Re-posting on here as had no replies yesterday…hope someone can help
I had what I thought was an MRM in May but the more time passes the more I wonder how modified it was.
My scar is nowhere near as neat as others I have seen but more importantly as time passes I have no flesh left on my chest area at all, you can see and feel the ribs right up to my collar bone and in places it is sunken in. I thought this only happened if they took some of the chest muscle as well? It is making it harder and harder to wear any clothes that are not up to my neck and as temps are 40C at present…
The only “flesh” anywhere is the increasing amount of oedema under my arm (but on my side not the arm) and a little below the scar…
Anyone else like this or any experiences to share, please?
Hi Sascha,
so sorry to read of your ongoing concerns over your surgery. The only people who can answer the questions are your surgical team, as they will know what they did or did not do. It is still very early days, and your scar will still be settling down - no doubt still quite red and possibly sore - and your body adjsuting to what it has been through.
I wonder if you’ve tried feeling just above/below your breast on the healthy side to discover how your ribs feel there? I ask only because I can feel mine quite easily on the healthy side, though obviously not where the breast is. Don’t forget that you will have lost skins and fat (even if you are very slim) during surgery, so there is less ‘padding’ over your ribs.
If your scar is especially bad and does not settle down, I am fairly certain you can have it tidied at a later date.
Be kind to yourself, you and your body have been through a lot lately.
Hi Sascha,
I think there are huge variations in the results of surgery. Scars can be very neat, or I have seen some pictures of some pretty awful ones online. And as for that hollow look above the scar - again this varies a lot. It can be really quite noticeable, or not at all. I don’t know why this is so different from one person to another, but that’s how it seems to be. I don’t think it’s a question of more radical surgery, just variations from one person to another. I’m sorry this doesn’t answer your concern about your sunken areas but I hope it will make you feel better to know it is not unusual.
As Revcat says, it may be possible to get further surgery to tidy up your scar. I understand that it can be quite difficult to get a neat result during mastectomy surgery, but that it is much easier to tidy it up later.
Have you thought about having a recon? I had a delayed LD flap and am so pleased that I did it.