Masectomy - advice prior and after surgery - feelings & practical

[Lucy_BCC]

Hi Deborah and welcome to the BCC forums
Along with the support here please feel free to call our helpliners for further support and information, lines are open 9-5 weekdays and 10-2 Saturdays on 0808 800 6000

Here's a link to the DCIS information on this site which I hope you will find helpful:

https://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/breast-cancer-information/about-breast-cancer/primary-breast-can...

Take care
Lucy BCC

[Duffer56]

Hi Deborah, I am 18 months post DCIS and DIEP. I Did a blog at the time - if you would like to read it then pm me with your email address and Imwill send you a copy

[valdermossa]

hi there , ive just been diagnoised with dcis not sure yet what stage,.

have decided to have double mx with reconstruction so confused , and really scared.

would appreciate any help or advice

thankyou in advance deborah

[booksandwine]

Thanks Ali yes change seems all around me wierd in early feb I could have planned and predicted this year now I'm a day at a time

[alihodgie]

OMG that is exactly what happened to me I was all set to have my op the 5 Dec and the breast cancer surgery picked up it had it gone to my  lympth nodes so i was referred to have chemo the following week and surgery  was put off.  Be ready for things to change all the time as I only had 5 sessions of chemo as i also had a large area of pre-cancerous cells.that had developed.  take care and hope everything works out well for you.  I am now preparing for the radiotheraphy. 🙂

[booksandwine]

Thanks all for your support and advice things changed quickly in mid march due to MRI scan they picked up possible lump on right boob and a possible node on lung. Anyway as mind is very fast growing they changed me to chemo first. From when I saw oncologist till my first session it had grown another 2 cm.

So on 1 April - magic April fools day. Luckily after lunch i had my first chemo and I will have 3 cycles of fec every 3 weeks and. 3 of the next name forgotten same every 3 weeks.

So operation and surgeon will no do bilateral at same time will be later in year not sure if before or after rads.

So I had to get my head around chemo first and quickly and have now time to look at boob options and they can enjoy their stay of execution as it were. But i will look at all options now and when I get to meet other BC patients in person hopefully via my treatment centre mount vernon (amazing place) or other support groups I want to find and join I can see what will be right for me

Thank you all this forum has been a life line since feb never knew my life could change yet still be the same in such a short space of time. All you ladies are amazing.

[alihodgie]

Hi

I thought i would reply as you are the same age and shape as i am and to try and help you. It is a big decision and you mite change your mind a few times.  I have already went through chemo, my cancer went to my lymph nodes. i have just had  my op on thursday gone the 27th March 14 the operation was  a mascetomy on the right side and lumpcetomy on the left and lympth node clearance. I did intionally think i wanted a double mascetomy to give me a greater chance of no return of the cancer but after discussing this with my Breast Cancer surgeon i was told this did not reduce the chance of it coming back as it can still come back in the breast bone as you still have some tissue there so that is why i made the decision.  I also wanted to have immediate breast reconstruction as i cud not bare looking at myself if i was totally flat chested.  After long discussions with my plastic surgeon intionally i wanted to have a diep which is using the stomach tissue but i did not have enough tissue to stay the same size as i was 34dd, so I went for the permant expander implants which i was not aware i could havee them in both breasts.  I was so pleased with that as i would feel the same on both sides and not lop sided as i thought. I do have to have radiotheraphy in a couple of weeks but my surgeon is exellent and has covered my implants in strattice which protects them.  I think this was the best decision as i was not totally flat when i came out of the op which helped me cope with losing my breast.  I can also stay the same size if not go bigger.  After going through the op i have coped better than i thought uptil now anyway.  Hope this helps and if you have any other queries just let me know. take care 

Ali xx

[Debs-]

I dont know how you will feel Hun as we are all different but all you can do is let your body and mind feel what it wants to and has to...I personally thought everything was going to hit me once i saw my breast was gone as i had been handling everthing so well. I dreaded seeing my chest after and felt i would not look down for weeks. Im 40yrs old and big chested also. What happenend for me after imagining the worst didnt happen!! I looked at my missing boob as soon as i could,and didnt mind it like i thought i would.Of course i dont know what a double mx would feel like .Pain wise,i didnt feel any in that area at all .I thought feeling pain there and feeling it missing would be a constant reminder of my op but i can honestly say i sometimes forget i have no boob as it still feels like its there!!! I wish you well and hope you it goes well for you and that you feel better than what you expect like i did about it all..I start my chemo friday with rads after also...All the Best x

[Duffer56]

Hi, I had MX last May and all was done very fast from diagnosis to operation. It's a scary time and I tried to do what I could to prepare mentally and emotionally and physically. The anaethesthetist suggested I tried to eat an iron rich diet before my operation (green veg, liver etc) so that it would speed recovery time. I gave up alcohol for the five weeks before hand as I wanted to give my body the best chance to recover. I got hold of a couple of pre-surgery relaxation tapes which, although not really my thing normally, did help a bit.
I am quite large build (size 18) and I opted for the DIEP procedure even though the recovery time on this is one of the longest. It was a lengthy operation but I drank loads of water during the 24 hours afterwards and it really helped to flush out the anaesthetic (very handy to have a catheter in at the time!).
If you want to pm me please feel free - I am happy to help any way I can. X

[kitten_mad]

Sorry to hear this, I went through a Mx at 30 mins notice - had gone in for something different but it had spread quite quickly on the skin. Anyway this meant I had to come to terms with it all pretty fast as you can imagine. At the back of my mind I had thought it might come to this, and I know that I personally could not have coped if I had woken up and been flat. I had an LD flap so boob was made of small implant and back muscle - not huge (34D), but not tiny either!  If there is anything I can help with please feel free to PM me (just click on name and the option should come up), happy to help out with anything questions however silly they may seem.

Take care

K M x

[booksandwine]

Hi I am seeking help / advice / any throughts re how to prepare practically and mentally for masectomy - my left breast has confirmed cancer, found out today that my right breast was looking 50/50 re cancer - from a not clear MRI scan, this has made me now confirmed

I will seek double rather than single masectomy.

I am 48, with fairly big boobs, some days I dont feel I will miss them, but they are a large part of me - I am an hourglass figure - guess I need to work out how to be more a pear! 

I know it will be odd to wake up without breasts, be it losing 1 or 2 - feel, it will be easier to remove both and have less future worry - but what will it be like when I wake up?? I know I'll feel flat odd, wierd and emotional so would appreciate advice and practical advice and support - trying to feel positive as I need to have surgery first and then I will tackle the follow up chemo and radiotherapy and that part of the journey.

I thank you in advance for your support as I was diagnosed in Feb and your support on the forum and over the phone has been amazing - thank you