Full BL and BA question for anyone that smoked

[ambie02]

Hello,

I am schedueld for a full lift and BA on 8/8 and had to quit smoking. The doc wanted 1 month of no smoking which is not easy for me because I have been smoking for 18 years. I have gone 4 days though with nothing and still have quite a few days to go but am sure I will make it. Now my question is did anyone else have to quit and if so did you quit forever or start back up after a certain amount of time?

Amber

[plvandlng]

Hey there, I had a BL & BA on July 1st, 2008. I quit smoking Memorial Day weekend. It was not easy for me either. I had smoked for about 12 years. Knowing I was going to get my surgery really helped. I have not had a single cigarette! Yay! I will never return to smoking. We all know the obvious reasons to quit smoking.... but getting BOOBIES is another great reason!

[ambie02]

Thank you for getting back to me! How are you healing... did you have a anchor lift? Do you have any before pics and after yet? Your size sounds close to mine...saggy 34C..everyone keeps saying you look great why do you want BA.. I say becuase as soon as this bra goes off they look horrible.. bra's can hide alot but the true picture is underneath. I have been doing ok with not smoking, did the surgeon tell you that you had to quit? Mine did and if there is any nicotine in my blood they will cancel the surgery. I also hope to not go back to it.. so hard though.. have so many friends and they all smoke, I have been trying to get them to quit with me just so we could be each others moral support but so far no takers. My dd's and dh are very happy though! Thank you again for responding and let me know if you have some pic's or any advise you want to share about BL/BA... I am very nervous. What type and size did you go with? How are you feeling now?

[plvandlng]

I had a full anchor lift and augmentation. I am so pleased with my healing. I was surprised at how much I had healed in just one week. The idea of having scars all over my breasts really scared me, but they are not bad at all. They have already become thin pink lines. One incision is a little slower at healing, but over all they look great.

I had 240cc L and 270cc R saline unders. I am still high and tight right now, so I dont know exactly what size this will be. I bought 36 D wireless bras the other day and they fit perfect. I know exactly what you mean when you said bras can hide a lot. Prior to my BA, I looked fine in clothes....... it's when you take the clothes off. Ha ha.

I had quit smoking about a week before my initial consult. I told my PS and he said that was fine. I just needed to not smoke for at least 4 weeks prior. He didn't really say anything else about it, but because I had smoked before, he had me sign a smokers waiver. It basically said that I was aware of the extra risks involved if I smoked, etc. I wasn't worried because I was determined that I had really quit this time. He asked me on the day of surgery if I had smoked. When I told him I had not he gave me a high five. We left it at that.

I have to admit...... knowing it was important to quit for surgery made quiting easier. But I also had encouragement from my hubby. He is a soldier in Iraq....... if he can quit while over there..... I can quit here. My friends and most of my family smoke too. I had to avoid them at first, just to make it easier for me. But they understand. And now they are so jealous that I am smoke free. You can do it. You have to quit for yourself. You will be so happy you did. Buy yourself some great perfume. Everytime you wear it think to yourself how beautiful you smell. Because you can wear great perfume while you smoke...... but you will still just smell like smoke.

I dont have any pics on here, I have not figured out how to do all that. Just my avatar. I will keep trying. LOL

[ambie02]

Thank you again for sharing your experience. You can post a pic in your signature by adding it to walmarts online photobooth (i think that is what it is called, info is under faq forum and then signature). It took me a few minutes but then I figured it out with the info. in there.

Any reason you went with saline oppossed to silicone? My PS wants to use silicone... little nervous about that also.


Again thanks for sharing!

[Kellie99is]

Originally Posted by ambie02

Thank you again for sharing your experience. You can post a pic in your signature by adding it to walmarts online photobooth (i think that is what it is called, info is under faq forum and then signature). It took me a few minutes but then I figured it out with the info. in there.

Any reason you went with saline oppossed to silicone? My PS wants to use silicone... little nervous about that also.


Again thanks for sharing!

silicone costs more and he profits more. saline is supposed to feel more natural. even at day 7, i feel somewhat natural. my doc advised agains saline b/c of the cost and risks. also, if a saline implant pops, your body absorbs the saline and excretes it naturally, with silicone, you have to go in for emerg surg...at least thats what i understand (i may be very wrong). We saved the $$ and went for saline and im glad i did. as for the smoking i had a heck of a time and never fully quit. in fact, i just had one and i dont seem to have any trouble. im taking lots of vits to make up for the lack i may have due to nicotine. try really hard to quit though because its so bad for your body anyways. i'll join in the ranks eventually...sorry i'm not of much help...

[plvandlng]

Ok, I will try that tonight and see what I come up with. I will let you know if I get some pics up there.

I asked my PS about both saline and silicone. He suggested I go with the saline because it was about $1,000 less and would give the same results. He explained that my implant placement would be under the muscle and I had enough breast tissue to get a natural feel and appearance. He said silicone may be better when you have an implant close to the surface of the skin.... for instance if you are looking for large implants or have little breast tissue.

[ambie02]

Kellie,

Did the PS blood test you to make sure you stopped smoking prior to getting them done? Mine is being very strict about that.. if I smoke at all they cancel the surgery... I am so trying to think I know this is good for me but part of me is like thinking I cannot wait for it to be over so I can have one:-( What kind of vitamins are you taking? My sisters PS who is doing mine in South Florida says silicone is better.. I kind of liked saline because of less worry if it ruptures.. confused again..guess I will have to make all these decisions at the last minute the day before surgery!

[mayaonearth]

Originally Posted by Kellie99is

silicone costs more and he profits more. saline is supposed to feel more natural. even at day 7, i feel somewhat natural. my doc advised agains saline b/c of the cost and risks. also, if a saline implant pops, your body absorbs the saline and excretes it naturally, with silicone, you have to go in for emerg surg...at least thats what i understand (i may be very wrong). We saved the $$ and went for saline and im glad i did. as for the smoking i had a heck of a time and never fully quit. in fact, i just had one and i dont seem to have any trouble. im taking lots of vits to make up for the lack i may have due to nicotine. try really hard to quit though because its so bad for your body anyways. i'll join in the ranks eventually...sorry i'm not of much help...

Amber~~ I just wanted to say congragulations on quitting smoking!! That is an awesome thing, whether you did it to have surgery or not!
Kellie99 is...SILICONE feels more natural not saline, but most people like either, and usually have similiar results.. you DO NOT need emergency surgery if you have a leak with silicone. The silicone implants they use now are "cohesive" like jello, they dont leak like water/saline. If there is a problem, with the old or the new silicone leaking, it does require surgery to remove any of the silicone that may leak outside the breast product but it does NOT cause any harm to the body... thats why silicone is back on the market. Silicone is more expensive, but its not the dr or ps that sets the price, so they dont "make more money", its simply a more expensive product, and generally takes a larger incision, and is "prefilled".
I just had my 5 month post op.. my ps was fine to do my ba with me being a current smoker. We discussed doing an "anchor lift" maybe next year and he told me if I wanted that he would ONLY do it if I was smoke free for at least a month. I didnt understand why, and so he explained that a lift, among other cosmetic procedures involves moving the entire nipple, and cutting thru many blood vessels. Smoker's have delayed healing, and there is too great of a risk of necrosis in the nipple and aerola tissue. As a smoker he told me the risks would be very high of infection, and blood flow restriction and he would NOT even consider certain procedures as long as I was "smoking".
HTH!

[ambie02]

Maya,

Thank you for explaining that. With my sister coordinating most of this I have not had a chance to ask all the questions I wanted and now i understand why they said no smoking at all.

Did you know when you had a spontaneous deflation? Do you have to get it done all over again if that happens? My PS also said he would not do just BA on me becuase I would not be happy with the look... guess maybe you can tell from pic, he said BA would just make me sag still so I am doing the quit smoking thing and even bought some fake cigg's that are menthol, do not light and when I get stressed I put it in my mouth and suck, a minty taste comes in my mouth so maybe I can keep up the not smoking afterward!

[ambie02]

Another quick question.. what is the normal follow up.. I am traveling pretty far for mine and I am not sure when I will even get back for a follow up.. might not be till December because I am a teacher.. unless I go for a quick weekend follow up.. Friday-Sunday kind of thing. So basically as of right now I will go in Friday for surgery and then leave the following week Friday after seeing them again. They are going to see me everyday of that week though to make sure I am healing good....

What is the normal post op schedule after a BL/BA?

[PinkButterflyGlitter]

Hey there, I was just wondering how you did with the smoking? Were you able to stop ok? I smoke too and I'm also getting a full lift and BA, so I'm just curious about how you did?

Originally Posted by ambie02

Hello,

I am schedueld for a full lift and BA on 8/8 and had to quit smoking. The doc wanted 1 month of no smoking which is not easy for me because I have been smoking for 18 years. I have gone 4 days though with nothing and still have quite a few days to go but am sure I will make it. Now my question is did anyone else have to quit and if so did you quit forever or start back up after a certain amount of time?

Amber

[ambie02]

Yes I was able to quit.. who knows maybe I can kick it all together now! It was tough but I did a ton of research and the onlyu thing the smoking does is complicate the procedure which I do not want. I am counting down the days now.. I see you had a full lift before so I am surprised they have to do another??

[PinkButterflyGlitter]

That's really good to hear!! Yeah, when I think about the risks too, that's what makes me want to stop. And no, I actually haven't gotten the full lift yet....my 3rd and 4th BA on my sig are to come...I've only had the 2 BA's....I just didn't have enough room to put that on there

Originally Posted by ambie02

Yes I was able to quit.. who knows maybe I can kick it all together now! It was tough but I did a ton of research and the onlyu thing the smoking does is complicate the procedure which I do not want. I am counting down the days now.. I see you had a full lift before so I am surprised they have to do another??

[mayaonearth]

Originally Posted by ambie02

Maya,

Thank you for explaining that.

Did you know when you had a spontaneous deflation? Do you have to get it done all over again if that happens?

If you have saline, you know in a day or two. The implant leaks the saline which is absorbed by the body, but the breast deflates, and this is instantly noticable. In a silicone rupture, the new "gels" stay mostly intact, there are no "outward" signs, your breast looks and feels the same. This is why some ps's recommend an MRI every so many years to check and see if there are any cracks or ruptures. If a saline implant deflates, it requires surgery, and fast because you look VERY lopsided, its too obvious to hide. With silicone, they also recommend surgery, to replace the compromised implant and to remove any silicone that MAY have migrated to other parts of the body. The big controversy here in USA with silicone was based on if it leaks, and migrates, does it cause harm to any other tissues. The FDA ruled that silicone is NOT harmful.
But again, it would still be suggested to have it removed.
HTH!
Again.. MAJOR kudo's to you for quitting... keep it up!