Forum Discussion

greenfrog6's avatar
greenfrog6
Member
1 month ago

Breast reduction and the risk of recurrence

Hi everyone,

I wasn't sure which category and forum to post in; hopefully this one makes sense.

I had a lumpectomy in December 2017 (left breast) which was followed by chemo (hello menopause!) and radiation therapy. I've also been on aromatase inhibitor tablets since 2018.

My right breast was always a little bigger than my left but the radiation stopped the latter from behaving normally in the menopausal years and my right breast is now significantly bigger and spreads wider. I've been thinking about breast reduction surgery for the right one and am wondering, if anything needed to be done to the left breast, if surgery might increase the risk of recurrence. I've tried Googling this but the results are all about surgery to treat the breast cancer, not post-treatment surgery.

I'm thinking of making an appointment with my surgeon to see what he has to say, but thought I'd post here first in case anyone had some information.

surgery

2 Replies

  • arpie's avatar
    arpie
    Member
    1 month ago

    Hi greenfrog6​

    I hadn't noticed that one of my breasts was bigger than the other - but the surgeon did!   Luckily, my bigger one was the one that had the lumpectomy & it brought it back in line with the smaller one!  The size & shape of my other breast hasn't changed (my surgery was 8 years ago this Sat!) but I had already been thru menopause too - not that I enjoyed the side effects of the AIs, tho.  I finished up with them 12 months ago.

    Definitely contact your surgeon & ask his guidance on both breasts - it is important that you be happy with your 'look'. 

    I've not read of increased chance of recurrence following reduction surgery ...  Did you ever have a Breast Care Nurse?  Maybe you could ask them too?

    take care & all the best

    • greenfrog6's avatar
      greenfrog6
      Member
      1 month ago

      Thanks for replying Arpie. I did have a Breast Care Nurse although it was eight years ago (snap!) so I don't know if I can still get in contact with her. I'll try. Thank you for the suggestion :-)