01-07-2011, 07:15 PM
Not sure if you remember me from like 4yrs ago on the original forum. Haven't been on here for ages as when the hosting service changed my login didn't work and I couldn't be bothered to re-register. Have just done it today to give you all the (absolutely thrilling I'm sure!) benefit of my Stem Cell breast enlargement experience:
You can check my program page on the original forum but basically I have gone from 34A / 32B at 137lbs to 30E at about 107lbs....it's been a long journey! First tried herbs, didn't do much, wasn't very patient, have crap diet and PCO so possibly not good candidate. Tried Brava, fantastic! Well worth the money and got about 1-1.5 cups while getting the weight off (lost 2 stone, 2-3 dress sizes). This took a lot of hours, averaged 15 hours per night for 7 months with max time between sessions of 30 hours (once) so was a very well behaved user and feel I got the result I deserved after a lot of money, time and itchyness! So then I was 30D / 32C at about 107lbs and was reasonably but not entirely satisfied but also kinda upset at having such short stubby legs (I'm only 5'0.5" and quite long in the spine). Celution sounded ideal but I'd heard it was 20k for 1 cup and never really looked into it. After doing some research I seemed to have the choice of these two (first one has several clinics and sometimes works with a partner):
http://www.hansplace.com/procedures.asp?proceduresName=stem-cell-breast-aug&proceduresID=46
http://www.harleystreetskinclinic.com/tr...hancement/
I was worried as both of them are qualified to GP not consultant level but thought I'd at least meet them.
Both were nice, professional, non-pervy and seemed to know what they were doing. Dr.Comins said I didn't have enough fat but could do me a cheaper non stem cell fat transfer and would do me a discount on Macrolane if I wasn't pleased with the result. He was lovely but I wanted to push for the biggest result I could get. (Although at the same time nervous that they could look stupid and fake). Dr.Khan puts more in than I've seen offered anywhere else and is more expensive. He also offers a free top-up if you want more, and I mean if you WANT more not if you didn't get a certain measured increase. I was also very frightened of being sedated but this is actually optional and costs 1k extra so I opted out.
So on treatment day (22/12/10) I went down there, was given antibiotics and paracetamol, had everything explained. The actual treatment was pretty horrific, SmartLipo involves 'fine needle aspiration' possibly with some sort of laser involvement which sounds very gentle and delicate; it's not! It's like being stabbed with a knitting needle, honestly it looks like something that should be used on a horse, it's huge! Putting the local anaesthetic in was also painful and I could still feel myself being stabbed at! The doctor himself and the theatre staff were very kind and talking to them throughout helped me not jump off the table and run round screaming. The stuff they take out looks like a drip bag full of tomato and mascarpone pasta sauce because there's quite a lot of blood mixed in with the fat. After doing both thighs we had a lunchbreak while the Celution machine purified the fat mixture. I made a mistake of eating bread here when I think I'm gluten inteolerant. After lunch we did the breast procedure which hurt a bit but not too badly, again a huge needle poking just a bit further in than the anaesthetic reached. I had 240cc extracted as that was all they could get and 220cc put in each as that was all that would fit. The whole day lasted from appx 10-4. Had another 2 paracetamol then went home on the tube, I repeat went home alone on the tube! Unfortunately started feeling nauseous and uncomfortable on the way to the station, nearly fainted on the stairs, nearly puked on the train then when I got to my stop (an hour later) there were no cabs and I had to walk home in the snow in heels. Took me 35mins, usually would be 15. Got home feeling like I was going to die! Over the next 24 hours, couldn't stop peeing, like every 1.5 hours, not sure if it was some sort of shock response.
Over the next couple of days I got better, still felt v sick but don't actually think the sickness related to the treatment, think I' upset my stomach with bread. Didn't take any more painkillers as too frightened to upset my stomach and lying on my back I was in no pain. Getting up was painful, sitting on the loo was painful and I could barely shuffle about in my own house. Going back to work after 2 days is a joke! I took 2 weeks and I'm self employed! I couldn't stand up straight for nearly a week and couldn't drive because I couldn't sit up only lie down or stand up bent over. On the plus side the boobs just felt a bit tight and tender. The compression garments were absolutely first rate. I will say that the size S bottoms were pretty accurately sized at UK 6-8, US 2ish, the XS top was a little large in the band, more like a 32 than a 28, I just pinned the back with safety pins to make it smaller as it zips up the front. It is also important with stem cell breast enlargement compared to implants not to squish the sh*t out of them as it's living tissue that's in there and you don't want to kill it off. Other than while the surgery was actually being done my boobs didn't hurt much, similar to the bruised feeling you get from strong suction with BB. You are not allowed to bath / swim for 2 weeks as you mustn't stew in your own juices, you should shower the day after treatment with antibacterial handwash and once per day after that. You take the gauze pads off for your first shower and don't need to redress the very small cuts. Boobs look scary huge from swelling and high, hard and fake - was worried about this but it went away after a couple of weeks.
After a week I tried to put the stage 2 bottoms on and nearly died, it's much tighter and I was still badly bruised. (Interestingly the bruising and swelling start around day 2 so immediately you get out of surgery you can look at yourself to see how well your lipo went). I had stitches and would definitely request them again to avoid post-op infection. I had to go in for removal of them after a week but had no probs with them at all and removal was painless. On about day 10 I got the stage 2 bottoms on and noticed within hours that the swelling got much better. The swelling was totally gone after 3-4 weeks from top and bottom.
It's now 6 months post-op, I have very slight tenderness in my thighs if I poke really hard (but have just poked somewhere else and think that may be because I'm poking too hard!), boobs look great, at least 1.5 cups gained and have enlarged but kept the original shape. They look, feel and are real. No loss of nipple or any other sensation. Had a small incision under each which is barely visible and small incisions round the nipples which have gone. Have 2 small marks on each thigh that looked like I've picked a spot or scratched an insect bite. Generally I'm really happy with the result. When I went back for my 1 month check I said I'd like to put more in and this is booked for end of August. They will be taking fat from the inner thighs this time. When I originally enquired the doctor said I should only use fat from the saddlebag area for the first treatment and save the inners for a second treatment. I thought he was ripping me off but he was quite right in that they wouldn't have got more in my boobs and then my body fat would've been used up and gone so I couldn't have had the re-treat. Now I can go round again and it is completely free (except that I'm having bodytite done on my knees at the same time, which I'm getting a discount as I'm already in theatre). They didn't in any way try to wriggle out of the free retreatment and I didn't have to pretend to be unsatisfied.
Will post when I've had the second treatment but will try to remember to come here and answer questions for anyone who didn't lose the will to live or just curl up and die completely from reading all that.
Total cost just under 9K GBP including all appointments and compression garments, needed 2 weeks off work.
Tips:
Order your compression gear from Design Veronique, excellent quality and service (leave plenty of time as it's mail ordered from the US, but actually mine arrived quite quickly). Don't be stingy - order the zippered stage one and non-zippered stage two sets (when I went for the checkup the doctor actually took the details of mine because he said they were so good):
http://designveronique.com/cgi-bin/ic/dv2/K457.html
http://designveronique.com/cgi-bin/ic/dv2/W55.html
(They are crotchless to allow you to pee but I was never brave enough to try it as you need to wear it minimum 23 hours per day and it can't be tumble dried, I also put my own knickers on under it to keep it clean)
On surgery day wear a black thong with a big pair of knickers over the top, the disposables they give you are see through. They let me keep my own underwear on and it wasn't damaged in any way. Also wear loose, old dark clothes as you may get leakage.
Have someone pick you up!!!
Have you house prepared before you go out, e.g. I made up a bed on the couch and had stocked up on food and DVDs. You will also not be in much state to do anything after so make sure your cleaning is done!
If you are anal like me, have your bedsheets, pjs and towels boil washed in disinfectant and leave an antibacterial handwash by the shower so you can keep everything 'hospital clean'.
Try oil of peppermint, I like the Holland and Barrett own brand tablets as they taste like extra strong mints and really settle my stomach. You can also dissolve a couple in hot water and drink it.
Take plenty of time off. I had family coming 6 days post-op and struggled to drive to the supermarket and make a meal. It was painful to take the stage 2 garment over my thighs for several weeks so I wore the stage 1 under my clothes at work and the stage 2 overnight as I didn't want to be frightened to go to the loo all day!
For a good result try to be low in your weight, this will make the fat cells small therefore allowing them to get more of them in, when you then put on weight it goes in your bust. You will only gain weight in the lipo area if you put on weight above whatever is the highest weight you've ever been as the fat cells elsewhere will fill up before you grow any new ones.
Let them put in the maximum your boobs can take, the natural breast structure of ligaments and stuff will determine the shape, they won't look fake!
You can check my program page on the original forum but basically I have gone from 34A / 32B at 137lbs to 30E at about 107lbs....it's been a long journey! First tried herbs, didn't do much, wasn't very patient, have crap diet and PCO so possibly not good candidate. Tried Brava, fantastic! Well worth the money and got about 1-1.5 cups while getting the weight off (lost 2 stone, 2-3 dress sizes). This took a lot of hours, averaged 15 hours per night for 7 months with max time between sessions of 30 hours (once) so was a very well behaved user and feel I got the result I deserved after a lot of money, time and itchyness! So then I was 30D / 32C at about 107lbs and was reasonably but not entirely satisfied but also kinda upset at having such short stubby legs (I'm only 5'0.5" and quite long in the spine). Celution sounded ideal but I'd heard it was 20k for 1 cup and never really looked into it. After doing some research I seemed to have the choice of these two (first one has several clinics and sometimes works with a partner):
http://www.hansplace.com/procedures.asp?proceduresName=stem-cell-breast-aug&proceduresID=46
http://www.harleystreetskinclinic.com/tr...hancement/
I was worried as both of them are qualified to GP not consultant level but thought I'd at least meet them.
Both were nice, professional, non-pervy and seemed to know what they were doing. Dr.Comins said I didn't have enough fat but could do me a cheaper non stem cell fat transfer and would do me a discount on Macrolane if I wasn't pleased with the result. He was lovely but I wanted to push for the biggest result I could get. (Although at the same time nervous that they could look stupid and fake). Dr.Khan puts more in than I've seen offered anywhere else and is more expensive. He also offers a free top-up if you want more, and I mean if you WANT more not if you didn't get a certain measured increase. I was also very frightened of being sedated but this is actually optional and costs 1k extra so I opted out.
So on treatment day (22/12/10) I went down there, was given antibiotics and paracetamol, had everything explained. The actual treatment was pretty horrific, SmartLipo involves 'fine needle aspiration' possibly with some sort of laser involvement which sounds very gentle and delicate; it's not! It's like being stabbed with a knitting needle, honestly it looks like something that should be used on a horse, it's huge! Putting the local anaesthetic in was also painful and I could still feel myself being stabbed at! The doctor himself and the theatre staff were very kind and talking to them throughout helped me not jump off the table and run round screaming. The stuff they take out looks like a drip bag full of tomato and mascarpone pasta sauce because there's quite a lot of blood mixed in with the fat. After doing both thighs we had a lunchbreak while the Celution machine purified the fat mixture. I made a mistake of eating bread here when I think I'm gluten inteolerant. After lunch we did the breast procedure which hurt a bit but not too badly, again a huge needle poking just a bit further in than the anaesthetic reached. I had 240cc extracted as that was all they could get and 220cc put in each as that was all that would fit. The whole day lasted from appx 10-4. Had another 2 paracetamol then went home on the tube, I repeat went home alone on the tube! Unfortunately started feeling nauseous and uncomfortable on the way to the station, nearly fainted on the stairs, nearly puked on the train then when I got to my stop (an hour later) there were no cabs and I had to walk home in the snow in heels. Took me 35mins, usually would be 15. Got home feeling like I was going to die! Over the next 24 hours, couldn't stop peeing, like every 1.5 hours, not sure if it was some sort of shock response.
Over the next couple of days I got better, still felt v sick but don't actually think the sickness related to the treatment, think I' upset my stomach with bread. Didn't take any more painkillers as too frightened to upset my stomach and lying on my back I was in no pain. Getting up was painful, sitting on the loo was painful and I could barely shuffle about in my own house. Going back to work after 2 days is a joke! I took 2 weeks and I'm self employed! I couldn't stand up straight for nearly a week and couldn't drive because I couldn't sit up only lie down or stand up bent over. On the plus side the boobs just felt a bit tight and tender. The compression garments were absolutely first rate. I will say that the size S bottoms were pretty accurately sized at UK 6-8, US 2ish, the XS top was a little large in the band, more like a 32 than a 28, I just pinned the back with safety pins to make it smaller as it zips up the front. It is also important with stem cell breast enlargement compared to implants not to squish the sh*t out of them as it's living tissue that's in there and you don't want to kill it off. Other than while the surgery was actually being done my boobs didn't hurt much, similar to the bruised feeling you get from strong suction with BB. You are not allowed to bath / swim for 2 weeks as you mustn't stew in your own juices, you should shower the day after treatment with antibacterial handwash and once per day after that. You take the gauze pads off for your first shower and don't need to redress the very small cuts. Boobs look scary huge from swelling and high, hard and fake - was worried about this but it went away after a couple of weeks.
After a week I tried to put the stage 2 bottoms on and nearly died, it's much tighter and I was still badly bruised. (Interestingly the bruising and swelling start around day 2 so immediately you get out of surgery you can look at yourself to see how well your lipo went). I had stitches and would definitely request them again to avoid post-op infection. I had to go in for removal of them after a week but had no probs with them at all and removal was painless. On about day 10 I got the stage 2 bottoms on and noticed within hours that the swelling got much better. The swelling was totally gone after 3-4 weeks from top and bottom.
It's now 6 months post-op, I have very slight tenderness in my thighs if I poke really hard (but have just poked somewhere else and think that may be because I'm poking too hard!), boobs look great, at least 1.5 cups gained and have enlarged but kept the original shape. They look, feel and are real. No loss of nipple or any other sensation. Had a small incision under each which is barely visible and small incisions round the nipples which have gone. Have 2 small marks on each thigh that looked like I've picked a spot or scratched an insect bite. Generally I'm really happy with the result. When I went back for my 1 month check I said I'd like to put more in and this is booked for end of August. They will be taking fat from the inner thighs this time. When I originally enquired the doctor said I should only use fat from the saddlebag area for the first treatment and save the inners for a second treatment. I thought he was ripping me off but he was quite right in that they wouldn't have got more in my boobs and then my body fat would've been used up and gone so I couldn't have had the re-treat. Now I can go round again and it is completely free (except that I'm having bodytite done on my knees at the same time, which I'm getting a discount as I'm already in theatre). They didn't in any way try to wriggle out of the free retreatment and I didn't have to pretend to be unsatisfied.
Will post when I've had the second treatment but will try to remember to come here and answer questions for anyone who didn't lose the will to live or just curl up and die completely from reading all that.
Total cost just under 9K GBP including all appointments and compression garments, needed 2 weeks off work.
Tips:
Order your compression gear from Design Veronique, excellent quality and service (leave plenty of time as it's mail ordered from the US, but actually mine arrived quite quickly). Don't be stingy - order the zippered stage one and non-zippered stage two sets (when I went for the checkup the doctor actually took the details of mine because he said they were so good):
http://designveronique.com/cgi-bin/ic/dv2/K457.html
http://designveronique.com/cgi-bin/ic/dv2/W55.html
(They are crotchless to allow you to pee but I was never brave enough to try it as you need to wear it minimum 23 hours per day and it can't be tumble dried, I also put my own knickers on under it to keep it clean)
On surgery day wear a black thong with a big pair of knickers over the top, the disposables they give you are see through. They let me keep my own underwear on and it wasn't damaged in any way. Also wear loose, old dark clothes as you may get leakage.
Have someone pick you up!!!
Have you house prepared before you go out, e.g. I made up a bed on the couch and had stocked up on food and DVDs. You will also not be in much state to do anything after so make sure your cleaning is done!
If you are anal like me, have your bedsheets, pjs and towels boil washed in disinfectant and leave an antibacterial handwash by the shower so you can keep everything 'hospital clean'.
Try oil of peppermint, I like the Holland and Barrett own brand tablets as they taste like extra strong mints and really settle my stomach. You can also dissolve a couple in hot water and drink it.
Take plenty of time off. I had family coming 6 days post-op and struggled to drive to the supermarket and make a meal. It was painful to take the stage 2 garment over my thighs for several weeks so I wore the stage 1 under my clothes at work and the stage 2 overnight as I didn't want to be frightened to go to the loo all day!
For a good result try to be low in your weight, this will make the fat cells small therefore allowing them to get more of them in, when you then put on weight it goes in your bust. You will only gain weight in the lipo area if you put on weight above whatever is the highest weight you've ever been as the fat cells elsewhere will fill up before you grow any new ones.
Let them put in the maximum your boobs can take, the natural breast structure of ligaments and stuff will determine the shape, they won't look fake!
I was glad to read that you could be sedated, if you wanted to be.
