Although I am extremely glad to have escaped a threatened mastectomy, I am not that happy with the way my breast has been left after a WLE and a then a further excision.
I don’t want to winge – I could be a lot worse off. But without going into graphic detail I have a long and unattractive scar and my breast is pretty weird looking.
I expect the scar will fade with time but can any one tell me what the options are in terms of any cosmetic surgery? How have others coped over time or am I alone in being unhappy with what I’ve been left with?
Hi Arlo,
my lumpectomy removed the bottom half of my breast and my nipple now points down instead of straight ahead! If I had been younger(was45)I’d probably have had some kind of reconstruction by now, but as my prognosis wasn’t good I put all my energy into just getting on with things! Now that I’m 5+ years down the line I dont mind my wonky breast at all.I’m pretty lucky as I don’t have big breasts and can get away with wearing a good padded bra.
As you’re clearly not happy with your breast there is an interesting alternative to surgery.I read somewhere about a kind of reverse liposuction being used to fill out all the holes and dents - now that sounds really interesting to me!
Josie x
Hi
I too escaped the dreaded mastectomy but my operated breast is quite disfigured after 2 x WLE - my incision was around the nipple and after the first operation looked not too bad, but after the second one the nipple looks like it has been taken off, squashed and then put back on again, very strange looking, although I am the same, a good padded bra and no one else would know. I try not to let it bother me, I wouldn’t sunbathe topless any more so there’s only OH who sees it and he’s very kind and supportive and says it doesn’t matter.
Jules
Hi,
my friend is very unhappy with her battered boob as she calls it, which shrunk from rads. Despite having a lumpectomy she has to wear a falsie. She is going in later this month for a lipofil operation, so I can let you know how it goes if you are interested. She made an appointment to ask about a recon and they suggested it. She is not allowed to have fat taken from her tummy as they won’t chance interfering with that area just in case she has a recurrence in the future, which would mean an automatic mx. So they are taking fat from the inside of the top of her legs. She says she will insist they do both sides as she doesn’t want one thin and one fatter leg.
It seems to be quite a minor procedure. In fact I watched 2 ladies on daytime tv have their tummies harvested and injected into their faces to remove wrinkles and they just had a local!!
Good luck
Lily x
Hi
I’m lucky (well unless they have to go back in find out on Wed if they got it all).
My breast is ok however when I first met the surgion he did say that a few months post op I may have dimpelling in my brest and that if I was not happy with this then I could have reconstructive surgery, so the option should be there if you want it. If they are not offering it then is the possability of a 2nd opinion feasable?
All the best
gx
You are ENTITLED to a 2nd opinion, just ask for it.
Thanks for all your advice. When I talked to an oncologist last week she said i should leave it for a year or so to see how it does in the long term and then we could maybe discuss options. This sounds perfectly reasonable.
I just get the impression that to them its fine - what am complaining about. They don’t seem to be able to see past the disease to the person. I’m sure she wouldn’t like to have her breasts look like mine but doctors seem to think that we should be fine with it - we should just be happy we are alive.
arlo, I doubt the oncologist is the best person to talk to about reconstruction of the breast. I also saw mine last week, after a 2hr wait! and he said to discuss it with the surgeon.
I’m seeing the surgeon in January and by then expecting the breast to settle after the radiotherapy. I’m also losing weight and although the scar is fading well it’s quite clearly lopsided.
thank goodness for this post!
I did already post a similar topic on the ‘reconstruction page’ about how my WLE has left a dimpled/inverted scar going left to right, half way between my nipple and bottom of my breast - it looks like a stupid grin. My nipple is also slightly south facing, whereas the other one is straight ahead. With a good padded bra it does disguise it a little, but I am 41 years old and want to be able to have the option of going bra-less… i am small, was a 32C, and now noticeably smaller on one side, so I am also looking at my options at improving my shape.
I suppose I am still also trying to accept that they found a larger tumour when they did the surgery than what was seen on ultrasound, as part of it was ‘hidden’ (was meant to be a 10mm lump but ended up to be 25mm). This meant they took a lot more tissue out than they said they would. I wasnt told until the pathology results were given to me 10 days after surgery.
Im right in the middle of my radiotherapy treatment, and nearly 9 weeks post-op, so I know I will have to wait a while before any recon is done.
I am getting impatient and anxious though and am trying to research my options now, e.g. implant, lipofill, etc etc. I haven’t found any literature specific about my needs though. Maybe I should just be a more patient patient and wait until I see my BCN after rads?
Please let me know how you get on with your recons 
by the way - yes i am of course grateful my breast was conserved but the end result is not what i was told to expect, which has affected my confidence. I hope you understand?
i had a wle and further exision in 2006 and went back to see surgeon o=in 2006 who said it looked a bit empty and could move some tummy fat into boob to make it near to original side… it was a bit of a kick in the teeth though as it had taken me a year to get used to my new shaped boob… i declined at the time as he thought it was too soon and best to wait till on fll year after rads fnish as some continued shrinkage may occur.
i then decided to wait longer as me and my partner were planning to try for a baby… i then was diagnosed with new primary tumour in other breast so need chemo and rads so by the time my rads are finished i will probably have matching sized boobies.
lulu x
I don’t like the results of breast conservation surgery either, I think they should warn us that it moves the nipple in the direction of where the scar is and that you will end up with something more or less misshapen depending on the size of your breasts. To them they are doing you a favour in not giving you a mastectomy but it’s all a matter of luck anyway what surgery you have, plus the surgeon you meet and what skills he (normally) or she has.
I now treat everything the medical profession say with scepticism because they often lie by ommission or not as they see fit. They believe they know what we think and what we can cope with. How do they know?
That is why they are so patronising. I wanted partial reconstruction, there was no plastic surgeon at the hospital as he’d decided to only do private work. They didn’t tell me that until 6 months later when I complained about the results. My surgeon told me there’d be no change in the contour of my breast, who was he kidding?
I ended up with one breast twice the size of the other through after effects of radiotherapy, so rather than shrinking it as radiotherapy does to some women, it had the reverse effect on me. However five years later it is back to a chopped up version of its former self. The scars are faded and it is probably as good as it will ever be without further surgery.
I’m biding my time, certainly lipofil sounds a possibility but quite honestly if I never saw another surgeon that would be too many times.
Mole
Now I’m getting alarmed. What might happen during rads? I start in a few weeks. Of the many side effects mentioned by oncologist she didn’t say that breast size could change.
This is typical, Like you Fluffyface (love your name it makes me think of a cat) I was told i might have a ‘slight’ distortion to breast. Knowing now what they knew when they told me this, i know they knew I would lose a lot of breast tissue. I look OK dressed, but I’m not happy when i catch a glance of my breast in a mirror. So yes i do understand your loss of confidence.
Keep in touch and let us know how you decide to proceed.
And Lulu, you look great!
Hi
I read so many posts on here and dispair.
I’m also wondering if I get told everything because of where I’m being treated (and they have been brilliant) or because I’m a nurse, and I do say I want to take it from the worse case and go from there.
I was told about breast shape and that radiotherapy can further distort the shape as it tightens the skin, even asked if I wanted a particular surgion to do op (had no idea who was good or not and still dont).
Why oh why can’t every woman get this information it should be your right, yeh they are keeping you alive but Quality and how you feel is just as important, looking after a patient should be the whole person not bits.
Sorry rant over
gx