Mixed Emotions
Well its only 2 days til my surgery on Thursday and I am having very mixed emotions.
At times I am on top of it all and can see the positive of this huge event in my life but am also feeling scared...
Forum Discussion
Hi Helen, I had to have a double masectomy because I had two separate breast cancers, one in each breasts. Yes I know what is the likelyhood of getting breast cancer twice at the same time. Both my cancers were close to the nipples, so I was going to lose them anyway. Plus with a strong family history I am the 4th person. I would most probably had to have a double masectomy.
In regards to my recovery, its three months since I had my masectomy, centinel node removal on both sides and had tissue expanders put in straight away. Except for the side effects of chemo, I am back to normal, doing all my previous activities without any soreness. I have loss sensations to most of my breasts, (since mine were removed I guess its really my chest muscle lol). I still have 2 more surgeries, one to insert the implants then the next one to make the nipples. Then if I wish I can have the nipples tatoo.
The first couple of weeks are the hardest as you cant do much. As each week goes by it picks up. The hardest was not being allowed to drive for over a month. This is safety reason said surgeon in case you land in an accident you don't have the strength in your arms to steer yourself. I hate having to wait for anyone to take me anywhere. I am grateful, I just like being able to go anywhere when I want to.
In regards to size, I am only a B cup. I have chosen for my reconstruction to remain the same size. I have lots of friends with bigger breasts who complain of their size, I am happy with my size. Plus I did not want to have to change all my clothes to accommodate bigger boobs.
The process with the tissue expanders, on the operation they were half full. Then I had to wait 5 - 6 weeks for the scar to heal. This time was painful for me, for about 2 weeks but this was because I took a alergic reaction to the glue on the bandages. Then I only had a couple weeks before chemo to be expanded. So I was expanded quite quickly in a short time, as my hospital will not do any expansions during chemo. The first expansion, after being almost flat chested, I felt quite full and top heavy, had to adjust to the extra weight. Otherwise now its been quite okay.
I hope this was helpful any other questions.
Good luck
Dot