April Exchange Surgery Group
Hi!
Who else is having exchange surgery in April? Let's start a thread to help each other through the process!
Mine is on April 24th.
I'd love to hear from you!
Comments
-
I am scheduled for April 5th. My pre-op appt is Mar.16th. This should be an interesting appointment.
-
Great to hear from you! My pre-op appt. is tomorrow, March 14, which seems early but I'm looking forward to it. I want to get this over with ASAP!
-
HI Everyone.... This is one surgery I'm soooo excited for.
Mine is also April 24th, Sweet Pea!! WOHOOOOO!!
-
Welcome, EZSofar and CBK!
I'm also looking forward to this surgery. It seems like a big step to check off the list. CBK, so funny that we have the same date!
Today is my pre-op with the PS. I have a bunch of specific questions written down for him. Everyone here seems to know how much their expanders are filled, what kind they are, what kind of implants they're going to have, etc., and we haven't talked about any of those things. I think a lot of it is cultural differences (I live in Spain).
Do you two both know all of this information?
-
Sweet Pea-
My surgeon doesn't talk about cc of saline, just says "that looks about right!" HA! I'm sitting low right now with the tissue expanders, giving me the appearance I wasn't filled enough. I have been adamant from day one that I wanted to be exactly my previous size. I brought in an old bra in to put on and to show my surgeon, and she commented that they are a perfect size now. When she places in the final implants which are going to be ,acellular derm matrix implants, she is going to make sure they are placed higher than how I'm currently resting. These final implants will be smooth in texture. My surgeon has always used smooth implants and highly recommends silicone rather than saline. She says its more difficult to obtain natural look with saline.
I almost lost my right side tissue expander, and it was thought I may not have been able to be expanded to my previous large C cup. We discussed a lat flap, but now she thinks we can add alloderm and I will be in a good place for my final implant on that side, as well. I had a very slow filling process, between the problem I had on right side, and my months of chemo at the same time.
I haven't gotten into a lot of details with my recon. surgeon, I completely trust her competency, unlike many others I have encountered along this journey. I don't have my pre-op appt. until April 16th. Hoping yours was informative and easeful!
-
EZsofar, your appt is today! I hope it goes GREAT.
My appointment on Wednesday went pretty well, even though my PS and I sometimes butt heads (he once called me a perfectionist, and I thought, it's the pot calling the kettle black!). I knew I would be having the anatomical "gummy bear" implants, so I asked about the rare type of lymphoma that is associated with the textured surface and he just about fell out of his chair. He said it was much more likely that I would get breast cáncer in my healthy breast...and then I said, or that I'll get hit by a car, right? He said yes, the chances of getting that cáncer is SO low, you have other things to worry about. Apparently the kind of implants he's going to use are approved in the US and the one in the reconstructed breast is approved for reconstruction, but not for augmentation purposes. The EU has pretty stringent approval guidelines, too, so I'm frankly not worried. Like he said in so many words, I have bigger fish to fry!
He said I would have to stay overnight one night, which was a surprise because I thought I'd be going home the same day. The good part is that he said I would go home with only one drain, they'd take the other one off before I went home.
I chose to have an implant put in on my left (healthy) side, as opposed to lifting it only, so he said I might have more discomfort on that side than the right. Basically he's going to remove breast fat to put the implant in. I wonder if this is the famous "pocket work" that people talk about! No idea.
My implant will be Mentor CPGs, 323 on the right side and 311 (probably) on the left side. I think I'll go ask WhippetMom what her opinión is, she's such an ace!
-
Sweet Pea
My surgery is outpatient and no drains. Are you having a drains placed because of left side procedure?
Now I'm starting to worry about things and I think I am going to call and schedule my pre-op appt sooner.
That's funny on the textured implants! I thought the same as your surgeon, but didn't stop me from worrying about it and asking either!
-
CBK,
I hear some people have two drains and some people have none! I'm having two drains but the left side will be taken out before I leave the hospital, and so I'll just have the right side drain in.
Don't worry, I think the trick with this surgery is not doing too much too soon!
-
SweetPea
My appt went well, basic review about the surgery. We discussed size, I ended up with another 40cc expansion in both expanders, 500cc total. He said will most likely end up with a 550cc implants, high profile rounds. Will probably have a little pocket work to make them look good and fat grafting. I am sure I speak for all of us that April can't get here soon enough.
-
EZsofar, I'm glad your appointment went well. Can you tell me...what is "pocket work"? I'm not even sure if I'm having it on my left breast (I'm having the left operated on for symmetry purposes) because in Spanish everything is called different things, obviously. Can you fill me in?
-
Sweet Pea
Mine is being done to adjust placement, the TE's are pretty far apart, so he has to work on that so they aim a little more forward and out of the armpits. He is also going to do fat grafting to help create a nice look, plus to slope the upper pole.
-
Hi ladies! My exchange is April 20th I too am so looking forward to this surgery. My PS does not overfill because she said women get use to the TE size and then when the implants are smaller they can be disappointed. So I know we are going with gummy rounds 700 cc's. high or ultra high (depending on which looks best) silicone implants. She is also going to do fat grafting and will need to do some pocket work as my TE's are a good 4 fingers width apart. This will be my 5th and hopefully final surgery in this journey. 2 weeks before my 1 year DX. PS said there shouldn't be any drains this time. I have had them 3 times already so very glad to hear this. Are any of you on HRT and have been asked to stop taking it the week before surgery? I know it is only a week and many women stop taking it for 2-3 weeks at a time but it makes me nervous. I see my MO next week and will be asking him his thoughts. MO also insists washing with Hibiclens and applying Mupirocin ointment in my nose 5 days before and 5 days after AND having surgery in a surgery center to try and prevent infection. It was unfortunate that I did not see him until after my BMX. Who knows I could of been spared 3 additional surgeries and 10 days every 12 hours IV antibiotics. The only thing I am not going to like is not exercising. I never really exercised until recently and I am sorry I waited so long because I have found I love going to the gym. I am in a routine now and I am afraid once I am not going it will be hard to start up again. So tell me Sweet_Pea... what is the weather like in Spain this time of year?
-
OK, I'm starting to understand the concept of "pocket work"....but I'm not sure I'll find out if I'm having any because my PS has a very "leave everything to me, it's going to be fine" kind of attitude. He doesn't talk much about the surgery unless you ask very specific questions. But I believe he's technically quite good, so I feel okay about the whole thing although on some things I'm in the dark (like pocket work and how many CCs my implants will be...he said he hadn't decided on the width of the implants he was going to put in).
CBsDetour, it sounds like you've been through the ringer with all of your surgeries. This one will be easy, I bet, compared to the others. Not on HRT so I can't help you there, am 42 and they even took me off the tamoxifen because it was giving me migraines and fatigue.
The weather in Madrid is alternately cold-ish (30s) and much warmer (50s in the sun) this time of year, with some days of rain. We usually have drought problems in Spain and so are pretty thankful for the rain, but it can be annoying for me because I live in the middle of the city and use public transportation to get everywhere -- so I end up getting pretty wet walking from place to place. After the surgery, in fact, what most worries me is getting to work on public transportation because it's crowded at rush hour and on the way home I stand up on the bus and hold onto a pole (sometimes there are abrupt stops that could tug at me). So at work I've said I'll take a laptop home and work from home at first to get stronger before I start commuting again. We'll see how it goes. I expect to be able to start working again pretty soon, since I'm a legal translator at a law firm and have desk work all day.
700 CCs sounds great, I think mine will be much smaller. In fact, that's one of the hardest things about this for me: my PS has said I'm going to end up with smaller breasts than before the mastectomy, and that's hard (I wanted to go a bit bigger, even, before I found out that wasn't possible). Also, I gained a lot of weight (about 30 pounds) before my cáncer diagnosis, not sure if it was related in some way, so with smaller boobs I feel like I'm going to look a little disporportionate.
-
Hi all! I probably don't belong on this string because my exchange surgery is March 29th. Feel free to boot me off or re-direct.
I too am looking forward to moving on to the next phase of this journey. I had a pre-surgery session with the physical therapist and she was concerned about the amount of swelling I am experiencing right now. I have minor lymphedema as a result of my previous treatment 11+ years ago. I am not sure if anyone else has had any experience with this. The surgeon couldn't tell me if I would have drains, but the PT feels that I probably will. Ick. We know what a pain they are!
I had the other breast reduce during the mastectomy and TE placement. I just hope the "squishy" is close to the same level as the reduced breast. Right now it feels like it's under my chin!!
-
vlorsong
Wow, it sounds like you have had a rough road. I am not on any HRT regimine, I can't help you there. Not long after my last ovary was removed the hot flashes started, then after the mastectomies I didn't notice them, but now that it has been over 3 months and I think by body is over that trauma, the hot flashes are very noticeable. Maybe I will get another break from them with the exchange!
I certainly hope you have an easy exchange. As my name indicates, my journey has been easy so far, given the situation, I have been fortunate that way at least. I wish you the best!
-
Cbsdetour- If on tamox you , You may need to layoff before exchange.. if, on post post menopausal blockers.. no... from what I know..
-
I am scheduled for exchange on April 19th with my pre-op appointment on April 10th. Looking forward to this next step!! Right now I am dealing with a potential TE infection, on antibiotics so hopefully it turns out to be nothing. I have Natrelle 133mx-15 expanders in right now filled to 600cc, hopeful that he will be able to put in Natrelle inspire to get me to a D cup.
-
EZsofar4/5 I HOPE IT WENT WELL! We're rooting for you and looking forward to you telling us how it all went and how you feel now.
Jadalulu 4/19 Good luck with healing that infection. I hope you can get it under control before the surgery.
CBsDetour4/20 Just a couple weeks left!
CBK & Sweet_Pea (me!) 4/24 Woohoo!
-
I am definitely counting down the days and holding my breath until the 20th. When I had my BMX, TE's were placed. I developed necrosis and an infection in the side that had cancer. We really tried to save the TE's but had to have them removed at the end of August so I could heal before trying again. The TE's were replaced in November and I had my last fill the first part of February. Have not had a lick of trouble this time until this past Wednesday. I noticed the non-cancer breast was a little red, a little sore and warm to touch. I started on Cephalexin and already today is looking and feeling much better. Keep your fingers crossed for me that there will be no issues to prevent the exchange!
Jadalulu - how is your infection doing?
-
I’m joining you guys! Exchange on the right and prophylactic mastectomy on the left. I’m very nervous
-
star2017 - Welcome to our group! What date is your surgery? I am curious as to how that works as I had my prophylactic done at the same time as removing the cancerous one. Will you get another TE placed on the left or will they go straight to implant? I am a little nervous too but everyone on these boards say the exchange is a cake walk. Where I have issues is being nauseated. We try the patch behind the ear and I really don't know if they help or not. After 4 surgeries so far I have realized the longer I am under seems to determine how nauseated I will be. I think the PS said this surgery will be about 4 hours. That will be a long one! I keep thinking 2 weeks from now and it will all be in the rear view mirror! Hope all you gals are having a fantastic weekend!
-
CBsDetour,
The PS is planning to put the implant in on the left side immediately, but he said if the bloodflow to the tissue does not look good, he will do the expander (I'm not sure why that's different, but anyway). At the time of my mastectomy on the rt I was pregnant and too overwhelmed to make the decision about the prophylactic surgery, so decided to wait until now. My surgery is on the 18th. Last time I did not experience any nausea, so I'm hoping it will be the same this time. I hope it is easy for you.
-
Hi Ladies, my exchange surgery is April 19th. I am having such a difficult time deciding on round or teardrop implants. Thoughts? Pros/cons?
-
All went well! I am bruised and sore from fat grafting but nothing I can't handle, no need for meds. I will be unwrapping before too long to get a shower, this should be interesting. A first look at the boobs. I know they say it takes a while for things to take shape so I will try to keep that in mind.
-
Star2017 - Wow, I am so sorry you had to go through that. It must of been so rough on you. Pregnancy is suppose to be such a joyous time and yours was tainted with a cancer diagnosis. Sometimes life is just really not fair. Some MO's want to wait on the prophylactic side in case there are healing problems so it does not delay treatment. I will pray that the blood flow to your tissue looks good so you can hopefully put this chapter behind you.
Nifer - Glad you cheeked in! I will be going with the rounds. Back in 93' I had breast augmentation. They were saline because at the time, silicone was taken off the market for safety issues. One burst in 2009 but as old as they were you really couldn't tell much except the roundness at the top. The PS said that was what I was use to and would probably be disappointed if I went to the tear drop. I will be 59 this year. It will be kinda weird having such perky breasts but I know the months I went without the TE's trying to heal I was so depressed with the way I looked that I knew I could probably never go flat. I have a sister that had breast cancer and a mastectomy back in 97' she stayed flat and does not understand my decision. I say to each his own.
EZsofar - Glad you checked in and glad it all went so well for you. Do you get to unwrap yourself for your shower or do you have to wait for post op?
Sweet_Pea - How is life in Spain? Every time I think of you, that darn 3 dog night song goes thru my head. Do you know it?
-
I was able to unwrap myself, they looked pretty good. There is some bruising and some swelling, but no surprises. The shower was amazing. They are so soft, almost too soft. Of course I am comparing to the expanders and anything is softer than expanders.
-
@ EZsofar that's so great you were able to unwrap and have a shower! That's funny about them feeling too soft. It's true we get used to the expanders, and they are less than comfortable...but we can get used to just about anything, I think. We're all pretty resilient!
@ CBsDetour I don't know that song...tell me the full title and I'll look it up! Life in Spain is okay, used to be better for me before 2012. I had a series of events happen and the country is still in or trying to creep out of a decade-long recession, so after my separation and divorce in 2012/2013 things started looking dimmer. I miss my family and friends despite the fact that I've been here almost 20 years and luckily have freinds here, too. It's tough, sometimes. When I got the diagnosis I even looked at the possibility of getting operated on in the Boston área, where I'm from and know hospitals and even have friends who work at them now.
@ star2017 Welcome! I'm SO interested that you're having exhcange+prophylactic. That means I could have had (could have?!?) that, too. You see, I'm having exchange on the right and then symmetry surgery on the left, but I kind of regret not having a BMX last year to take away my fears of it coming back in the other breast and also symmetry issues. Also, I'm really nervous about the upcoming surgery, not sure why, but I am. The MX went fine, but I was nervous before that, too. Everyone said it'd be fine but that getting nervous was to be expected!
@ NiferI'm having the teardrop implants, gummies. It's the only kind the PS practice I go to uses for reconstruction. Curious, huh? I had no choice in terms of it, maybe if I had insisted because I wanted saline I would have (my sister did that years ago in her direct-to-implant BMX in Boston and the PS changed even though she counselled against them for esthetic reasons). One thing about the anatomical ones is that they don't have a risk of spinning around. I'd ask Whippet_Mom because she'll point you to the right articles to read. Go to the breast implant sizing thread for that. Your surgery on the 19th is the same day as Jadalulu!
-
CBsDetour, it was definitely a scary time, but the baby also gave me something to look forward to during difficult times. As hard as pregnancy and the newborn days can be, it’s a gift to have something positive along with all the negative I’ve been dealing with.
Sweet_Pea,I don’t see why you couldn’t. If you want to have the prophylactic mastectomy, you should definitely ask!
-
Hi,
I am slotted for my exchange next Thursday, April 19th. Had a prophylactic BMX in January due to genetic mutation, and used AerXpander TEs. My doctor only uses smooth rounds, due to the health scare involving textured.
Good luck to all--beginning to get a little nervous!
-
Welcome, Shadie! You're in good company on the 19th, Jadalulu and Nifer are also having surgery that same day. Woohoo!
Categories
- All Categories
- 679 Advocacy and Fund-Raising
- 289 Advocacy
- 68 I've Donated to Breastcancer.org in honor of....
- Test
- 322 Walks, Runs and Fundraising Events for Breastcancer.org
- 5.6K Community Connections
- 282 Middle Age 40-60(ish) Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 53 Australians and New Zealanders Affected by Breast Cancer
- 208 Black Women or Men With Breast Cancer
- 684 Canadians Affected by Breast Cancer
- 1.5K Caring for Someone with Breast cancer
- 455 Caring for Someone with Stage IV or Mets
- 260 High Risk of Recurrence or Second Breast Cancer
- 22 International, Non-English Speakers With Breast Cancer
- 16 Latinas/Hispanics With Breast Cancer
- 189 LGBTQA+ With Breast Cancer
- 152 May Their Memory Live On
- 85 Member Matchup & Virtual Support Meetups
- 375 Members by Location
- 291 Older Than 60 Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 177 Singles With Breast Cancer
- 869 Young With Breast Cancer
- 50.4K Connecting With Others Who Have a Similar Diagnosis
- 204 Breast Cancer with Another Diagnosis or Comorbidity
- 4K DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)
- 79 DCIS plus HER2-positive Microinvasion
- 529 Genetic Testing
- 2.2K HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer
- 1.5K IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer)
- 3.4K IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)
- 1.5K ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)
- 999 Just Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastasis
- 652 LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ)
- 193 Less Common Types of Breast Cancer
- 252 Male Breast Cancer
- 86 Mixed Type Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned
- 189 Palliative Therapy/Hospice Care
- 488 Second or Third Breast Cancer
- 1.2K Stage I Breast Cancer
- 313 Stage II Breast Cancer
- 3.8K Stage III Breast Cancer
- 2.5K Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- 13.1K Day-to-Day Matters
- 132 All things COVID-19 or coronavirus
- 87 BCO Free-Cycle: Give or Trade Items Related to Breast Cancer
- 5.9K Clinical Trials, Research News, Podcasts, and Study Results
- 86 Coping with Holidays, Special Days and Anniversaries
- 828 Employment, Insurance, and Other Financial Issues
- 101 Family and Family Planning Matters
- Family Issues for Those Who Have Breast Cancer
- 26 Furry friends
- 1.8K Humor and Games
- 1.6K Mental Health: Because Cancer Doesn't Just Affect Your Breasts
- 706 Recipe Swap for Healthy Living
- 704 Recommend Your Resources
- 171 Sex & Relationship Matters
- 9 The Political Corner
- 874 Working on Your Fitness
- 4.5K Moving On & Finding Inspiration After Breast Cancer
- 394 Bonded by Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Life After Breast Cancer
- 806 Prayers and Spiritual Support
- 285 Who or What Inspires You?
- 28.7K Not Diagnosed But Concerned
- 1K Benign Breast Conditions
- 2.3K High Risk for Breast Cancer
- 18K Not Diagnosed But Worried
- 7.4K Waiting for Test Results
- 603 Site News and Announcements
- 560 Comments, Suggestions, Feature Requests
- 39 Mod Announcements, Breastcancer.org News, Blog Entries, Podcasts
- 4 Survey, Interview and Participant Requests: Need your Help!
- 61.9K Tests, Treatments & Side Effects
- 586 Alternative Medicine
- 255 Bone Health and Bone Loss
- 11.4K Breast Reconstruction
- 7.9K Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 2.7K Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment
- 775 Diagnosed and Waiting for Test Results
- 7.8K Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 50 Immunotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 7.4K Just Diagnosed
- 1.4K Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy
- 5.2K Lymphedema
- 3.6K Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment
- 591 Pain
- 3.9K Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 8.4K Surgery - Before, During, and After
- 109 Welcome to Breastcancer.org
- 98 Acknowledging and honoring our Community
- 11 Info & Resources for New Patients & Members From the Team