Proud to be Flat

You sound like you're doing great! It's still so soon after your surgery, and you're out exercising, hooray for you. The sunburn/hypersensitivity feeling is normal and temporary; I think it's nerve pain, and it goes away. I still have a little tightness on my radiation side, even a year after surgery, but every month is a little better. I'm sure you have found breastfree.org, a site that helped me tremendously, even with its name. Free!

I'm with you. I feel more calm now that I don't have boobs. I'm scared of mbc, of course, but for now I'm relieved not to have biopsies, mammograms that don't detect tumors, MRIs, etc.

And no more sports bras! Can't beat that. Flat is in

Hello you flat and fabulous ladies!

I had my BMX last June. Recon wasn't an option for me. I just didn't want to go through the potential complications that can happen with reconstruction. I did have surgery last November on my prophylactic side to get rid of excess skin and to smooth out the folds, so it was more symmetrical to my affected side, which is smooth and flat.

Obviously, anyone diagnosed with cancer wants to take whatever precaution is available to avoid recurrence, so I'm just going to talk about my experience with respect to aesthetics.

I was a large A, small B before surgery, but I've always hated wearing bras, so at 48 years of age, I sagged. That old saying a little goes a long way definitely pertained to my breasts. I love, love, love not having to wear a bra.

Another big plus, no under boob sweat during the summer!

I am not self conscience about my flatness at all. I love it! I like wearing tight little tshirts, or funky tops that you couldn't wear with a bra.

That being said, my flatness does accentuate my belly pooch. And I'm thin. But that would be my only negative to going flat, and the positives definitely outweigh that one little negative.

Lola, As far as tightness goes, yes, my chest still feels tight at times, but this has never been an issue for me. It's never been a big deal, even during the first few weeks post surgery. I would think that TEs would be a heck of a lot more uncomfortable than a little tightness from a BMX with out recon. Btw, range of motion was never a problem for me. Once I had my drains removed four days after surgery, I could pretty much do anything I did before surgery.Implants that affect this? Yikes! Sounds dreadful.

I am delighted that you are doing so well after bilateral mastectomy. Sorry about the pain - hopefully this will resolve promptly. I agree that radiation can delay healing and prolong pain. As a Surgical Oncologist specializing in breast i applaud you for choosing the right option for you post mastectomy. Not everyone needs or wants reconstruction. I would recommend all women contemplating mastectomy to investigate all of their options by discussing reconstruction with at least 2 plastic surgeons specializing in post mastectomy reconstruction, (there are multiple techniques both using implants and a woman's own tissue), checking out available prostheses and postmastectomy bras and bathing suits, and even chest wall tatoos. Discussing these issues with other women who have gone through the procedures will also be helpful. Remember that the government has passed a law mandating insurance companies (including medicaid) to pay for breast reconstruction and/or prostheses after mastectomy.Do not rush into surgery without knowing your options. You have time to consult specialists and other patients to help you decide what is best for you. You can proceed with reconstruction anytime after surgery -even years later if you change your mind, although your scars remain and you lose your chance of nipple salvage. Take care.

Hoping I can ask here: I had right MX with 9 (clean!) nodes removed the end of August 2015, then chemo, no rads. Surgeon refused to do BMX (Finland, you get what you get.) Part of my MX scar and the surrounding tissue is "glued down" to my chest wall amd somewhat limits movements --- can't do Pilates stretches, and any active use of that arm (whch now has lymfedema) causes sharp throbbing pain there, into the armpit, and into the inner upper arm. Pain builds a few hours after "exercise" often to the point of needing super strong meds to sleep, but eases over several days if I'm careful how I move. Because I had no recon, my first post-op control with a surgeon won't be until the end of this year, or early next year. The breast physical therapist said (January) it's because I didn't massage the scar regularly --- but I was never told to do that, and that is not mentioned in any of the post-op instructions or the notes I took on the ward, Whenever I try to massage even gently, I get that horrible pain, and FT and onc docs say the nerve is probably trapped in scar tissue

Could anyone ease my sense of guilt that I somehow brought this pain on myself, because I maybe misunderstood post-op instructions and didn't massage when I was supposed to? --- but could I have massaged, with recurrent seroomas until December as well as LE in the chest wall?

I guess nothing can be done about the pain at this point if the nerve is trapped, but hearing that I did nothing wrong would give me some peace of mind, so maybe the pain would be easier to deal with?

Thank you all

Hi glennie! Nope, this is Finland, public sector, no possibility to see a surgeon sooner (I've asked multiple times). Going private is way out of my budget; I have no private health insurance (husband said no need when we married). The surgeons at my hospital were upset with me anyway for refusing reconstruction, and all the women in the local bc group (almost a dozen) have had recon or only lumpectomies, so they have no idea. Flat is not fashionable here right now, I guess.

I'm not even sure whether what the PT said is even true (that I should have, and should now massage the scar). One poster above IDs herself as an oncology surgeon; I'm hoping she'll comment. Sounds stupid, but I just want someone to say I did do post-op right, and did not bring the pain on myself out of stupidity :

Hi Tessu,

I'm sorry you're having this problem. I know you said you saw a physical therapist in January, but instead of scolding you for not having massaged the scar (as glennie said, how could you have known?), why didn't she use gentle myofascial release to break up the adhesions that are causing your skin to stick to your chest and may be what's causing your pain. I understand that you don't have private insurance, but is there any chance that you might find another physical therapist who could try GENTLE myofascial release? Maybe physical therapists aren't so expensive and could be within your budget? I hope so. I know you tried massaging gently yourself. Did your physical therapist at least show you how?

Thank you everybody for all your comments! I really needed to hear your confirmation that I didn't cause this myself.

BarredOwl: my LE started with what I now understand was cording. I asked to be checked out because I had no idea what was happening, but the breast surgery PT by phone said I just needed to force my arm up by pressing it against the wall if I had to, to keep it from freezing up (!). Unfortunately I only found this site weeks later, when this forced exercise had already messed up my lymphatics and given me lymphedema. The two private LE therapists I went to both wanted to delay treatment until I was done with chemo ("just take pain meds till then"), but at least taught me to wrap, and measured me for sleeves and gloves. However by far the best LE help has come from you wonderful women on these forums who've encouraged me, linked me to the SUSO site, linked me to self-massage- and wrapping videos, messaged me, sent me compression tops, and even Skyped with me to explain to me in real-time how to take care of myself. Thanks to all this help my LE is something I can manage now Finland is finally starting to take LE seriously; this spring there is a new patient information pamphlet about LE recognition and treatment (including correct restful treatment of cording). And more PTs are being trained in LE treatment. Guess I got operated half a year too soon.

Erica: I've never heard of myofascial release; I'll ask about it. The hospital PT said to massage the scar itself in all directions, to try to force it to move, but that hurts like h*ll for hours afterward. One of the LE therapists showed gentle circular massage on the areas near the stuck down part of the scar without trying to move the scar itself, but that also causes bad pain. So I stopped. I get the feeling that neither the hospital PT nor the two LE therapist have had much experience treating non-recon MX scars, because apparently almost everybody here gets some kind of reconstruction these days.

Again, thank you everybody