Saline vs silicone

Cheryl70
Cheryl70 Member Posts: 8
I had my exchange surgery 3 weeks ago. I am not thrilled with the results. I have 800 cc high profile Mentors. I am 5"9 and large framed. I am a little over weight at the moment. I haven't weighed myself since my bilateral mastectomy, but I have gained a few pounds since this all started. To say the least. I will lose it. I am not worried about the weight gain. I do understand that is a factor on how the breasts look. My doctor is very cool. He said that he would meet with me after they settle to see if I am happier with the results. He said if i am not happy with the silicone, he can swap them out for saline and overfill to 900'cc. My appointment is this Friday and I am not happy still. The silicone implants dont fill my D bra. I am struggling with my next decision because I feel it may be the final decissiin I make. This surgery is to take my body fat and fill around the breast area and to graft my nipples. My question is do I change to saline or will the fat fill help me fill my bra and reduce my stomach. I am turning to my pink ladies who have possibly experienced this dilemma for some advice.

Comments

  • jendrey
    jendrey Member Posts: 377
    ...
    I've heard the saline aren't as soft as the silicone. But the trade off there is that as your PS says he can fill/adjust the saline implants whereas that's not even a possibility with the silicone. Although I dunno how much of a difference it'd make.

    You've already got the larger scar from the silicone implants placement, myself, I'd love the chance to try a fat transfer! The high profile is far better than the moderate ones in my opinion and I've had both!

    It could always be much worse. I had a unilateral mastectomy. My implant is far smaller than my remaining breast and this is after revision surgery. The implant comes nowhere near to filling in my bra and I'm very aware of it every single minute of every single day. Since it doesn't fill in my bra, my bra tends to 'ride up' and it seems like I'm constantly tugging my shirt back down on the implant side. Constantly. My skin is stretched very thin over the implant. The radiation caused so much damage that this is the best I can ever have with an implant. I want an autologous tissue reconstruction... =)
    About radiation damage, for instance I recently had stitches for over 9 weeks. No, that is not a typo. I had stitches in place for over nine weeks!

    I can totally relate to how the size is not something that you're happy with. =)

    Please don't feel as though it's your final decision. It might be far easier to come to terms with whatever you decide if you made this into two separate procedures. That way it allows you time to decide if you reallly are ok with the fat transfer before adding the finishing touch of the nipples. Or if you're not liking it then you can move on to the saline implants. I think what may be making it seem so final is the nipples. Waiting on the nipples might be just the thing to do right now for you.

    Ultimately, you're the only one that can make this choice. Remember you are the one in charge of when you'll have any procedures done (as well as what is done!) No matter how cool your doc is; please don't be pressured or rushed into anything!!!

    (((Hugs)))
  • jendrey
    jendrey Member Posts: 377
    jendrey said:

    ...
    I've heard the saline aren't as soft as the silicone. But the trade off there is that as your PS says he can fill/adjust the saline implants whereas that's not even a possibility with the silicone. Although I dunno how much of a difference it'd make.

    You've already got the larger scar from the silicone implants placement, myself, I'd love the chance to try a fat transfer! The high profile is far better than the moderate ones in my opinion and I've had both!

    It could always be much worse. I had a unilateral mastectomy. My implant is far smaller than my remaining breast and this is after revision surgery. The implant comes nowhere near to filling in my bra and I'm very aware of it every single minute of every single day. Since it doesn't fill in my bra, my bra tends to 'ride up' and it seems like I'm constantly tugging my shirt back down on the implant side. Constantly. My skin is stretched very thin over the implant. The radiation caused so much damage that this is the best I can ever have with an implant. I want an autologous tissue reconstruction... =)
    About radiation damage, for instance I recently had stitches for over 9 weeks. No, that is not a typo. I had stitches in place for over nine weeks!

    I can totally relate to how the size is not something that you're happy with. =)

    Please don't feel as though it's your final decision. It might be far easier to come to terms with whatever you decide if you made this into two separate procedures. That way it allows you time to decide if you reallly are ok with the fat transfer before adding the finishing touch of the nipples. Or if you're not liking it then you can move on to the saline implants. I think what may be making it seem so final is the nipples. Waiting on the nipples might be just the thing to do right now for you.

    Ultimately, you're the only one that can make this choice. Remember you are the one in charge of when you'll have any procedures done (as well as what is done!) No matter how cool your doc is; please don't be pressured or rushed into anything!!!

    (((Hugs)))

    ...
    Cheryl - how you doing?
  • DianeBC
    DianeBC Member Posts: 3,881 Member
    Cheryl, I had a lumpectomy,
    Cheryl, I had a lumpectomy, so, I can't offer advice to you, but, I wanted to let you know that I will be praying for you and hoping that your appointment on Friday will answer some of your questions.

    I am sure the pink sisters here that have had implants will help you out a lot more too.


    Hugs, Diane
  • Heatherbelle
    Heatherbelle Member Posts: 1,226 Member
    I have the same implants and
    I have the same implants and size and was also disappointed - at first. It takes a good 4 months for the implants to "fluff out" and get rounder. I had fat grafting done, on a small level, just taking a few extra large syringes of fat from under my bellybutton - this helped round them out, as i had a flat area on the front of each breast. They can overfill saline implants, but they arent soft as silicone and they can show "ripples" under your skin. I am making an appointment with my plastic surgeon to discuss further fat grafting, because although my implants are large around, i dont have the projection from them that i'd like.
    As far as bras go - you will probably have to be fitted by a professional. None of my older bras fit because the implants are so wide, there aren't alot of bra manufacturers that make really wide cups. And i can't wear any bras with padding, the implants just aren't pliable enough to squish in the cups. Some of the Victoria's secret bras have really wide underwire bras that are perfect fits for me - as long as they're not padded. Also, Warner's makes some good wide underwire ones.
    Be patient with your implants, they will continue to "fluff out" and get rounder and softer as time goes by. My PS told me about 4 months, and he was pretty spot on with that timeframe.
    -heather
  • DebbyM
    DebbyM Member Posts: 3,289 Member

    I have the same implants and
    I have the same implants and size and was also disappointed - at first. It takes a good 4 months for the implants to "fluff out" and get rounder. I had fat grafting done, on a small level, just taking a few extra large syringes of fat from under my bellybutton - this helped round them out, as i had a flat area on the front of each breast. They can overfill saline implants, but they arent soft as silicone and they can show "ripples" under your skin. I am making an appointment with my plastic surgeon to discuss further fat grafting, because although my implants are large around, i dont have the projection from them that i'd like.
    As far as bras go - you will probably have to be fitted by a professional. None of my older bras fit because the implants are so wide, there aren't alot of bra manufacturers that make really wide cups. And i can't wear any bras with padding, the implants just aren't pliable enough to squish in the cups. Some of the Victoria's secret bras have really wide underwire bras that are perfect fits for me - as long as they're not padded. Also, Warner's makes some good wide underwire ones.
    Be patient with your implants, they will continue to "fluff out" and get rounder and softer as time goes by. My PS told me about 4 months, and he was pretty spot on with that timeframe.
    -heather

    Good luck today Cheryl!

    Good luck today Cheryl!
  • debsweb18
    debsweb18 Member Posts: 191 Member

    I have the same implants and
    I have the same implants and size and was also disappointed - at first. It takes a good 4 months for the implants to "fluff out" and get rounder. I had fat grafting done, on a small level, just taking a few extra large syringes of fat from under my bellybutton - this helped round them out, as i had a flat area on the front of each breast. They can overfill saline implants, but they arent soft as silicone and they can show "ripples" under your skin. I am making an appointment with my plastic surgeon to discuss further fat grafting, because although my implants are large around, i dont have the projection from them that i'd like.
    As far as bras go - you will probably have to be fitted by a professional. None of my older bras fit because the implants are so wide, there aren't alot of bra manufacturers that make really wide cups. And i can't wear any bras with padding, the implants just aren't pliable enough to squish in the cups. Some of the Victoria's secret bras have really wide underwire bras that are perfect fits for me - as long as they're not padded. Also, Warner's makes some good wide underwire ones.
    Be patient with your implants, they will continue to "fluff out" and get rounder and softer as time goes by. My PS told me about 4 months, and he was pretty spot on with that timeframe.
    -heather

    Silicone implants
    I had immediate construction with a silicone implant. After radiation I had the other side lifted. My implant never stuck out as far as my lifted side even though in a bra they're the same size. Several months later I had my implant replaced with a larger size. I'm so much happier with it. But it still sits higher than the other side since the skin is so tight from radiation. My constructed nipple (at the same time as the lift and before the replacement) is now higher than my other one. I could have more surgery, but I figure my lifted side will still naturally sag

    Deb
  • Cheryl70
    Cheryl70 Member Posts: 8
    Thank you
    Everyone had such great advice. I appreciate all of you. Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. I went infor my nipple reconstruction and had my implants switched out to a more projected silicone model. In fact, I decided on an entirely different brand. I went with a Natrelle 800 cc high profile implant. I had my fat grafting done at the same time. So, it is kinda hard to tell if the implants or the grafting or the combo did the trick. I am happy so far.