Hi
After my mastectomy 5 1/2 years ago, I had an expander added and filled over weeks but before it reached the final amount of saline agreed, radio therapy was started and therefore, no more could be added. I went on to have a diep flap (2 years later) and although that has been fine in medical terms, aesthetically, it looks awful as the radiotherapy has done significant damage to the skin, leaving a circle of puckered tissue in the top half of my breast, the diep flap being on the lower half. There is a 5 cm+ difference in droop (gulp) to the right breast, even though I was given an uplift on that side at the time. Seeing my surgeon today, she has told me that the only remaining thing they can do, with some reluctance, is to give me another expander and use a combination of saline & silicone to see if the skin could be further stretched to create volume and some kind of symmetry. Atm, my breasts don't look like they belong on the same body (not helped because I am also missing a nipple on the reconstructed breast) and the scarring is not helped by the thinner skin caused by radiotherapy. More worryingly, my surgeon is not overly confident about the results of the next surgery and suggests I brace myself to 'accept the outcome' - whatever it is. Having had no clue that this might be the possible outcome of my surgery & radiotherapy at the start of all this, it is fairly tough to hear after 5 1/2 years of waiting for things to get better, especially as every photo I ever was ever shown of breasts, large, small, perky, droopy or whatever, had no such differences. All in all, its a bit disheartening to feel that after all this time, it might amount to no progress at all and I just wondered if anybody else has had this kind of thing happen and has any suggestions for alternative solutions, in this country or elsewhere.
Many thanks
