Hi guys
I had a mastectomy with immediate recon about a month ago ( an expander implant thingy). Just wondering about the odd shape. My new boob looks a bit like it is in two halves. The top half looks like pretty big cleavage and is as hard as nails (presumably the implant being under the chest muscle has had an impact). It is much more prominent than the other boob ( a size D cup). The bottom half of the new boob is a tiny wrinkled thing that needs massive bra padding to look half normal. Is this all normal? And how about the hardness? Should I be expecting it to get softer?
I’m almost near the end of my infills for my implants. I had a double mastectomy in August and had immediate reconstruction. My implants are very round and hard and sit quite high, apparently this is normal. As you are at the early stages of your reconstruction, it may be that your implant is filling from the top down. My husband explained it to me as ‘Imagine you have a balloon that you are slowly filling with water. It will never be completely round until it is completely full, so some areas may look empty compared to others’
I wouldn’t worry too much about it, unless it hurts too much.
What you must remember is that your implant is not the finished product - it will not look like this forever. I resemble Victoria Beckham in the chest department at the minute, but only because they are creating the space for my new teardrop shaped permanent implants…
Thanks!
The ballon analogy really helped - I can picture it now and that makes sense. It is very hard and numb and weird feeling though. When I cuddle anything I can’t really feel it is there. Oh well, this time next year perhaps. They won’t fill me up for ages as I am due to start chemo in the next couple of weeks and the first filling will be happening Jan they reckon.
By the way, did anyone have a very tender spot somewhere between their side and back? It is really sore. Is that where the port thing is?
The filling doesn’t hurt - it is just tight and uncomfortable. It feels good though, once you start seeing it fill up… You can see the progress really quickly.
I had a tender spot but this went away after a couple of weeks. I thought it was the port, as I get a similar sensation after I have had a fill, although not as intense.
Good luck with the chemo - I think I am doing it all backwards! I am on Tamoxifen and Zoladex, and if this doesn’t work, then I’m having chemo… From what I have read, soda water and ginger biscuits seem to alleviate side affects during your chemo session.
Hi just found this thread and must say that my chest looks a bit of the same (in 2 halfs) the bn has told me (warned me) that i will not like them while being expanded and to remember that they are they only to do a job. They will be totally different when the permanant implants are in. I’m holding on to that as i start my expansion tomorrow.
Good luck with the chemo. i finished my 8 sessions at the end of october and must say that i always had a small meal/breakfast before going to treatment. i wasn’t sick once. i did have a very dry mouth, lost taste and got mouth sores but found that drinking lots of water/juices eating melons and pinapple helped a lot. oh and lots and lots of ice pops. but really chemo isn’t as bad as it used to be, they have great anti sickness tablets, the main problem i had was being tired but if you listen to your body and relax you’ll do fine.