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POSTED UNDER Breast Fat Transfer REVIEWS

Stem Cell Fat Transfer to the Breasts - Edina, MN

ORIGINAL POST

I've always been displeased with my breast size,...

projectalice
WORTH IT$12,000

I've always been displeased with my breast size, but implants were never really an option. Over the years, I stayed a B-C as my weight fluctuated. In 2009 I read an article in Wired magazine about stem cell fat grafting for cosmetic breast enhancement and for women who had had mastectomies. Last year, out of curiosity my boyfriend and I did a Google search and actually found a local doctor who now performed the procedure!

We scheduled a consultation and when we met with Dr. Shu he was optimistic I could gain 1-2 cup sizes, if I gained 5-10lbs for the procedure.

I scoured the internet looking for similar experiences and before & after photos and didn't have much luck. After much debate, I decided it was still worth the risk, so we scheduled an appointment. I also decided I was going to document my experience on a blog so other women would know what it's like. 

The procedure itself was scary, painful, and long. The recovery was about the same. I had 480cc injected into each breast and Vaser liposuction from 10 different zones. My body swelled so much NONE of my pants fit for a good month or two afterwards. 

I also interviewed with a local station (ugh, I still haven't watched it) regarding the surgery as well which can be seen here: http://twincitieslive.com/article/stories/s2676092.shtml?cat=10698

It's been almost 11 months since my surgery and I'm honestly LOVING my results. I'm now wearing a DD (D in some brands) and even feel comfortable going braless now. I feel amazing in a swimsuit and I actually have cleavage without an extreme push-up bra. While it didn't alter the shape of my breasts, the surgery greatly increased the size. The majority of the scars have faded, and while there is still some lumpiness in the breasts, it continues to improve. I plan on doing a big update on my one-year anniversary.

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Shu Cosmetic Surgery

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UPDATED FROM projectalice

It seems like they removed the blog site when they...

projectalice
It seems like they removed the blog site when they approved my profile, but if you do a Google search for Project Alice you should be able to find it. I've added some more pictures, sorry they're not in any particular order.

Replies (33)

April 5, 2013
Hi Alice! Welcome to the forum..you are showing up now!  Your story and photos are unbelievable!  It is great to see your most recent photo as you look like a MODEL!  You must be psyched!  I bet you are alot happier at the 125 then when they made you gain the weight?  I know right now from sitting around with Brava that I am pushing 128 & feel like yuck!  So, I am hoping to get down to around 123 ish after surgery.  It is great that you could lose the weight but not lose breast size as I was concerned about that as well as some other women on here.  I think you may be the only one on here that has had the "stem cell" enriched transfer done.  You looked like you were in pain in your compression garment the day after.  Your photos are excellent b/c it shows that this is not a walk in the park.  Thank you for that.  Your breasts look very red the day after?  Its interesting as alot of photos here are either purple or yellow the day after.  Alot of variation, but good to see so we know what is the normal range.  Thanks again for joining us!
April 5, 2013
I hated the weight gain, but it WAS kind of fun to eat out and eat lots of evil, delicious food. My breasts were VERY red and incredibly sore. If I were to take a guess, Dr. Shu said he did a lot of deep tissue injections so that could've caused it.
April 5, 2013
Oh, and I did notice that a lot of the other women just had the fat transfer. From what I've read you get a lot better retention rate with the stem cell enriched fat transfer. I feel like I most certainly did :) I'm hoping to lose another 5 or so lbs so it'll be interesting to see how they look if I do!
April 5, 2013
I sent you a PM (private message) which may take longer to get.  (they may need to screen it first).  What did you wear on the breasts after surgery?  A compression bra ?  A genie bra?  When did you switch bras?
April 5, 2013
Yeah no PM's showed up yet. I had a full compression suit which covered the breasts which I wore for 6 weeks (I believe). After that I bought an unpadded, non-underwire bra. http://www.zappos.com/calvin-klein-underwear-perfectly-fit-wireless-contour-bra-f2781-sund-dune The doctor told me to avoid underwire because it could kill the fat injections.
April 5, 2013
Wow! You look fantastic! Thanks for sharing your story and pictures!
April 5, 2013
Your bruising in the day 6 looks so similar to mine this week! Ouch! It's better every day, but hard to deal with being bruised all over!
April 5, 2013
Thank you! It was very hard and painful. Especially the small things, like getting in and out of a car. We actually took a vacation a week after my surgery which was an 8 hr road trip. My whole body was so swelled from sitting I was miserable. It got better though after a month and definitely after 2 months.
April 5, 2013
Loved the video, too! You look great!
April 5, 2013
Do you feel the compression on the breasts was okay?  People feel mixed about that killing the fat?  I guess it did not in your case, huh?
April 5, 2013
I think it was all right. It didn't seem as skin tight across my breasts as it did everywhere else.
April 6, 2013
Thank you so much for your post! It's a big encourage and very helpful for us to see you fantastic final results here, especially I was used Vaser lipo same as you. Would you mine telling me that your stem cell fat transfer was use your" fat "or "blood" to derived the stem cells? It's difficult to find surgeons to do" fat cells" derived to stem cells' fat transfer here.
April 7, 2013
The stem cells were derived from the fat. Dr Shu has a machine from cytori (I'm not sure which model). Here is the original article I found: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/10/ff_futureofbreasts/
April 8, 2013
I'd tried hard to find a doctor who uses this machine in our areas before, but could n't find one , so just had PRP instead. However, fat can be derived much much more stem cells than blood. Just read your blog, it's very details and so so so helpful for me. Now, I know my breasts are getting smaller may be bigger again later, and I wasn't the only one super cold when woke up from surgery. Thank you so much!:)
April 8, 2013
Hi SOS!   You are so good about chatting with all of us.  Do you think you will post any pics soon so you can move to the top of the forum & we can see your progress? Amelia
April 9, 2013
Hi Amelia, I tried to use my cell phone to download my pictures, but it didn't work. I"m out of town, so don't feel safe to use someone's computer to load my pictures. You may have to see my pictures in few months when I come back home. I am your follower, and we also have another same interest (Laser), so I think we will chat a lot in your and other people's reviews. Can't wait to hear everything about your surgery..... one day to go yeah! Best Luck!:)
April 9, 2013
Hey SOS, You sure do travel alot for work!  I hope you are seeing some good things! LOL What do you do if you don't mind me asking (you can talk in general terms on here)? Do you know anything about the Erbium Laser? I can't wait to see your photos!  Thanks for the luck & well wishes!!
April 10, 2013
Not a good idea to talk about Laser in Alice's fat transfer review, send you a PM to chat about it Amelia.:)
UPDATED FROM projectalice

Sorry all, after rereading the terms of the...

projectalice
Sorry all, after rereading the terms of the service I had to remove my images to avoid having them used by the site. Like I've said before, I have them all on Project Alice, easily found by Googling. I'm still happy to converse on here or through messages.

Replies (3)

July 17, 2013
Any updates Alice??
September 28, 2014
Hi Alice, how are you doing now? Any changes? I am thinking of doing a 2nd transfer to correct some lipo to the hips/legs.
August 29, 2015
Alice im thinking about getting fat transfer done by this doctor after implant removal I had done July 1st by dr. Harrington. Is it worth it? Did your fat stay? What size are you today?