Can anyone share how they felt after their mastectomy. I feel i should be over it by now. I have had some counselling a year after surgery which has helped a lot.I wasnt keen on reconstruction surgery as i didnt want to tamper with the parts of the body that were ok but on the other hand I would love to have two breasts again.
Hi Gabby,
I had mastectomy 3 years ago after dx of DCIS. As you can see, I’m still here, still posting.
As I have said elsewhere, if you had been injured in a war or a traffic accident, you would be thought to be suffering from post traumatic stress. Just because it was surgery that caused our disfigurement we are somehow expected to just pick up and carry on!
Somewhere on here there is a link to a really helpful article that deals with the what now scenario, and illustrates very clearly just how difficult it is to “get over it”. Maybe someone else can remember what it was called? If I can find it I’ll post back
Good luck,
Silversue
Found it!
Google “after treatment finishes” by Peter Harvey, that should do it.
Thankyou silversue. I have found and read the article. It describes a lot of what I have been feeling and what I have been through. It has reminded me of how far I have come and how much I have been through. Hopefully I will feel relaxed and happy again soon. Still struggle to sleep and eat which doesnt help my mood or energy levels . I agree with your comment re post traumatic stress and it has been my self diagnosis. I also feel like I have been through a bereavement over the loss of my breast and have been grieving over the loss. Have been given a stick on prothesis to try which I am finding feels much better and stays closer to my chest than the normal prothesis which is giving me a little more confidence. I am determined to lift myself up again. Guess I will just have to be patient with myself and keep working at it. Thankyou so much for posting here.
Thank you SilverSue I have just printed out and read Dr Peter Harvey’s After Treatment Finishes - Then What? I also found it very interesting.
I had a reconstruction and decided on this immediatly because even though I was 67 I felt sure I would not have been able to have coped with the breast removed. and I think this has helped me, because I don’t feel as though I have lost a breast, which I havn’t it is still my breast but with a different "filling"as I describe it. It is quite amazing how it is done, and my Plastic Surgeon and his Team were fantastic, I felt as though I was their only patient, whilst I was in hospital they came in everyday, three of them.
It is nearly 7 months since my operation and I must admit that some days I cannot stop thinking about what I went through, so Dr Harvey’s article has really helped me to understand things and has made me feel normal about my feelings.
Thanks again
Hilary x x