to or not to

Cowgirl1

Goodmorning ladies,beautiful day hear in Adelaide the suns out woo hoo makes you feel alive for a change.
I have a few questions i know you are not doctors or surgeons just want a bit of feedback if you can. On facebook last night i came across a page from lymphedema uk, and this post made me think about myself. A  lady had similar problem to me and was thinking of having her breast removed which got me thinking about my problem, so this is the question should i look at having my offending breast removed and would it stop the lymphedema or would it just go to my arm? i know most of you have had one or both breasts removed what did you do for reconstruction. Just thinking out loud the emotional side of this is horrible and the money for treatment etc maybe this would solve it, any thoughts would be appreciated. 

AT404

Hi Cowgirl1
My lymphedema physio as well as my breast cancer nurse told me that only the arm where the lymph nodes were removed will be effected. 

Afraser

I assume your existing lymphoedema is in the breast? Outcomes would depend very much on the impact of surgery on the lymphatic system around the breast, I would be wanting the advice of a good breast surgeon and also seeing if an experienced lymphoedema therapist had any relevant experience before making any decision. The last thing you want is to have a mastectomy and simply move the blockage around!! I had a year of a persistent recurrent seroma post mastectomy - no-one's fault but my overproductive body trying to heal. General wisdom is that my lymphoedema is not connected, but I'm not 100% convinced

Zoffiel

I have lymphoedema in one 'foob' so I  don't think mastectomy would help solve that for you. It really does seem to be associated with axillary clearances more than anything else.

Cowgirl1

Thanks for the advise