Weight Gain and Breast Recon

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McClure77
McClure77 Member Posts: 55
edited April 2016 in Breast Reconstruction

I am scheduled to have my reconstruction next month. Unfortunately, but not atypically, I have gained quite a bit of weight since being forced into early menopause between the chemo and the tamoxifen. I am still hopeful that I can shed it, even though I've not seen any progress from my efforts so far. I can't even be sure that I'm done GAINING the weight, which is also frustrating. Now I don't know what to do about sizing to match my breasts. My expander and natural breast were the same size until this weight gain and now they are uneven. I would like them to match after surgery, but I don't want to then get a bigger implant and end up losing weight and then having them uneven again. I have always been aware that I might have "balance" issues, but I didn't expect to start out that way! How have others dealt with this?

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  • Sweij
    Sweij Member Posts: 1
    edited March 2016

    I too have gained a lot of weight from chemo and tamoxifin since my reconstruction in 2013 (About 18 pounds). So my natural breast grew so much in size and my reconstructed breast stayed the same. In Dec 2015 I had pmx of other breast and am scheduled for reconstruction next month. My TE Breast is currently much larger than Breast with implant. I guess that I have decided to have 2 new implants placed (size somewhere in the middle) to give symmetry as best possible. I desperately hope to lose the weight and not be left with too large of implants! It's so distressing. Wish I had answers for you. Good luck
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  • justamy
    justamy Member Posts: 532
    edited April 2016

    I have gained a lot of weight as well. I already had my implants before the weight gain. I was never happy with my recon as they never looked right. Now, I am considering getting them out and going flat. The extra weight has caused a weird lump under my armpit and the implants are so apparent.MY surgeon decided to put the implants over my muscle (without telling me there was another option). Fat grafting was not offered. The implants look saggy because just my skin is holding them. I do not even let my husband see them because they are so hideous. The cancer side is way smaller than the other- even though I have bilateral implants. I guess I'm just saying that whatever you do, be sure your surgeon is aware of your concerns and actually listens to them. Mine did not listen.

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  • McClure77
    McClure77 Member Posts: 55
    edited April 2016

    Justamy: I'm sorry you've had such a negative experience. That is really frustrating :(

    I had my recon, but as I feared, the natural and the recon side look quite a lot different. We are going to wait until June and reassess and see what we think. I knew that matching them would be difficult, but I had hoped that I'd at least start OUT even lol

    Oh well...


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