Grew up with major imbalance - childhood cancer

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ensignabby
ensignabby Member Posts: 3
edited June 2014 in Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy

Hello, my name is Abby. I am 25 years old, and when I was 10 years old, I was treated for a chest tumor (Askin's tumor).

Part of my treatment included one month of radiation treatments that were all directed to the right side of my chest. As a result, I am now extremely lopsided, with my natural breast somewhere around a D (almost DD) cup and and my radiated breast an A (almost B) cup. My radiated breast looks completely normal, it is just much much smaller. It was very difficult to live with this as a teenager, but now I am more accepting of myself.

 I grew up with virtually no support from anyone in regards to my abnormality, and the consequences were largely ignored. Now that I am older, the back pain I had all this time has gotten worse and found out a couple years ago that I have twisting of the spine as well as a major angle in the middle of my back from the many years of my body being uneven weight-wise. I see a chiropractor now on regular occasion, but he tells me that even if he improves my condition, he will never be able to completely fix it or relieve my pain with the weight indifference still there.

I have tried many different bras throughout my life, but all of them are designed for normal women, so any prosthetics that I used on my right side would always show or slip around. Even full-cups would gap on my right side. I found this website recently and noticed people talking about mast bras and other interesting weighted prosthetics, and I was wondering what my options are in this respect. I've have had this problem for going on 11 years now and have been in remission this entire time, so I have no contact with any of the doctor's who treated me. Would insurance even help me at this point? Does anyone know what to do in this situation? I am thinking that if I can get an effective bra with a properly weighted side or a breast augmentation on the one side, that my back could finally be fixed so I can stop having all this pain. The self-confidence of having two equal breasts wouldn't hurt, either. I have always wanted to wear a shirt with cleavage but have never been able to my whole life :(

 Any ideas? I would greatly appreciate it.

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Comments

  • Makratz
    Makratz Member Posts: 12,678
    edited February 2010

    I would definitely ask my doctor for a breast reduction!   I would think that insurance would cover it.  Why not start with your regular doctor, and ask who you should see.  The doctors office can usually contact your insurance company to see if they will cover your reduction.

    Best of luck to you.

    XOXO

    Linda

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  • ensignabby
    ensignabby Member Posts: 3
    edited February 2010

    I don't necessarily want a reduction. If I would have grown up normally, I would have two D cups, and I very much like the size and shape of my natural breast.

     I need to find a doctor that would actually care about my imbalance. Right now only my chiropractor knows about my back pain and I am in between doctors at the moment. Would it be a general practicioner, or what kind of doctor should I seek out?

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  • Makratz
    Makratz Member Posts: 12,678
    edited February 2010

    Oh, I thought you were having back problems because of the imbalance. I would think it would only get worse as you age.  You can definitely start with a general practitioner.  Do you see any doctors regularly?

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  • pip57
    pip57 Member Posts: 12,401
    edited February 2010

    There are inserts available that women who have had lumpectomies sometimes use if they have had a lot of tissue removed.  They are available where mastectomy products are sold.  You could probably do an online search for something in your area.

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  • ensignabby
    ensignabby Member Posts: 3
    edited February 2010

    I did have a regular doctor, but I recently "fired" her because she has messed me up on multiple occasions by perscribing inappropriate drugs to me one time too many. I am currently searching for a competent doctor.

    My back problems are more from the fact that there is a large weight difference in between the two sizes, so my torso wants to lean to one side. If they were both the same weight, that wouldn't be an issue anymore. Although I may be a D cup, I am well distributed shape wise, and it doesn't look like it would be that detrimental for me to have Ds on both sides. Most people who know me don't believe me when I say it's a D cup.

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  • Makratz
    Makratz Member Posts: 12,678
    edited February 2010

    Then perhaps you could try the inserts that pretty in pink wrote about.

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  • glanter
    glanter Member Posts: 78
    edited February 2010

    I would think you would be a candidate for reconstruction due to the cancer diagnosis and the treament via radiation similar to someone who has Poland's (congenital asymmetry due to the absence of the pectoralis muscle).  Consult a plastic surgeon.  Although no one could guarantee it would resolve your back problems, reconstruction could certainly take care of the problem with symmetry.  However, weigh the option of a implant carefully, you've had radiation, sometimes implants and radiation do not mix.  Try to find a plastic surgeon who also does autologeous reconstruction so you get all of the options.

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  • Jelson
    Jelson Member Posts: 1,535
    edited February 2010

    My friend's daughter just had breast augmentation, her smaller breast was congenital, not due to medical treatment. She was initially denied by insurance, but prevailed twice (she got approval and then was nolonger eligible for one insurance for other reasons and then had to get approval from her new insurer. You will need documentation from an orthopedist to support the contention that the augmentation to address the imbalance is medically necessary to stop damage being done to your spine and ongoing pain.

    Good luck

    Julie E

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