Breast reconstruction options after surgery?

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hi guys , im new here and not sure where to look for help and advice and was hoping you guys will be the best people to point me in the right direction, 1st of let me give you the story…

my girlfriends mum is 43 and beat breast cancer 14 months ago (before i knew her) she wont talk to me in detail about it and so i tend to skirt round the edges of the issue get bits and bobs of info from her and filled in a little more by my girlfriend later on.

as far as i understand she has a hollow (she jokingly refers to as her 3rd armpit) in one breast and it is alot smaller than the other breast after the surgery. yeasterday she went to the hospital to see if the is any cosmetic surgery options for the affected breast and to see if she can have a breast reduction in the unaffected breast to make them look “normal” again.
she was told this wouldnt be possible as the chances are the affected breast could most likely look worse after surgery than it does now.

this as upset her considerbaly and she told her daughter that she is gonna be single and alone for the rest of her life as she cannot ever let a man she her derformed breasts.

this as really upset me , i didnt know her while she was fighting the cancer but she is such an amazing woman that i wondered if its possible to get anything done privately?

i have a sizeable nest egg put aside so that when i propose to my girlfriend in january i can also hand her the nest egg to give her the wedding off her dreams but i would happily spend this on her mothers happiness and put the wedding back a year or so

so i suppose my questions are , is there more/better options private then there on on the nhs? will they achieve the results she wants? exactly what should i be searching for?

i have not mentioned this to my girlfriend or her mum as i want to have as much info before i offer it to avoid offering false hope

sorry if im posting in the wrong place and thank you for taking the time to read my post

Badger
x x x x

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Hi mightybadger

Welcome to the forums, I hope you find them to be a good source of information. Whilst you are waiting for the forum users to reply with their experience and knowledge you may find it useful to order the BCC booklet on reconstruction for your girlfriends mum. It contains lots of information on the various options available. If you would like a copy of thois just follow the link below:-

breastcancercare.org.uk/upload/pdf/bcc_reconstruction_v4_FINAL.pdf

It may also help to post a message in the reconstruction section of the forums, which you can do by clicking on the link on the left hand side of the page.

I hope this is helpful

Best wishes Sam, BCC Facilitator

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I too am going down the breast reconstruction journey and I am at the point of considering the options. I explored the ‘private’ option as well as NHS and it is very expensive to have it done privately I was quoted around £18,000 so whilst you may have a ‘nest egg’ its a lot of money!

There are many options - if your girlfriends mom has a ‘dent’ then she probably had a lumpectomy rather than a mastectomy - my understanding is that the NHS will not fund reconstructions for a Lumpectomy but I may be wrong. (and it may depend on your PCT).