Little support please. :)

Less than one minute read time.

FormerMember

18 Jul 2012

Ok, so you probably all remember me as the depressive 17/18 yr old. Well. Yeah thats what i was. And forgive me. I couldnt see past the end of my own nose. :)

I got very much attached to my computer! and teenagers do! So basically, if you remember, my mum had the 'all clear' and still does.!!

She was put on the 6month waiting list for a breast reconstruction about 4 months ago, She was told she had to get her weight down to 12st otherwise they will not do the operation. Lucky for her. she is now 11st12lbs. (Starting weight was 15st4lbs!!!) She has an appt with the surgeon in August and will be given a date then.

So basically, i would like to hear about how well people recovered, How quick. etc. And what's normal. :)

Thank you.

Gracie xx

FormerMember over 12 years ago

Hi Gracie :) my name's is Catherine and I'm sixteen. I have spent the last 7 years helping my mum and my nan recovering from their numerous operations (you can see my blog, which I'll be starting soon as I'm new to this, to learn more about our story :)) so I think I can help you a little here :)

My mum has had two full reconstructions after her breast cancer; one from her stomach and one from her back. For the first few weeks after all her surgeries her scarring and skin felt quite tight, this is normal apparently. We found that Aqueous cream works really well as it's water based. I used to gently apply cream with cotton buds every night and the in the morning clean the residue away with damp cotton balls.

She was her lively bubbly self very soon after the ops but she kept getting a little frustrated that her body couldn't do what she mentally felt capable of. I think this is normal as well.

Your mum will get lots of leaflets and letters before and after her op, take the time to read these! They can make you feel like you're being stupidly vigilant, looking out for the littlest things, but they give you an idea of what's normal and what you should keep an eye out for.

In short, after a reconstruction I think people feel much better in themselves so a lot of support and masses of encouragement is needed to make her feel like every thing she does on her own (I don't mean this to be condescending btw because there's a lot of things you can struggle to do post-op as I'm sure you know!) is a brand new step towards the future.

Hope some of this helps and if you need someone to have a moan with or anything just give me a shout :)

Catherine xx
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