Flat Chest Sensation?

cleomoon, my chest is not numb.  In many areas the sensation is pretty normal - what is missing is sexual sensation which is more complicated than just feeling touch.  No more thrill - sigh.

My chest feels tight even after a year plus, but the skin has not gotten tighter.   

Good luck with your decision making. 

The only place I have a mild numb feeling is just beyond my scar on both sides (toward my back under my arms, much like chainsawz described). I don't notice it unless I touch the area. I'm over three years out from surgery and I think that feeling there is coming back slowly.The rest of my chest has recovered feeling.

Your skin definitely shouldn't get tighter; more likely the opposite. I went to a physical therapist soon after surgery and she gently massaged my chest to prevent adhesions (when scar tissue adheres to the chest wall). She taught me how to do it myself, too, and I think it really helped to alleviate some initial tightness. I don't feel tight across my chest at all any longer. 

The only real tightness I have is on one side where my right shoulder feels tighter than the other. This occurred after my lumpectomy and SNB and was probably exacerbated by radiation (all six years ago). Since my bilateral mastectomy three years ago, my range of motion has actually improved and is now back to normal, although my right arm and still feels tighter when I raise it and I need to make sure to stretch regularly.

I'm a big advocate of physical therapy, provided your therapist works with breast cancer patients and understands the post-surgery issues. It made a big difference in my recovery from the mastectomy surgery.

Barbara

BreastFree.org

barbe, I get the phantom nipple thing too.  It is just plain weird.

lisa-e and barbe, I know what you mean about the phantom nipple thing. I get it, too, in a weird way. Since I do wear breast forms, I find that if I touch the nipple protrusion on the form, I get a sense of arousal. I feel as if I'm really touching my own nipple. And even when my husband touches it (which I can't even feel, but I can see him doing it), I get aroused. It's kind of a cool (though definitely weird) effect. Early on, it reassured me that even without breasts (which had been such an important erogenous zone for me), my sexuality was okay.

Food for thought, Erica . . . I tried for a long time to tap into the phantom nipple thing - to see if I could recreate the feeling of having nipples - and couldn't do so. But I mostly tried by imagining what it felt like to have someone touch my nipple or what it felt like to nurse.

Barbe, I think the reason that a tatoo over a mast scar could be dangerous is the amount of skin involved.  Nips are pretty small as compated to most mast scars.