Surgical Issues with Reconstruction

IDunnoWho

Has anyone had this happen?

I had a full bilateral mastectomy in 2014. I had tissue expanders put in a year later. A year after that, I got my permanent implants.

One side looks "okay". I didn't expect things to look perfect, but I certainly didn't expect what I got. The other side is warped, misshapen, puckered and about 2" higher than the side that looks "okay".

I'd opt for "okay" on both sides. Heck, I'd settle for even! This? No, no way. My reconstructive surgeon keeps telling me they're "nice and big". I'm sorry, since when did size enter into this? I'm supposed to give them a year and hope for the best? What?! I can't go swimming because people just stare in disgust or make strange comments ("What's going on 'there'?" as they indicate generally the area where normal breasts should be).

This whole roller coaster ride has been going on now for almost 4 years. I'm tired, i want to just look average. Why, in Canada, can I not get a choice of specialist when it matters? This is pathetic!

catlady44

I'm sorry no one has replied to your post yet! I'm in the same boat as yourself. I knew there would be asymmetry, but I had NO idea it would be like this! I simply asked the doctor to make me look good in clothes, but I look deformed without adding various padding to make them look even. I've spent up to half an hour just putting on a freakin bra.

One option is fat graphs. They liposuction some part of your body (mine was the abdomen), then inject the fat wherever things need to be filled out. It looks like you haven't had radiation so I don't think it would be as risky of a procedure as someone who'd had it. I do have one warning though - my fat graphs ended in a severe infection. I spent a week in the hospital and they struggled to get it under control. Once they did, I went home and a home health aide gave me IV antibiotics for 2 more weeks. I was sick as hell! I found out that radiated skin heals poorly. I wish I'd known that before the surgery! The doctor's suspect that the hospital's instruments weren't as sterile as they should have been, but there's no way to know for sure. After that, they changed the surgical protocol. Before it turned into a massive infection, the post op pain wasn't that bad. Lots of people get this and have no problems.

Another option is a partial prosthetic. They make custom prosthetics where they take a 3D pic of your chest, then an engineer creates prosthetics that fill out whatever areas need it. It's very expensive, but I think insurance covers it.

I hope this helps!

SMD

Dear girls, I so empathize with you. I didn't opt for a bi-lateral 20 years ago, but no one told me that my reconstruction wouldn't last forever and reconstruction would eventually be uneven. In the last 8 years, I've needed a revision and I first went to a guy who liked big boobs (that I didn't want) because he was too lazy to lift and match my now sagging real boob. I was adamant that I didn't want to be any bigger than I was. (Idontknowho, your surgeon sounds like him) I lived with that for 3 years and I had 2 big flapping bags of water. I couldn't even fit in my clothes. The next surgeon I saw totally ruined my unreconstructed breast and my reconstructed side was a lumpy mess from capsulizing. I just wanted everything out. I found a wonderful surgeon that fixed this entire mess as well as possible. I hope you can find someone in Canada that can take care of you. It is so emotionally difficult, people don't understand. At least as of now in the US, insurance companies must pay for revisions. I don't know if this helps, but I totally understand the frustration.💗