Decision to have bilateral mastectomy
hello I am newly diagnosed and have bc in left breast very lumpy complex right breast and have been having mammograms, ultrasounds and aspirations for past 15 years. I have almost decided to have BM a...
Forum Discussion
Hi @Leahh13 - I had a double mastectomy into expanders in April.
I was fortunate that I was able to choose to schedule my surgery in the school holidays at the end of Term 1 so that I could be back at work (at school) for the start of Term 2. I was in hospital for 9 days and back at work as scheduled. I was driving two weeks after surgery.
The surgery experience was totally fine. I was very worried about going under anesthetic as I hadn’t had great experiences in the past but my anesthetist was amazing and it was honestly terrific! Woke up feeling great. The pain was definitely manageable - I had use of the self-administered intravenous pain management drug for 48 hours and that was awesome. After that it was panadeine forte for a few days.
I ended up going home with two of my original four drains. That was really annoying but I knew it was important that they stay in while I was still draining fluid consistently. I went to work with the drains - ended up naming the last one ‘Connie’ because she was consistently by my side! Honestly couldn’t wait to get rid of her! It was about 4 weeks after the op that I finally got that last drain out and it’s really now just a dim memory. There was no pain associated with my drains at all.
I have ‘air’ expanders as opposed to the traditional saline filled. They’re great - I fill them myself with a remote control device. I had them at my desired size in about two weeks and now just top them up now and then as they can deflate very slightly over time - happy to give you more info about them any time. I have photos too. They were definitely uncomfortable at the beginning - cannot lie. And I still feel them there but you get used to it. They are hard to the touch and sort of feel like a a bicycle tyre strapped to your ribs - or as someone once described it on this forum so well - like a handbag strapped to your chest. It’s definitely a weird feeling but you do get used to it and it’s no longer painful at all.
I won’t be going down the recon path until next year, after my body has decided how it will tolerate and recover from radiation.
Hope this has helped a bit - hit me up with any questions any time.
All the best xxxxx
I was fortunate that I was able to choose to schedule my surgery in the school holidays at the end of Term 1 so that I could be back at work (at school) for the start of Term 2. I was in hospital for 9 days and back at work as scheduled. I was driving two weeks after surgery.
The surgery experience was totally fine. I was very worried about going under anesthetic as I hadn’t had great experiences in the past but my anesthetist was amazing and it was honestly terrific! Woke up feeling great. The pain was definitely manageable - I had use of the self-administered intravenous pain management drug for 48 hours and that was awesome. After that it was panadeine forte for a few days.
I ended up going home with two of my original four drains. That was really annoying but I knew it was important that they stay in while I was still draining fluid consistently. I went to work with the drains - ended up naming the last one ‘Connie’ because she was consistently by my side! Honestly couldn’t wait to get rid of her! It was about 4 weeks after the op that I finally got that last drain out and it’s really now just a dim memory. There was no pain associated with my drains at all.
I have ‘air’ expanders as opposed to the traditional saline filled. They’re great - I fill them myself with a remote control device. I had them at my desired size in about two weeks and now just top them up now and then as they can deflate very slightly over time - happy to give you more info about them any time. I have photos too. They were definitely uncomfortable at the beginning - cannot lie. And I still feel them there but you get used to it. They are hard to the touch and sort of feel like a a bicycle tyre strapped to your ribs - or as someone once described it on this forum so well - like a handbag strapped to your chest. It’s definitely a weird feeling but you do get used to it and it’s no longer painful at all.
I won’t be going down the recon path until next year, after my body has decided how it will tolerate and recover from radiation.
Hope this has helped a bit - hit me up with any questions any time.
All the best xxxxx