Exchange City

Hello all you new and soon to be on the squishy side! I am 18 months post EX. I didn't have fat grafting. I allowed 2 weeks off and could have gone back after a week.(I have a desk job)

Much easier surgery. No drains, even with annatomicals. I had very little fluid after bmx. Just remember to follow your PS instructions they are for a reason. Better results when you follow the rules.

Take care,

Robin

I have been up since 5am feeling negative. I'm sick of sleeping on my back for one thing, and sick of the healing process. lol. Sounds spoiled I know. But even though I'm two weeks and a few days out from my final surgery I still have foobs that are swelling at different rates and a sore abdomen. So I am not feeling "normal" yet, and I'm very anxious for "normal" to just get here.

Went to the gym yesterday with one of my workout buddies, and did 30 minutes of cardio. Kind of funny just doing cardio because I'm used to doing so much more when I'm there. But that will have to wait. Going to work my way up to an hour of cardio each visit.

I am both excited and nervous - my PS has moved my exchange date to 9-23-16. Only 2 weeks away! It's still outpatient surgery but he has decided the larger UTSW Clements Hospital might be a better venue than the originally planned Professional Outpatient Surgery Clinic in his building. Hopefully that does not mean he's anticipating issues with my recovery. I am not planning on staying over! I do wonder about having surgery at 3pm on a Friday afternoon - hopefully the staff will not be in a hurry to end their week.

Hi Carla,

Thanks for the reassurance! I am ready to do the exchange but still a bit nervous about another surgery. How long did it take for you to recover from your exchange surgery? Was it also outpatient? My BS is Dr. Ann Leitch and my PS is Dr. Nicholas Haddock. I have been very pleased with my entire UTSW medical team. Which includes my MO Dr. Froehlich and also the Research Study group. They have worked together and been very supportive and attentive from my first visit to UTSW in December.

Do you have any words of advice before I have the exchange? I am going with a silicone implant and they are going to do a lift on my native breast. The only downside to the exchange is that Dr. Haddock will send me home with drains. I believe that was the most uncomfortable part of the first surgery.

Thanks again for responding!

Laurie

Hi ladies, just checking back in. I'm 3 week PO exchange and am feeling great. Stopped wearing spanks yesterday - it feels wonderful now to be free if the compression... no more lypo pain. Unfortunately I still have drains that simply don't seem to want to slow diwn. They have leveled output at 40 ish cc each side every day. 10 frigging cc above removal target. Erg! I doesn't seem to matter if I sleep all day or work in the garden.... the fluid just keeps coming. Dangit! I'm going to try to convince them to remove next week if I promise to wear chest compression. The drain ports are sooooo itchy and the tubes irritate my skin.

JessieJake - glad your exchange and fat graft went well!. Don't the implants feel better than tge hard TE's?

TrimTab - most exchange surgery is outpatient so as long as your surgeon and anesthesiologist and a qualified recovery staff are present, you will have minimal need of much else. My experience is that you will be feeling almost normally in 5-6 days. Whether you have drains and weight lifting restriction be the critical limiter for return to work.

Cwayman650 - congrats on the decision!. I'm 3 weeks post exchange and already LOVE my new (sub-muscle) foobs! I am quickly settling into a "I don't even notice them" mode, they are so comfortable! I've decided to go the "full service" route, with staged fat grafting, nipple reconstruction, and tatoos. They look very natural and the post op swelling is gone now. You will adapt to the TE's as the fill process continues. They only get tight and mildly uncomfortable when they are nearly full. At that point, they are pretty round and project out like half coconuts. Your muscles are stretched at an unnatural angle at that stage. Cramps and twitching are possible so my PS prescribed muscle relaxers as needed. I'd ask your PS for a prescription if he/she does not suggest it. They are not needed all the time, but if you get a spasm, you will need the help.

At this stage, I have a few hard lumps I am massaging routinely where the fat has either died or scar tissue is forming where my pre exchange deep dents were. These areas will likely need more work and fresh fat - fortunately, I have plenty of stomach fat to donate! I'm hoping that my PS will take away more fat than is needed when we have grafting round two!

I have noticed my foobs are cool to the touch. I am wondering if this thermal difference poses any risk of frostbite when I'm out in cold weather? I plan on retiring to the mountains and anticipate spending most of my time outdoors. Since I can't feel anything directly over my implants, I will not notice if my skin is abnormally chilled. Does anyone out there have any experience with this issue? Is there increased risk of tissue freezing over the implants in extremely cold conditions?

i am 5 months post exchange. Mentor anatomical gummies. My chest area chills easily with these implants and feels cool to the touch when the temperature outside is cold. I am curious to see how the winter weather will affect them. Last spring i had to wear an extra layer over my chest to stay warm. LRGO your question about frostbite is very intriguing! My chest is still pretty numb and i also wonder about frostbite. I have thin skin covering my implants and not much fat

Silicone freezes at -170 F., so the implant won't freeze, and frostbite sets in at the -20's F. after about 30 minutes - so this seems unlikely to be a problem. it would actually be your skin that suffers frostbite independent of the implant - and that would be all of your skin, not just the skin over the implant. Saline freezes at slightly below freezing, but that is an implant that is outside the body - your own body temp and pec muscle should keep this from being a problem, unless you are topless and outside for a prolonged period.

Thanks for the responses ladies. I have Mentor anatomical gummies. As far as freezing goes, I was most concerned about the skin and thin pectoral muscle. We have a small farm in Virginia up in the mountains that we plan to retire to. We go there every Christmas and work out in the elements from dawn to dusk. I sweat a fair amount when I'm chainsawing, brush chopping and rock moving, so I frequently remove my heavy vest and jacket and though not topless, I can easily find myself working in temps in the teens, in nothing more than a light turtleneck and flannel shirt. I figure I will have to pay attention to the skin over my new "girls" a bit more carefully until I figure out how well the blood supply to that area is working. I certainly don't mind the coolness of these gels at the moment, in Texas at 91+ degrees!

I'm regain feeling fairly rapidly around the "rim" of my new breasts. I'm very pleased the nerves seem to be trying to heal and regrow out over the implants. I doubt I will ever fully have feeling up front, but now I can actually feel when I drop a crumb down in my new clevage! I'm so happy!

SpecialK - thanks for the science bit about silicone vs saline. I don't plan on putting my foobs to a silicone freeze test any time soon. But I do have a trips to Antarctica, Iceland and a return trip Alaska in my "Bucket-list" and our winter Temps in Virginia can make frostbite a real possibility.

My plan is to be more self aware when I'm out working in low temps all day. We can make it a point to either have a camp fire or some "hot hands" warmers handy if I think the girls are too cold... I'm going to keep my pocketed bras handy this winter

Hmmm, maybe I could call them hot boobs then! ;-)

I haven't gotten back all the feeling in my foobs either ( from first surgery). In the center from nipple to nipple I can feel everything. From nipple outward to underarms I can't feel anything, on both sides. At first I bumped into things with them but not anymore.

Anyone here experiencing ( or have experienced ) uneven swelling? At least I think that it what I think I could experiencing. Right after my exchange I looked really great and really even. Then slowly it started to look like one side was a tad smaller in size, and one side was larger. And the larger side looks a bit lower. But now I'm also wondering if one side dropped and fluffed, and the other did not. Or maybe they just came out uneven for some reason, and I might need a revision down the road.

Hi SFKitty, I think I'm noticing a little of that, too. The bruising is also uneven! I agree, I thought mine looked great instantly but I think they are going through some changes now, but I'm only 5 days out.

Yeah, I got the ok to switch to spanx from the medieval style girdle I had been wearing. So much more comfortable. On Wednesday, I'll get to switch out of my surgical bra. Oh, I can't wait for that, too!

Burned foobs! Ouch! I'll be sure to keep that in mind if I'm out in the cold. I'm thinking hand warmers in my inner coat pockets to help keep core temp up without putting them directly on the numb skin.

As for settling, my foobs at first were plump, overly large (D's) with perfect symmetry. Now, 3 week post exchange, they are C's, somewhat lumpy with the old deep creases and dents reappearing and the left has settled more than the right. My original pair were uneven (left low, right high) so I'm not surprised at them heading back to this position. Even seeing some rippling over the implants where the fat graft has obviously failed. So I'm sure graft round two will have to be performed, but I believe 3 months will have to pass before we try again. The body needs to heal. I have faith in my Dr and team to persevere and hope for more sucess next time.

Hang in there ladies, at this stage we must accept we are in a waiting game. Our outcomes will take time to develop into whatever we will have. Ive decided to address a less than perfect outcome with either an appropriate medical fix or acceptance if this is as good as it gets. Though they are lumpy now, they are so much safer than my original girls were as far as cancer risk goes. I'll take lumpy and cooked over a 90% chance of cancer any day!

Thank goodness for medical advances!

Thanks for the longer term look at this process, kingster. As this is my first (and hopefully last time through this process) I can only base my satisfaction on the limited amount of time and early results I've gotten so far. Knowing that I need to look at this process with a more patient eye and much longer time frame really helps me set my expectations more realistically. I want "perfection" of course, not seeing that in the first weeks can be disappointing. I am glad to hear from a patient that I need to give this process time to mature to its final outcome.

My PS said it will take a year or so to complete all my procedures and for the plethora of scars I now have to fade. Of course, I am wishing it will take less than that to get back to my new normal. I'm at month 4 of my surgical journey and impatient for this to all be over with.

On the up side, these squishy implants feel fantastic! I hardly notice them at all! They hang naturally, look and feel firmer and perkier than my old girls did and are promising to be beauties once they are adorned with new nipples and tattooed areolas.

I've decided, if my scars remain red and ugly, I will consider artful tatoos to cover them, maybe a butterfly or a flowering vine and butterflys. Who knows.... covering a poor body result with art is always an option.

This from a lady who said she would never get a tatoo.... never say never.... ha ha. Now I'm embracing the idea....

Tatoos can be cool! I always said I would never get breast implants! Ha ha. Of course I wasn't expecting to get breast cancer at 45. And I certainly am glad I went through a double mastectomy and reconstruction. Saved my life.

Yes this is a process that takes time. But I am a worrier by nature so every unusual thing that happens I stress about. Thank goodness for this site! It helps to know I'm not alone.

Still can't wait to be even

LRGO, you are already ahead of the game if your recon "hangs"...cuz mine sure didn't...lol. Actually, mine first looked like someone took a breast, turned it upside down, then put it on my chest. Full at top, flat at bottom. Talk about being freaked out. That's why I am waiting a full year from last breast reconstruction surgery to get my tattoos. I took the advice of my friend who had a lumpectomy with a small amt of reconstruction.