The Flat Look Vs Prosthesis (with Pics)

Options
1…567810

Comments

  • Djustme
    Djustme Member Posts: 156
    edited October 2012

    That is exactly the type of worry I'm talking about Crystalphm.  I don't want to go through it for the rest of my life.  An acquaintance of mine just had her second mastectomy due to cancer after 12 years of living through that.  She is having a rough go.  I don't think anyone is ever the same.  I suffer from depression and anxiety, though the depression started from having to live everyday with chronic back pain since my accident 16 years ago. Watching my younger brother and best friend die of brain cancer over six years made me that much more anxiety stricken when I was diagnosed with bc and makes it that much harder to let go of the anxiety as well.  I am trying to drag myself out of it.  Even though the focus of this blog is bc all of us still have to face all of the other things that everyone faces, but the bc experience can make it that much harder to deal.  You have to give yourself a pat on the back for coninuing to move forward, even if the pace is slow.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pip57
    pip57 Member Posts: 12,401
    edited October 2012

    Me three!  I am envisioning a meeting!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Djustme
    Djustme Member Posts: 156
    edited October 2012

    Barbe, I'm in a town of about 17,000 east of Toronto.  There is very small support group of survivors who get together to dragon boat here, but because of the size of the Town, many women don't talk about their condition or experiences. They figure if one person knows, the whole town will.  My acquaintance doesn't even want anyone else to know.  Funny that we have such a big Relay for Life turn out for cancer in general, but it is different with bc.  I guess part of it is because it is a more personal part of the body, but some women are afraid they will be passed over for jobs or promotions - and it's not an unfounded concern - I am actually concerned I will lose my job when I go on sick leave to have the mastectomy. Just as there is prejudice in the work force over hiring women who may have to have time off for a baby, employers don't want to have to accommodate someone who may need time off for illness or might not be 100% all of the time. It's very unfair.  These blogs are the biggest outlet for concerns and questions that people like me have.  Maybe if more of us choose not to have reconstruction we will make bc a more visable reality and women will start to open up.  When people come over to my home unexpectedly, they will usually find me in a T-shirt and that is when you can really tell that one breast is missing. I somehow feel naked or exposed, and afraid I will have offended the guest - I have to keep reminding myself that I haven't done anything wrong - that it is their problem if they are uncomfortable, not mine. Hopefully there will come a time when I don't feel shame at people noticing. Koodos to you twistedsteel for being able to live comfortably with one breast, and all you ladies choosing to stay flat.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • 11BC
    11BC Member Posts: 93
    edited November 2012

    Hope this finds everyone well. I had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction and radiation. Four years out, my radiated breast has capsular contracture. I plan to have both implants removed. 

    My plastic surgeon tells me it will be one to two weeks for recovery. I could most likely go back to work the Monday after a Friday surgery, but I will be sore and swollen.

    Has that been your experience? Has anyone had their lymphedema get worse after having the implant removed? (I have lymphedema in my right, cancer-side arm. It's manageable now).

    Thanks a lot.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pip57
    pip57 Member Posts: 12,401
    edited November 2012

    11BC, you should take a look at the topic "I look for other flat chested women. A rant".  There are many of us there who have had different experiences leading to our 'flattness' and you many find someone who can answer your questions.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LindaLou53
    LindaLou53 Member Posts: 929
    edited November 2012

    11BC,  I have no personal experience with implant removal but I can tell you that existing lymphedema can definitely be affected by any procedure which results in swelling and inflammation.  I am glad your current lymphedema is well-managed, but suggest you contact your LE therapist in advance of your procedure. 

    • You should plan on seeing your therapist for a few sessions of MLD prior to your surgery in order to evaluate and get your LE into optimum status.  Suggest that your LE Therapist discuss any specific recommendations with your PS.
    • You should discuss your LE with your Plastic Surgeon to let him know that keeping your LE under control is a goal you hope to achieve.
    • Make sure you inform all medical staff in advance of your procedure that they must practice LE precautions with your right arm which includes  no BP, IVs or blood draws in that arm. If you have bilateral risk your leg can be used for BPs and your foot for IVs and blood draws.
    • Find out how soon after the implant removal can you start wearing your compression garments again. Be prepared with short stretch bandages if you can be wrapped immediately following surgery.  Enlist a family member or your therapist to wrap you if possible.
    • Make sure the doctor has plans for prevention of infection either by administering antibiotics pre-procedure, during or post-procedure. 
    • Keep yourself informed on the early signs and symptoms of cellulitis. Notify your PS or get treatment immediately if you believe you have an infection.
    • Plan on meeting with your LE therapist post-procedure when it is appropriate to begin MLD again and so she can re-evaluate the status of your LE arm.
    • Be sure to check out the many helpful articles on the StepUp-SpeakOut website:
    • Specific info on Cellulitis and Medical Procedures and LE -  http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Emergencies_and_Medical_Care_lymphedema.htm

    Hope your surgery goes as well as possible.  Give yourself plenty of time to heal and recover.  Don't push a return to work any sooner than necessary.  Let us know how it goes!

    Linda

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • 11BC
    11BC Member Posts: 93
    edited November 2012

    LindaLou53: Thank you. I'll save this info and refer to it when it's time to do surgery.

    I found this link to another Web site w/ photos of mastectomy w/o reconstruction. Just like you, Linda, the person on this Web site looks great:

    http://rockisrocknbeads.blogspot.com/2012/10/mastectomy-photos-without-reconstruction.html

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Djustme
    Djustme Member Posts: 156
    edited November 2012

    Thank you for that link.  MT1 posted another link to a great picture of a woman without reconstruction on the "I look for other flat chested women...." The woman looks beautiful and so much at peace.  I didn't know what to expect to look like when I had my first surgery. I had looked for pictures, but didn't find any and really didn't have much time to process what I even felt before the surgery. At first, I couldn't even look at the incision, I turned my head away while the bandage was changed the first couple of times. I didn't have any choice once the stitches can out and I had go without bandages. But now, I am becoming comfortable with what it looks like and have elected to to have a prophylactic mx on the otherside so I don't have the spectre of more bc hanging over me. I have my second surgery coming up in two weeks.  I hope you can accept your new flatness BC11 and eventually be ok with it.  Whether you choose to wear prosthesis in public or decide it is more comfortable to be flat 24/7.  We didn't have a choice in whether or not to get bc, but we have a choice in how we feel about ourselves and in learning to be ok with it. We are still women, with or without breasts. At least these forums allow us to explore the rollercoaster of emotions here that we might feel uncomfortable expressing elsewhere.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • crystalphm
    crystalphm Member Posts: 1,138
    edited November 2012

    Djustme, and it sure is a rollercoaster of emotion, from feeling strong and empowered one  day to broke the next day. I am surprised at all the emotion here after my bmx....

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Moremusic3
    Moremusic3 Member Posts: 5
    edited December 2013


    You look really great. Your tummy isn't big like mine is. Without boobs, I look pregnant, and my tops really cling on the side I had radiation.


    Can you tell me how to load some photos on here please? I'd like to take some and share them- ask what people honestly think. Thank you!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Moremusic3
    Moremusic3 Member Posts: 5
    edited December 2013


    sorry, i was responding to the pics of LindaLou53 when i posted my last comment(see pg1)

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Marilu58
    Marilu58 Member Posts: 2
    edited December 2013

    You look great! Either way.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • hollyboo
    hollyboo Member Posts: 89
    edited December 2013

    Thank you, Linda!  I am 6 months post single mastectomy and was 42F and now, with weight loss and mastectomy, am 1/2 40DD and 1/2 concave.  I thought I would NEVER go out in public without some sort of double bumps.  I, too, have found much comfort in the acceptance I have in my family and with friends and WITH MYSELF in going half flat or not.  At work I still choose to wear some amount of cushion, as my work is as a therapist and I want to keep the focus on my clients' concerns and not on mine.  (Although I can argue the opposite value of openness about vulnerability and weathering life's ups and downs.)

    Your photos validate what I experience.  It is much less of a big deal than I thought, even being a busty woman.  OK, so I do not wear the cleavage blouses I used to.  I miss those.  But it is not a big a loss as I had presumed.  Maybe because I really grieved the loss of one breast and my idea of what was sexy about my body.  I had really liked and enjoyed my lovely full breasts.  Even at 64.  And I can hardly believe that I have no problem looking in the mirror at a flat half and full half or wearing no bra but only a snug camisole.

    You look great both ways.  And your personality shines through either way.  And your comfort with who you are physically is obvious.  

    Thanks so much for the photos.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • glorianna
    glorianna Member Posts: 92
    edited December 2013

    Hi,


    you look gorgeous.

    I was forced to have implants and want to remove them.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited December 2013

    glorianna, do you mean "pressured" rather than "forced"?? I hope so! No one should be forced to get anything done they don't want to as an adult. It was THIS thread that my husband and I sat down to while I was waiting to get biopsy results. Everything I had googled on the internet kept coming back to this website and this thread made my decision easy. My husband and I studied the pictures Linda posted and decided that it was VERY doable. I have a bit more body weight than Linda, but posture has a lot to do with it. If I arch my back (in pain!) my belly really sticks out and I have to be conscious of who is seeing that! I think I've trained my body in work clothes to hold everything in. When I had a bigger chest I could relax my stomach muscles a lot more...LOL...but not anymore!! I guess exercise would be good, but my back is too bad for traditional belly-busting sit-ups or crunches.

    I am now five years out (December 16th, 2008 was my double mast) and STILL am very happy with the choice I made. The arthritis in my neck is SO much better (I'd even had a breast reduction years ago to ease up the weight pull from my breasts) and I look much slimmer than before. I feel SEXY when I feel cloth against my bare chest and was never able to experience that before. Do I miss my breasts? Sometimes. Do I want them back? No.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Vivtwins
    Vivtwins Member Posts: 69
    edited December 2013

    Hi All, 

    This thread has saved me the last couple of weeks.  I wanted to post a couple of pics of me flat and being a larger lady it may help someone else! 

    image

    image

    image

    I do feel very self conscious about my bumpy belly but I'm working really hard to get rid of this.  I will post some more pictures as I lose some more weight.  I really hope you don't mind me jumping in with pics first off!  

    Thanks lovely ladies, you have helped me more than you could ever know!

    Viv xxxx

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited December 2013

    Viv, you look GREAT!! My belly is slightly smaller than yours, but my bum sticks out more (curved spine...sigh). Very brave to take the shots in a t-shirt, but I DO wear totally flat stuff now and really don't give a shit if anyone notices. I'm PROUD of my flat chest - I fought cancer and I WON!!!!! I would go topless to show off my scars...seriously!!! 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Beesie
    Beesie Member Posts: 12,240
    edited December 2013

    Glorianna, last I'd heard, you'd gone from country to country to
    country all around the world, and hospital to hospital to hospital,
    trying to get yourself diagnosed with breast cancer. No such luck,
    however, since every test you had came back benign and every doctor told
    you that are just fine (and that's making your very very long story
    short).  I think you did have a benign papilloma and maybe a fibroadenoma, but that's as far as any diagnosis has ever gone.

    The last time you were here was mid-October, and you were frustrated again by your misdiagnosis (i.e. lack of diagnosis).  So have you had a PBMX since then?  Immediate reconstruction with implant placement right away? Really? 

    Or are you just talking about augmentation implants?  In one of your other posts today you mentioned that you would like to go flat but have pressure from your boyfriend, who "hates the flattie stuff".  But I thought from your earlier posts that your "hubby" didn't want you to have any surgery, and then in another post you said you lost your boyfriend because he didn't understand your illness. So what's true here?  Any of it? Sorry for being skeptical, but
    you've come to this board with so many different and conflicting stories
    over the past 6 months that it's hard to know what, if any of it, is true.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Vivtwins
    Vivtwins Member Posts: 69
    edited December 2013

    Thanks Barbe, it's all a bit weird for me at the moment but you know what, I have really found strength in all of the posts in this forum.  Wish I'd seen it months ago!  You are all wonderful ladies.  

    My son is going to take some 'topless' pictures this week and although I won't post them on the board I am happy to PM them to anyone who wants to see them.  I could've done with somewhere like this when I was first diagnosed.  I've also started to write a blog to try and help others too!  I feel on top of the world tonight I really do! 

    I'm really looking forward to sharing more with you!  My mission is to get rid of some weight so that's going to be my focus for the new year.

    Thanks again for the welcome!

    Viv xxx

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Beesie
    Beesie Member Posts: 12,240
    edited December 2013

    Viv, I jumped onto this thread to reply to Glorianna, but since I'm here, I thought I'd let you know that I think you look absolutely great! 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited December 2013

    Viv, I had told my general surgeon that I wasn't going for recon and wanted a clean, smooth scar. I got it!! I've shown my chest to a couple of sisters here on the boards who went to breast surgeons and they've agreed that my scar line looks flatter and smoother than theirs! I'm so glad I got what I asked for as I didn't want excess skin left (for a future implant if I changed my mind), and glad my surgeon believed me.

    Your posture will change as your body realizes it no longer has to balance your chest. That alone is good for a 10-20 pound "weight loss"...ehhehehee

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Vivtwins
    Vivtwins Member Posts: 69
    edited December 2013

    Thanks so much for your lovely comments.  I managed to go all day yesterday, including to a restaurant for Christmas lunch with out my falsies in.  I was quite chuffed with myself because I rarely go out without them in but I have stuck them in my wardrobe and made a pledge to myself that I am going to try to live the flat life!  I just need to get rid of the belly stick out!  I've been good over the last couple of days and not eaten a pile of rubbish!  

    I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and Boxing Day!  

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited December 2013

    viv, you will LOVE not having to wear a bra every again!!!!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • kathindc
    kathindc Member Posts: 2,042
    edited December 2013

    Amen to no bra!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • tae
    tae Member Posts: 16
    edited December 2013

    I totally agree.  This was just so fantastic of you to do this for all of us.  I am very reassured, looking at these photos, that I can get comfortable going out in public with my flat look, and I've been super worried about it.    I think I'll have to buy some differently styled clothing, and your pictures gave me some good ideas.  I've been using cardigans with a wintry scarf since my BMX in November when I go out in public, but wondering how I'm going to feel by spring/summer.  I cannot have reconstruction for 2-3 years as I have Inflammatory Breast Cancer, and that is the protocol.  So I'll have a nice, long wait before I can even consider that.  I may never have it if I can get comfortable with my body image by then.  Thank you so very, very much.  This is the kind of help that is REALLY helpful!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Vivtwins
    Vivtwins Member Posts: 69
    edited December 2013

    Hi All, 

    I'm so chuffed if those pictures can help just one person!  I could have done with this when I first had my mx.  I'm feeling so much more positive after browsing round these forums.  It's so nice to not feel so alone!  I don't really know many people who have had mx's, in fact only one lady who I will see at New Year and she is desperate to talk to me about her recon.  I did dodge her at the last gathering we were at together but at least now I can say to her, actually I don't want to have it because I don't want it!  Pahahaha!  I doubt she will be pro flatness but I will report back once I've seen her!!!!!

    So what plans do you have for NYE?  I am meant to be going to my brothers house for a party but I'm thinking I may just stay at home with the kids.  I said on another thread yesterday that I don't do new years resolutions but me and my man have resolved to give up alcohol for good!  I got so drunk on Friday night and lost all of yesterday feeling so ill and I don't feel overly awesome today so that's it.  Booze is going, 2014 is time to look after me and my body and get fit and flatbulous!!!!!

    Have a great day.

    xxxxx

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited December 2013

    viv, I stopped drinking the night before the eve of my masts. I made a deal with God, and so far He's kept His side... I don't miss it at all and thought I would. We did drink at my DH's Christmas dance and it was nice, but we didn't get soused. I thought I would lose weight, but didn't!! Let me know if you do.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Vivtwins
    Vivtwins Member Posts: 69
    edited December 2013

    Barbe, I don't think I'll lose weight from giving up drink because I don't really do it very often.  I have a history of pancreatic cancer in my family and I feel I want to look after myself as much as possible and drink is such a liver/pancreas destroyer! My Nan and Mum both died from it and although the BRCA genes are connected to it too, I actually was tested negative so I feel I've been given so many second chances I need to take heed.  I also hate how it makes me feel and I have no off switch so I'm a bit of a binge drinker which I think is worse!  So no more, I'm going to stop it now!  I'll be in for a rough ride from friends and family but I don't care, I'm doing it for me, not them!  

    I'm just cleaning my house today after the Christmas bomb went off.  My kids come back tonight after 4 days with their Dad so I want it all nice for them!  

    How have you been over Christmas?

    xxxx

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Lettinggo
    Lettinggo Member Posts: 52
    edited January 2014

    Hi Jillt, i am recently diagnosed with bc and also a triple negative and am wondering why u have a stage IV when the size is only 2cm.  did you have a PETSCAN? thank you

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited January 2014

    Lettinggo, not sure who you're referring to as we are on page 10 now. But, please know that Stages aren't based on the size of your cancer, but on whether it has metastasized to another area of your body - like bones or lung. Since I've been on this board I've seen DCIS Stage 0 ladies move on to mets!! I've also seen Stage 4 ladies that are still going strong and even working. It's all a crapshoot.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories