I am now post op and am looking back on your kind replies and just wishing you all the best and hope that the mental scars as well as the physical have faded as mine are slowly doing (4weeks on). Stay strong you amazing people
I like you had 2failed lumpectomies so had diep last September.it was the best decision I made my new boob feels and looks natural.I'm awaiting uplift and nipple transfer and a little reduction from my fab female surgeon at wythenshawe.I've just come back from holiday and I wore a bikini for the first time.as I have a flat tummy and no stretch marks.people amazed me when commenting I'm so jealous ,when do they not realise given a choice we would rather have 2 healthy breasts baggy baby bellies ,spare tyres and stretch marks and not to have had a cancer diagnosis at all.good luck with your diep .tip -------- keep getting up and down and walking a few steps several times a day ,it hurts like hell getting up and down but only for a couple of seconds and once your straight walk a few steps .this helped me immensely I did it at least 15 times a day.any questions just ask.
thanks Mel - I had read your previous post and you had mentioned LD flap so I just assumed that was what you had eventually had - there was me thinking you must have had a really big back muscle - it makes sense now - thanks
Hi KM When I had the consultation with my surgeon about the procedure, he told me that often they can be done without if there was sufficient fat on the donor site but that in my case, due to my size (DD) and not having much fat there, he would have to use one. I think that's the advantage to the tummy donor version as there is usually more fat deposits there (there would certainly have been no problem in my case!!!) x
Mel - I agree - people think that because you look fine from the outside that you are ok and back to "normal", not realising the pain that you can go through for years after. I had an LD flap, but I still had to have a small implant too, as the muscle wouldn't be big enough - I had actually assumed that was the norm - but maybe not! Can the flap be sufficient to create a "whole boob"? My recon was done at very short notice though - 30 mins - so maybe they didn't have a lot of time to work it out! I am a bit confused now - let me you what your surgeon suggested about this, in a PM if necessary. Thanks
When I told people that I was having a MX and had chosen LD Flap because I wanted to wake up with two fairly matching boobs that looked like they should at my ago (47) rather than going for implant which would look unnatural and would also mean a reduction and uplift on my good side, I got lots of comments about it being a great chance to get that 'perfect pair of boobs' that every girl dreams of. Well meaning? Perhaps. Insensitive? Very! Actually, 'perfect boobs' haven't had cancer in them! 'Perfect boobs' are natural and healthy and whole!
I find myself putting on an act for the world that I'm fine and I'm coping... and then hiding myself away periodically for a cry and emotional meltdown. Then I usually come on here, read a few posts and know I'm not alone. X
Just feel lucky that there are people out there that understand, because after the initial diagnosis, you then feel a loneliness that noone else can understand. I have had 2 lumpectomys that didnt work, and am now on countdown to mastectomy, and tummy tuck, which some people have actually said they are jealous of!!!
