Breast Cancer Never Ending Journey

Last year I had a right sided mastectomy with immediate reconstruction with expander implant. 3 weeks ago I had a left sided mastectomy with immediate reconstruction with expander implant. I had my nipples removed. The healing isn’t too bad. You have a drain in for about a week. I took pain medication for the first few days….. after a few weeks you get tingling as the nerves start to heal. I’m so happy I had these mastectomy’s as it reduces the chance of getting breast cancer again. 

Last year I also had 12 x rounds of chemotherapy. It’s not pleasant but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I found the hardest part losing my hair…. But 11 months on my hair is growing and I’m really loving life. 

Sorry to jump in but did you have radiotherapy at all? I’ve been told I’ll need radiotherapy but the surgeon said I can’t have implants with radiotherapy but I believe you can with the tissue expander. 

At the time of my first mastectomy and implant it was thought I would need radiotherapy….. so I had a Becker expander implant….. they would have expanded to the required size then would have taken the port valve out for radiotherapy. 

My plan changed after surgery, no radiotherapy but chemotherapy instead. 

had the same Becker implant into my other mastectomy a few weeks ago. 

waiting for it to heal, as no rush, should be getting both inflated in a few weeks time. 

Hi CeriBe,

My treatment wasn’t the same, but I’ve had lumpectomy, chemo and radiotherapy.

You look like you’ve already had an arduous time of it, but would you find it useful to focus on your longer term goals? It can feel endless when you’re in the middle of treatment, but in a couple of years this will hopefully be a fading memory.

Some of the treatments aren’t pleasant (in my experience MUCH less awful than I feared) but my personal focus was on reducing the chances of the breast cancer recurring, so honestly I would have taken any treatment they suggested if that meant my chances of putting this behind me and getting on with the rest of my life are improved.

I suppose I’m saying try to focus on the long term benefits rather than the short term unpleasantness. All the lovely nurses and specialists we encounter are all focused on making sure each of our outcomes is as good as possible. Try not to second guess yourself. Work out which of the BC team you really trust and take their advice - they work with people with breast cancer all the time - our knowledge and experience is a fraction of theirs.  

Remember you’re not alone. Everyone has struggled with their decisions  

Good Luck x

Hi tee, I think sometimes we have too much choice and it can all be really overwhelming.  Have you thought about giving the lovely folks at Macmillan a call. It might help to chat everything thought with an expert who's a bit independent. The number is 0800 808 0000. Best wishes