Rockin' flatness like a bada$s

Aunt Paula, I like your 200% answer.

Before I lost weight, I always loved Lands End swimsuits, and I still do now. They are well made, great for being active in the water, and cater to all sizes of woman. I am 46, and never did figure out how to tame my wild, curly hair. When I let it do its thing, it seemed to get healthier lol. I am brand new here, so I do not know how to post pics and such yet, but...there was a woman freediver named Audrey Mestre. She posed on the beach for her hubby, back to him, and topless. It is such a stunning picture. It just exudes strength and peace. I obviously do not have this womans little tiny body, but I want my hubby to take a picture of me like that after my BMX. Without the drain tubes of course

Zillsnot4me and twoam, hello fellow curly gals. I get lots of information from Naturally Curly

You can wander through the site and find all sorts of information. The Curl Talk link up in the top right hand side, just before the links to Facebook, Twitter and such takes you to community posting - I haven't posted anything there yet, but I've spent a lot of time reading.

twoam - just curious where you found all these pictures?  lol.  I can only speak for myself, but during my surgery, the tumor was found to be laying right against the chest muscle, not growing into it, but the muscle had to be removed to get clean margins.  So, I basically have nothing but skin covering my ribs in that area - yes, it is concave and lumpy (who knew ribs were so uneven and bumpy?!?) in that spot.  Surgeon implied that muscle would grow back.  He lied.   :-(

Anyway, that is not the usual scenario, but could happen.  All I can say is, you get used to it, eventually.  I don't care what it looks like, after all nobody else is going to see it.  It's more the weird feeling that nothing is covering my ribs but a thin layer of skin.  

Well, Hi! to all. Finding myself here, simply because I just never did do the 'recon thing'... In reality, it wasn't discussed much with my BS, nor did I find and investigate my options with a PS. I was completely immersed in the BMX and all the fears, and the following TXs.

I just figured, if I do it...I will do it later. Well... It's later, and I really have no desire to recon. If truth be told, I never even got any prosthetics. I just basically find it easier this way. Occasionally, I will wear a heavily padded bra, which in and of itself, protrudes enough, LOL Notice I said padded...not stuffed. Haha, I find it kind of stands out there alone anyway!  I also have to tell this... so funny... a friends young one, came up and kind of unwittingly pressed up against me 'there', and if you all could have seen 'the look' on her face, lolol, as she realized it was just an empty cup under my shirt. Oh my! A TOTAL kodak moment! Bless her heart, and I choked my own laughter at her 'shock and awe', and let her know I was ok, and I just had been sick, but she did nothing wrong. As I drove home, I LOL'd to tears at the whole incident; not at her expense, but at my crazy idea, and it was the first really, really good belly laugh I'd had in forever at that point. 

And after, all the stress, fear, anxiety, grief, and the all to well known hard-core, "I cried till I fell asleep" cry. (Which I had done several times)...it was time, I guess, to find my funny bone again. And it felt so great to be 'relieved' enough to finally laugh again, and at myself! Because, if you can't laugh at yourself, your skin's too thin. (only an opinion)...and I've always been a cut-up, and enjoy life, love, and laughter! So I'm happy to say, I am flat and rockin' it!  

twoam

I am concave, sternum actually bows out. (it's aint pretty LOL) 

We're all different, so many things factor in, weight, age, former breast size, fatty tissue under arms, chest shape, ribs prominent or not, & where our tumor was.And the surgeon.  I think my cancer side looks better than the other side. (which filled with blood & clots day after surgery & I had to be back in OR to be re incised & evacuated) My ribs show, & it is weird cause I never paid much attention to ribs being "way up there" before! I am not smooth, have a couple poofs where cleavage would be & a slight bunch under arm pits. But I am just 3 months post BMX so this may change. (I hope)

This is my first post, and I really debated where to start - in an existing thread, or start a new one. So if anyone wants to redirect me, please do!

So, why am I here? I had HER2neu positive premenopausal breast cancer beginning in 1995. I had great treatment - lumpectomy, radiation. It took a while to recover from all that, but it was okay. Early menopause entered my life due to the chemo. No problem. Then, three years ago I got another breast cancer, unrelated, in the other untreated breast. No problem, again. It wasn't HER2neu positive, no positive nodes, just lumpectomy and radiation needed. Easy for me compared to the HER2neu experience.

I take anastrozole now, and did fine with it until last fall. So that's over two years with little to no problem on it, and the current problems I feel I now have with anastrozole may be related to the emotional/physical impact of what follows, below.

(FYI I was tested for BRCA1 and 2, and am negative, though there is some thought I may have some as yet unknown genetic component because of the two unrelated breast cancers.)

Last year during the MRI's they want me to have every six months they found a "suspicious area." It turned out on biopsy to just be necrotic tissue in the "1995" breast, (one way to put it, anyway.)

While I waited for the results, I reviewed my possible options should I need treatment. The only option was mastectomy. Okay. Maximum safe dose radiation in both breasts, and so on. Remove them both, I thought. I have about D breasts still, even after lumpectomy, so having one breast remaining didn't appeal to me. Too unbalanced for me.

I'm here because it's now been a year since the speculation I'd be moving toward an unplanned double mastectomy. This *is* a problem. I am the mother of a twelve year old, no partner, an overwhelmed teacher, who lives off a long, beautiful, bumpy dirt road over which I drive a manual transmission 4x4 truck.

I figure every year or so they will find something they want to biopsy. It will be cancer or it won't, but I think I am done with the surveillance regime I've been having to deal with. I'm setting up appointments with my oncologist, surgeon, and a plastic surgeon to investigate having a double mastectomy without reconstruction so I can be done. Completely done, I hope. I've had it, after all these years. The surveillance is too much, the uncertainty is too much.

I need help from the intentionally flat chested. I think you are my tribe. I simply can't imagine having more surgery to have breasts again. I want my body and my life back. Can I get a flat chest that looks like me? I have seen an awful lot of photos elsewhere that make me wonder who the heck did the surgery. They scare me. Help! The best photos are of reconstructions - but I don't want to have to go there.

Please talk to me, happy flat chested women. How did you get a good cosmetic result? What did you have to say to your surgeon?

I have been reading about nipple and areola sparing/skin sparing mastectomies, but those seem to always result in reconstruction. Has anyone gone that route and stayed flat chested?

I start doctor appointments July 2, and I'm listening. Thank you dear fellow travelers.

I'll leave here (East Coast) to return to my oncologist on the west coast, with my daughter at the end of the month. I will have surgery done out there. All my appointments start shortly after our arrival in the west.

We leave at the end of the month to stay with my mother out west, who isn't well. I've had all my treatment done in Seattle, near the family home, so that is where I will continue, and I guess why I am so opposed to even contemplating doing this in rural NC. I probably wasn't very clear! Sorry about that. Thank you for your response.

From your treatment info, Wren, it sounds as though you still have to take Arimidex following your mastectomy? 

Hi keepitsimple, just saw your first post and wanted to say Hi!

Not really my area here because I am a Uni and wear a prosthesis most of the time, but there are many friends who post here who are flat and fabulous! You'll get lots of great info and support from them.

I just thought I'd mention Breastfree.org as a place to check out pics and to gather info. It is a site that was started and maintained by one of our members here. I used it to get an idea of what the surgery looked like these days, because I dad only seen my Mother's radical Mx done in the 90's.

I agree with Wren, your surgeon will be able to give you an idea of what to expect. I haven't seen or heard of nipple and skin sparing that hasn't resulted in recon, but that would be a question for your surgeon too.

Glad you will be staying in the city, I wouldn't want to be doing the bumpy road too soon after, either! LOL Take it easy, I look forward to hear how you're doing!

Keep it simple, You're right on the Arimidex. So far, it's for 5 years although I have trepidation about it going to 10. Not sure I'm willing to do 10. If you think you'd have time for coffee or lunch while you're in Seattle, let me know and I'll PM you my phone number. I realize you may be busy with you mother as well as your surgery.

I will take a look Bobo, I have seen his great work on recon, but never on a flat sister. 

Well, I deleted pic.  Someone messaged me and stated she had no problem with it but suggested it might be too early for those newly diagnosed to see it.  It really helped me to see pics like that because I found myself thinking "that's not so bad".  But, not everyone will have that same thought I guess.

Keep on rocking!

GML

Hi Juanita,

Thank you!  Yeah, I can see them, they show up better in person than in the pic.  But, they have faded A LOT and the one on the affected side is harder to see than the other.  They were red for a long time but my first surgery for the affected breast was 5 years ago this September.  So, have hope!

GML