New Group Proposal - No Reconstruction post Breast Cancer Surgery
Hello members, We have had some great conversations and feedback recently in relation to starting a new group for people who have not had breast reconstruction following breast cancer surgery. I would love feedback in relation to the following questions: * Name of the group * Should the group be private or public When thinking of the name of the group we must ensure it captures people who for a variety of reasons and/or circumstances have not had breast reconstruction. Some of these reasons may be: they might decide they don’t want to have any more surgery than they need to treat the cancer; they want to be able to get back to their normal activities as soon as possible; they are just more comfortable with how they look and feel after the surgery; financial barriers prevent them from have breast reconstruction; breast reconstruction might be difficult, or even not possible, because of other health issues they have; breast reconstruction has been delayed. We agree that there are different challenges and questions faced by people who are either considering wearing a breast form or prosthesis (inside the bra or attached to the body to wear under their clothes) or going flat (not wearing a breast form). Look forward to your valuable input. (Tagging those who have been involved in starting the conversation so far @Christabel03 @Afraser @June1952 @TonyaM @Julez1958 @Fufan @Allyjay @Keeping_Positive1)'Flat Chat - No Breast Reconstruction' (New Group!)
Hello members, Thankyou to those who participated in the discussion and have assisted in bringing to life a new group for people who for various reasons, do not have breast reconstruction following a single or double mastectomy or may be in the process of considering no breast reconstruction. The new private group has been created and can be found via the link https://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/group/29-flat-chat-no-breast-reconstruction It will also be added to the 'Groups' drop-down menu soon for easy access. As with the other private groups on the Online Network you will have to request to join or be invited by a moderator. With this in mind as we head into the weekend, my colleague has been given the heads up that there may requests to join when the team are back on deck Monday. Please reach out if you have any questions.
Elective preventative mastectomy advice?
Every single day since my wide-excision I have resented my oncologists choices to deny me a double mastectomy, and for my five year survivorship I plan to treat myself to correcting it. The surgery I had left me with permanent pain, and after becoming pregnant, which I wasn’t sure was possible, my other breast grew over a full cup size. There are no bra solutions. And I lost the baby just at the end of the first trimester. I’m left more uncomfortable on a daily basis than I’ve ever been in my life. I don’t have a love-hate relationship with my breasts, they are uncomfortable both to see and touch. This exposition is more for the purposes of illustrating that I don’t take this decision lightly and is not purely out of that life long survivor’s anxiety of recurrence, and I know that it won’t be covered by Medicare. My question is, where do I go? I don’t want to come out of the surgery as a purely medical exercise, I’d like a somewhat smooth chest. Does anyone know a surgeon in Sydney who offers mastectomy and - I suppose ‘sculpting’? I don’t need or want new fake breasts or nipples, I just do not want to come out of the surgery only to recover with new alien lumps and folds to get used to. Thank you in advance for any input and guidance!
