Hello, I had a unilateral mastectomy in January and saw the plastic surgeon last week.
He said either an expandable implant would be suitable for me or an LD flap with implant. I am not fat enough to do the reconstruction with stomach fat. However, even an LD flap reconstruction would not be very droopy as I have little fat, so I would end up with one really high fake breast and one droopy healthy one.
I really don’t want my healthy breast lifted because I do not want to lose nipple sensation.
Has anyone got one fake high breast and one floppy natural one and feels happy about it? Sometimes I think I’d be OK with that, sometimes I think I’m better off as I am and should continue with a prosthesis.
I am 47 so not that young but still missing my breast.
hi, I have just had a DIEP/TRAM reconstruction as I have (had) plenty of belly fat to make a new booby. My op was three weeks today and its early days of course but my new booby is higher than my other one but when i have a bra on it looks the same and I have a clevage too. I think I will go ahead and have my other boob lifted as i think it will cosmetically make it look better and at the same time they will put a nipple on my new booby. I know there are many ladies on here who have decided not to have their good breast done as they feel comfortable with it the way it is. Maybe you need to have your reconstruction, let it settle and then decide what you want to do. I think that even if you have an uplift you still retain sensation but i may be wrong of course. I just want to say again its early days, but the reconstruction decision was the best decision I have made as even now i feel ’ normal’ again. good luck with whatever you decide xxx
I’m 31 and had a mastectomy with impant (same issue with not enough tissue) in October so I have one high and one natural boob. It was an expanding one so intially visibly not quite the same in a bra but i’ve just had it filled and now in a bra you cannot tell the difference. When I’m wearhing pajamas there is a very noticable difference. For now while I’m having treatment (chemo and rads) I’m happy with this so am going to see how I feel afterwards - especially if there are issues with the rads. I’ve also not had children yet so that’s a factor for me but if it helps you, as it stands now I am very happy with how it looks and I am back to wearing “normal” work clothes. Hope that helps
Hi Judsawyer,
I’m 48 and had an LD flap, no implant in Feb this year (another one too slim for a DIEP) was a DD, recon is a C. My PS said at the time I’d be better with a reduction on my healthy side, however, when I saw then recently to (so I thought) finalise plans they told me I had the choice of enhancing the size of the recon (lipo filling, Glasgow is a place where it’s being trialled) or reducing my healthy side. Because I feel thay my back is now weaker than it was, and because larger breats will put more load onto it, I am still going for reduction/uplift. But is could well be that they can ‘augment’ your recon at a later date - worth asking anyway.
My recon is well ‘designed’ with a little bit of droop so it probably looks like someone ten years younger rtaher than twenty…
I am sure you will make a good choice when the time comes. My hosp (NHS) will not do both at once btw, as they say the recon needs time to settle before any matching surgery (but they are very eminent and very perfectionist!)
I had a WLE last September and at the same time had a reduction on my ‘good’ breast. I had the nipple removed and resited due to the lift and reduction, otherwise it would have rather odd. I have to say that it looks very good 1 year down the line and nipple sensation is as good if not more sensitive than before. Unfortunately due to current meds Letrazole and Herceptin ‘libido’ gone down the tubes. However, thats a different story! Just thought you would want to hear from someone who had had the nipple moved with success. Take care all. J.
Hi
I had reconstruction using my big, fat belly!!
I now have a breat like a 20 year old and a sagging 44 year old boob so yes defo going to have it lifted!
In clothes it is slightly visable but naked… oh dear not a good look!
x
As my BCN said to me “a padded bra hides a multitude of sins” - and I now have three (for my left LD recon and my right prothesis) and she is absolutely right - I would never have thought of it (thick or wot?) as I assumed padded bras were for women/girls with teeny boobs.
Have padded mastectomy swimsuit too - but not worn it yet.
When I have my right LD recon it will hopefully match, but if not I’ll just invest in more padded bras then.
Thanks for all the many responses! It’s great to get so many viewpoints.
AllBlacks126, I really feel for you having breast cancer at such a young age, especially as you have not had the chance to have children yet. I only have the one child (late in life – probably a factor in the cancer, I have now learned) and parenthood is great fun. Also sorry that you are and having to go through chemo and radiotherapy – I only needed the surgery and now 5 years of Tamoxifen (and nearly 1 year down). I know how very lucky I am to have missed out on that.
RevCat, that’s what I fear: one 47-year old breast and one teenager breast! I suppose I have to decide why (if) I want a reconstruction . It’s partly because the Tamoxifen has made turned me into a fogey, I suppose menopause was not far away anyway, but it’s happened so quickly and I feel unfeminine (which I know should not matter) . Maybe I’d be contented if I could find some camisoles that disguise my lack of cleavage. The Amoena and Nicola Jane camisoles do not come in my size (small ribcage).
JayneK, very interesting that you have retained and possibly increased nipple sensation on your lifted breast. My surgeon said I should assume I would lose at least some feeling and maybe all. Like you, I’m suffering lack of libido (from Tamoxifen), I don’t even fancy anyone on TV any more, but I am wary of an operation that might neuter me completely.
Not sure if I am considering the reconstruction so I have greater choice of clothing (wow, doesn’t it sound trivial when you type it out?) or so that I feel younger or to remove the reminder that I had a potentially fatal illness. I suppose one floppy breast and one unnaturally firm breast might still remind me.
I had a mx in Dec 2006. I had Tram Flap reconstruction in Dec 2010. I have not yet had my good boob lifted. It looks really good but I will probably go ahead with a lift on my other side, not made my mind up if I will have a nipple made on my new breast or if I will just have one tattooed on. Any one any advice.
I’m 49 and had an mx and immediate LD flap + implant recon - another one with not enough tummy for any other option. My original size was a 34/36 C/D (depending on bra make and weight!) My boobs were quite good for their age, but I wouldn’t have passed the pencil test!
My PS has done a fantastic job of matching the recon to my remaining boob. It’s slightly bigger and firmer, but he’s matched the level of droop really well!
I had mx oct 09 with immediate ld recon. flap failed so had it removed. 3 days later tissue expander put in, recon way too high and uncomfortable, was due 6 cycles of chemo & only had 3 due to it ripping open ld scar on my back, only thing that didnt go wrong was my rads, had implant put in last nov still unhappy with results so have talked to a different surgeon im now considering a diep but im not huge just an average size 12, tamoxifen not good for me either so just switched to femara and only today had isotope bone scan to check for secondary, i sound like a walking disaster but believe me its all true and im still here and smiling,…most of the time but would just love the 34dd ’ rack’ back i used to have. thanks for reading this its so nice to be able to share xxx
DJ007, I take it that you mean you are quite happy (or happy enough) with your slightly mismatched breasts and are not currently intended to have your healthy breast changed? Did you have a fair bit of fat on your back? (Seems a shame that I’ve gained a stone since taking Tamoxifen and I still don’t have a fat back!)
TallulahBelle, how very, very, very unlucky you have been. Some women go through extra wars: I know someone who got severe burns from her radiotherapy though she hadn’t had a reconstruction to ruin. That’s by the by, really. I hope your isotope bone scans come back OK, good luck.
Hi JudSawyer
I ended up with very mis-matched breasts, although mine were a result of having a lumpectomy combined with reduction and lift on the BC side because of the size of the tumour. I was very unhappy with being so lop-sided, I felt awful and couldn’t face going back to work like that. Even though a bra probably hid a multitude of sins I felt deformed. My surgeon had said she wouldn’t match the other side up until several months later to allow the effects of rads to show up, but she took pity on me being so upset and did the reduction of the other side only 3 months after the 1st op. I was so much happier and regained my confidence. My only problem now is that although I have a quite well-matched pair, they are too small for my overall build, so I’m now investigating what, if anything, can be done about that. Including the lipofill technique that RevCat mentions is done at Glasgow.
P.S. My nipples were relocated on both breasts as part of the “lift” and they’ve both recovered sensation.
Thanx jude. Have appt with my onc nxt friday to get results of scan and my bone density. Im keeping everything crossed, love and luck to all you lovely ladies going thru all the things we have to endure xxx
I ended up being recommended to have rads. They only finished in Sept and so the recon is still settling down after those. Rads were always a possibility and having the immediate recon was a calculated risk I took. My PS is firmly of the opinion that even if I get capsular contraction and have to go under the knife again (about a 30% chance in the next 5 years) a) I will still end up with a better result than a delayed recon b) Only one major procedure rather than two.
I don’t have a particularly fat back (size 12) but did have fairly well developed LD muscle - I think that cos it’s muscle wrapped round the implant its bound to be a bit firmer than the other one.
Re size, I’ve got a port in the implant, so I can be inflated/let down as required in the future. I guess the final tweaks will be done after the effects of the rads have settled down - when/if I have a nipple recon? The difference in size is only discernable to me - that boob used to be the slightly smaller of the two! It’s totally unnoticable in clothes and I have a very natural cleavage.
Dx
