Revising after capsular contraction - second time

SFMama

It's a long time since I have been on these boards. I am so grateful to be well and cancer-free almost 7 years after my initial diagnosis with stage 2a breast cancer. However, I am still dealing with after-effects from reconstruction.

I am trying to decide whether to have a second revision surgery. I currently have capsular contracture in my radiated breast. It is high, firm, and IMO looks weird and fake. That said, I do not have any pain or inhibited movement. On the other side, the reconstructed breast has fallen low and the surrounding chest area looks bony and IMO unattractive. Again, no pain, just aesthetic concerns.

I can't decide whether it's worth it to go through another whole surgery. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros: revised revision will hopefully yield a more closely matched set of breast-like objects; I will feel more confident in clothing, swimsuits, and naked. I won't feel that I look like plastic-y and fake. May feel more comfortable with my body. Insurance will pay for it.

Cons: another full surgery with downtime, drains, etc. 6+ weeks of no exercise. Hard-to-calculate chance that contracture will happen again. Small but not impossible chance that the whole surgery will fail and I end up with nothing.

Dulcea

I'm not sure what your revision would include, but I'm not sure you would need more drains. Did the PS tell you that?

I had larger implants exchanged for my original ones 9 months after the original mastectomy and surgery. I just couldn't look at my smaller-than-original breasts anymore. They didn't fit in my old bras or fill out my clothing they way they used to because they were so small. I also had/have some pits and divots which the PS didn't want to address at the same time as the exchange. I had a small amount of capsular contraction in one breast that was addressed at the time. After the exchange, I have chosen to live with the pits, divots, off-center nipple, and one boob lower than the other because I don't want to have anymore surgeries. I had 5 surgeries in 16 months and was getting worried what it was doing to my brain cells...or whats left of them.

I guess what it comes down to is what you can live with or what you can't live with. I think recovery is temporary so really didn't play a part in my decision making and I only had to miss exercise class for a month. In my opinion, you need to be comfortable in your body. Have you talked to a PS yet?

Good luck with whatever you decide.