Looking for your long term issues w bmx without recon

MamaOz, the tamoxifen that I took initially had side effects and foisted surgeries on me I would otherwise possibly have avoided (uterine polyps, biopsies, ultrasounds, blah, blah). Both the tamoxifen and the arimidex caused a great deal of weight gain for me. I started out a BMI of 19, so it was dramatically felt on my small frame. Joint pain, achilles heal pain was so painful, it took 5 minutes to stretch things out when I got out of bed. Memory fog, joint pain, weight gain, vaginal atrophy, on and on....

Lisey, that was the first thing my husband said ...you look so much younger and less matronly! Nice to have some positives to offset the losses. For me, the money I am saving not buying bras, never mind the pain of schlepping around D cups with nasty bras to hold them up....again, priceless! I know a lot of gals enjoy buying pretty lingerie, but buying bras to hold up big breasts is physics not pretty lingerie

MamaOz, I had the bolus every time, except for the last 5 which were called "boosts". It felt cold when they put it on. Other than that, not unpleasant. I didn't burn under it, only a little at the very end under the armpit.

Yes, I am on the evil little white pill. Cannot lie, it sucks. But it cuts the risk of recurrence in half. And it's better than tamoxifen. Some people sail right through with no problems, you just never know. So, give it a go, think positive, you may be one of the lucky ones. If you do have trouble, there are plenty of folks on here with good suggestions.

crazy B i also just make my own little A size pillow stuffing inserts and the coobie bras have a wide band on bottom holds in place ok , I too am ok with no recon

Day 6 rads done.

Thanks jennie for your honesty , just what I had previously read...

I had a bilateral mastectomy without reconstruction in 2013 after two relapses, breast cancer in both breast with two different cancer cell types, ductal & lobular. Recovered quickly in two weeks. Happy with no recon & no long term medical side effects, no further progression of disease at this time. Missed my breasts for along time (still do a little) but feel very blessed to be a breast cancer survivor since 1999. My husband was great and supportive, celebrated 38 years of marriage & first grand baby in the past year. Wishing all my fellow sisters well. Hugs. Cloudy

My Husband was totally supportive. Losing your feeling / nipples is one less tool in the bedroom, so that is sad.. but having lumps I can't feel in the front of my chest would do nothing for him anyway - so he's totally fine with me being flat. He compliments my new shape all the time.

Bosom, My husband actually said after the surgery "Good thing I'm an ass man!"... (I think he was a boob guy before all this). Love that man. Men who love you will not give a flying F about whether you have numb mounds or are flat. They will shift their focus to other areas to admire.

As an aside - more than my husband actually mentioned being ass men to me after all this. I'd get private messages from old boyfriends on facebook about how boobs don't really matter. (I was very open about my journey to being flat).

I had BMX last November and my husband has been great! I used to have really nice boobs but once cancer got hold of them they weren't so pretty. As the scars began to heal and once the drains were removed, one day when my husband was helping me in the shower, he said,"I think you look good without boobs, they'd got sick looking and they were going to kill you if you kept them. This way you look healthy." This was a tiny beginning for me to hold on to as I became accustomed to my different body and now, ten months later, I actually quite like it. I have a very slight build anyway and I'm not ashamed for people to see me flat. If I really want to I can wear my prosthesis bra. I'm happy! For those wondering about post op issues I'll be honest....it is a BIG operation, the drains have to be carried around with you everywhere until they're removed, I could only sleep on my back, unable to turn over or even move once my husband helped me to lie down and I needed him to sit me up, take me to the loo or wherever else in the house I needed to go and take me back to bed for several weeks, I had a lot of pain as I react badly to pain killers and only took the minimum. It's only now, ten months later, that I can sleep on my side. You do have to keep up the exercises the physiotherapist shows you in hospital, you do have to massage the inside of your arms in an upward direction to encourage drainage and avoid lymphodoema, it can take a long time before you can lift your arms above your head and it's possible you'll never regain complete movement (I haven't), there can be nerve damage - I had 29 nodes removed on the right side so that was BIG! and I still haven't regained feeling in my right arm but it doesn't worry me, I avoided lymphodoema so I'm happy! Hope this helps and doesn't scare you....sure, this is what it was like for me in the beginning but I'm in a good place now.

Leapfrog, your husband is a gem! I'm sorry to hear it took you so long to finally be able to sleep on your side. I have trouble sleeping on my back so I'll probably sleep for the first few weeks on a recliner. Fun times ahead!

I've been looking at pictures of flat chested women on the internet and there are many! Kiera Knightly is a famous flat chested woman--granted she never underwent a double mastectomy but she's still flat. Actually, there is one woman down the street from where I live and she had a bilateral mastectomy with no reconstruction. She is very active and athletic and I always see her jogging by. She is such a beautiful lady! She is very lean and has the body of a dancer.

My surgery is in two weeks. I've ordered two compression garments from Amazon and hopefully it'll arrive before my surgery date. I was surprised to hear from my B.S. that most women (90%???!) are released the same day? A day surgery...hmmmmm. Since I had the sentinel node biopsy for the lumpectomy, my B.S. said he won't be removing any further lymph nodes. I had three removed the first time around and most of my pain was from those tiny things.

Bosombuddy

You will be fine! I had my double in may .. It looks a bit odd and slight lumps but really more relief to have the cancer removed. At 63 I really didnt want to risk more surgeries and complications ...

I have been going to phys therapy to help with range of motion in my right arm .. after your surgery you cant lift things but make sure you move your arms! I made mistake of being afraid to stretch my arms as my BS said only brush my teeth with right arm /29 nodes removed

I stiffened up and had a lot of cords that needed to be worked out.. but Its much better now and my arms are coming around. Im doing radiation now

I use these small inserts I got from tlc that you can remove stuffing ..to what size you want then put a thin bra insert in front of that And it works well and is very light. The coobie bras are nice as they have a wide bottom band that holds in place so it doesnt ride up. I got some cheap silicone inserts that i only wear in a fancy black bra for intimate moments with hubby, but they are too heavy for everyday use ..

All in all I am ok with being flat the inserts are minimal A size just so my clothes fit better

Wishing you the bes

Leapfrog,

I got all teary reading your post. This crappy disease is so unfair! I'm sending you virtual hugs today and hoping your meds kick the bone mets into remission.

I recently came across a blog about a woman with brain mets and she of course has done conventional treatment but has added beta glucan to the mix. She's been NED for 10 years. I'll try to find the website.

I'll probably be out of commission for few days after surgery-- or maybe not. You'll probably see me posting in the recovery area.

Welcome to BCO!

Going flat/using protheses is tremendously limiting socially, psychologically and (don't laugh) sartorially.

For you, not for me. Please don't make blanket generalizations, especially negative ones. I'm very pleased that you've found something that works for you, but this thread is for BMX without recon, which isn't what you wound up doing. I'm happy to hear about your experience, but when you overgeneralize, I feel like I need to say that you're not posting for everyone here, or in the spirit of this thread. I have no problem with I found going flat/using protheses is tremendously limiting socially, psychologically and (don't laugh) sartorially.

yes lisey you look great! And I agree this thread is for those of us who have chosen no recon..

its only been 4 months since my surgery and im wrapping up radiation this week.. but so far I am ok with it

Looking forward to finally healing and getting theses stickers and markerswashed off!!😊

And re Lacey9's post. Reconstruction might be important for your body image but it isn't for mine. We're all different with different views, different lifestyles and different prognoses. Please try to avoid generalising...I'm pleased that you've found what suits you but it's the last thing I would even consider doing. I'm Stage IV with extensive mets to bones and even the thought of having my body pushed and pulled around would be irresponsible for the sake of vanity. Added to that is that I have Grade 4 neutropenia because of Ibrance treatment so infection would be a certainty. Lacey9 your post is on the wrong thread, sorry.

Thanks for the "welcome to BCO". Thought I was just answering Epicsquirrel's question directly about what my experience was having no recon for many years (what it was like). Sorry I didn't know that this isn't how the Q&A works. Other people see the questions, but they don't just answer the question, they can instead comment about other member's answers. Could even be if they approve of those answers or not. I like your avatar. It seems appropriate.