Dog ears

Mary_feb2019

I had double mastectomy Feb 25, 2019 I have dog ears on both ends of my scars, Does anyone know how long you have to wait to have the plastic surgery to remove the dog ears?

Whatjusthappened

I had my surgery around the same time as you and have the same question. I think some excess was left because I was undecided about reconstruction, but I am leaning more and more toward going flat.

Moderators

Mary_feb2019 and Whatjusthappened, welcome to Breastcancer.org, although we are sorry that you have to be here.

Besides the helpful advice you'll receive from other members here, this is an article from our main site that we thought you may find interesting: Going Flat: Choosing No Reconstruction

Hope this helps! Looking forward to hearing more from you soon.

The Mods

Whatjusthappened

Mary_feb2019, I spoke with my BS about this question, and he said that I need to wait a few months before having the dog ears removed. He also said that it's important that I know for sure that I don't want reconstruction before removing them, so he suggested a consult with a PS surgeon first just to be aware of all my options.

Mary_feb2019

Hello, Whatjusthappened

Sorry I haven't been back on here. Thank you for the info. I am sure I don't want reconstruction, I am just fine with this. Just so long as I can get it cleaned up a little. Pretty ugly looking right now. I do have an appointment in June. So I will be trying to get it done very soon after that appointment. I am sorry you had to go through this also. Cancer is such a horrible thing. I have lost many family members and friends to it. Again thank you so much.

Aussie-Cat

Mary, I hope your appointment in June goes well and you get to have revision surgery soon after that and it helps you feel a lot better about your scars.

Scarlett1

I just saw a surgeon about removing the huge"breasts" I have under each armpit. He was awful. He said it was "normal and was there before my mastectomies' of course it did not show as it merged with my previous breast tissue. He said my insurance would probably not cover it. I am a diabetic without great control of my blood sugars.I chose to go flat because of my tendency to get infections due to my diabetes. I think he was just afraid of operating on me. He could not have been less helpful. My understanding is that anything that is an obvious aberration could be surgically repaired after mastectomies. I think I need to find a female Doc. It was an awful experience. He told me to lose some weight (I just lost 100 pounds) and get my blood sugar in the 5 - 7 a1c area and he would consider making a case with my insurance to get the surgery performed.My last a1c was 11.1 and the one before that was 12.4. I just have to jump through hoops for him. I know I heal slowly due to my diabetes and that my sugars have been way too high but I am working hard to get them down with some pretty good results (I am in the 100s to 200s when I used to be in the 300s to 400s and up). I think they call these protuberances dog ears. I am a big girl and have essentially what look like normal size boobs under each armpit. I do not even want to get my prosthesis fitted as the size of the bra will change dramatically after the surgery. Any one in a similar situation?

rachelcarter35

I had my double mastectomies in April of last year, finished chemo in August, had my implant exchange is September , tattoos in October and just had dog ears removed this last week. It has been 5 days and even under the steriastip I can see that it is going to be a GIANT improvement. Yay. BTW insurance completely covered it. Any PS worth anything understands that there will probably be necessary finetuning. We will never be completely perfect but at least decent if possible.

Christene502

I am scheduled to have a BMX in May. I Do Not want another surgery just to remove "Dog Ears".

This worries me so.