Hi! I had a full mastectomy in August and am now on a waiting list to get an implant. Apparently there are two shapes: round and teardrop (or anatomical). I have been told the difference and read about them. However, I do not find images of the end result to help me compare both. The team won’t advise: they told me I have to choose…I wonder if anybody has had this type of reconstruction and can offer any feedback on this particular matter. My breasts were naturally round.
Thanks for any help.
Hi there Nikiya
It really depends on whether the upper part of your natural boob is rounded or whether most of the fullness is in the bottom part. If your cup spilleth over (sorry!) you may be better off with a round implant. The other shape can look more natural if you are not too cleveagey. I have a tound one and although there is no flesh to fill it out above the implant the round one matches my real boob better.
If it is one boob it sounds as if the rounder on will be a better match, but if you were bilateral it’s just preference.
Love
Jane x
Thanks Jane! Well in my case, I had never much of a cleavage because despite being small I have comparatively wide shoulders and separate breasts which were A. I am saying “were” because between dropping HRT and taking Tamox my remaining breast has shrunk so much they’ll have to put a small implant there too to match the other. You say you had a round implant after MX? Does it look natural? I have been reading a lot and it sounds as if round ones (which are less protruding) would be more akin to my own, but all comments and pix come from enhancing ops, not from reconstructive, so I wonder how a round one works after a mx…
Mmmm. Mine does not look natural but that is mainly because there is no flesh above it so it is obviously an implant, Thing is; if they look a bit enhanced it probably does not matter too much so long as they are both “enhanced”? I think the main thing is that they should look like a pair so it sounds like a good idea to have the other implant yto even things up.
My friend has implants both sides and they look enhanced but nice, b cups and quite youthful.Like me her implants do not move much but I think this is because we only have skin after mx, whereas She recently had nipple recon and I must say looks quite good. The only thing with implants is getting used to them because they do feel strange (well, to me anyway).
I have a killer cleavage which is the up side, the down side is it wrinkles over the implant which is not such a pretty look. I still have not had nipple recon but hope that will improve the look of it!
X
Well I heard from someone having the nipple recon made all the difference… when I said enhanced I mean if you google to see images the only pix and detailed info you get on shapes, etc., comes from cosmetic sites, not reconstruction ones, and as you said, it is different. I am not going to be bigger since I have asked for my breasts to remain a small A, as they were.
Now I have an expander and although the shape is awkward the skin does not look bad, since above I have the muscle… don’t you? Underneath they put an artificial tissue because I have no fat.
So you do have a round implant and the shape looks natural?
I am posting this on behalf of a new user:
Hi ladies…
this is the first time i have wrote on here.I just wanted to say that i had a MX in Aug 09.I had recon straight away ,so av got implants in both sides.I have found it very hard coming to terms with losing my breast, even though i woke up wiv a recon one in its place. The thing is it has never matched the other one , always coming up on the smaller size to the other one. This i have found very hard to accept.Then as the swelling went down i started to notice wrinkles appearing above the implant! I was due to have nipple recon this thurs but instead i am going in to have a bigger implant put in to see if this helps with the wrinkles and even me out. I think where im comimg from is that you have to be happy with how you look so make sure you do your research . Yes i understand i have had my BC removed and yes i am gratful,now i want to get on with my life and be happy with the way i look.
Wishing you lots of luck
Kind regards
Lou
Thanks Lou! That is why I am trying so hard to figure out, but it is difficult… I have even shown the team pictures of my breasts before the problem to seek their advice but they tell me I have to decide and I fell I do not have enough elements… the expander, as I said, is such an awkward shape and so stiff I cannot figure out if it is too big or not… I thought it was OK at 165 ml (counting gel too) but then I tried one of my pre op bras and it did not fill it. So they put more saline solution. Now it looks too big, but still fits an A cup (??)
And yes, I am grateful to have the reconstruction… even now, awkward as it is, is better than when I woke up flat and with creases. Your whole body looks funny…
Nikiya
Look on BCC - I am on there and it will help explain it better. It does look like a falsie becuse it’s flat above the implant. Even though the LD muscle is there it does not reach far above the implant. If you cup your hand and place it on your chest that will give you an idea of how the muscle sits on me. I daresay other people may have a bit more flesh above the implant but not in my case, which could just be me. Lou is right - it is about how you feel about it.
Also, pre-op bras - i have found the implant is wider than a natural breast and less flexible - you can’t mould them into bra cups the way you can with flesh. None of my pre op bras had cups wide enough to accomodate the implant so i needed to buy 2 sizes bigger to allow for the width, but it gives the problem of coverage on top - only Doreen bras really fit properly and they are hideous.
To be fair, we probably won’t have perfection and if you do not want huge boobs implants may well be okay. And, although it is more surgery, if you are unhappy you can change them at some stage in the future? Sometimes you can overthink things and although it is a lot to take on board you won’t really know till you try.
Good luck
Jane x
Hi, I have posted this for new user Lou
Jo, Facilitator
Hi
The thing is we all have different expectations on how we want to look! I would love perfection! When they talked about implants I automatically thought “Boob job”!!! How wrong was I.
So many people tell you “You look good, AND You would never no !” but its not about them its how you feel when you see yourself undressed.
I felt so embaressed when I went back to see my surgeon last week and told her i was not happy with my look, Luckily she has agreed to put the bigger implant in . I am only 41 and body image is so important to me . So im back in on Thurs praying that i get the look I would like. Its important that you and your surgeon both understand how you would like to look when this nightmare is over
Regards
Lou
Hi
i am a new user and not sure where to post - I have just had a reconstruction LD flap on the 23rd November and so far i am finding it difficult. I have a surgery site infection - very red area. I am on antibiotics but am not sure yet if I will need more surgery and what what this will involve. the problem is that this is irraidated skin as I have alrady had radiotherapy in 2006 for the initial tumour - this current treatmetn is for a local recrrence of a Grade three triple negative BC.
I also feel that the recon is very uncomfortable - I can feel the liquid wehn I walk but I don’t know if this is to be expected or does this settle down with time? At the moment I can’t imagine ever being able to do a twenty mile walk. Does anyone have any experience of this?
I am usually a very positve person - I sailed through my last round of treatment lumpectomy,chemo and rads but this time it is much more difficult.
You are so right that it is about how you feel naked! There are threads on that and it’s my personal hang-up. Manky boobs, no nipple.
Totally get where you are coming from and yes - I too would love perfection!
Love Jane
Posted for new user Lou
Jo, Facilitator
Hi Jane
I would like to thank you for your post. I was starting to think that i am so ungratful …For me to be able to move on i need to feel happy with myself.Its good to know you no how i feel. I have been feeling to ashamed of myself for feeling that i want better.I spent a couple of months knowing that i was not happy with my look and that i was going to have to tell the surgeon this to! I know she feels that she did life saving surgery not the cosmetic kind!!!
I hope and pray that after my op this Thursday i will be closer to where i need to be to move on !!!
Kind Regards
Lou x
Lou, I hope you get there too! One of the women on here posted to say she told her ps she did not expect perfection - the ps said “We do”. Think that it is difficult when everyone expects you to be grateful for life saving (but is it?) surgery without thinking how the result affects the quality of life.
Best of luck
Love
Jane x
Hello girls! I am so sorry it’s taken me so long to come back to you… I have had so little energy and so much to do… I am having my op TOMORROW and still do not know how I am going to look when I wake up, although of course I am also worried about the usual things you worry about with any op!
But I wanted to tell you: Of course it is important to try to look as well as possible… and it is for YOU, not necessarily for anybody else. I have had people (who haven’t been through this) telling me they would not bother with reconstruction, but personally I cannot face not recognizing myself every time I take my clothes off…
Jane, when you say “look in BCC”, what do you mean?
Anyway, plese wish me luck and will report on my return!
Christmas blessings to everybody!