Altering Remaining Breast for Symmetry

swimfree2000

Hi

I am still deciding what type of surgery to have. I'm undergoing chemo right now but my doctors are pushing for the direction I want to go in. I will most definitely have a mastectomy on my one breast but have been given the option of having a double. It seems very petty, but I am concerned with how I will look with only one reconstructed breast that looks great and my healthy breast which has seen its share of sagging and time. I'm heavier, so I would ideally go with a smaller implant than I am now.

Has anyone undergone a procedure to alter their healthy breast? I'd be looking at a breast reduction and maybe a lift. I'm not sure that the recovery time would be worth not just going ahead and doing a double mastectomy and significantly lower my risk of recurrence...

Any advice or sharing of experience would be much appreciated!!!

Moderators

Hello swimfree2000, and welcome to Breastcancer.org. It is indeed a very difficult and personal decision. If you haven't read this section yet, you may find some helpful information: Reconstruction. Hoping you hear from others!

Lily55

I had mastectomy and found the weight difference between the two sides was a problem. So I had a reduction done on my remaining breast and it is really wonderful, An easy surgery, easy to recover from and looks natural.........I had it done around areola and just the cut down to trunk not the cut under the droop of the breast....

Two years on and I am still sprightly compared to what I was before...........as it was before recon on flat side i went down to the minimum I could have that would still look natural with my body. Hopefully I can get the other side to match when the system finally decide I have suffered long enough...............

ual0307

hi.

I am so sorry you have these decisions to make. Check with you oncologist.....I don't think a BMX will dramatically change your chances of reoccurrence. I went through the same process as you are doing. There isn't a right or wrong answer. Every mammogram I have a shiver waiting for a contra lateral diagnosis, but I made my decision based on hanging on to all the parts I could. I am about halfway thru recon and will have a lift done on my natural side to match the recon side.

Although in the beginning the recon and matching was my biggest issue, I came to find it is small compared to everything else.

Good luck.