For Nicky 65
For Nicky 65 Hi Nicky,
I’m glad my post encouraged you a bit! All this breast cancer stuff can be scarey, but you will get there!
I live in Northern Ireland. My hospital is The Ulster Hospital and is in a suburb of Belfast called Dundonald.
I am very very lucky (if you can ever be lucky with this illness!) My surgeon usually works privately, but does some NHS work and I am one of his patients.
Whether or not you can have nipple sparing surgery depends on the location of your tumor. I had a large tumor, it was 4.5 cm x 3.5 cm (and appeared overnight!) but it was sited to the underarm side of my left breast so although I did not have clear margins after a lumpectomy, the tumor was a fair distance from my nipple which was why it did not have to be removed.
At the time all of this was kicking off for me, I would have allowed anybody to operate and anybody to cut whatever they liked from my body to get rid of the cancer. My surgeon was wonderful and explained all of my options in great detail. Initially I had intended using the flesh from my tummy, but to be honest, I was a bit of a coward and couldn’t face such major surgery. The decision to have an implant was the right one for me. Even though I have had a few problems and have had some corrective and total replacement surgery, I still feel this was the right route for me. Not everyone can keep their nipple, but even if you can’t, the “fake” ones surgeons can reconstruct are amazing, so do not lose heart.
My reconstructed boob is the same size as my original (36d) and I have a wonderful cleavage. However, I do not have any feeling at all in 3/4 of the boob including the nipple, so my (brand new since 25th April) hubby could spend the night trying to get a reaction from me and fail dismally!! The important thing for me is, I honestly look very very normal. My left boob is a bit more “pert” than my natural right one, but please bear in mind I am almost 46 and have had 2 children. So good are my scars I would have no problem going topless, but again, this is because my surgeon was able to access my tumor from the side of my boob and any corrective surgery was done through an access cut underneath my boob. As I have said before, I was extremely lucky. I do not know any other bc patient with a similar outcome, but that does not mean you will not be that person! Do not be afraid to ask your surgeon questions! What is an everyday issue for him is a HUGE once in a lifetime happening for you. If I can be of any further help to you, please ask!
Baldeagle. Xs
Thanks for replying!
I won’t know yet whether I will get away with a lumpectomy or not, but if I do have to have a mastectomy I now know to ask about nipple saving, so thanks! You never know I might be lucky, my tumour was 3cm, again mine was away from the nipple but the opposite side, right in my cleavage. (5 sessions of chemo have shrunk it to nothing!)
It’s good to hear that you are so pleased with your ‘finished boob’
Take care
Nicky