Nipple preserving double mastectomy

Hi Vibby and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.

I'm sorry to read that you've recently been diagnosed with TNBC. I had the same diagnosis back in April last year and was able to have a lumpectomy.

As the online community is divided into different support forums, I'm going to recommend that you also join and post in the breast cancer forum as you'll definitely find people who've had the same type of surgery that you're interested in there.

If you'd like to do this, just click on the link I've created and, once you've joined the forum, you can start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.

Hi Vibby,

Really sorry to hear that you’re going through this, and that you’re in that horrible time of waiting for all the results before you can get a plan together. 

I’ve had a nipple sparing double mastectomy following a cancer diagnosis and discovery of an ATM mutation.  They look great and obviously very natural, however my breasts and nipples are almost completely numb and don’t “work” in terms of responding to touch or cold.  I believe that’s normal and that it is unusual to retain sensation - one side for me was a delayed reconstruction with initial temporary skin-saving implant, but the other side was immediate Diep reconstruction and there’s no real difference in feeling between the two.  I guess it’s possible I may get some sensation back in the new one over time as it’s only been three weeks so far, but the nurses implied it was more likely not.  For me that’s not a problem, I always hated having my nipples fiddled with, but if it’s a big part of your sexual pleasure then it is something you may need to discuss specifically with your surgeons.