Hi, o wise ladies. I am going in on friday for the procedure where they take some fat from the thighs and take the stem cells and inject it into my mastectomy site. The idea is that this helps the skin regenerate ready for the implant in 3 months.
I’m only a day case and my surgeon made out it wouldnt hurt at all just look scary with bruising. I’ve really played this op down as I dont want any more fuss as I’m sick of the whole treatment process and am trying to move on. I read on the lipo thread today that someone was out of action for a week and that scared me. Has anyone had this done? how much did it hurt after and how long were you affected for? Please be honest as its better if I know what to expect.
thank you,
Naomi
Hi Naomi
I’m planning a similar procedure, but in my case they’ll be taking the fat from my stomach. I was told to expect 2 weeks being quite sore and off work and around six weeks being a bit uncomfortable and waiting for the bruising to fade away. I was also warned that I will need to wear support bras for some weeks to keep the new breast shape, plus support wear where the fat has been removed to ensure it heals properly.
Hello Naomi,
I had some lipo last year. I had an LD flap in 2010, then in Feb 2011 I went in as a day case, both to have a nipple recon, and some lipofil from my tummy to my recon to even out the contour a bit. I told very few people about this, like you I was fed up with the whole process and wanted to keep it all low profile. As it turned out I got a date for the Friday of half term when I had already booked the whole week off work as holiday. So I didn’t even take a day off sick for it. This suited me as I didn’t want to go around telling people at work what I was doing. I planned to have the weekend to rest then go back to work on the Monday. However I had a delayed reaction to the anaesthetic on the Sunday and was very sick, so ended up taking the Monday off work. When I called in sick, I could tell them I had been very sick the previous day, so no questions asked.
Ooh, interesting thread!
I’ll be having a bit of lipo, taken from hips and injected into mastectomy site, as apparently my skin is very thin there. 3 months later I’ll be getting an expander, and then eventually a permanent implant.
And there was me thinking the lipo procedure would be be fairly minor.
Good luck for tomorrow, you’ll have to let us know how you get on Naomi.
hi ladies, i had lypo from stomach transferred to LD flap area, removal of ‘dog ear’ flap, a week ago. Just been to dressings clinic and all is going well but the dog ear flap is taking a bit longer to heal Only glue and sterri strips, no stitches)… as for the lypo i am VERY bruised and just sore in places where the dissolvable stitches are. I had the fat transferred to my LD flap area and i can honestly say i have had no pain in the breast at all and looks really great. Hospital gave me a sick note for 2 weeks. I have to see how the healing is going before i decide when im returning
Thank you so much for your replies, it does sound like its not too bad.
I asked the surgeon how much time off I needed and he said how much do you want! I’ve taken 2 weeks, I’m hoping its more than I need but its just so nice not to have to think about work at all.
Sounds like I’m having the same as you kittieKat. I’ll have to wait 3 months for the implant. I think that will be quite a bit more major. I’ll let you know how I get on tomorrow! Really nervous now.
Hi there
I have had the fat transfer procedure twice (from my tummy and hips) to my reconstruction due to the skin being so damaged from radiotherapy and surgery etc. Each time I took two weeks off work, which I felt was about right for me. My breast wasn’t sore at all, but the area where they took the fat from was very bruised. Worth it!
Good luck xx
this thread is really interesting because its something im considering. I had my ld flap recon done with implant but i have a “hole” in the middle which looks like it needs a little more “stuffing” put in, is this something that the lipo op would fill? I had heard that not all the fat takes and that your body obsorbes some of it, has any body else heard of this?
good luck to all you ladies.
deed
x
I will be having conventional lipofill to my non-BC breast and stem cell enriched lipofill to the BC side, which has had rads.
I was told that the conventional fat transfer takes best where the blood supply is good, but doesn’t do as well in areas that have been treated with rads because that damages the blood supply. In non-rads areas they reckon about 1/3 of the fill will be re-absorbed, so they overfill by that much to allow for it and hopefully will only need doing once. On the rads side the result is less predictable so may need doing twice.
Having done a lot of reading up on the subject, it seems that it is particularly useful for filling in dents or holes, not so useful for large volumes.
shenagh, you dont have any fat to transfer!!!
i’m 9 days post fat transfer and have developed celulitis yesterday. i noticed a red and hot area where the fat has been transfered too. some of the fat has also gone hard and lumpy. I feel crap too. After having it before and needing 3 weeks on IV antibiotics in hosp i wasnt taking any chances. Been to hosp this morning and they have started me on antibiotics. This is only a small set back and one of the possible side effects they warn you about. I was told today the lumpiness is normal as the fat is liquidized when it goes in but after a few days hardens… should soften in time… hopefully. just thought i would mention this as it may be useful to be awear of possible side effects.
hope everyone is doing ok and i hope Dennis has been evicted xxx
Cellulitis sounds horrible! Poor you, hope the anti-biotics knock that on the head. I am due a simple lipofill on Wednesday but to fill in the dent where my WLE is, expecting bruising and discomfort but how many stitches did people have? I know there’s one everywhere thats used to harvest fat but is there one or more where it is put back in? Also, I now know the fat may go lumpy and that there is a risk of infection/cellulitis. Anything else I should be looking out for? I probably haven’t researched this as much as I should… suddenly thinking OK what do I need to know and what should I be looking out for?
Has anyone taken anything for bruising (like arnica) or is it like surgery and frowned upon in case it stops clotting? x
hi, can anyone help, I havin fat transfer next tuesday but I got a spa day booked for the sunday will I be ok to go.
juls… if you have unhealed surgery i dont think swimming or anything that involves letting the surgery be touched wouldnt be a good idea. I was 9 days, healing well and still developed celulitis. Im 15 days now and still have undissolved stitches in the insertions. I certainly wont be going swimming etc for a few weeks yet x
Ok here’s the lowdown so far. It was supposed to be a day case and I was first on the list but they swapped around and I didnt go down until around 1. In recovery by 3.30. Heres the scary bit- WEARING DIFFERENT PANTS!- someone had gone up to my bag and got out my huge control knickers. These are hard to get on at the best of times so I can only imagine the scene in theatre!
Anyway back to the ward for 4.40 ish completely out of it on morphine- lovely. They said I could go home around 8 or 9 but then I started being sick so I had loads of IV cyclazine which is a heavy tranquilliser. At 8 they were wondering when I was leaving but I was totally out of it, I couldn’t work out how to gather my stuff and leave! I had said I’d ring my husband to come and get me but I couldn’t even do that, anyway I ended up staying. But then I had not eaten and had no food so I started to cry and they found a sandwich from somewhere.
I have 3 dressings- one on each hip and one where the fat was put back in. I haven’t looked under so I’m not sure how many stitches. The bruises are spectacular and feel just like bruises. I feel like I’ve been bashed but if I stay still its fine. The breast site is very sore but much better by the day. It looks quite different, instead of a dent its kind of flat. I’m walking around but resting alot. So its not nothing but not terrible either. I reckon I’ll be slow but fine by the end of of the week. There no way I could have gone back to work today.
I’m not sure I’d want to do a spa day any time soon as the bruises are very noticeable and the dressings are staying on for 2 weeks (they are waterproof though).
Good luck everyone having the same thing, I hope you are feeling better hollymeg.
xxNaomi
thanks for reply. will probably not go now and re book for when i am all healed x
Naomi, that sound horrendous… i hope your feeling better soon. Im 13 days post op. i still have waterproof dressing on big scar where the dog ear flap was removed from, hopefully getting it removed tomorrow. Ive finished 3 and half days antibiotics for the celulitis… fingers crossed that was enough. Most of my bruising has gone down now, very surprised how quickly it receded actually… good luck with your healing xxx
bump for Ibx157
bump
Thanks nem
Hi nem
Forgot to say, one bit of your earlier post which made me LOL was where you described the shock of waking up wearing different knickers! The thought of the poor nurses struggling to get these on me when I’m unconscious doesn’t bear thinking about. How on earth will they cope with 13 1/2 stone of dead weight?