Exchange City

JJ, please follow your PS restrictions! With 410, you want to make sure they adhere to the pocket. That is why you have compression bra and wrap for a werk and need to wear a sport bra 24/7 for however long PS ssys.

I did exactly what he said and I have a great result and love my 410s 475cc FF.

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!"

Robin

hi ladies,

Didn't sign on last night when home from my follow up apt. for the exchange. Reminder: 410 anatomical silicone 360cc. Surgery sept. 15, 2016. Have been complaining about looking down into compression bra and so afraid of how flat looking they are..yesterday was a long day.. It's a good 2 hour drive because of traffic and bumpy roads were a challenge. So, nurse practitioner was my follow up, thought I would be seeing ps. Both drains removed which I was kind of surprised : output for 24 hrs was 30 on both. They say between 20-30 and they are ok to remove. So my list of questions I will save for ps. Well: reveal was unnerving and yes I feel they look flatter than with my TE's but I'm still taped up at bottom where cleavage is to under breast around to outside and over upper breast. So I don't think I can get full gauge of what they look like.

ROBINBLESSED gives good valuable advice. She has been through this and she is way out from we are.. Its so difficult because we just want to be happy with the results and the process is slow and so anxiety provoking. We do seek knowledge from others to make the best decsions then push comes to shove and we are at mercy of the doc/professional in hopes they do everything perfectly. ( I am so tired of making decisions and second guessing and waivering on them) There is always the infamous words.. We'll have to wait to see when we get in there and that will dictate everything. Maybe they have their reasons but then we are the ones that has to live with the results.. I think that we really have to give it some time. There will be things that we find like the eneveness, shifting, etc.. I guess they say it can take up to 6-9 months or longer for things to really settle.. So I have been trying to say to myself wait and see where I'm at in 6 months, revaluate and start inquiring if I'm not happy or there seems to be a big issue like a lot of ladies express on these threads. I can't imagine that we won't have the option of fixing something that's not correct or is physically uncomfortable. We can see the finish line but can't get there. I'm so glad in the meantime I have all of you! I will listen and support you as you all have with me. We are lucky and blessed in so many ways. I have to stop and remind myself somtimes.☀️☀️

hi SanFranKitty ...that's great you live in the city... I love the city too.. I don't live in the city but love visiting.. Boston is actually 50 min away but traffic is the problem.. And it depends what time of day.. I use to take the train a lot for rads everyday.. Felt good!! Gave me exercise to..I have another apt next wed or thurs.. So I guess the bandages will come off then. Otherwise they aren't plump like I hoped for. So if I have swelling I may not be too happy.. I am going to try to remember what ROBINBLESSED said and know that a lot of changes are still to come. I'm kind of looking at it in this perspective.... If it's totally not acceptable at a time that I know has settled I will revisit my options.. I'm going to try to have that attitude because so many things change in a day. I remember how afraid I was to have to have a mastectomy.. I didn't cope well at all and was so afraid... Then I made the decision to have the other mastectomy with nipple sparing and I am so happy I made that decision and I agonized over it. I tried all 3 AI's and I was so sick as a dog I couldn't even get out of bed, had migraines and horrible SE that I had to stop them Now I feel like I have no safety net. I will now move onto alternative options. I agonized over all of that. Every step I have had major issues, I need to take a step back and let this unfold and see what happens. I'm grateful for so many things .. I need to try stop and smell the roses!

Yeah, Remi, no drains! Sorry you didn't get to talk with your PS. I know I won't be seeing mine either at my 1 month appointment.

I have a friend who had full hysterectomy 3 weeks. She's taking a long time to feel better due to very low hemoglobin on top of that. Then when she starts to turn the corner for better, a staple came open and she had massive bleeding. What a setback. If nothing else, my empathy for people healing from surgeries has increased ten-fold.

In comparison, this is easy healing from my exchange. Robin, no worries on my listening to my PS restrictions! I'm just saying I've got my arm buried into the back of the dryer or over my head in the cupboard before my mind remembers to not do these extreme movements. Aside from strapping my arms down I'm not sure how else to control myself. Ha. I easily drove by the garbage can that needs to come in...amongst other chores that I'm delegating to my family. It just makes me feel quite regal as I "feel" I can do these things and I'm sure I "look" like I can to my children, but I'm just sitting and pointing at what they need to do next.

Enjoy the evening all!

hi Jj,

Lol, lol.. So funny about just going on with your day and not realizing at all what you should not be doing.. I use d to be the same way then panic I ruined the surgery.. Danced one night about a week out of mastectomy and realized what the he has am I doing.. Not good.. Had anxiety all night. Now I just sit and relax and take advantage of any help I can get.. Maybe the kids will get used to it and you too and you can continue to point to what needs to be done and take advantage of it for as long as possible.. My kids are grown and out of the house.. Can't imagine having little ones and going through this.. I have a deep sympathy and empathy for anyone with smaller children having to get through this!! Of course everyone else too. Hope I don't make a lot of enemies but patriots are on soon.. Wondering who will be quart back for pats tonight!! Poor jimmy g... Hope he gets back in soon..

Remi50

Oh fun Remi, enjoy the football game! I'm pretty equal opportunity, but the Vikes did pretty well on Sunday, didn't they?

Oh, I'm so glad to read your post. I was shopping at Walmart (cuz I really am a queen) and I reached up for something on a high shelf (salted roasted pecans - a whole can of just pecans! Num!) and felt a real good pull along my incision line on the right. Oh geez, just like you said - I realized what I was doing and quick pulled my arm down. I am now fretting like crazy as i can still kind of feel a little burn feeling there. Visions of going back into surgery to repair the alloderm I ripped out keep running through my mind. My husband says, "Wait until tomorrow. You'll feel fine". Oh, and then I ran like 5 steps across a road after that. I have no brain processor.

Lol, my children are not too little anymore - 13 & 15. They've been pretty helpful, but harder for us all to appreciate my healing phase right now since I look just fine. I agree, to have really little ones who need a lot of help would make this much more complex. Love that my daughter has her permit. Even just sitting back to let her drive is pretty nice. LOL, I just made it sound like I'm so relaxed with my newly permitted daughter, I just recline my seat and nap while she drives me around. I do have to say I'm surprised at how relaxed I am. Not what I expected!

Wishes for swift healing Audrey!

Hi Audrey! Welcome back. I hope you are recovering well.

Remi, those side effects don't sound very nice at all .

I only have one scrawny 10 year old. After I had my mastectomy surgery I could hardly lift anything. My arms were really weak. So when we went out I would put a backpack on her and use it as a purse. She was happy to carry it around for me even though it dwarfed her .

Audrey, My mom was on some really funky medications for a while. She had stage 2 breast cancer, went through chemo and stuff. She also wound up with joint problems and hair loss from the medication. I wonder if it's the same one? I'll have to ask her.

Who knew shopping was so intense!?!

It has been helpful having the weight restriction when I'm at some place like Costco, though. There I can remember to not pick up heavy things.

Oh, cardio, my bike misses me. By the time I'm released the snow could be flying and it may be several long dark months before I pull it out again.

I like your idea of having your daughter carry a backpack as a purse. Easy access!

(Oh, my shopping injury disappeared overnight!)

Funny story about shopping. I think my PS was the extreme as far as restrictions. I wasn't supposed to lift my arms above my head for the whole time I had my TE, and then 5 weeks after the exchange-so 5 months total. If there was something I couldn't reach at the store, I'd take a pen from my purse and kinda flick the item off the shelf and hope I caught it on the way down. Didn't work so well with glass jars. We are good at improvising.

hi ya all,

Busy day...... Trying to putt around and organize.. Mom took me to do some food shopping.. Are any of you who have had the exchange driving yet? Hope I'm not restricted for too long.. Having an anxiety filled day with looking at these babies.. Just don't have much on top after the exchange.. Sorry to keep bringing it up. Feeling awful that I am not impressed with them at all. I should be grateful I have something. I just felt so feminine and like I was at a good size with the TE's.. Now a whole size down.. They said I would be a little smaller but I wasn't thinking a whole size!!! I really don't think the tape that is on is really making a difference in keeping them from looking that much different!! Thanks for listening!! Did anyone else look they they went down a whole size?

WELCOME AudryB... I totally sympathize with you and the al's.. I started with anazatrole.. Took for about 3 months then had trouble with vision, couldn't close my hands, almost could not get down the stairs, joint problems and neuropathy in hands, would wake me up at night with my whole side numb, so exhausted all day and asleep by 7 pm..most importantly total delay and collapse in thinking and comprehending..major depression that lifted a little everyday and completely gone in 5-6 days when I stopped the drug. NO LIFE..Had to stop.. Next was LEtrozole: was on for 4 days and pressure in my head and eyes along with itching was scaring me.. Along with joint problems.. And thinking immediately deteriorated. Depression!! Next: exemestane. Burning around nose, lips,mouth and itchy.. Lasted 3 days.. Next.. Anazatrole: 1-2 pill every day for two weeks.. Side effects mentioned earlier by 10 days .. Getting so bad I stopped in 4 more days. My reasoning was that if these pills made me so sick that I physically could not take care of myself they must be hurting my body more than the possibility of the % to keep from a reaccurance. God bless all of you who can tolerate it. Many can and many can't. I will be going to the second nateorapathic doc in a few weeks and decide from there. Tomoxafin not an option because I had a stroke at age 49. So I can totally sympathize with you and how you feel and researched everything so much. You should definitely see the SE go away if off for enough time and things should definitely return to normal. I just made the decision to stop after the 2nd, 3rd drug and last go around with anazatrole as soon as I was at the point that I could not tolerate SE. It scares the hell out of me that I'm not on anything but it not worth the suffering I was experiencing. Ask you doc about taking a break and see if you start to feel better. Hope that helps. Wishing you well and healing thoughts☀️☀️☀️

Hi Remi, I forgot exactly when you had your exchange??? I know you had drains which makes things much more difficult for a while, too. You asked about driving. Now, I didn't have drains, but I had surgery on a Wednesday and I was driving that weekend. I only took pain meds the day of and after surgery and being off the pain meds was the determiner of when I could drive. If I had drains, it would have been longer for sure. Did you doctor give you a timeframe?

Ugh, it's hard to not be disappointed - especially if you feel an entire size smaller. If it helps to commiserate I noticed last night (2 1/2 weeks our from exchange) that my right is lower than my left. It was like a punch to the gut because this was the issue I harped about extensively with my TEs. Right was noticeably lower and my PS would confidently say that she would correct it during exchange surgery. The plan was to lower left to meet the right. Well, turns our during surgery she simply wasn't able to open up the pocket enough on the left to lower it enough (there was some scare tissue she cleaned up). So, she moved the right up a little. Either they were never level even at surgery time or right has settled low again. My husband is kind of saying to accept it, for the most part they look good and he knows I was quite satisfied immediately following surgery. Well, I'm thinking things have settled and healed enough. Plus, I'm checking things out much more closely now. I understand his perspective, but I don't want to feel that I can't push for correction if I really feel it's necessary to feel satisfied. I'll deal with this all at my follow up on 10/5 - 1 month post op.

About size, though, I think I'm a tad bigger. With my smallish chest, "tads" are valid measurement However, I've certainly heard from others who feel smaller. Not sure about that, but do feel for you...

Hope you have a nice day otherwise!

After nine months with hard, asymmetrical, uncomfortable TEs, I'm on the squishy side. They look pretty good, I think, about a B cup and pretty even. My PS had to use two different size implants, which is interesting.

Paxton, congrats on making it over to the other side!

Moonflwr, Nice to see someone else around here with saline

Grandma me too! I meet with the PS 10/05 to set it up. Be so glad to get this over with and go on with my life. I feel like I'm in limbo now.