Thursday morning, I checked into Village Pointe Aesthetics at 7:15. By 8:00, I was being knocked out and wheeled back to the OR. I was in the hands of Dr Johnson, a rockin’ CRNA and some, once again, incredible nurses, including but not limited to, Amy and Amber.
And I was fully ready to say goodbye to my tissue expanders (which were about 480 cc) that I’d been carrying around since February 25, 2016, and my infusaport that has been in my arm since September 2015. (And yes. There is about to be a picture of my expanders because when I looked for photos before I got expanders, it was hard to find them because, well, boobs). But really, to me, boobs have become so not sexual. And so much more just anatomical. Does that make sense?
The tissue expanders, I’d grown very used to but they were definitely rock hard — especially the side that had been radiated — and they were not moveable. Like, at all. I definitely have not worn any sort of underwire since my bilateral mastectomy because as you can see, the expanders make the breasts verrrrrrry circular and very unable to be moved or shoved in any sort of direction or shape. So. I pretty much only wore nothing or bralettes for the time from my diagnosis until the present day.
My plastic surgeon, Dr Perry Johnson, sees a lot of reconstructions so in deciding what type of implant and what size, I really just had him steer me in what he thought was the appropriate direction.
First, I knew I would have silicone for sure because I don’t have any breast tissue or muscle, only skin, to cover the implant and thus, less rippling occurs with silicone. And, he highly suggested I go with the Natrelle teardrop implant that is grippier on the exterior because it stays put better and also, makes for less scar tissue issues as time passes. The one thing I was most concerned about is that they would not be full enough or perky enough (if I’m going through all of this, I could give two shits if my breasts appear fake as long as they look rockin;)). He assured me that the Natrelle teardrop is the way for reconstructive patients to go.
So, out with the old and in with the new. They placed 620 cc (and I know, you’re wondering what that means in cup sizes but it doesn’t really mean one cup size fits all) in each breast. It varies from person to person based on your build and also what was there before.
They removed the port and placed in the Natrelle “gummy bear” like implants and also, Alloderm, on my radiated side. The alloderm is tissue that helps stabilize the implant and cover the implant as well. Over time, it grows into my skin. I know… yummy. I also have a drain on each side for now (similar to my mastectomy. We empty and strip them each night) for at least the first week. This helps the fluid drain out of the body appropriately.
The breasts immediately felt softer! Also, I think I have some feeling in my breasts which is a welcome surprise as I didn’t have any with the expanders. And because I had a nipple-sparing mastectomy (under the advice of my medical team) they seem to have evened out the symmetry of the direction of the nips as well as tried to bring the breasts closer toegether (all I want for Christmas is cleavage;). Right now, I feel like they are so much droopier than they were with the expanders which is oddly odd but my friends who have been down this road said they will “fluff up”… ha! And, as dr Johnson told me ahead, 50% of patients have a secondary surgery to fix the aesthetics of the breasts… because the whole procedure is so different from a regular augmentation.
I went home in the early afternoon on Thursday and have been laying around for the last couple of days and popping hydrocodone on a 6 hour schedule to stay ahead of the pain. I had a rough night the first night but after that, the pain is so tolerable and waaaaaaay better than after the mastectomy. Way better! I will wear the big surgical bra through the week and that should help with the swelling as well.
It’s crazy because now I find myself caring what my breasts look like when I never cared before cancer. But now, I feel like everyone knows they’re fake, they might as well be perky as all get out. But with reconstruction, the implants don’t look like when they do regular augmentation because you are dealing with an empty breast and just skin. Only time will tell if I have more procedures in my future. For now, I’m happy to be post-reconstruction and have the expanders off the Brehm and the brain. I am hopeful that they will behave over the next few weeks and stay clear of infection and any other unwanted issues. And hopefully by the new year, I will be rockin’ a sawwwweeeeeet set of c cups and possibly doing my best breathing ever.
