Hi i was diagnosed last January with invasive ductal carcinoma spread to lymph nodes.
I recently had a double mastectomy with permanent expanders in September, a0nd radiotherapy in November/ December.
I live in Herefordshire im looking for a new surgeon because i feel like mine doesn’t listen my surgery is awful my expanders sit underneath my armpits i could cry!
Recently the radiation side hurts so im thinking Capsular contracture ?
I definitely need a pocket revision and exchange to implants i hate these. X
Dear Carmen
I’m so sorry you’ve been left in pain and unhappy with your reconstruction. As if fighting the cancer hasn’t been hard enough.
I had a single mastectomy in April with tissue expander implant.
Absolutely hated it, it looked like a square packet of fags had been stuck to my chest! And don’t get me started on how painful the recovery was!
I’m not sure of your circumstances, but if you can afford to go private and travel to London I can highly recommend Stuart James , who carried out a 2nd reconstruction for me, replacing with a natural shaped low profile implant, and carrying out a reduction, lift and implant on my non mastectomy side.
I am thrilled with the results…best £12,000 I’ve ever spent!
He is so kind, really listens to his patients and is determined to get the best results possible.
My NHS surgeon whilst wonderful at getting rid of my cancer, had very little interest in the fact I had been left effectively deformed by the awful expander and massive boob on other side.
I knew I’d be waiting years for any chance of revision surgery on the NHS , as understandably they prioritise cancer surgery.
I wish you all the best of luck, and I would say if you are just looking in your local area try to find a plastic breast surgeon specialist, rather than just a breast surgeon, as the skill level is so much higher.
I am also going private for some revision surgery and a reduction on the other side but I’m in the north-west so not much use to you sorry. I am left with one approx C cup breast that is a terrible shape and goes right into my armpit in a weird box shape with a great big dent in the middle, then one great big droopy F cup breast on the other side. I tried to talk to the original surgeon at my last appointment to see if anything could be done to help and he got really miffed and told me my standards were too high and I would be best going to a cosmetic surgeon! So that’s what I’m going to do as it’s really important to me to have my breasts looking as normal as possible (even if it’s a different normal to before) - I am hoping to be around for the next thirty odd years and I don’t want to be looking every day at something that upsets me and reminds me of awful times.
I had a personal recommendation for my surgeon but spent a lot of time googling and reading reviews, and also looked at expertise with oncology and cosmetic surgery, professional memberships etc.
Loads of good luck with it and I hope you find someone suitable soon.
