Exchange City

Discouraged, you could PM whippetmom and ask her if she has a recommendation/recommendations for a PS in the Denver area also as she works with helping lots of women with sizing and may be able to recommend based on the issues you are dealing with. I think it would be worth asking anyway.

Shoregirl after reading more it seems that possibly transferring fat can make radiated skin softer and eventually allow for an implant. That would be great but I do not quite understand how since there is no muscle left. All in all it sounds promising but a little more research is needed. I wish there was an easy answer. My husband says just leave well enough alone.

Hi ladies,

I posted this in another forum and someone suggested I come here also. I had my exchange last Thursday. After I got home I was surprised that my implants looked smaller than what I had expected. I'm a petite person about 5' and 110 lbs. I didn't want huge new breasts but before my Cancer I was about a size A. Now I think I'm maybe that and possibly a small B. It's hard to tell since they are so different from my real breasts. Anyway I was pretty upset and cried for almost 2 days which kind of surprised me since I handled every other aspect of this without tears. I forgot to mention that I had to switch PS due to the fact that the one that put the TE in and did the expansion had left. I really did not have a choice on who I took since I had to stay with the Mayo System since that is where my insurance is. I had to wait till they found his replacement to get my implants in. So the NEW PS did the exchange. Before surgery she asked if I was happy with the size and I said yes but if you can go a little bigger I wouldn't mind. Today I had my post op appt and told her my feelings. She said she could not go bigger due to my chest wall size. She said I would have had a uniboob or side boobs which I guess would have been a lot worse then small boobs. I was feeling better until I got home and looked at my scar!! She removed the steri strips and man this scar is a LOT worse looking than my Mastectomy scar!! It is raised and thick where my other scar has always been nice and flat not bad looking at all. Once again I was in tears. Guess I'm making up for lost time here in the tear department. I had mentioned to my hubby that this scar really hurt more than my other one but I figured it was due the fact that I was really numb and still am in my breast area by my Mastectomy scar. I have feeling where this scar is. It's a good thing I'm going to be the only one who sees this scar besides hubby. Thanks for listening it feels better just to get it out there. Hubby doesn't understand all these feelings so he is really no support.

So I had my two week followup after my exchange surgery. The PS is so pleased she took pictures for promotional material I think. Anyways, I am happy they look even except that my boobs are smaller than I wanted. She also told me it is not recommended to go bigger because of my chest wall size, the ability for my radiated side to stretch anymore and the fact that implants are heavier than you realize and you can introduce muscle aches and pains in your back and neck. She inserted full profile round inserts. My new boobs are symmetrical. The radiated side is a bit "perkier" but not by much. She told me to wear a really supportive bra 24/7 for 6 weeks. No lifting, no pulling/pushing, no strenous exercise and no "jiggling". She said this is because she lifted up one side with sutures and I need to develop enough internal scar tissue so that the heavy implant will not fall.

So today I switched the surgical bra for a regular underwire bra. The cup size is a C because of the TE size and that is the size I wanted to go to. Well, my new boobs do not fill it out. I am the same size as I was before I had mastectomies, just different shape. Boo hoo.... Which is a small B. I am disappointed today. I thought I would at least have cleavage. Nope.

So, I am trying to be grateful that I even have boobs now and the surgery did go well and I am not grotesque or anything. I feel so vain.

wallan

I travel for my PS. 110 miles for the first one and 75 for my current one. I'm rural, though, so am used to it.

The SRF is the next to the highest profile Inspira there is. You could probably gain a few tenths of a centimeter with the SRX or SCX Inspira, but not much more.

Good Morning Ladies,

So happy for all you wonderful ladies who are pleased with your results and prayers for you who are not. I think we miss our old selves so much and think "plastic surgery, this will fix me". My breast are nothing like they were, not that they were great before, but they were mine. I had a double mastectomy (not nipple sparing) with tissue expanders and switch out to anatomical 675cc high profile implants mid November. I can't tell there has been any settling and although the implants are much softer than the TEs they are still quite firm. I'm pleased with the way I look in clothes and my PS has been great and I left everything basically up to him as he was highly recommended with a big following. I did tell him all the time though what my expectations were and I feel he did a good job with what he had to work with. I'm getting 3-D nipple tattoos 4/9 thanks to an angel who's sister passed away from breast cancer and although she normally does permanent make-up tattoos has been medically trained to do this type work in honor of her sister. I've been so blessed by the people I've come in contact with thru the breast cancer ordeal. I just feel grateful to be alive, cancer free according to markers, and having had the opportunity to decide to have reconstruction because of insurance coverage. It is not a bad thing to miss what we've lost, or to even be unhappy that the results aren't quite what we expected. These feelings are normal, we're human, and we can have these and still know that we're blessed. My hats off to all you brave women and I hold out nothing but good thoughts for you all.

Letty F

Agree, well said, Letty.

Wallen and Kmb, hugs. I am grateful to be alive, but I miss my real boobs too. Feelings are feelings, and you are at the stage where the end of treatment is near. And now you finally have time to process and mourn this whole thing. It is a process, some days will be better, some days, you'll wonder why you bothered.

We do suggest to step away from the mirror for a while. Many changes need time to settle. The scars will fade a bit, the implants will settle in too. After 6 months, take a good look, then make a decision if you need more work done.

We do try to remind oeople that projection will be lost compared to TEs. TEs have a hard back to stretch the front skin. The actual implants dont start from this hard line resting on the top of some of your interior muscles, but will fill in the cavity first, before projecting outward. Thus, some loss of projection. Also, your original breast tissue was held in your breast pocket by millions of connected cells. Your implant is only held by some muscle, skin, and sometimes a sling of alloderm, or its like. So weight is a factor, as is skin integrity, whether your implant is in front of pectorals or imbedded in them.

In my case, I was scheduled to get 900cc saline implants, the largest made at the time. (They removed almost 700 cc each breast during my BMX). But, my chest was not wide enough for those when he went in. Wasnt large enough for the 800s either. So he put in 750s, and filled them to 850. I was barely a C cup before, now I am a C cup. But not enough to fill out the tip of the bra. I use a Bali bra, which does fill out quite nicely, and doesnt leave a sag in front. You may have to try on a few to find one that works for you.

I hope that long post will help. But remember, give it time.

Much love and hugs.

Thanks Letty

MX on June 3...fills up to 800 with last fill on Sept 8.  Scheduled exchange in December to fit my teaching schedule, but I had to wait at least 6 weeks to 2 months, so early November would have been the earliest. TT

Jaymeb,

I was stage 2a, had a unilateral mastectomy (on right) with TE inserted in same surgery...had some fills in advance of six months of chemo (starting in March and ending on August 31s!!!)...waited until November 2 for my final exchange on the right with a breast lift on the left (amd fat grafting). So, we live on the same block, so to speak!

I have been perfectly happy with my results, even though I might get a minor revision.  There is a science and art to this surgery, when you have a unilateral mastectomy.  I see my PS next month.  We might do a bit more fat grafting to shape the top of the lifted breast or might do a small implant. The size of the implant that my PS chose was perfect in terms of volume.  We are just talking about improving the shape and, depending on how things finally settle, maybe a slight additional lift on the left.  I am just about even laterally (no one can tell with my clothes on and sometimes I can hardly see a difference), but it is not quite where a leveler from my toolbox would say that it is perfectly even:) Again, it will be a minor revision, if that.

The healing the from the surgery was fast and much easier than the mastectomy!

This is my first time posting in this forum, looking for some advise on style and size of implants. My exchange surgery has been scheduled for 4/4/18 with my pre-op appointment scheduled for 3/6. I have had 3 fills and am now at 480ccs, the last two fills have been with my PS physicians assistant. I was rather large before, 3436 EE and I want to be smaller but not too small that it doesn't balance my other curves. The PA said that I am big enough now for implants that would be a size C or D, I find that really hard to believe but I will obviously take their advise. My biggest fear is that I am too small when its all over and done with. I am looking forward to being able to find clothes to fit a little better, but again I do not want to be out of proportion.

My question to those of you that downsized after bilateral mastectomy, how much did you downsize and were you happy with it? Just looking for a little insight as I have seen many posts that say that they were smaller than they expected after exchange.

Thanks in advance!

Jada

Jadalulu,

I was not as big as you to begin with and don't mind that I am a bit bigger now. However, I thought that I would give you my stats to help you think about a few things.

First, I didn't tell my PS an exact desired size, but just said "I wouldn't mind being fuller but I don't want a "rack". I work out and don't want them getting in the way."   I started out as a 34B.  I got 500ccs filled and ultimately got 445cc implant (Naturelle Inspiria Cohesive Rounds, SCM).  Now, I am a 34DD.

Had my PS told me that I would wind up a 34DD, I would have told him that was just too big.  However, the way that implants fit inside of a bra, and the projection of the implant (mine is moderate rather than high profile) makes a difference.  If I had high profile implants, my breasts would look too big. However, my breasts look very proportionate for my build: athletic build, 5'7", 153lbs.  

I am glad that I didn't restrict my PS to a cup size.  I just described the look.  He seemed to get it.  In the end, I am pleased and NEVER would have agreed to a DD size.

So, I don't know how small you want to be, but you might as well communicate as much as possible now with your PS.

Oh, and Jadalulu,

I am 51 years old, and feel that the moderate rounds give me a natural look.  I am lifted (not sagging) but the don't sit  as high as a much younger woman might want to sit.

Has anyone experienced or heard anything about the Mentor memory gel Xtra round smooth high profile implants? They seem to be new (at least in australia) and have higher fill ratios. They sound similar to the inspira cohesive high fill ratio round implants.