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Vallerina's avatar
Vallerina
Member
8 years ago

Surgery on tuesday.

Hi . Im having my air expander out and a single silicon implant put in on right side next tuesday 4th july. Not as scarey as the first mx surgery at the end of march  but im still pretty nervous. I feel like i just almost got back to my old self and now im going back to recovery mode. My biggest fear back  then was that my beautiful breast would be gone and the post op  biopsy would show the whole thing was a mistake. Well it wasnt a mistake. 7cm of dcis, mastectomy was never a choice it was a necessity. Im so grateful the cancer is all gone and no further treatment was needed. In fact it feels like a bit of a miracle. My Sister works in an ngo and 300 nuns were praying for me. We arent catholic but it seems like it paid off. Now im hoping ps can do a good match between well preserved 53 year old dd cup boob on the left and brand new silicon boob on the right. i was originally told c cup was biggest they can do in implants, but now he is saying he thinks he can do a good match. . He said he will try to make a nipple if he has enough tissue but im not sure wjat he meant by that. Im still a bit worried about the other side as i am still not fully through menopause  and i wasnt prescribed any tamoxifen not sure why but will b asking next time i see bs. Of course i am grateful my little Journey has been very short and im looking at being back to most NORMAL activities by summer. If anything will ever be normal again which i doubt. Referring to a recent discussion on here. I had 7 cm dcis that was the longest side and it wasnt linear it was a huge mass. It could not be felt at all, there was no lump, it was not visible on mammo or ultrasound. It was only seen on mri which my brother in law recommended b4 schedluded lumpectomy that never ended up happening as mastectomy was needed instead . He is a doctor and had just had a patient with similar and reccomended mri just as a precaution. Dcis was only picked up on mammo as 2 tiny areas of calcification which they also only tested as a precaution. I am slim , healthy, strong fit, almost a hippy in my avoidance of household chemicals, electromagnetic radiation, wifi etc i havent taken drugs of any type for 30 years , never smoked. Cant say i dont drink but hav cut down massively this year and feel great.  Thanks to those that have replied to my previous posts, i dont have constant data availabl so often cant stay connected but appreciate ur responses. Also entire threads seem to b unavailabl if i use my phone instead of laptop. ?? Should have wifi in rbwh next week tho. Cheers vallerina
  • Thank you paula that is nice. It went well and i feel good. I am disappointed tho. somehow i hoped i would wake up with a breast that matched the other side. Like having my old breast back. After all they can make men into gorgeus women theses days and do so many amazing things. The size is good and implant looks ok in my bra which is good. It is softer and more natural than the expander and im sure the surgeon has done a nice job. But its still much roundercl and higher fom. I know it still has to settle The mastectomy scar was sort of under
  • Hi @Vallerina, sending you love and hoping the surgery went well. Paula xxx
  • HI thanks for the good wishes.
     Paula, The ps did ask me if I wanted a reshape of the intact  boob to match at the same time and I was keen. But when he explained the risks could be loss of sensation, meaning I could have 2 numb nipples, extra scarring  and a small risk of total nipple necrosis of the only nipple I have left,  I decided that it wasnt worth it. He is a wonderful surgeon and the risks are slight but there is the old adage if its not broken dont fix it, so for now Im going with that. As my cancer was so sneaky and invisible Im also worried about creating unnecessary scar tissue where cancer cells could lurk undetected.  No one has measured me or taken any pictures or really discussed anything much. I have had a feeling all along I just have to trust in the process and so far its gone  well.
     Kath, good to know they were able to create a DD  I dont expect an exact match but would be good if they are the same size. My expander was 600 cc. Anyway time to pack. Ive been a bit teary. The expander was temporary so hating it was ok because I knew it was temporary. But this one Im going to be stuck with for a long time. Im glad to be cancer free of course, but still wish none of this ever happened.
    Cheers Vallerina
  • @Vallerina wishing you all the best with your changeover surgery. If they have trouble matching your other breast you can look at a lift or reduction if necessary.  Prob not something you want to think about right now, but food for thought.
    All the best.
    Paula xxxx
  • @Vallerina, I was a C cup and had the surgeon measure me up before my mastectomy for my implant. On day of surgery she said "Oh Cath, I'm so sorry but you're going up a size - I measured you wrong" - didn't have a problem with it and I now take a D cup. All good. How excellent that you had 300 nuns on your side too!!! - I'm a lapsed Catholic and would still say go for it if anyone was going to pray for me and a good outcome! Excellent. All the best lovely, hope your matched up beautifully. Xx Cath
  • The changeover is a much smaller process. I didn't have my nipple created then but heading back to discuss that next month. I've got a DD cup bra I wear...I'm not spilling out the top like I did when I was an E cup...so I'm probably a D but due to shape I need a DD cup which I completely fill out just no upper boob popping up there as you don't have to lift them up. Hope all goes well.

    Not all dcis is treated with tamoxifen. A question to pose to your breast surgeon. I guess if no breast tissue it's not necessary.. Kath.
  • The best of luck Valerina. I will be having a mastectomy soon also and very nervous. Tell us how it goes when you can.