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Lipofill in York
Sun, 04/07/2010 - 16:37
#1
Hello ladies,
I had an appointment with my surgeon last week regarding my tidy up op after a mx last August. There is some indentation/flatness and he suggested lipofill. They do not do this procedure on the NHS in York so will have to have it done privately. He's going to inform me this week of the cost. I just wondered if anybody else has had the procedure and if so were you pleased with the results. Thanks.
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I was in the LGI in Leeds 2 weeks ago and there was a lady who had had lipofill, is there any chance you can have it done on the NHS in Leeds, the Breast ward there is fantastic - she was very pleased with her results the next morning
Tracey xxxx
Thanks for the information. I need to check with my GP to see if I am able to choose where I have my treatment. I live in the Scarborough area and not sure if I am able to have any operations out of the NHS area. I had my radiotherapy at the Bexley wing of Jimmys and my oncologist is Leed based. I've had all of my treatment privately so far but the insurance money has now run out (£30,000)I will have the reduction and lift of my "good" breast done on the NHS but there won't be any benefit if I still have to wear a beanie to even things out as my "new" breast is a bit flat and has an intent after my immediate LD recon after my mx last August. Decisions decisions it never ends!!
I had what is called CERS (cell-enrichment recontruction surgery) in March last year when I was living in Sth Wales (now in York). I was part of a trial that has been taking place in the UK, Spain and Japan. It is the same for the patient as lipofill but with enriched fat cells. They were finding that with fat implants the fat sometimes moved or died and further surgery was necessary to correct or refill.
It has since been discovered that fat contains stem cells and with CERS they remove the fat, enrich the stem cells and implant into the breast. So far all the problems with the traditional way of doing it are being overcome.
I have been delighted with the result and have had absolutely no problem with it at all.
There is a plastic surgeon at North Tees and Hartlepool hospital that does this type of surgery. Maybe your oncologist could refer you there? (So far there are only 4 hospitals in the UK doing it).
Good luck with your hunt.
Jo
Hi Jo
Very interested to read your post, I may be needing lipofill later myself. Do you know which the 4 hospitals are that are doing the CERS method of lipofill?
Sarah x
Very interesting, my first lipofill failed and my surgeon said he went to observe a new procedure done in Swansea which appeared more successful. The preparation of the fat differed and was done over a few hours and reinserted under sedation. Does that sound like the lipofill version you had in S Wales? He is planning to use that version for a further op in the spring! Tina
Tina,
That is exactly what I had - he may have been in on my op, it seems dozens were! It was at Singleton Hospital in Swansea and the trial started towards the end of 2009. The results so far appear to be much improved on the traditional lipofill.
For anyone interested in how it is done.. You go in for liposuction under a general anaesthetic in the morning. Fat is removed from either the abdomen or thighs (I had thighs - not enough on my tummy!). You are then returned to the ward to recover from the anaesthetic and whilst they treat the fat. Three or four hours later you return for the injecting of the fat under a local anaesthetic and sedative. Back to bed to recover and discharged the next morning. Six weeks in 'Trinnie & Susannah' compression pants and a few more weeks just being careful and fully recovering and all done. Simples!
Jo
Thanks Jo, sounds so much more promising! Had only 50mls harvested and this never took and the dent in my LD recon remained. My surgeon tends to gather a list of "ladies" and do a few of the lipofills in a day as the hospital doesnt have the equipment in situ, apparently he is keen to try the Swansea procedure in the spring. I am on the list, hopefully that will do the trick! Glad yours was successful. Tina
Tina,
Sorry - I was adding to the above post whilst you were replying so there is now a bit more on.
I had 500ml harvested and had leftovers and the breast was fully filled out. It also really helped soften and reduce the scar.
Jo
Jo, that sounds more like it! Definitely have 500mls to spare, the procedure sounds more advanced. I did wear a compression garment after but there was almost no bruising. Thanks for your explanation! X
For anyone interested I have just been sent a link to ITV who screened a programme about this surgery -
http://www.itv.com/tynetees/breast-surgery72623
Jo
Thanks jo,
I am due to have this procedure in the next month or so, you hav eanswered a few of my questions. I am having this done after an ld flap recon I had last year hoping to have the other side lifted and reduced to match as well.
If you worked how long did you need off?
Daisy
Hi Everyone,
Please excuse my ignorance, but I am going into hospital next week for the finishing touches to my DIEP reconstruction which I had in July 09. There is an indentation at the top of the new breast and I am having lipo-styling, is this the same procedure? They are also creating a new nipple and inserting a small implant in the good breast to even up the size.
Best wishes to you all,
Tracy
Daisy,
Sorry for being so long coming back. I packed in work a year after my chemo (decided there were more important things than what I was doing at work!)so I don't really know when I would have gone back.
I suppose it depends firstly on where you have the fat taken from, secondly on how much pain you are in after and thirdly when your surgeon says you are ok to be moving around. I had a couple of weeks when I really couldn't have done anything (my lipo was from my legs), I then had to take it easy for quite a few weeks until my legs recovered (the boob is not a problem as long as you don't squash it!). I suppose it also depends what sort of work you do.
Tracy - It sounds similar but maybe the old type of lipofill not the stem cell enriched one?
Jo
Jo,
thanks for reply, I will just see how I feel, as you say there is more to life than work,in the past I have gone back too soon and suffered from it. I am having this done in 4 weeks time.
Thanks Daisy.
I had my lipofilling op last November and was initially very pleased with the result but as time has past I feel that quite a lot of the fat has been reabsorbed as my breast is looking quite flat again at the bottom. The top looks much better and is nicely rounded. They took the fat from my abdomen and I must say that I wasn't in much pain mainly discomfort.I had spectacular bruises and was off work for two weeks. I had the "old fashioned" type of lipo (I didn't know it at the time lol) I'm seeing the surgeon on 7th March to discuss a reduction on my good side and tidy up and nipple on my reconstructed breast. I must admit that I'm getting fed up with it all now. I desperatley want the reduction but don't know if I can face another op but can't have one without the other.
Hi cadi, I feel the same actually. It was apparent very quickly after my lipofill that the fat hadnt taken and there was no change to the shape or size of the reconstruction. I am bothered by the size difference but I am not sure how many more ops to go through to get it right. My surgeon has observed the CERS technique and is working toward using that method next time. Hopefully, that will be more successful. Good Luck.
Hi,
I believe I am having the one that takes the stem cells from the fat, I have been told I will need this doing more than once ( due to reabsorption rate) the 2nd time at the same time as a reduction on the other side.
I am having this done at the top of the recon as the skin is very thin due to rads. Had an implant inserted as well as ld flap so it does not look too bad.
All advice/ info is very welcome.
Thanks daisy
I had mine done almost a year ago now and everything is still where it was put. The good thing about the stem cell recon is that the fat doesn't move from where it is implanted. I believe there may still be a risk of it not taking though.
I guess I've been lucky but I would like to think the new technology was the reason. ...and my surgeon got it just right with the amount implanted.
Jo
Bumping up for Rosijo and others interested.
Sarah x
Hi there, I've had mastectomy on left and right breasts with LDF and a small implant. I have a flat area on my right breast clevege where lump was so am having lipofilling done on 5th August. Surgeon is taking fat from my thighs. I was not asked to take any support garments in to hospital with me. Can anybody advise me please?
Bumping up for fitgirl and Tiny Tina
Thanks CheshireCheese
I would love to hear any updated info from anyone who has had this stem cell enriched lipofill process. Anyone out there please? I am due to see someone on Friday who does this procedure and would be very pleased to be better informed before the consultation.
Hi, I had three lipofills now to even out the LD recon no implant. There has been considerable reabsorbtion and I won't do any more. Different surgeons use different methods of preparing the fat for injection with differing results. Good luck with your appointment! X
Hi Tina
Thanks for replying. Did you have the stem cell enriched lipofill or the conventional sort? From what I've read it's quite common to need 2 or 3 goes with the conventional lipofill, which is what I'm hoping to avoid if I can go for the stem cell enriched version.
There was a small number of people on these forums who had been included in the trials for the stem cell procedure - are any of you still on the forums and could let us know how you are getting on a year or so after you had it done?
I've only had one lipofilling operation and that wasin July this year. It was the conventional type. Initially I was pleased but over time there has been a lot of reabsorbtion. The initial intention was to have 2 or 3 to get a better shape but like Tina46 I don't think that I'll bother with any more. I don't cope well with the anaesthetic so don't want to put myself through it again. My surgeon didn't seem to think that the cell enriched lipofill was any better than the conventional type. That may be because they only had the equipment to do the conventional type as the kit for the cell enriched was far more expensive. I do know that it has worked well for some ladies.
All three of my Ops were with different methods, centrifuged, stem cell enriched and sieved. The success considering the pain&recovery is for me, probably small. I also started to feel the effects of the GAs (in total six ops in 22 months) but I thought I will go with the three ops as planned. The reabsorbtion seemed the same for the first two methods, my third was last week so it's wait&see for a few months. It's early days yet for this procedure I am sure over time a methods will prove more successful.
Hi Cadi & Tina
Thanks for the feedback. My thoughts are on the same lines as yours - if the fat keeps being reabsorbed so the process needs repeating several times, I don't think I could face that. If it's just done once and then finished with it would be worthwhile but I couldn't face that much pain and anaesthetic over again.
P.S. Which hospital did your treatment?
Yes, committing to several ops is a big task, I must admit I came quite close to cancelling my last one, but went ahead hoping the last one would do the trick! My hospital hires the equipment as opposed to it being purchased by the PCT, and the surgeon has a list of several lipofill ops that day.
I had to pay for my lipofill because at the time they didn't have the equipment at York hospital. I believe that the kit was hired for that occasion. I was recently told that they have now purchased the equipment at York hospital.