[Catia]

Hi there,
had my procedures done in Miami with Dr. Khouri who invented the BRAVA device. It is an external expander (like a suction bra) that you wear at night, artificially creating swelling (edema) in the breast to graft the fat into during surgery. This increased vascular stimulation ensures that the fat will stay alive and not die after it is placed inside the scaffolds of your swollen tissue (does not hurt). After I used the BRAVA initially I looked like I had breast again because it swells up big time but does not last unless the fat is injected. I like my results very much and my breast look and feel natural. Had no lumpy breast but did have a couple of little cysts that the doctor drained manually in the office (also did not hurt). The lipo areas hurt a lot afterwards and there is just no way around that. However, it seems all worth it in the end as your body is getting in shape again. I wore a glue-on type soft cast afterwards to stabilize the fat in place for 3-4 weeks, which also did not hurt and made the injection sites heal flawless. I would say after the swelling is gone I retained about 90% of the fat that was put into my breast,...you do lose a bit as not all cells injected are viable. It took about ten month and three grafting procedures with the fourth just being the nipple recon and some minor adjustments.Had no infections and this doctor often uses fat grafting to shape deformities, rebuild entire breasts like in my case with the double mastectomy or adds fat to implants to even them out. Hope this helps.