They were placed in my chest after my mastectomy as the first phase of my reconstruction. They will stretch the skin and the soft tissue, to make room for the permanent implants that will go in later. Some are placed under the pectoral muscles and some are able to be placed over, depending on blood supply and other factors. I was lucky enough that it worked to place mine over the muscle, which makes recovery just a bit easier. But, these guys are ridiculously uncomfortable. I'd done a lot of research of these, and asked a friend who has been through this if they ever get more comfortable. Her answer was the best, in that they do get a little less uncomfortable. They're really never comfortable, but less uncomfortable. They are ridiculously hard, and sometimes it feels as if they're digging in, like an underwire bra might feel at times. They also just feel really heavy, like I have on a bra that weighs about 10 pounds. I can say they are already feeling a little less uncomfortable, and knowing they're not there forever helps. But, I will be stuck with them for awhile.
I go in to get them filled up weekly. It reminds me of these old shoes my brother used to have when he was little! Pump them up!
I had my first fill last week. They use a special magnet to find the port, and then use a needle to inject the saline into the port. This video is a perfect explanation of what happens if you want to know more. It really is all kind of fascinating actually. It didn't hurt, as my chest is completely numb, so I didn't feel the needle or anything. But it was a super strange feeling. It felt kind of like when you fill your car up with gas and you can feel it get a little heavier. That's sort of what my "foobs" felt like. (I've lovingly started referring to them as this..my "fake boobs...foobs." I was super stiff and sore for about a day or two after, but then it was okay. I started at 200cc right at surgery, and he fills them 50cc at a time. I have no idea what the end goal will be. I get to check myself out each week and decide! ;) When I get them to the size I feel good with, we will be done filling them. I can't imagine getting them filled too many times. I'm not looking for anything too big! I will be very happy to have a bit smaller chest! I asked him last week what an average cc level is, that most people stop at, an he said that is tough to answer, as every person's body is different, so the same amount will look different on every person. That makes total sense. So I will just wait and see what works for me.
After we reach the point where I feel good, then I have to wait just a bit for surgery. At the earliest, it would be probably late July, as it can't happen too soon after my initial mastectomy. That is if no chemo is involved. If I have to have chemo, then I am stuck with these expanders for much longer, as they won't do the exchange surgery during chemo due to the risk of infection, so I'd have to wait until I'm all finished. That makes total sense, but also SUCKS because it means I'd be stuck with these awful, uncomfortable things much longer. But, I can tough it out if need be. Again, I know this is all a short window of time in the big picture, so I'm just trying to focus on that. At the end of it all, I'll have some fabulous looking new foobs! Reconstruction can go on beyond that if you want, as there are lots of other things they can do if you choose. They can do some fat grafting from places to add fat to the chest to make it more natural looking if wanted. They can also do 3d nipple tattoos, which are actually really cool and pretty amazing. There are all kinds of fun options! ;) Right now I'm rocking no nipples, just big scars across that area. I kind of think they look pretty badass though, and I might just decide to rock those. They make me look tough! I could have elected to save my nipples during surgery, but that would have left some breast tissue, and after going through all of this, I didn't want to leave anything behind. It just wasn't worth it to me. They even sell rub on nipple tattoos at the store where I bought my mastectomy bras, so you can kind of try them out to see what they'd look like, if want that but don't want to do the 3d tattoos. I laughed thinking about buying the nipple tattoos and somehow having Harper getting her hands on them, thinking they were just cool temporary tattoos and showing up to school with nipples all over her arms! Lol! I think I'll spare her teachers for now and hold off on all of that for just a bit! ;). We will cross those bridges when we get there. For now, we will just focus on pumping these babies up! I never thought that my 11 year old and I would be growing our boobs at the same time but hey...what can you do right?!
No comments:
Post a Comment