September 2012 Surgery

Sandlake

Hi Dakota~  My implants are Natrelle silicone style 45's, full profile.  Yes they seem to be getting more squishy over time, it's been 16 days since surgery.  I still feel a bit swollen, but feel real good other wise.  Good luck with your PS appt next week.  

Dakota212

Sandlake

Thanks for the update !!!

mrskimber47

Hi everyone,

I haven't updated in awhile, figured it was time. My TE's has to be taken out due to rampant MRSA infection, so I have no reconstruction at the moment... at first I thought, I don't need two boobs, I'm 47 and what's the point, but now as I near the end of my treatments I feel differently. I want my body back so I guess I need to have a conversation with my plastic surgeon on how to do that. Anyway, its been a rough road, have one chemo treatment left, 6 wks of radiation then hormone treatment. I am almost there. Congrats to all of us who've gone through this journey together. God is good. 

Dakota212

Hey u!!!

Good to hear from u !!!! Sorry u had the infection . I have te's and saline right now exchange is scheduled for 4/12. They are so fake but at least they match. I am glad I did both. Hang in there girl !!!

marianelizabeth

mskimber, I have thought long and hard about the one boob option so I hear you. I have my umx with T/E March 5 and know that there is a good chance of it not working out with rads to follow but I want to try. BTW, what is MRSA infection.

I hope your PS can come up with a new plan.

Jennt28

Hi everyone!



mrskimber47 - sorry to read about your TEs :-/ Are you thinking a flap reconstruction next? I can say that the surgery and recovery is hard but they look and feel great!



Dakota212 - you "sound" good :-)



marianelizabeth - how come you are having more nodes out with the next surgery?



I've got a surgery date of 7 May to go back and get my "stripper boobs" reduced in size. They are a great shape but there is far too much of them. They are currently DD/E size and I want A/B size. I tried jogging the other day and these are currently NOT sized for anything over a brisk walk!



Not looking forward to another big surgery after just having had an ovarian cyst removed in December. This next one is supposed to be one night in hospital with 7 to 10 day recovery.



Jenn

marianelizabeth

Jennt, because there were 6/8 positive with a SNB (she took more because she could see they looked bad) and all the rest of an aggressive cancer, it is highly recommended. They are pretty sure there are more too though chemo should have taken care of some of it. Because I am cosidered "lean" BS and even my physio thinks the axillary dissection will be less invasive than it could be. I have my head around it all now and ready to go! T/E also the only option as no fat and previous abdominal scars as well as bone graft sites on both posterior hips and right anterior (motorcycle accident in the 70's). T/E hopefully will stand up to rads following. PS is using alloderm and that may help.

marianelizabeth

jennt, looks like you had SNB and then dissection too a year later? And no new nodes after SNB?

Jennt28

Thanks for explaining Marian :-)



Yes, just before I started rads I found out that it was likely I GOT breastcancer because of a whole bunch of chest x-rays I had as an adolescent. At that point I pulled out of rads and organised a bilateral MX because rads would have potentially just compounded the problem and I now knew my left side was at risk as well.



With my original lumpectomy the BS only took ONE node which was positive. I refused any further node surgery as recent research has shown there is no advantage in it. When I had my MX the BS saw a suspicious node during the surgery and took it. It turned out to be negative which gave me confidence that my original decision was OK.



Jenn

wirdgirl118

OMG Jenn, I had lots of chest x rays too and I think it contributed to the breast cancer!!! Why did you get chest x rays? I always had a positive to the TB skin test so every year I got a chest x ray instead.

Jennt28

wirdgirl118 - same as you!



Had a positive TB test at 13yrs and although my parents knew it was because I was innoculated when I was 2yrs and wewere living in Africa, they did not have a certificate of vaccination. So the health dept forced me to be x-rayed every three months for two years.



They only stopped when my mother came with me to an appt and told them "NO MORE. If you can't find any TB by now it is not there."



Jenn

Jennie93

Been awhile since anyone posted on here, hope that means that life is treating everyone well these days.  As the 1-yr anniversary of my surgery rapidly approaches, I find myself with some very mixed feelings.  I never cried before that surgery but often find myself on the verge of tears these days, what is up with that?  I made it through all this stuff and now I fall apart?  I was warned that was pretty common to feel that way but still......

On a related note.  Tell me the honest truth, am I the only one here who is still having considerable pain almost a year after surgery? Getting very discouraged. But if this too is common and I just have to accept that's the way things are now, I will come to terms with that somehow.

KellieDenise66

Hi Jennie, thanks so much for posting. I can so relate. I'm coming up on my one year surgery anniversary as well, and my feelings are all over the place. In a strange way it kind of seems like its all just hitting me. My last surgery for my exchange was this past March, and I'm still pretty miserable. I honestly don't know if that's typical or not. I had a NSM and with my natural breasts being so large I ended up with some pretty long scars. They start way back on my sides, all in the inframmary fold and then into my cleavage. There's only an inch or so in the ctr separating the two scars. I feel like I've been cut in half. I just can't get comfortable. All bras hurt, and I have frequent ripping and burning sensations around the incision lines. I can only hope it gets better over time.

Thanks for letting me get all this out. When I think of where I was emotionally a year ago I almost feel guilty about voicing my thoughts of pain, and discomfort. But as I sit here typing I realize that this useless emotion (guilt) has kept me from expressing my true feelings about how sad I am that my body is different, and that being in pain stinks! I can still be grateful and have those feelings right? Lol.

Sending you Big healing wishes.

Sneakychiquita

I, too, experience a fair bit of pain with my chest.  Bras are totally out of the question.  In fact, I've told my PS that my goal is to have the work done that will allow me to never wear a bra again.  This said, I think a lot of my discomfort has to do with the radiation more so than the mastectomy.  While it certainly still felt unnatural, I don't think things hurt this much before heading into radiation.  I stretch and massage pretty much all day everyday and I swear it's getting worse.  Like you, KellieDenise, I am both grateful and not at all happy with things being the way they are.  I recently totally broke down and started crying while having sex with my partner when I realized just how much I've lost on the physical side of things.  I'm still hoping that things will improve with time.  

I truly appreciate how we all stuck together while heading into surgery last year.  You were the first group of gals I really connected with on these boards.  I hope you're all recovering and regaining your lives.  

Momluke

I must be honest....i hardly ever look at myself in the mirror while naked. I hide myself from my husband. I know that he still sees me as beautiful, yet, I see myself having a frankenboob. When I get out of the shower, I make a point not to look in the mirror as I dry myself. Its so frustrating because in my head I know that I should allow my gratefulness to over ride any feelings of disgust with my new body. Its a tug of war!



In addition to that, i find myself strongly considering a prophylactic removal of my other breast. The side effect of cancer that cannot be counteracted by drugs is the thought in the back of my head that says that the other breast is next.



I am grateful knowing that I am still here....frankenboob and all.



And the band played on....

KellieDenise66

Ahhh Sneakychiquita, and MomLuke, just seeing your little faces on my screen made me smile. "Tug of war" is a good description Momluke. I'm glad we still have a safe place to come to and share our raw emotions. Thank you for continuing to be so generous, I don't feel nearly as alone. Be well ladies.

marianelizabeth

Nice to see some of you again! Sneaky and I are close in rads timing~~she was a couple of weeks ahead of me but I think we are sharing some of the same ridiculous S/E from rads. I am much worse off than pre rads but hopeful that I will get past this. Arrghh! I though in July that recovery was soon to come but wow was I wrong! U/S Thursday for a small lump under my mx scar and biopsy next Monday for thyroid nodules over 1 cm. Surley they will be benign or no big deal! After all a year is long gone!

Sandlake

mariane I hope you received good news on Monday!  

I can't stop thinking about one year ago today Sept 10th, I had my bmx!  I am going to make today a better one for me.  I met with my PS a few weeks ago and have decided to do some revision work.  I'm not happy with size and projection.  Going for 100 - 150cc less.  I still have pain in my armpit area, scares me bad thinking its my lymph nodes! I also have pain at times across the top portion of my chest. 

Sept is also the month of my bc diagnosis, 2 years on the 26th.  I need to keep happy thoughts going!!

Thinking of all of you, sending well wishes and bright days a head

Jennie93

Not sure if any of you still read here, but if so, happy 4th anniversary! Hope all are doing well, and thanks to all again for all the wonderful support.

marianelizabeth

jennie93' only seeing this as it still marked as a favourite and looks like no one has posted since 2013. Let's see who pops up! Yes, 4 years ago OMG forgot until this moment that it is 4 years today from my lumpectomy! I have been thinking 4 years in general. Hugs to everyone who pops in

Sneakychiquita

Holy shit, 4 years! Seems like a lifetime ago for me now, but have just recently been reminded of everything again because of colleagues who are now going through this. Can't believe I'm back to work and regular programming again.

michellej1980

I’m a bit late in replying but hey! I’m still here too!