compression on and off smarts, and this facilitates a way to use the restroom without taking off the whole compression garment. Also recommend having two - if you need to wear compression for a number of weeks you need to launder one while wearing one.

This is my first post here. I am scheduled for exchange surgery June 3 after BMX in March with TE placed. Struggling with whether to go with regular silicone implants or "gummy bear" implants. I've read up on pros and cons of both but am curious about your experiences and why you chose one over the other...

I did discuss at length with PS and she said I could do either and didn't indicate a preference for me of one over the other. It would be easier if she had! I have appt May 26th and have to make final decision then and I'm not sure which to choose.

Specialk & proctor...Thank you for your responses. My ps didn't mention compression garment but I haven't told him I want to go ahead with it. Is 2 months the norm to wear one? Is it to shape you? How does the donor site look afterwards?

Poodle lover ... Sorry to find you here but I have gained so much knowledge from the strong women here and I hope you do as well. Myps didn't give me an option. I have mentor anatomical cpg. The only thing I could "choose" to a certain extent was the size. He said for most women they give the best results. I do like the look. I just have a couple areas that may need tweaking but that part is totally up to how I feel and how much it bothers me. I am only 5 weeks out from exchange so I am not going to do anything until September. I need a chance to decompress for the emotional roller coaster of the last year.

For me, they poked 'holes' in several places on my stomach and withdrew the fat. I had quite a bit of bruising afterwards. My PS told me to wear the garment as long as I could stand it to help keep things 'smooth' - I guess without it or if you don't wear it long enough she said there could be some 'puckering' depending on the elasticity of your skin. Hope that helps. Good luck! please keep us posted.

The rationale behind wearing compression on the donor site after fat grafting is to prevent the tunnels created by the cannula during the process from filling with fluid. This is a natural physical response so compression helps. You can actually form a seroma at the donor location. Generally, the PS will only remove as much fat as necessary for the graft - so many don't see a huge difference at the donor site. Removing more than is needed can open the door to insurance denial as a cosmetic lipo

specialk - just wanted to send u well wishes n warm hugs. Hope your exchange went well and this one is a keeper. Remember to stay away from the mirror.... Lol.

Thank you for the information.

Brandyr...the exchange surgery was definitely easier. After the first night I really wasn't taking any pain medicine. I really didn't need it the first night but I took it as a precaution. I immediately felt better when waking up with the implants. The te were awful. The implants take a little getting used to. You have to give them a little time to settle and the swelling to go down. Every week I can see an improvement. Well worth all the te pain and discomfort.

Good luck to everyone that is going in for their exchange.

I am about 6 weeks out from my exchange surgery and woke up this morning to a significant amount of pain in my left breast. I first felt it when I tried to roll over on my side in bed. Now it is pretty much hurting with any movement. Has anyone experienced this or know what might be causing it? I do have a follow-up appointment with my plastic surgeon this afternoon.