Help wanted: UMX without reconstruction

"unoboober" here.  Initially, there is a soft form that can be used before you're ready for the silicone prosthetic.  I was told that the silicone prosthetic is needed to keep the spine aligned.  Personally, because of the placement of my incisions, I found I ended up not wearing any prosthetic.  Recent radiographs of my spine do show a slight curvature of the spine.  Is it from not wearing a prosthesis? I have no idea, but it may be.  I'm glad I didn't rush into BMX but I'm now considering BMX.  The advantage of doing UMX is it gives you time to think about what you really want and not a "omg" reaction when your head is still reeling from the BC dx.

Good luck and I hope it all works well for you. 

Another uniboober here, and no issues at all. That might have to do with my age - 61 at MX time and in a solid relationship with huge support. I didn't buy a MX bra till this spring, but also, no work issues to deal with. i would wear my old bra plus soft rolled up socks or panties stuffed inside. but the MX bra I finally got is great - fits perfectly because it was professionally fitted, so is the most comfy I ever owned. I still often go braless because basically I've hated them all my life. So I have a lot of ruched tops, tees with lots of gathering or twists at the bottom of the vee. Often worn over something else like lately a flimsy cotton sundress fron Wally's with totally gathered front, elasticized. Confuses the eye. Was told by the MX bra lady that it's good to wear a prosthesis as it weighs about 3/4 of the real breast weight, and keeps you straight. But nearly all the time I don't bother, unless I have to "go out".

Could not face the whole hoo-haw of another surgery, and if someone notices, too bad. it's their problem. Although I am not blatant about it, and tend to avoid, say, walking in front of a line of people , might hold my purse up, fluff my shirt up, or something.

Best wishes

Hi CLC,

I wanted to respond particularly about Flash's comment. I do think that when you only have a single breast, especially a D like yours, it's possible that if you go flat all the time, you may cause some imbalance and as a result feel strains on one side or the other. However, I really doubt that Flash's spine curvature resulted from not wearing a breast form. Spine curvatures usually occur during childhood and puberty and can be congenital. Often, when they're slight, they're not identified until perhaps an X-ray reveals them in later life. Perhaps Flash will let us know if she had early scans which didn't show the curvature and now it's there. If not, I would assume it's something she's had since adolescence.

All this to say, I wouldn't worry about that in your situation, but it seems as if you'll want to wear a breast form at least some of the time, for both cosmetic reasons (the kids in your class) and possibly for comfort. Some weight is necessary to create balance, as flannelette pointed out. But the breast form doesn't have to weigh as much as your existing breast. In fact, some women go with forms that are even lighter than 3/4 the weight of their breasts and find that they get sufficient balance for comfort.

There are a lot of advantages to keeping one breast -- you'll still retain all the sensation that goes with that. I hope you'll make a quick and easy adjustment.

Barbara

BreastFree.org

Hi CLC,

Another uni here (almost 42-years old).  I have one silicone and one light-weight prosthesis. Both were professionally fitted and VERY comfortable. Plus mastectomy bras I bought are very nice and even sexy:) I'm happy with my decision and can't even think about going through reconstruction process but I have great family support on that as well.Right after surgery I used sports bras without any inserts, but after a month after surgery started wearing a prosthesis. Wish you comfort with your decision, as Ercia sad there are lots of advantaged to keeping one breast and lots of advantages of not going through additional surgery (recon). Life doesn't change much with loosing one breast.

After a LB mastectomy, I decided against reconstruction (the new breast wouldn't be "mine," I felt, and I also really didn't want any more pain), and instead asked for a referral to a PS to discuss a right breast reduction. I don't mind wearing a prosthesis, just want it to be as light and unintrusive as possible, I actually had the reduction 2 days ago, got home from the hospital yesterday, and am looking forward to having a much smaller bra size as soon as the swelling goes down. Maybe I'll start wearing tanks!!!

Yes, it's covered by insurance (although my husband had a great laugh when the insurance paperwork came through, describing the procedure as a "large breast reduction." Hmmm.... didn't think I was that big, but compared to being flat on the other side, I see where they're coming from. This is considered part of breast cancer treatment, I found out about this option after reading it on one of the BCO threads, and my BS thought it was a great idea. They also get the pathology report, just in case you have cancer in the other side. (apparently it happens in about 3% of cases.) I feel great now. Very happy that there won't be a huge discrepancy between the two sides, and it was also a decision that I got to make for myself. I also loved my PS - he got me to bring down the form I was trying to match & did lots of measurements, took pictures, etc. I'll let you know how it looks once bruising and swelling are gone. I'm happy that I have very little pain today.

CLC - I too am a D cup and had UMX April 2010.  Hadn't planned on recon but talked to a PS because I thought it would be nice to go bra-less or at least be a little more even, he confirmed that I wasn't a good candidate for  recon anyway, and could do the breast reduction on the other side if I wanted.  Not too long after I saw the PS I had the 1 year follow up with my BS, he said with breast reduction you do loose some feeling and the part that would be taken off isn't the part of the breast that is usually cancerous, he recommended that if I wanted breast reduction I might consider BMX, though he didn't feel it was necessary since I was low risk for cancer in my other breast (he did MRI before UMX there were no abnormalities & I had had my 1 year mammo right before I saw BS). 

I was originally fitted with a prosthetic about 6 weeks after my UMX, with the mastectomy bra it fit very well, and you really couldn't tell the difference.  Then I lost 35 pounds and became a little lopsided again, my insurance pays for 1 prosthetic and 2 bras a year.  After radiation I developed LE in my trunk and arm, the radiation also did some damage to the nerves and muscles on that side, so it was pretty uncomfortable to wear the prosthesis because of the weight it put more strain on the shoulder.  So when I went to get my second prosthesis, not only did I need a smaller one because of the weight loss, but I found out they made a lighter weight one - it's great.  I actually think that I may get a swimming prosthesis next time, they are even lighter weight.   

I have no problems with the weight difference.  When I'm home I usually take it off, and plan on trying to get an even lighter weight one next time (I guess the swimming ones are really light).  Also, I saw a LE therapist and she recommended a shaping camisole - I found these at a Hanes out let store - http://www.onehanesplace.com/outlet/shapewear-13666--1/shaper-camis---slips/bali-comfortshape-everyday-smoothing-light-control-seamless-top   I love wearing the cami's -  they are really comfortable and they reduce my large size enough that's it's not very noticeable, particularly if I'm wearing layers, a textured shirt, or a scarf around my neck. 

I started swimming and bought a bunch of swimsuits at second hand stores (when you only pay $4-7 for a suit you don't care as much when the chlorine eats it up).  I don't where a prosthesis when I swim and people hardly notice. 

 Good luck with your MX - my BS had me wear a binder for the first 5 weeks, I guess he has his patients where compression bras now, they are much more comfortable than the binder.

Hi CLC;

 I had the mastectomy on March 31, and the reduction Friday, Sept. 23. I guess I was somewhat of an unusual case, in that my PS says they see very few patents who choose this option. Most want reconstruction. I don't know about a time limit, but my radiation oncologist was surprised at my decision to get the procedure after chemo & before rads. You may want to check in with your insurance company.

Kate 

CLC: thanks for the kind words. I'm 3 days out from the surgery, and the only complaint I have is some persistent nausea. I'm lying on my recliner, unable (as of yet) to head out for my daily walk. I just feel like I could throw up any minute. As for the surgery site, all's well. Some swelling, which is common, and some impressive bruises. I'm really glad I did this, though.

I do think women who've had bilateral mastectomies probably have a simpler time with the prosthesis/bra thing, than those of us who've just had unilateral masts. 

And, I'm sure women who are smaller topside have less difficulty finding a comfortable, workable prosthesis -- and feel less awkward going without a bra or prosthesis -- than well-endowed women.

I was (am?) 34B/36A, depending on the bra.  That's kind of funny.  Every time I go to my BS for a routine recheck appt -- like this coming Monday -- her nurse asks me what size bra I wear.  I usually respond, "I really don't know," because my prosthesis fitting put me in a too-tight, too-small mastectomy bra and I cannot wear it.  So around the house, I almost always go bra-less, which was true even before my BC dx.  Sometimes I'll go out in public without a bra/prosthesis, especially if we're just riding in the car or it's cool enough to wear a jacket.

But I've come to realize that I'm not comfortable going out in public being so perfectly flat on one side and having a size A/B (B-minus?) boob on the other side.  My T-shirts look twisted and odd.  My blouses/buttoned shirts look worse.  I need to wear layers, dark colors, and tops with printed patterns (T-shirts with big logos) to mask the lopsidedness. So, although my prosthesis and bra of choice make my chest uncomfortable (a touch of truncal LE?), I wear them anyway, in public. 

I've discovered that, if I don't wear my prosthesis/bra, I hunch my shoulders; and it's not because of the side-to-side weight difference.  An 8-ounce container (I checked it out) of body fat doesn't weigh much at all, so I don't buy the "imbalance" argument. I hate to admit it, but I think I hunch my shoulders forward to mask the lopsidedness when I'm not wearing a prosthesis/bra.  It's kind of like an 11-year-old girl hunching her shoulders because she's embarrassed about her developing breasts.  (I suspect I did that, too.)

Despite all that, I do not regret declining reconstruction.  I would vote "no recon" again, without hesitating.  Life is complicated, but IMHO, my life would have been more complicated if I'd had recon and I didn't want that.

otter

CLC, you're absolutely right.  My "no recon" decision was appropriate for me, but wouldn't have worked for a lot of other women. The same was true for my "mast vs. lumpectomy/rads" decision -- I suspect most women in my place would have chosen the lumpectomy/rads.

More than a dozen women from my BCO "chemo group" (May '08) got together 15 months ago as a sort of reunion.  It was fun to see how happy some of them were with the outcomes of their recon -- which ranged from a simple impant, to very complicated, 15-hour DIEP microsurgery.  I was so happy they were happy that I secretly second-guessed my "no recon" decision.  Not for long, of course; but there was a smidge of doubt for an instant or two.

This is such a personal choice we have to make.

otter

I was also a D and had a uni-mx.  I have an Amoena light prosthesis (silicone) and it is very comfortable to me.  It came with one of the little cloth covers but I bought 4 or 5 extras online because I wanted to be able to have a clean one for each day.  I also like the Amoena Ava bra -- very comfy and good support.  I must have bought 15 different bras and returned them before I found one I like.  My surgeon kept telling me that I should have a bilateral mx because with only one large breast remaining, I'd have balance issues and back issues -- neither of which was true.  I'm glad I opted for a uni-mx.  I initially wanted immediate reconstruction (DIEP) but my onc wanted me to wait awhile since I had IBC (and it was my second BC dx, the first being IDC a year earlier).  But, it has now been over a year and a half since my mx and I'm not sure I'm ever even going to do the reconstruction.  I don't think I want to go through another surgery.  I may change my mind at some point, but honestly, I don't mind the prosthesis. It is comfy and I don't give it another thought once I get dressed in the morning.

Edit to add that I got my prosthesis at just under 4 weeks post mx.  I couldn't wait any longer.  With such a large remaining breast, I could not go out anywhere being flat on one side I just couldn't find anything to stuff the bra with that was even close to resembling the real breast.  So, I went ahead and got the prosthesis and was so happy to have it at that point.