Hi , New to this site , but felt inspired to join this forum having seen so many positive comments.
In Nov 07 I was diagnosed with DCIS and a grade 2 tumor ER AND HER2 + . . Chose mastectomy rather than immediate recon as everything was too much at the time and I just wanted to get treatment finished first . The good news( !) for me is the tumor was small( 0.6mm) and my nodes were clear. I then didnot have chemo & herceptin that was originally planned. My treatment has now finished ( now on tamoxifen) and I am wanting to revisit the recon idea, but not sure of the options.
I am told that I will have to wait a year after treatment until I can see the PS .
Is this everyones experience ?
Dear Ladyinpink
Firstly, welcome to the forums, I am sure you will find lots of support and information from your fellow users. You may also find it helpful to look at the Breast Cancer Care information booklet on reconstruction, it can be found at the following link:-
breastcancercare.org.uk//docs/breast_reconstruction_dec06_web_0.pdf
I hope this is useful to you.
Best wishes
Lucy
Hi Ladyinpink,
I am glad to hear your positive news. I too had a mastectomy without recon back in September I didn’t want the bother of a longer op and ‘expanders’. I haven’t looked into a recon yet even though I think I look a little funny. I will be interest in what other have to say.
Take care
Carol
Hi ladyinpink,
I had a bilateral mastectomy in Aug 2006, wanted immediate recon but was not allowed as my surgeon wasn’t sure whether or not I would need chemo/rads, luckily I didn’t need either now on tamoxifen and monthly zoladex injections. I was told you only have to wait 12 months if you have chemo/rads. I was referred to my plastic surgeon in the september, got an NHS appointment through for the January, went to see him privately (to speed up the process) in the October. I waited what seemed a very long 7 months for my op which I had in May 07 using the ld method (skin and muscle taken from the back with implants)
All I can say is its the best thing I did, although it was a long operation after it was more uncomfortable than painful and I feel so much better in myself. I am now scheduled to have my nipple recon next Tues (26th) and a tidy up under both arms as I have quite alot of excess skin (dog ears) as a day patient.
Hope the above helps, for me it was the right thing to do as I was so unhappy with no breasts, I took the news of having to have a double mastectomy worse than being told I had bc.
Good luck with whatever you decide
love
Karen
ps - I was 41 when diagnosed
Hello everyone
Thanks for your replies, I forgot to mention that I am 46 and have just returned to work PT. I have my next hospital appointment in March so I will discuss with my consultant the possibility of an PS referral.
OH and family are supportive of whatever I decide , but want to take my time to see what the recon options are .
I will keep you posted of my progress
Love Ladyinpink