10 weeks ago I had a lumpectomy 1.5cm which had clear margins (thank God) and lymph nodes clear. All going well for 3 weeks and surgeon very pleased with how it was looking. Unfortunately a seroma developed which burst through the wound (truly awful and frightening experience believe me!!) and I ended up with stitches which have caused puckering around the inside (cleavage) area of my areola. My surgeon is now not so pleased as she prides herself in achieving the best surgical and cosmetic results and has suggested some reconstruction work after my preventative treatment is over. At the moment I’m minded to say no as I’ve heard that reconstruction can be extremely painful and takes ages to recover from and after this awful time this year I really don’t want further interventions if I can avoid them. I just wanted to ask if anyone has had reconstruction which I assume will be relatively minor and how they found it in terms of pain, recovery time and cosmetic success ie is it worth it? Many thanks for any thoughts and advice.
Hi @bev2 Welcome to the forum that nobody wants to join but is so supportive.
I’m now 2 years post surgery, then had chemo/Herceptin and radiotherapy. I didn’t have a seroma so can’t comment on that. I do however have dents in both boobs ( I had a tumour in each naughty boob) post treatment and my team think I should be able to live with it but for me it’s a physical reminder of all I’ve been through. I researched and found that they can inject fat into the dents to smooth it out but my team aren’t keen. They do liposuction and inject your own fat but that’s not without its problems. I was told to wait for radiotherapy and see how it changes as it can shrink your boobs. To be honest now 2 years on I think I’ve just decided to live with it. I bruise so easily and liposuction would cause lots of bruising.
Are you due to have radiotherapy? If so it may be worth waiting for a while afterwards to see what happens. For me, my boobs didn’t shrink, they have now settles back to my pre cancer size after losing weight from chemo. You have to do what is right for you.
I hope someone else who has experienced a seroma can comment. You could also phone the BCN nurses on 0808 800 6000 m-f 9-4 sat 9-1.
Take care
Many thanks for such a helpful reply and advice. I am having radiotherapy so will certainly wait until after that to see how it looks. I suspect I will keep things as they are but it’s good to have options just in case. Thanks again for your support.