Help! Too ‘thin’ for reconstruction!? Info on alternatives

What type of breast cancer is it? A lot of women with IDC which was ER+ were put on letrozole in the 1st lockdown until surgery was available.  In a lot of cases it even shrunk the cancer a bit! You are high grade,  but DCIS so would they consider giving you it for a month or two to gain weight if you are ER+?

Obviously you need to talk this through with your surgeon but you are unlikely given your height or weight to have enough body fat for any of the procedures you mention would be my understanding. When I was first diagnosed I was told I was too thin for own tissue reconstruction, same height and pre chemo weight by and large, I was 5ft 6 and 8st 10 but once I’d had 7 months of chemo I’d put on 2 stone and literally grew my own boob! I’ve now had a diep. I’d contact your breast care nurse and talk about your worries and concerns and see if she can help advise you xx

Hiya

i feel your pain, my plastic surgeon was much the same, I’m only 5ft 2” and weigh 58kg, I also asked if he could use fat/muscle from any of the other said body sites and his reply was “no, I’ve only done 2 of those”!!

I’m sorry my reply can’t help or advise you but I’m interested in any replies you get because I’m struggling with being flat, had bilateral mastectomies April this year.

good luck with everything 

Thanks for replies Londonmum, Anna 12345 and Blingbabe.

I’ve managed to get an appointment with another plastic surgeon who (according to her secretary) does GAPS! 

Mind you I think it’s too late now to have any reconstruction done at the same time as the mastectomy, as I’d hoped.

I’m told I shouldn’t be needing chemo (for which I’m truly grateful) so may not have the option of ‘growing my own’ like Anna12345 unless I become the one that ate all the pies! 

At this rate I think my best option is to suck it up and have an implant on a temp basis to buy myself more time (and save the skin). 

It’s just such a godawful confusing mess to try and navigate in such a short time! 

I’m so pleased you’ve got an appointment and hopefully it’ll all work out, yes the timescale does make it very difficult.

l wish you luck, please let us know how the appointment goes

I had a flap from under my arm inserted in my breast when I had surgery last November. At the time I had a wound infection and eventually the flap died from lack of blood supply. For months I have been in agony feeling really ill.  The breast care nurses were not interested and it took me months to get an appointment with the consultant. This week had ultrasound and biopsy to check cancer had not returned but was told NHS would not remove flap I would just have to live with the pain. The breast is so deformed, it has shrunk to just a third of the other breast, it’s rock hard and the skin is being pulled into my chest. So be very careful about implants they can go very wrong and the NHS will not help.