Bi Lateral Mastectomy & Laptorso Op

Yes I hope it becomes fuzzy!!! My boys have only just had their birthday so it's only been 12 mths this Xmas just past.they would say things like" I hate the doctors in sa" when I would asked why? They would say, because they gave u that medicine that made unso sick and all your hair fell out.they still lay on my chest of a night and look up and say... Mummy is it ok to lay on it, does it hurt?? God love them!!!! My youngest says I've got a lost boob, he thinks it's going to grow back at the same time my hair gets long? But as little as he is, he was in bed the other night and said, mummy! R u going to get the operation ? Me... I don't know... Him I think u should so u don't have to worry about it anymore. Made me tearey . Although we have had a lot of amazing times, my 30s have been a very hard decade.

Hey Kel, Anxiety is a hard one, I've always been prone and the whole cancer thing didn't help. It can literally take my breath away. After my chemotherapy & radiation I did the first mastectomy and a year of herceptin. I worked full time and at the end of all that I kind of fell over a bit. Looking back at what had happened it was just all a bit much. I went last march and did a health retreat in Byron bay to get my breath back. They did all the usual stuff, yoga meditation etc. I could never be that full on and I still can't still my mind but it really helped me out and I still enjoy the yoga. Sounds like youve had a pretty full on run for the last couple of years too. I hope you find some time to do something that you really enjoy for yourself. Looks like if you do recon that you will be taking the kids for a trip to Adelaide! I know bcna are really well funded, Will they help you out with travel and accommodation and stuff so your family can come and be with you? I was lucky to be in the city so I don't really know what they do to support. Having the nightly calls must have been really distressing when you were doing radio, I found it hard that every picture the kids ever drew for me said get well soon or we miss you in hospital or hope youre feeling better etc. Even though I'm not sick any more they still do that it's such a habit for them. Im sure they'll stop doing it soon and in a couple of years it will all be fuzzy for them and they will hardly remember when I was sick. I really hope so :-) x

Hi Melinda , anxiety has been the biggest hurdle for me. Funny thing was, 3 mth prior to getting bc, I went to my local hospital to get a iron transfusion as my iron is always low and they thought it would help. 3secs into the procedure I had a anaphylactic reaction to it. For the next 1/2 hr they had to correct only to over correct my heart rate going from to fast to to slow. I couldn't get air and I thought I was going to die right there. Just before I was about tO pass out I said to them" please" I have kids!!! Thankfully I didn't die, but did have to spend that night in hosi as they couldn't get my heart rate down.then the painic attacks started, any funny feeling in my body I thought it was coming back.Or I was convinced they had damaged my heart. So I started see a psych to help with the anxiety, and panic attacks. I was in a bad place for a few weeks, not being able to take the kids to school,etc. I worked really hard to get myself back on track, which I did.i thought I'd been to hell and back, little did I know what was about to unfold.shortly after I was diagnosed with bc and had to endure the panic of all those needles and dyes and chemo!!! Thankfully I was really honest with the team and with a few tears I got through it. But I must say, although I have those skills know, I liken anxiety like a pot of boiling water. Sometimes it's just luek warm and other time it might start bubbling. My kids are 6and 8 they were 4and 6 when diag. I must say it was difficult with the chemo and radio. We live in the country so my dad few down with me to have chemo, when we came home my parents would look after the kids for us. My husbands work was great. Same with radio, my mum and I would fly down on a Monday morn , do a week of radio then fly home on a fri night to spend the weekend with my family. This is we're it gets tricky, my oldest son has type 1 diabetes.... Not sure if u r aware of this disease. Although he is very fit, this is a autoimmune disease that requires constant servielence day and night. This is my job, I don't have a job, my day is made up of going to school for testing and working out the insulin for the day. It's not a job I could give to my parents, although its fairly easy for me. It's actually quite complex.so leaving them for 3 wks is out+ I couldn't go that long without seeing them. I'm sure we would work it out but unlike the radio , where they would cry on the phone every night. Which broke my heart!! I would have to pull them out of school , I think !! Xx wow that was long .. Lol

Hi Kel, My kids are little too, they are now 5&8 but were 3&5 when I got my diagnosis. I spent a really long time making sure that everyone else was ok that I didnt really look after me. I'm sure you've realized that if you need chemotherapy or surgery or something like that, you will manage to fit it in no matter how much juggling you have to do. Im not saying that you must have recon. All I'm saying that is just because it isn't life threatening it doesn't mean it isn't a priority if it's important to you. You would make it work if it was for someone else in your family I'm sure. If you think that it will make a difference to your recovery (emotional recovery is just as important) then you should not feel guilt about needing to be away from the kids for 3 weeks while they're at school. How old are your kids? How did you manage them with chemo & radio? I had so much anxiety about mine that it almost crushed me, but that is backing off now. :-)

Hi again, I haven't booked a date yet for the recon as I wasn't sure I would have it done.Also my kids r at school and they have already told me I would be in Adelaide for at least 3 wks.so it's a hard to set a date with that in mind.But there's nothing wrong with meeting with the surgeon to c what he has to say.!!

Hi Kel, They will do nipples after when everything's all settled down so they're in the right place lol. I have had a few ops now and the recon was the biggest by far so fair enough to be scared. I was packing myself too. To me it felt like waiting to have a baby, scared of labour and pain and complications but couldn't wait to get it done and have the happy result at the end. Bring it on ! It is good to have cleavage again and be able to wear normal clothes and stuff. I am really starting to feel like myself and get my personality back, the surgery is definatley worth it. My scars are fading really well and I have pretty much normal use of everything so I reckon in a few months when I've been able to exercise again properly I'll be brand new! I did a fair bit of yoga leading into my surgery and I had a really good recovery. I put a fair bit of stock in that. It helped me with anxiety too.. I hope that your surgery comes around quickly so you can get it over and done with, waiting is the worst.xx

Hi Melinda , I'm just reading back our conversation and I started to giggle to myself thinking how bizarre we r talking about what nipples. It's such a roller coaster ride isn't it?. And yes I can understand you decision on doing to other side, chemo sucks!! As far as the cup size goes , my right one is an good c cup. The breast cancer surgeon said that they would prob put a small implant in both sides so one doesn't go south!!! I haven't even thought about nipples:/ do u get them at the same time? Jeez there is a lot to think about.im really scared about going into surgery again, but what I've read here it seems a normal response. I would love to have a cleavage back though, "only in my 30's" when they done my mast they said I had to wait until I'd finished chemo and radio to do anything. They never gave me the option of any expanders. I just sooooo scared! Thanks for getting back to me, I really appreciate it.xx

Hi Kel, Your surgeon may do it in one go, I did my recon at the same time as a second mastectomy. I did the second of my own choice as while I was having treatment my sister got diagnosed too and I never want to have chemotherapy again. sure you understand that one. My surgeon used expanders as the first implants on both so that we could see how the skin stretched after radiation. I went back every 3 weeks and it took 5 mins to top them up in her office, she just injected saline in. We did it this way to see how the radiated side went and then match the other to it. I got sick of it after 3 times and went back for permanent implants in nov to be done before Christmas. Believe it or not the side that I was worried about that I had the lat dorsi op on came out the best! My surgeon did a really great job. If you're happy to have a smaller outcome and you're keeping your other breast then you will prob be able to do it in one go. I'm a size 8 and have wound up with a fairly standard c cup so I'm happy with that. I could have gone bigger if I kept the expanders but I just didn't want to. Are you getting nipples done too? I still have those to go prob next month or so and then I'm done. I wish you all the best with this, and I'm happy to answer as many questions as you have x

Hi Melinda, just wondering if I could ask u a couple of questions about your recon!. I had the same as you, a left mast + radio and chemo. I finished all that 12 mths ago. Now I'm planning on talking with the surgeon about reconstruction. My breast surgeon has said it will probably be a lat dorsi because of the lack of body fat, with a small implant both sides to even everything up. Thing is I thought they done it all in one go, but if I'm reading correctly it sounds like u have to have them filled!! Is that correct? Or is there different ways to do the same thing?? I live in the country so each visit is a plane flight:(

Hi Alysia, I had right mastectomy last April and had to delay reconstruction for radiotherapy. In august I had the left mastectomy and combined it with the lat dorsi on the right side and tissue expanders in both sides. Currently inflating the expanders. Looking forward to replacement with implants hopefully by end of this year. I found that all of my careful preparation and shopping for garments to wear post op were mainly wasted.. I woke up from surgery in a bra my surgeon provided and stayed in hospital for a week.. There was really no need to put any top on because it seems somebody is coming to check on you and take a look every half an hour anyway. When they want to look at your back taking your arm out of any type of top is awkward and painful. I just slept in the bras and had a dressing gown to put on over the top when I wanted to get up. I wish you well with this, I know how daunting it must be for you. Don't forget to feel the excitement that you're nearly finished, and although it's a big operation it's worth it.