Delayed Reconstruction after Lx & Rads

Annabelle2

Need some advice.....

I was diagnosed at the age of 39 (Feb 2018) with ER+ IDC (stage 3C, grade 3, ki67 95% or so!). Neoadjuvant chemo with PCR, breast conserving lumpectomy, 6 1/2 weeks of radiation, all ending in October 2018. All of that followed by a bilateral oopherectomy and trying to find the right hormone treatment, I needed a break from all things medical.

Since then I've had 1 mammogram, and 2 MRI's, with no evidence of a recurrence so far.

Since the day I started radiation, I have had terrible pain in my breast. It has subsided a little bit now, but for at least a year it was stabbing pain several times a day that would bring tears to my eyes, with a dull ache in between. It's in the same spot as my original lump, and feels like the original tumor, only bigger and harder. That part has not subsided the whole time, in fact it feels like it's getting bigger. They keep telling me it's scar tissue, and completely normal, but most women don't have this problem. Like that's supposed to make it go away??

I also have a huge dimple at the surgery site. It literally looks like a hole in my breast going about 1" in, with a 3" long indent going across it.

So........all of that to say, I hate my body, I cry every time I take a shower, and our married life is non-existent anymore.

I am scheduling a consultation with the plastic surgeon I previously met with and liked, to see what my options are. I don't know if anything can even be done because I was not offered reconstruction at the time of the LX, and had radiation afterwards. My hope is they can remove the scar tissue, fix the cancer boob, and maybe get a reduction on both sides to achieve symmetry and help me get my confidence back.

I'm very much a tom boy and work in the garden covered in mud most of the time. So I'm not concerned about looking good in cute clothes (give me my jeans hoodies & boots!) I just want to feel "normal" and get our old life back.

Has anyone else had these same issues? Or has anyone had reconstruction or even a reduction after Lx & Rads? Any advice or insight would be appreciated. I'm so tired of crying and feeling so alone and discouraged.

Ashlyn525

Hi, I came across this and have many of same issues. Did you meet with plastic surgeon?

Annabelle2

Hi Ashlyn,

I did, I met with 2 of them actually. They've both told me there's absolutely nothing I can do and it's really not that big of deal / to just get over it. I never should have let them talk me in to a lumpectomy.

Thanks for responding though! Feel free to PM me if you want to chat.

KIDI919

HI Annabelle2, I am not stalking you but was concerned when I didn't hear back and that's ok. Have they considered that you have a seroma? Idk if fluid would feel hard. I had a lumpectomy also. My breast feels weird to touch (kinda numb) and sometimes I get a zing thru it which is painful. I think that was terribly rude of those doctors to say what they did. You are a young woman and certainly deserve to receive a better answer than that. ( not that kinda old ladies like me don't (64). Best of luck/wishes on finding someone to help you. Don't give up.

Salamandra

This is infuriating. Maybe this isn't the plastic surgeon's purview, but you are experiencing pain that interferes with your quality of life and you deserve medical care. I'm so sorry this is happening to you. Can you try to start all over again, like at your primary care or gyn, and just go with, I have pain in my breast that interferes with my life multiple times a day. Let them treat it as completely separate from the cancer, if that's what needs to be done to get fresh eyes/view on it, but don't feel like you have to give up and live with this. If you hear from a physician you trust that there is really nothing you can do, and if you hear from your insurance company that they really won't cover surgery for this, then at least that physician should be able to offer you pain support.

Ugh, I'm so sorry.