Let's talk dog ears, kisses, bumps and dents

crystalphm

Barbe, What a fantastic photo of you!!!! You rock the look, you really do, and you inspire me, so thank you!!

kane744

Oh joy.  Just returned from LE therapy appt. and guess what. That hard spot is not fluid. It's something called myofacial restriction. Fortunately, it can be dealt with. She showed me what to do until the incisions heal a bit more and then we'll get in to the nitty gritty of it all, which will be her hard work and perhaps not to pleasant but am just happy it will go away. Was also shown gentle work to do in the incision area to help break down scar tissue. Between all my medical people, I am in good hands.

barbe1958

kane, doesn't it piss you off that the doc said it was fine????? The fact that you can break up the area and get it softer like your left side should have been an option he questioned!

Also, I didn't know you could get chemo twice for the same cancer! Or do they give you different ones? 

MT1

I look like I have a bit of cleavage too and I love that spot. My incisions are about two inches apart and my left (unaffected side) has a ridge (I don't think it is a fat ridge, I think it is the shape of my rib cage), my right is much flatter than the left. My chest wall is convex. But where I used to have cleavage is sort of indented and I really like that spot. That and my tiny little kiss on my affected side tell me they love me and remind me where my breasts were.

Anonymous

Yay, so glad all is well, Kane! Your surgeon may not totally get the MLD or LE, but he certainly came through on your behalf with setting up things for surgery that supported your LE. That's really something. And you deserve a round of applause for your self-advocacy in getting what you needed to minimize the effect of surgery on existing LE. It is a scary process when LE is involved, and I can relate to all the post-surgery worries. Any swelling, and I kept thinking, "Is this the new normal?" It's such uncharted territory. 

An LE therapist who gets myofascial restrictions??? My goodness, you are in good hands. I was having myofascial release to deal with the implant scarring before my deconstruction, and my LE therapist and LE doc were okay with it as long as it was done gently. My myofascial guy has an easy but firm touch, and I would actually have truncal swelling go down after he worked on my chest and the area around. Obviously, with a LE person doing myofascial work, they will know not to press too hard and damage the delicate lymphatics. I have had other LE professionals who were hesitant about myofascial work in area of/around LE. Dr. Massey had me wait eight weeks before I had any work done on the chest area, but she was okay with my back. In my case, she had to reposition muscle and repair it, so I had other things healing inside that you don't have to worry about. Anyway, the myofascial work kept everything loose with the skin and muscle, and I don't have adhesions or limitations of movement. 

Anonymous

I have a slight case of pectoral excavatum, which I always hated when I had breasts. Never had much cleavage. Anyway, I had once mentioned to the myofascial therapist I hated it, and when I was going to deconstruct and have implants removed, he suggested it might become a positive and give a hint of cleavage. Darn if he wasn't right! When I went back to see him post surgery I told him so, too. Now if a neckline sits just so, I look like I have a little bit of cleavage, and I love it!! It gives the illusion I have really teeny breasts, sort of like a tween ballerina or young gymnastic wanna be.

I find this feeling/memory/appearance of young girlhood reassuring, a homecoming of sorts to when I could run fast, climb trees and twirl around and dance in my parents' basement. I was incredibly carefree, unencumbered by breasts and the way they changed how boys or men looked at me. I feel liberated now much in the same way, which is why it doesn't bother me to wear fitted tops that look like I have nothing or very little up top. I have had salespeople offer to help me in the dressing room, and when they come in to see how something fits and looks, they recognize I am flat. Then they don't know what to do, want to try and find a way to hide it, offer to get something else. When say outright that I am flat, and I know I look flat in the top but like how it looks, they seem confused. Hey, I will never look the way I used to, and I am sometimes startled when I see my flat chest in a picture, but I don't care. Really. It's my new body image, and I am embracing it. I don't always wear fitted tops or dresses, but I didn't when I had breasts either, so it's however how I feel like presenting myself on a given day.

barbe1958

This is great because I'd not related this all back to how I was as a tom boy zipping around the woods and climbing dirt piles and such, but it's so true! Never had to worry about bra straps slipping or showing through a t-shirt. The easy days...

kane744

OK. I have two LE therapists. One is a PT who is also LANA certified and she's the one who told me about myofascial thing which I never heard of before. I sometimes feel like I'm getting a medical degree here! Anyway, this therapist is the one Medicare pays for up to the point where my measurements are stable, then it's "your on your own kid." I found a Chickley trained therapist who is much less expensive than the PT/LE. Surprisingly, she is quite good at clearing lymph fluid blocks and I've been going to her every two weeks for about a year and a half. She is a massage therapist with this additional training but not certified. I spoke to her today and she does myofascial work as well. I trust her and she'll be gentle. My Medicare paid one is going to be on vacation next week. 

Barbe, the cancer that turned up in my left breast is considered a new primary. I could have had a lumpectomy just as I did four years ago on the right one. However, because I'm triple negative and getting older, I did not want to have to go through this whole thing again in my 70s so elected for the BMX. Of course, that's not to say that it won't return elsewhere but after this 2nd one, am sick of the boobs.  Be gone and now they are. Because it is a new primary, they are treating it chemo wise exactly as they did the first time. Same drugs, same course. Have done some research on this and apparently that's the way it is. Have to do chemo because I'm TN but because I elected a BMX at least this won't be followed by rads. That makes me happy. Oh, and they're implanting the port on the same side as it was before, too. 

It's giving me the creeps to touch that myofacial area. But I guess I'll get over that too.

Tina, I'm looking at my flatness as a circle of life thing. Started out flat, ending up flat. There was a point in my young teen years when I even tried falsies!! But so far, do not mind the flatness at all. And if people look, let 'em. And if they stare, I'll just say, "Cancer. Don't ever skip your mammogram!" Haven't been out all that much yet, but we're going out for sushi/sashimi tonight because in a couple weeks won't be able to eat it for awhile and I want to cram in as much as I can!