3 Year Journey W Double Mastectomy, 2 Types Implants, Crippling Autoimmune & Pain Issues, Now Doing Brava & Fat Transfer -LOVE!!

Hi! My name is Jennifer, I'm 47 with 3 children and was living a fabulous active life, other than some chronic back pain that was manageable until Christmas Eve 2012, while saying a prayer for a friend, I found "the lump". The next year entailed 6 rounds of chemo, a year of Herceptin and a double maatectomy, tissue expanders and reconstruction with teardrop implants. I had a hard time at first, I really did not want to loose feeling in my breasts. Doing research, I kept coming across a Dr in FL who offered this Brava system. My surgeon knew this Dr and at the time 3 years ago did not feal it was a good fit for me.... And I didn't have the energy or $10,000 to go down to Fl and pursue. Following this surgery, I started to develop horrific neuropathy, fibromyalsia, chronic fatigue, extreme chemo brain and open sores all over my body which would not heal. Also, I experienced black outs with my memory after each surgery which really concerned me.. I even drove by myself the day after a surgery and purchased items at an estate sale- telling my daughter I was fine and drove w my drains with no memory at all -waking up the next day to several large paintings in the den...My surgery itself had beautiful results. However, I then developed lymphadema on top of all else and my implants not only became encapsulated, I had developed "cording"... Which is extremely painful.
I met with my plastic surgeon and he suggested a more round implant and took every measure to ensure that my implants did not encapsulate this time and the cording was also very minor. Again, the results were visually stunning. I felt so blessed to have such a talented and compassionate surgeon....especially when I would see pictures from other BC survivors who did not have access to the same level of care and I just could not understand how any Dr could leave such jagged and horrible stitching and scars on these women. While my implants remained soft, they still were not my favorite personally, I missed the loss of fealing and did not enjoy the cold harder feel of having implants....however, I was facing bigger issues. There was over a year where I could not get out of bed and the pain in my feet made it impossible to even stand, 4:00 pm was the worse time as the fibromyalsia pain would start to build and I would just be in bed rocking in the dark counting numbers over and over until morning because the pain was so great. My memory was gone, I was calling my husband in tears, lost even just going the two turns and two minute drive to my children's school. My oncologyst was very non supportive, claiming I should be better from chemo by now. And it was "in my head"... I followed his suggestion spending $4,000 on a Psychiatrist who just wrote scripts, each making my symptoms worse, never once looking at labs to see why I was not able to process or metabolize these drugs... Including Tamoxifen which truly crippled me to a point I could not walk and the bone pain was excruciating ( i still choose not to take this drug) and I was loosing tremendous amounts of blood going in & out of menopause and was also having trouble keeping food down. It was to the point we were thinking I had MS or an unlabeled autoimmune something. I started to see a holistic Dr. I tested positive for celiac as well as MTHFR, both were game changers for everything. Had any of my Dr.'s bothered with this very simple and inexpensive test... Three years of crippling pain could have been avoided. As I started to improve, I still could not alleviate the neuropathy and auto immune symptoms entirely and I struggled begining to think "the new you" they talk about with bc was going to be living my life like this...I didn't know what else to do, I was gluten free, sugar free (minus fruit), low estrogen and inflamatory, non preservative, juicing organic diet. I did very simple yoga at home, walked 3 -10 minute walks a day, did mindfulness, took tumeric and supplements and prayed alot... I was at my wits end.....Then one of my implants began to slip under my arm, the other also had slipped some as well... I started to experience neuropathy down my arms at this point. I had my implants out, again losing three days of memory.... But I also woke up crying that Saturday morning in bed... My husband came running asking what was wrong... I was crying because i had woken up pain free and was so happy for the first time in three years, i could step on the floor in the morning and it not hurt, i had energy and was actually laughing and happy and excited to see my friends... I had not realized what a shut in I had become. I'm a type A event planner-- so being alone in so much pain was not normal. I can not tell you the dramatic night and day difference in my body having my implants out made. I wonder how many other women suffer like this as I did. Technically, I'm not allergic to saline or silicone... However my body was attacking itself 24/7.....and i still deal with and probably always will some autoimmune issues and challenges but not to the extent pre implants out..
So I went back to my surgeon and three years later we now decided the Brava system was for me. I just completed my first round and am so pleased with the results, my breasts are now soft and warm and I'm starting to get sensation back as well. I had a very aggressive BC so my chest wall had been scraped so to have these results is amazing. I even have one nipple that now functions! And I think it is amazing that through all of these many surgeries... I still just have one inch and half hard to see scar under each breast. It really is difficult to tell I even had a double mastectomy! This last surgery went great, along with this MTHFR ( which 1/2 to 1/3 of everyone has) is my doing research and having a consult with anesthesia. With MTHFR you can not tolerate Certain anesthesia and verdat as it depletes your B vitamins and then interferes with your methylation process -- therefore the memory lost etc in past. This time we switched the anesthesia and I woke up very clear headed, happy and alert.. Had no idea that was how it was suppose to feel. There was zero memory issues. This is an extremely long post but one I hope can maybe shed light on or help someone else ... Even if some Dr's read this and started testing for MTHFR... It's a simple methylation issue that requires metholated B vitamins but that methylation process has such far reaching consequences. And I'm happy to explain mthfr in another post. I'm also glad to continue to post about my Brava journey. I do like that my surgeon uses a wound vac after two weeks with the brava provided box to get better suction/results. Also, I would strongly urge anyone doing Brava to research for themselves the three products the include with your domes--- they contain known carcinogens and toxins that are banned in the EU, Canada, Australia and Japan. The lotion which you use bc your skin is irratated actually contains an ingrediant that is banned by the FDA as it is a direct causative agent causing liver toxicity in burn patients and is banned for any use on irratated or damaged skin... As a bc survivor with a chance for a fresh start with fresh tissue... I personally don't want to start that journey knowingly putting carcinogens on my skin.... Thank you for bearing with me on this long post. If I can ever be of help or answer questions or visit with you regarding any of the above, please let me know, it's only by sharing the stories that we are all able to heal and thrive as our beautiful selves we are meant to be! Xo jennifer

You look fabulous and congratulations!! I'm 47 and 11 days out from walking an almost identical journey...your story just brought tears to my eyes. I sadly went down this BC road with about a dozen close friends.. I was more "in the know" and caught up on gossip by going to chemo than I've ever been before-- sadly. Afterwards my friends recovered quickly and they all looked great and were thrilled with their new look and implants and I just could not get there. My implants looked fabulous, but I just was so unhappy. Besides facing crippling autoimmune issues -unknown at the time partly from my implants- on an emotional level, I hated my implants, they never felt like me, they were cold, hard and uncomfortable ( and they were technically soft my surgeon had done a beautiful job) I personally just hated them, my husband was uncomfortable too.

I love to dress sexy and sassy and low cut and scoop neck dresses and T's are looks I love, by I also faced the same initial discussions with plastic and oncology surgeons three years ago, all claiming I would regret being 43 and doing nothing or this "brava" and natural fat graphs I kept reading about.. I pass no judgements on my girlfriends with implants... They do look amazing and Everyone needs their happy hat... Mine just aligns with yours... I even loved my look and feel with even just the implants out before the surgery.. It was the best sex and most intamcy my husband and I had shared since BC, because one I was finally pain free, but mostly because I finally felt like "me".I was comfortable in my own skin.. I'm so happy with this fat transfer... Your right.. No pain to my breasts at all, lipo .. Well it is what it is. Thank you for sharing!! Cheers to our sexy happy au natural selves! Xo, jennifer

Hi! Well wasn't expecting to walk in and have 166 cc's of blood drained from left breast. It was actually the breast I liked best because of the lift. I truly thought hardness was just normal as half my body has hard lumps etc. This was also side were my cancer was and there was a lot of scar tissue especially in my nipple that had been scraped as well on that side and I wanted it to be worked on with new fat in hopes of getting as much "normalness" and potentially hopefully maybe even some feeling or function back eventually. Breast was def. Instantly softer once drained and now matches other side much better. I did know going in this would be a 2-3 step process so I'm still very happy.