Had my exchange surgery today.

Linedancer54

Had no idea what to expect. My fiend who had gone through this 4 yrs ago said it was a piece of cake.I have bandages to neck. Pain and drain bottles. My husbands sister is getting married this Saturday and its an outdoor wedding with the reception at a winery.
And it's 2 hours from our home. He has to be there as he is walking her down the aisle. Of course I would insist he go anyway. I love his family and am really disappointed to miss it.Just don't see how I could possibly go.

But I would like to hear from any of you wonderfully kind ladies what your experiences were. Thanks a bunch.

Sandy

jessiesmom1

Exchange surgery
Hi Sandy,

I had a tissue expander put in at the time of my right mastectomy. It was filled at that time and only once more before I had my exchange surgery. On June 13th I had the expander replaced with a saline implant and also had a breast reduction/lift on the opposite (non-cancer) side. I came home with 3 surgical drains - 1 on the left side and 2 on the right. They came out within 10 days. The thing I was not prepared for was the hyper-sensitivity of the nipple on the reduction side. A feather could have touched me and I would wince. Now 8 weeks later it feels pretty much normal. It looks fabulous.For the 1st time in MANY years my left breast actually points forward (lol). I do have an extensive scar going from underneath my breast around past my underarm. On the implant side I also have a wicked scar underneath the breast around past my underarm. I also had some excess tissue (aka "angel wings") removed on the mastectomy side. For the 1st week after the surgery in the evenings I would sit in bed with an ice bag on my chest. It seemed to soothe the soreness. I occasionally took the prescribed Vicodin but not for very long.I was given the go ahead just yesterday to move from the sports bra to a regular bra. Of course I have no idea exactly what size I am anymore so I will take this opportunity to buy a bunch of new ones. The shape of the reconstructed size is not as natural as I had hoped. I must admit to being kind of disappointed with that. The reconstructive surgeon says the implant is located properly and the "breast mound" is reasonably symmetrical to the other side. I am not so sure that I agree. He did not recommend any further surgical revision. He said it would be an appropriate time to tattoo the areola and reconstruct the nipple. That would be a 1-1.5 hour surgery under only a local anesthetic. He even held up the paint samples to me so we could figure out what would match. I think I will wait on that a bit.

If I can be of any help, please feel free to send me a private message. Good luck with your recovery.

IRENE

Linedancer54

jessiesmom1 said:

Exchange surgery
Hi Sandy,

I had a tissue expander put in at the time of my right mastectomy. It was filled at that time and only once more before I had my exchange surgery. On June 13th I had the expander replaced with a saline implant and also had a breast reduction/lift on the opposite (non-cancer) side. I came home with 3 surgical drains - 1 on the left side and 2 on the right. They came out within 10 days. The thing I was not prepared for was the hyper-sensitivity of the nipple on the reduction side. A feather could have touched me and I would wince. Now 8 weeks later it feels pretty much normal. It looks fabulous.For the 1st time in MANY years my left breast actually points forward (lol). I do have an extensive scar going from underneath my breast around past my underarm. On the implant side I also have a wicked scar underneath the breast around past my underarm. I also had some excess tissue (aka "angel wings") removed on the mastectomy side. For the 1st week after the surgery in the evenings I would sit in bed with an ice bag on my chest. It seemed to soothe the soreness. I occasionally took the prescribed Vicodin but not for very long.I was given the go ahead just yesterday to move from the sports bra to a regular bra. Of course I have no idea exactly what size I am anymore so I will take this opportunity to buy a bunch of new ones. The shape of the reconstructed size is not as natural as I had hoped. I must admit to being kind of disappointed with that. The reconstructive surgeon says the implant is located properly and the "breast mound" is reasonably symmetrical to the other side. I am not so sure that I agree. He did not recommend any further surgical revision. He said it would be an appropriate time to tattoo the areola and reconstruct the nipple. That would be a 1-1.5 hour surgery under only a local anesthetic. He even held up the paint samples to me so we could figure out what would match. I think I will wait on that a bit.

If I can be of any help, please feel free to send me a private message. Good luck with your recovery.

IRENE

Exchange Surgery
Thanks Irene.
In rereading my post, I realize I wasn't very informative. I had a bilateral mast. in March and and did 4 mos. chemo. I opted for saline gel implants as I heard they were most natural, more comfy and and much improved from the old silicone implants.I'm still not sure if I will be getting the nipple but will might get the tat. Of course, I might change my mind later on.He drew so many lines in black marker and told me what all he was going to do. Sounded like a few differrent incisions to get the best shape. I hope I'm happy when the unveiling comes on Monday. I have a friend who was unhappy with her final look but was didn't want anymore to do with it.Another friend had the expanders put in only to have her body reject them. Has been wearing a prthesis the last 4 years.I guess I should be gateful to have gotten this far. I have been very lucky to have a hubby who ihas been extremely helpful and supportive.
Thank you for the info. I appreciate your quick reply. Sometimes we are more critical of how we look, and maybe you look more assymetical than you think.

Take care,
Sandy

RE

Supportive Hugs
Hello Sandy,

I had my expander surgery about 2 ½ years ago. I had the expander placed in (definitely not a piece of cake operation) it takes time to heal and you are quite sore which is to be expected. Give yourself some time once you see your new breast, it does take awhile for it to settle so to speak. You may find that once it has settled you will need a bit of tweaking. My breast tended to roll towards my underarm when I would lay down, not very comfortable and not attractive either. I held off on doing anything about this because I was unsure what to do or if anything could be done. I also held off on having the nipple done too because I was simply tired of procedures. Two years later (this past Feb.) I had my nipple done and my roaming breast fixed. They called the procedure securing the pocket because they needed to get it to sit in place and not roam. I choose to have the skin graft done to create a more natural looking nipple (my sister had the tattoos and they looked great!) It was a bit of a process but in the end I am very happy with my results and it was worth going back and complaining to my surgeon that I needed to be fixed.

RE

Noel

jessiesmom1 said:

Exchange surgery
Hi Sandy,

I had a tissue expander put in at the time of my right mastectomy. It was filled at that time and only once more before I had my exchange surgery. On June 13th I had the expander replaced with a saline implant and also had a breast reduction/lift on the opposite (non-cancer) side. I came home with 3 surgical drains - 1 on the left side and 2 on the right. They came out within 10 days. The thing I was not prepared for was the hyper-sensitivity of the nipple on the reduction side. A feather could have touched me and I would wince. Now 8 weeks later it feels pretty much normal. It looks fabulous.For the 1st time in MANY years my left breast actually points forward (lol). I do have an extensive scar going from underneath my breast around past my underarm. On the implant side I also have a wicked scar underneath the breast around past my underarm. I also had some excess tissue (aka "angel wings") removed on the mastectomy side. For the 1st week after the surgery in the evenings I would sit in bed with an ice bag on my chest. It seemed to soothe the soreness. I occasionally took the prescribed Vicodin but not for very long.I was given the go ahead just yesterday to move from the sports bra to a regular bra. Of course I have no idea exactly what size I am anymore so I will take this opportunity to buy a bunch of new ones. The shape of the reconstructed size is not as natural as I had hoped. I must admit to being kind of disappointed with that. The reconstructive surgeon says the implant is located properly and the "breast mound" is reasonably symmetrical to the other side. I am not so sure that I agree. He did not recommend any further surgical revision. He said it would be an appropriate time to tattoo the areola and reconstruct the nipple. That would be a 1-1.5 hour surgery under only a local anesthetic. He even held up the paint samples to me so we could figure out what would match. I think I will wait on that a bit.

If I can be of any help, please feel free to send me a private message. Good luck with your recovery.

IRENE

I had a lumpectomy Sandy,
I had a lumpectomy Sandy, but, I wanted to say that I hope that you start feeling better very soon.


Hugs, Noel