Hi,had an implant put in one month ago (and the expander taken out) and not happy with shape at the moment. The Consultant said it can take up to 6 months to settle and was very dismissive of my distress. Just wondering if anyone else felt like this at this stage and does it settle? At the moment I would just prefer to have it taken out, has anyone else done this? It was easier to wear my clothes with a prosthesis that my current shape.
Hi there B girl
I also hate my implant that was fitted after the expander.
I was told anything from 6mths to a year for things to settle.
As it happens, it has to come out now as my skin has been stretched so much that i cannot have my nipple reconstructed (another story!).
What do you dislike about your implant? Is it the fact that it isn’t as ‘breast like’ as you had imagined it to be?
I do hope you get it sorted soon.
Naz x
Hi,
I had bilateral recon done using expanders in 2005. Unfortunately this went wrong - the implant on the cancer side began to migrate until most of it sat under my armpit - the doctors kept expanding it in the hope it would sit more in the front of my chest-of course it didn’t!
I was unable to wear any kind of bra other than a crop top. Because OF RX, the skin was so tight and I was sure it was about to split.
I’m afraid that I had enough and refused to have it replaced, as the new one would do the same. I have gone back to wearing prostheses and am much more comfy and can wear bras again.
Good luck with whatever you decide. xx
Many thanks for your comments. I am unhappy with the size and shape and very uncomfortable at the moment. Going back to hospital on Wednesday with a list of questions!
Dear All
I have had a lot of problems since LD flap/impant recon in 2008. Although it’s true implants can take a bit of time to settle you should not leave it more than a couple of months as most healing,or settling (from my experience)- call it what you will, seems to occur in that period. If I have one piece of advice it is to challenge the “wait and see” approach if it is painful. I suffered a lot of pain and frankly the medics knew this but dismissed it. The Ps I was eventually referred 18 months after it was fitted confirmed that it was one of the worst cases of an encapsulated implant he had seen in his whole career and asked why I had waited so long to deal with it - this despite the surgeon who did it and his BCN telling me it was perfectly normal. It isn’t easy to challenge the NHS as we are supposed to feel grateful but there’s no point in having a painful implant.
One last thought - almost three years and several implants later I still feel it is a foreign object in my body, not part of me and not a breast, despite medics referring to it as my new breast, it is not mine nor a breast. It is an NHS prosthesis installed in my body. Nothing replaces our lost breasts but for some of us implants, or any recon option is preferable to the alternative. Medics encourage us to think of it as a new breast - Its fair to say that for me this makes it emotionally difficult. I know what a breast looks and feels like and the recon is different so it fuels my unhappiness, raised my expectations and sense of loss. I really think that this is an issue for a lot of us. It does not feel part of us, maybe it will but we are made to feel ungrateful because we can’t get our heads and hearts round it. Truth is it takes time to accept that recon is not a replacement breast and the stated goal is to make us look normal in clothes when we want to look normal and as we were before mx out of them.
I think being comfortable with the recon and getting it finished promptly or making the choice to be breast free is essential to moving on, particularly in the sex dept. I had no idea it took so long to get a recon completed! I had immediate recon but I lived without a nipple and areola until the end of last year, this really distressed me more than the loss of the breast because I could not fool myself that it was a breast and I felt ashamed because it does not look normal. I definitely felt much, much better after nipple recon but am still waiting for tattoo so it still looks odd. I’m still not finished and I’ve run out of energy but can accept (though I don’t like it) the recon as it is as preferable to more surgery.
Love and strength
Jane x
I am with you Jane.
You know my story.
It is hard, very hard…i have no idea how i am going to get through this next year to be hoenst.
B girl, one word of advice. If you are unhappy with what the medics have done, make a noise and do not let it go, until you are satisfied with the end result.
All the best.
xx
Hey Naz and Bgirl
Naz- I feel your pain and I hope you will get through even though it is really really hard. I have seen your posts re hair and chemo and I can see you have really struggled with the way all this c*** has impacted on your body but you are still trying to get on with it all. I cope by trying not to think abut it and to focus on the exact moment in time. Maybe it will help to think where you will be in another year’s time? Lots of people say that helps: to think that in a certain period of time it will all be in the past. My Onc said that before I started chemo, she said “In two years time this will all be a distant memory and life will be normal again”. Although she couldn’t have known that the recon issue would still be unresolved it was true to an extent, everything except sex is back to normal ie work, responsibility and my hair back to the pre chemo style, texture and length. And getting your normal hair back does help to make you happier to some extent. And getting a faux nipple is a major boost, even if the recon is not that great. Definitely has made a major difference to me. will let you know how I am after the tattoo.
Also don’t know if you are in the right place mentally and geographically for this but it may help you to make contact with the Breast Cancer Haven if there is one near you - I know someone from the Forum who has found them very helpful for advice, supportive therapies and in her emotional healing.
Hang in there honey
Much love
Jane x
Thanks Jane
It has not been two years since diagnosis yet, and i feel that i have been through the mill already!
My hair is not back to how it was yet, still too short, but at least it is growing!
I just cannot believe that i have to have this recon done all over again - it is beyond belief!
They clearly have no idea how this has affected my mental state, i have a young family, trying to get backinto work, and then this happens!
I am so angry, i could have a really confrontational meeting with the surgeon when i see him in a week!
Sorry to hijack your thread bgirl, hope you are okay? Let us know how you got on this week…xxxx
I will be seeing my surgeon next month, he said I have to decide whether to have nothing done and stay as I am with just the expander and the “port” left in place, have just the port removed (which I will have done as I find it annoying on my rib cage) or have the expander replaced with an implant. Has anyone decided just to leave the expander in? How long do they last? I’m not endowed with big breasts only B cup so it hasn’t bothered me too much.
How did you get on with your dismissive - not uncommon consultant? Did you manage to sought it out, you could see your GP and go for a second opinion, but be warned - they are the brotherhood!