Mastectomy

And me they are not even  very interesting to look at ! 

Drain is no one’s favourite fashion accessory.

Ive always been ahead of the trends!! x

Thankyou … I can’t have an implant apparantly because I have just finished radiotherapy.. my surgeon said he wouldn’t reccommend. Only options open to me are the Diep or muscle from my back which I think is not for me. I just assumed I could get an immediate reconstruction using implant so was gutted. X

Thanks so much! X

I see. I wasn't keen on the DIEP idea for exactly the same reasons as you, that's why I took a middlish sort of route which would be not so invasive. In that case I think you are doing the right thing, and I would accept what your Surgeon recommends. I had no idea as hadn't had any experiences of surgery to know how I would cope. You have to have pretty good veins to do the DIEP and its very clever microsurgery, with a lot of time spent in ICU which I didn't fancy and a much longer recovery period.

Hi Jane,

I can imagine that this must be so difficult for you. I can understand that a diep on another operation would be a  difficult decision to make maybe just take your time and have the treatment that you need to have now and then when you are all healed and back to full health then you can relook at your options. The hardest part for me  had been the waiting for surgery. Let the surgeons do their work and restore your health first . Then you can move forward to do everything you want to do in life . Thinking of you this evening. It's a hard time and I understand everything you are going through X 

Jayne 

I must admit, I wasn't aware of this until you've just said. You have obviously been extraordinarily unlucky, particularly having gone through radiotherapy and I so feel for you, particularly as I am about to start radiotherapy - have checked percentages and risk and it seems the right thing to do but for you, not successful, which is tragic. It may be though that if the cancer is in very early stage you can have a long time to think and consider your next move with the help of your Surgeon and MDT Team. My husband and I discussed very recently what we would do if cancer were to re-occur in my breast and the thought was to go for mastectomy only. I think I would have to. Radiotherapy is a 2 edged sword - damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Thankyou! You just have to put yourself in the medical teams hands. I am just putting one foot in front of the other and as you can tell not much sleep! Definitely being on this thread has helped me so much. Xx

It’s so weird cos this cancer is pre cancerous but it has come back even after radiotherapy and a mastectomy is only way to treat it. I think this makes it even harder to digest because it’s not yet cancer! But if left it would be aggressive is what I understand. It’s a tough one to get your head around but I just need to trust them. I know my team are surprised it has come back so quickly. Thanks for advice it’s so helpful to me xx

Hi Whitestar,

Sorry to hear you have found another lump. That must be difficult emotionally. 
I had a mastectomy 10 days ago. My diagnosis meant I couldn’t have an immediate reconstruction.

I had pathology results today and, although I had an almost complete response to chemo, there was still a very small amount of cancer. I was so glad I’d followed my surgeons recommendation and had the mastectomy.

I only had my drain in for 2 days. I wasn’t sure how I’d react to not having the boob but I’m OK with it. No where near as bad as I thought it might be.

Only you can know what surgery you think you can cope with at present.  I’m sure your surgeon will give you the best advice.

Bluebell xx