Has anyone had a lift and could you share your experience?

Hi Alice,

I, same as you, had unilateral MX and decided to go with exchange surgery on just one side, and leave the other one alone (just talked to the PS TODAY). My PS said he can match the implant side to the natural side pretty well, but deep in my mind I question if he could really do that. After reading your post, I started to wonder if this is the right decision for me. I turn 40 this year. I don't mind that my breasts don't match perfectly, but do they look obviously weird in swimsuit? I'm B cup and perhaps it's easier to match? Another reason to leave the other one along is that I feel it would be much easier to do Mammo or monitor by self-exam without an implant. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Hi Alice,

It sounds like you really want to "get it fixed". I saw my PS this week and he said there's no way he can match my MX side to a natural breast "perfectly", but it will be acceptable from doctors' point of view. I then discussed with the nurse who's a woman and can relate how I feel. Anyway, I've decided to put in a small implant in my healthy breast. Period. Exchange surgery is 4/9. To be honest, I'm much happier that I have made up my mind. There're always risks with an implant or not. But I know I'll be happier with slightly bigger breasts and better symmetry. In the end, I'm the one who's gonna face the naked me everyday.

Alice, it seems like you're not happy.... if the surgery can fix it and make you happier, maybe give it a shot?

Cheers!

Alice- for every woman who wishes they hadn’t done DIEP flap there are tens to hundreds more that are thrilled with it. The recovery is about 12 weeks to be at 100%. You’re not totally disabled and unable to do anything for 12 weeks. I was able to be home alone with no assistance for anything at 3 week’s. I was driving at 4 weeks. I was cooking family meals at 4-6 weeks. I was going to ballgames, birthdays, etc with the kids at 3 weeks. I am one of the ones who is thrilled with their DIEP results. I think it also has a lot to do with the skill of the surgeon. So make sure you have one that does DIEP a time least once a week and you like their before & after photos. I went to NOLA for mine. Their photos are available online including women who had implants that were contracting or didn’t look right. Here’s a link:

www.breastcenter.com

These posts have been so helpful! I'm having a lift and an implant put in for symmetry on my left side at the same time as my exchange surgery on April 24th. The PS says they should look the same in a bra and bikini, but will never look the same naked. So I've been dealing with that and pretty much have it internalized. Right now I have an expander in one side and some days I can see the height difference between that and my real boob, so I change shirts and hope that my lift will correct that at least for a time.

The other thing he says is that the natural breast with implant will always fall faster than the reconstructed one with time. Seems logical, inevitable. I decided to go for implants instead of flap partly because of recovery time, but also because I don't mind the thought of having two implants.

AliceKo- so sorry I'm just responding. Frankly, I feel like I did before BC. That started literally right from the time I woke up after stage 2. I kind of felt like I was in one of those Freaky Friday movies where you change bodies with someone else and then you finally get switched back. Yeah, I got switched back. I kept marveling at the feeling. Now, I did have some pain with my legs/hips from the lipo but that went away and all is good. I'd say it feels like before & it healed well. I also have to credit NOLA & Dr D in particular. Their skill and eye for detail is amazing.

Everyone's body is different and drains may come out sooner for some & later for others. I was lucky and drains were all out by the time I flew home both times. They say the more active you are the more fluid builds up & then drains. So 1 more reason to take it easy. As far as do nothing for 12 weeks...I went out to lunch on discharge day from stage 1, watched a Mardi gras parade on day 8, ate out several times before leaving NOLA, cooking & driving at week 4, back to work at 8 or 10 weeks (my job requires a lot of lifting, driving and getting in & out of the car all day long). After stage 2, I was eating out in town from the 2nd night after surgery. Didn't miss a beat when I got home. Just couldn't lift anything or return to work for 8 weeks due to hysterectomy I had at the same time. I would agree that it takes about a year to get your stamina back to 100%. It just means you tire a little more quickly and go to bed at 10 instead of 12.

On the stories...remember that the stories people (Healthcare professionals included) always remember are the bad ones. For every bad/tough story there are likely 10 that went flawlessly. But because the patients that did welljust had regular follow up vs intense multiple visits in a short period of time, they tend to be forgotten.

When you say your PSs implant photos look better than their DIEP photos, are you talking about breasts or abdomen? How do they compare with NOLA's DIEP photos? How many DIEPs do they do per week/year?

I have a question for those who have had a lift done. I am scheduled for a lift on one side and fat grafting on the other. Is a lift painful? How long of a recovery time did you need? I have to go back to work exactly two weeks later and I don’t want to mess anything up by lifting and carrying. I will always ask for help but sometimes there is no help. Unfortunately it’s the only two week stretch I have time off until November.

I’ll try to answer all of this . Yes with out a doubt I would do my tram again the only regret is I did not do both breasts the first time around. My Ps asked if I wanted to so I would never have to worry about it.i had plenty of tissue and just so you know I am not small I am a 36 D and was larger before diagnosis. Since a tram flap is one and done I did not have the option to do it again for the other breast I could have done a lattimus Doris but I would still have needed a implant because of my size.

I like both. My PS did a Great job and did a lot of fold work to make them match as much as possible and my nipples match pretty close too they are both reconstructed . They are not completely the same but neither were my real ones.My implant is a 410 Natrelle 690cc

I had a lumpectomy. Unfortunately, I had a terrible experience with my bs. She is very old school and did not tell me there are techniques that hide the scar around the nipple, under the arm or under the breast. She took out a big chunk right in the middle of the breast so now I have a long scar that goes almost side to side of the breast. I also had an infection at the surgical site that made the scar colapse, so it looked like I had a big toothless mouth on top of my breast. Of course she is no longer my bs. I now have a great bs but it’s too late. I found a fantastic ps that I love and have had a scar revision. In some time I hope i wil have just a faded line for a scar. However, after the revision I could look at myself again in the mirror and did not like the assymetry. The girls were no longer twins but distant cousins. My ps suggested a lift to the other breast with fat grafting to restore symmetry. I loved the results. The scar is around the nipple and just one month after the surgery it is already barely visible

Thanks so much for your input, lifeb4me and PNWBCHgirl. It's so great to hear about other people's experiences and makes me feel better going into my exchange surgery next Tuesday. I'll have a lift and a small implant put in on the healthy side. It's nice to know you both haven't had regrets, despite what might have come later. They will also send the tissue they take out of my healthy breast for biopsy just in case (standard protocol in these cases at my hospital) so that will be setting my mind at ease...or if not, will catch anything ASAP so we can figure out what needs to be done.