I hate my incisions!

Sher, my suregon said that with time, your body will remodel itself. I'm not sure how much or how long, though, and I don't plan on waiting ten-fifteen years for the scar to smooth out.

I plan to have reconstruction, down the road, but I still am concerned about how the incisions look now. My pathology report says my surgeon did a skin sparing mx on the prophylactic side, but they look pretty much tthe same to me. He knew I am planning recon, so that is why he left as much skin as he thought was safe. It does make it look bulgey. If I change my mind, a ps can revise the scars and hopefully lipo the fat deposits that are still there.

Okay, now page 2 works!

I know exactly what you mean about the sunburn like pain as I have the same thing.  Sometimes it kind of throbs too.  Mine is above the incisions, not below and is pretty much constant, but has eased quite a bit in intensity so that now I'm not taking pain meds all the time anymore.

Ps was scheduled to assist my surgeon, to shorten the time it would take to do my surgery, so I wouldn't have to be under too long.   I thought to myself that I would have great incisions 'cause the ps was assisting. Wrong!  Something happened in the scheduling and the ps wasn't the one to assist after all.   Hopefully my incisions will level out over time, otherwise fitting/wearing prosthesis might be tricky.  

I saw my surgeon today and she said there is no seroma, but the area was definitely aggravated by the drain and so would explain the continued pain.  She didn't come right out and say it, but my reading between the lines is that there is just excess fat on the outer edges that is not removed with the breast tissue.  But if that's the case, I have no idea why there is so much more on one side than the other.  You'd think that since I'm right handed, that side would have less excess fat, not more.  Anyway, I now have an appointment with the plastic surgeon for his opinion.

HI, i would love to see your photos. I too had a mastectomy (mid JUne) i have pockets of fat as well as humps and bumps. I think this is normal? i see my doc next week and will get him to check on how i'm healing...omg your so right when you say" i hate the "empty spot" more then hearing "you have/had breast cancer' .. thanks to the lady who shared her picture..... i too hate looking at it....

I have the Dog Ear Flap "Leftover" issue, too. Mine is very uncomfortable and painful. Wearing a bra irritates it and it's so tight that it feels like it's going to break open the skin sometimes. It feels like a big rolled up washcloth is under my armpit.

I can't rest my arm at my side without my hand sticking out about six inches more than my other hand, and this is causing me a shoulder problem due to my change in arm posture. It also looks horrible - but my main concern is the pain.

I don't mean to be gross, but another issue is that there's a "tuck/fold" of skin on the topside of the Dog Ear bump.  It's not even part of the incision!  I use cornstarch instead of deodorant on my mastectomy side but it falls down and just sits in the fold.  I always bathe sufficiently and use Dial soap, but then the water and soap sandwich into the fold.  This is an area with a lot of bacteria!   I have to stretch the skin open with two fingers and clean it with a Q-Tip or twist up a washcloth.  It's reminds me of how uncircumcised males need to keep the area under the foreskin clean because of the fold trapping bacteria.  Moving right along...

I went in two weeks after surgery to get the area aspirated when I believed it was a fluid buildup. Imagine my surprise when the nurse told me that the doctor sometimes leaves extra skin there to make reconstruction easier....  When I reminded her of my wishes for no reconstruction, she began backtracking saying something like, "You're tramatized and not always thinking clearly before surgery.  You might change your mind and then be happy that the extra skin is there."

Prior to my mastectomy, I advised my surgeon that I did NOT want any more surgeries and specifically told him that I wasn't doing ANY reconstruction - period - because I already suffered with chronic pain issues from previous injuries. I also signed paperwork immediately before being wheeled into surgery stating that the surgery was to be done on my right breast and that I did NOT want reconstructive surgery.

All of that being said, I'm having a real problem understanding why the flap was not cut off at the time of the mastectomy???  My surgeon has been doing mastectomies for 30 years.  Maybe I should have gone to someone younger?  Wouldn't you think that if he knew I didn't ever want reconstruction, he could have put a little more thought into my surgery appearance? How could I ever have known to ask him to cut off the Dog Ear Flap?

Now the only way to get rid of this deformity is another surgery or procedure!  What part of NO MORE SURGERY did my surgeon misunderstand? 

Sure, I understand that insurance will cover fixing it under "Reconstruction or Scar Revision".   - but I still have to be cut again, possibly anesthetized once more, pay copays, schedule recovery time and experience MORE PAIN!!!   Who'd ever think that this would be a problem? I researched a lot before surgery, but never read anything about this apparently common problem.   This is not only causing me anxiety but extending my recovery!

On my last follow-up visit, I asked my surgeon to explain about the bump again.  He said that if he didn't leave extra skin there, I wouldn't be able to stretch my arm above my head.  (!@!)  About two sentences later, he was telling me how the plastic surgeon could make it nice and flat!  Hmmm, I wonder how I'd ever get my arm above my head then??? 

Let me know what you think about these MASTECTOMY PHOTOS WITH NO RECONSTRUCTION, like, "Is this normal?"   http://www.flickr.com/photos/39053051@N04/

(More photos will be posted soon - June 2, 2009)

Thanks for listening. Best Wishes to all of you!  Sending healing vibes your way. 

I had an incision revision on my cancer side as there was enough tissue left to actually droop over my incision line! I was adamant that I was not doing reconstruction as well, and was pretty annoyed that he left too much breast tisue on the one side - esp the cancer side!

I had my quick revision. Not a problem. No drains or any hassle. I'm glad I did it! Now I want lipsuction on the bit of fat over my ribs so I look flatter....

(My incision line, looking at it from above does have bumps, but strangely it gives me a bit of cleavage when I bend over!) 

I am having scar revisions in October. I need to have the dog-ears flattened out on my abdomen from my failed TRAM, fat removed from under my left arm, scar tissue and a mole removed from the left side of my chest and the right side flattened out, as my surgeon did a skin sparing mastectomy on my right side after my second diagnosis. I don't want to attempt reconstruction and want to at least have my chest "leveled". I've lost 20 pounds of the 30 I gained during chemo and as I lose weight, the dog-ears stick out worse...

Linda

I completely understand what you mean. I, too, have had a lot of surgeries and have decided to forget about reconstruction. I had hoped that would end things once and for all, but I also have small pockets under my arms, that I assume are “dog ears”. I want to have them removed because, although I feel greedy to say this, I feel really unattractive right now. I had my most recent surgery about 2 weeks ago and I know I still have healing to do, but I feel like I don’t even want to shower because I don’t want to see my chest. I feel bad saying that because I know things could be so much worse but I can’t stop feeling this way. It is a very painful situation, not only physically, but emotionally also...

I thought my breast surgeon did a really good job no uneven areas clean line but my plastic surgeon wished he could of had input. Plastic surgeon exceeded my expectations with the wonderful DIEP. So happy but there was a small area under my arm where the scar lines come together. Have to lift up my arm to see it. But now that all looks good too. I think the best situation is when bs and ps work together.