I had a mastecomy and am very flat. I had very small boobs anyway, and now I don’t bother to wear a bra at all, unless we are going to a salsa dancing social and I want to wear a tight top! Then I wear a bra with a softie. I ride horses, and having only one small boob, is a definite advantage during sitting trot. Nothing to bounce!!
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Yes, compared to last time when I had a lumpectomy it is a lot easier. Going over speed humps was a nightmare, but now it is smooth riding all the way. I did get Betty False Boob out today and had a go. It does make me look a bit less blobby in the waistline, but I still don’t think I want to use it. I’m in a band and did have an evil thought today…maybe I could wear it on stage and get it out and chuck it at anyone not dancing.
Ok, maybe not 
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I have an appointment on Mon 29th with the surgeon re SMX and axillary node clearance for sometime in August. Having thought about my life style and what I really want I am 99.9% sure I could far rather be flat and use a unobra or opt for a using a knitted knocker or Boost if l felt like it.
THose of you who have opted to be flat what kind of questions should I have ready for the plastic surgeon? I will admit I am in horror of being left with excess skin and looking like some kind of monster and the idea of more surgery for a reconstruction make me personally want to throw up. the delights of having a DD who is a trauma burns and plastics, nurse who explained in detail what a DIEP would involve and how she hoped I might need to be on her ward as the care they give there is so good…. 
I hope not as her ward is a step down from ICU!
I went flat and didn’t regret it. I actually rather wish they’d taken the other one off as well. I have a prothesis but never use it, I’m proud to be a flattie and completely unashamed of it.
My main concern was that they didn’t leave me with a dog ear. It was the last thing I bellowed at the surgeon before I was knocked out. They did me proud.
A daft thing, but maybe check if they put a drain in, and if so, what type of bottle they provide. The reason I say this is that I bought a couple of tops with drain pockets in, but they were designed for dainty little drain bags. I came out wearing something that wouldn’t look out of place on the 2litre Coca Cola bottle aisle!!!
Also, if you do have a drain, and it is a big bottle, just know that you can get provided with a shoulder bag to carry it in. My district nurse gave me mine.
Hope all goes well, the procedure itself was actually nowhere near as bad as I’d feared and I was home the same day and up and about two days later. xxx
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@Jaygo , thank you for responding IRL I do not know anyone who has opted to be flat and tbh the first surgeon I saw did have a patriarchal attitude of all woman will WANT a reconstruction at some point after a SMX. IT left me feeling as if I had no choice. It is not what I want.
eldest DD has told me the plastics teams normally use drains thus the hospital BCN team providing fabric drain bags and post masectomy cushions via their charity. At least that is something l can make whilst stuck at home thanks to ongoing chemo side effects. IT will make a change from knitting knockers!
I plan on taking DD with me on Monday as she a) knows most of the plastics teams and b) will hopefully ensure my voice is heard about l do not want spare skin etc. I think waking up to find some idiot has assumed I meant skin saving SMX rather than a plastic surgeons aesthetic flat closure makes me shake.
Dear@wibbles, I elected for mastectomy flat closure despite wle being ‘prescribed’. Your surgery cannot proceed until you have signed a consent form. This will state the surgery you are consenting to so read it carefully and ask for any amendments if it does not state your precise wishes. Recording your discussion during your appointment is also another suggestion. Just state that you wish to record the conversation at the start. Your next safety net is the day of the surgery when the surgeons will see you beforehand and mark up your body. This is another opportunity for reminders. Keep advocating for yourself. I wish you well. Love Tulip x
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Well that surgeon is talking out of his backside. How many and what % on this thread has said they do not want a recon? Multiply that by the number not on this forum who’ve had SMXs. QED!
newbie here - how can I edit my post?
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At the bottom of your original post you should see a pencil icon. Click on that and you will be able to edit. x
Hmmm that’s odd. I’m using a desktop as well. Not sure I can help on that one then. Only other solution would be to see if you have an option to delete and resubmit? There are three dots and if you click on that you get the option to bin the message…however, if you can’t see the pencil, then maybe you can’t see the three dots either. Hopefully someone else will be able to advise. x
Sounds like you saw the same surgeon as me initially!! A female surgeon talked me through what I expected a few days before the op, and when I found out flat flap reconstruction really meant, I opted from dmx. No regrets, (Although not enjoying the swelling I still have 8 weeks later, following the surgery. But might have had that with either surgery?).
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Mine will hopefully come out tomorrow, along with the pico dressing, which also has a tube and a box, I can’t wait!
Never Say Never! 
My dog ear started irritating me a couple of months ago, and I’ve become self-conscious about. I’ve never really been self-conscious about anything in my life. So that must give a measure of how it annoys me. I was adamant that I was never going to have it removed but I didn’t realise that it would change as my body changes - just one of those things.
I went for a new prosthetic on 22 July and asked what the process was for having it looked at and potentially removed. They referred me there and then, I got an appointment sent through the next day, and I saw my surgeon yesterday.
It was lovely to see her again and have the chance to thank her and the team for everything and all that malarkey. 
Anyway, she had a look and said, yep, that’s coming off! We had a chat about the operation, recovery time and all that sort of thing. The scar will go further round and might even reach the very edge of my back. My biggest concern was making sure it wouldn’t interfere with my lymphedema, and she was absolutely clear that it won’t.
I then asked about timescales. She asked me if I was going on holiday anytime soon. I am in the middle of October. She said: “Let’s get you healed before that.” And she opened her diary and said: “Next Thursday.”
So that’s it - dog ear is getting evicted next week! 
I’m now just trying to sort my life out around having it done. Absolute madness!
The only slight complication is that she wants to do it under general and I’ve got nobody at home, so I’ll have to do it as an overnighter. Not really a problem, just something I could do without, but needs must! Friends are struggling to make the time to stay over with me next week because it the are schools back or there are in service days and they’re on grandma duties. My family lives 200 miles away; my brother has offered to cancel a weekend away but there’s no need for that. I’ll get to have breakfast in bed, which is a novelty!
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Hello, want to jump onto this thread as I’m currently deciding between an aesthetic flat closure or an endoscopic nipple sparing mastectomy with implants and am very curious about people’s experiences.
I was diagnosed in April Triple +++, IDC 2.3cm Grade 2, that on imaging doesn’t appear to be in the lymph nodes. I also have a mutant Chek2 gene. I’m 42.
Because of the Chek2, I’ve decided to get a bilateral mastectomy as it reduces my risk of getting another cancer by quite a lot. But to implant or not to implant is a trickier decision.
I’ve had quite a strong instinct to stay flat, for recovery and less complications. I am very petite and have only got small boobs anyway, but my surgeon has offered me this nipple sparing endoscopic mastectomy which has minimal scarring, and would mean I wouldn’t look much different to now which I can see the appeal of as well.
I suppose I have a question for anybody who has gone down the implants road - especially if you kept your nipples (but even if not), is it strange having breasts that don’t feel like they belong to you? I’ve heard they can feel cold, is this your experience? Do you have any sensation left in the nipples? Or anywhere? I probably have lots of other questions, but I’ll start here!
Hello, BRCA2 positive here. I opted for bilateral mastectomy direct to implants. I chose not to keep my nipples as there can be some breast tissue left and I didnt want the worry of it. Also I believe the surgery is a bit easier without worrying about nipple placement and risk of rejection. This might not be an issue for you but I specifically wanted much smaller breasts so with that in mind they had to go. For me currently, 5 weeks post surgery it isnt upsetting at all that I no longer have nipples. I can tell that had I kept them id have no feeling in them anyway. The skin on my breasts is very numb. Only my top chest and around the edges have sensation. That is taking some getting used to but its only noticeable if I touch them. They dont feel cold although when I have a cold drink I can feel them a little bit. And strangely when I get goose bumps I feel as though I can feel my nipples!
I would ask if you could see before and after photos from your surgeon. To achieve the same results as natural breasts when you have a dmx is very difficult. They remove all breat tissue well as much as they can, so unless your surgeon is offering fat transfer at the same time you will surely see the outline of your implants. And even small implants can have rippling. I have the firmest implants and still have rippling when I move a certain way or bend over. Thankfully this isnt visible in a bra or top.
I went in hoping for a boob job knowing it was unrealistic and it was. They look very symmetrical and neat, my scars are perfect and in a bra/crop top no one else would know any different but naked they are very very different. Especially in the beginning when they are swollen.
The thickness of your skin and the experience of your surgeon all make a difference. Sometimes your skin is too thin to hold the implants and last minute they have to go under the muscle. This changes your recovery a little bit. I didnt really have a choice of surgeon on the NHS but I was very confident I had an experienced one and we had a great rapport due to him being the one that was treating me for the breast cancer. He understood exactly what I hoped for.
Recovery is hard. I tried on loads of clothes yesterday, didnt think much of it, today I am back on pain killers. The first 2 weeks you will need help with lots of things. Atleast I did. Front button clothes are a must. I couldnt open doors or pull light switches on for a few days. Pulling up trousers was quite difficult and my husband had to wash me for a few days. For the first 4 weeks my chest felt extremely tight, like wearing a horribly uncomfortable bra and not being able to take it off. That is much better now. Its worth noting I’m not great with pain haha Others could easily have had a better time than me.
The reason I got implants is because im only 40, I have a husband and 2 teenage girls. They wanted their wife/mum back and I didnt have the heart to go flat. If my girls have the BRCA2 gene they need to know they can still look “normal” I was very conscious of their age and the impression they get from my journey. I didnt want them to be so scared of losing their breasts that they didnt check them. DIEPs weren’t an option for me so implants it was. For them I am very pleased I made that decision. For me personally, I will always wonder if recovery would have been easier going flat. And of course at some point in the future these might need to come out. If I can get 10 years from them I believe it will be worth it. Im still waiting for my turn on the crystal ball.
Keep mulling things over as much as possible, join Facebook groups that people share their photos and experiences so you get an idea of what the surgeries might look like. None of this is a choice and I’m so sorry you are having to make these decisions but whatever you decide will be best for you. My husband calls my new breasts my safety boobs because the risk of reoccurrance in them is so little now
@foxgem Thank you so much! This is a wonderfully detailed response and I’m so appreciative. It’s so great to hear a really honest and clear description of the post implant recovery.
I also have two young girls (5 & 8) and am also very mindful of my decisions and how they will read them as well, but I imagine that is further magnified with teenagers.
I’m close in age to you as well, and I think that is also influencing my interest in the implants, as well as the option to go flat later if I want to, as opposed to the difficulties going the other way.
I was also worried about the nipples and the extra bit of tissue that is left, but after I spoke with the cancer geneticist today about my particular risk I feel less concerned about that aspect.
My surgeon very proudly showed me some photos of some boobs he has done with this technique and I have to say they look very good! But it’s good to understand the finer detail and the rippling etc. and what to look at. I had no idea about the these details and skin thinness etc, so all great questions for me to ask about.
I am worried about how strange they might feel on my body, and that they don’t really belong to me, but I guess either way it will be a new normal to get used to. I am also worried about intimacy, as I am also hormone positive and will be on the hormone blockers after this too. So much to adjust to.
Safety Boobs is genius! Love that! Thank you again, this has been extremely helpful.
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They did feel very alien at first and at times I wondered how I would cope with that feeling long term but honestly now they dont feel too different at all. If I dont think about it I cant feel them just like my natural boobs. I think it helps that they are smaller (315cc) so they dont feel heavy. Only if I touch them do they feel weird. It is still very early days for me though
We have a similar journey. I’m 3 Zoladex injections in and nearly 2 packets through Tamoxifen. Next will be Anastrozole and maybe Ribociclib. Honestly intimacy has been very far from our minds in recent weeks. I can tell things have changed, I do feel different but I am not panicking yet. Its been a year and it will likely take another to feel normal again. I’m trying not to blame too much on the hormone blockers just yet
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It is amazing how we adjust. I would also get quite small implants as I have small boobs now and wouldn’t want them any bigger. I have also started on Zoladex - (at the beginning of chemo actually) so I’ve started on my hot flush journey! I’ve been doing acupuncture to help with the side effects of chemo and I’ve found it very useful for the flushes so far, but I haven’t started on the rest of the hormone treatment yet.
Again thank you so much, its really helpful to chat with someone who is in a very similar place to me. So appreciated. 
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