Breast Cancer Now Forum

That looks interesting! But may be only suitable for smaller cup sizes? don't know for sure - only surmising. I haven't had liposuction to know how much can be sucked from one area and injected into another! I should investigate this before you have your DIEP flap op, as it looks far less invasive. Lotty ... View more

Hi Miss Piggy Keep doing the arm exercises! The mobility will come back eventually, although slight stiffness remains from time to time ( normally with me it's first thing in the morning) Cording is very obvious if you have it, you can often see the 'cords' running from your armpit down your arm a bit like a raised vein. I had it quite badly and managed to get rid of it myself by some fairly extreme stretching and massaging: 1. 'Walk' your arm up a wall,standing as close as you can. I then massaged my arm stroking firmly from the wrist down to the breast, whilst my arm was at full stretch above my head. I did this every day and on a couple of occasions felt something give, almost as though the cording had snapped. It seemed to release something and slowly improved and has now gone. 2. Throw a hand towel over the top of a door. With your good arm, pull the towel down as far as you can, whilst holding the other end with your bad arm, which gives it a good stretch. I then held it for several minutes at full stretch - sometimes massaging the cording at the same time. Keep at it - it seems to work, although you will probably feel it isn't making any difference for a while. It will go eventually and mobility will probably be the same as it originally was. Good luck and hope this helps. Lotty ... View more

Hi both - have just sent a message to you Debs on another thread! I don't have a prob sleeping on my side, but used to. I'm further down the line than you both. So don't worry - it will soon be better! lotty ... View more

Hi Debs I'm feeling a bit fed up about the swelling, to be honest. My consultant said I should do sit ups to help the muscle tone and I feel it's worse. I may have put on a bit of weight too. But I feel a bit depressed that one of the pluses of having this op was to have a flat stomach, which I quite evidently don't have. The hardness on the underside of my reconstructed breast doesn't seem to be getting any better and I haven't heard from anyone who has had this experience to share. I'm feeling a bit depressed about it today and feel I need a bit of positive direction. I would love to meet up with some people who have had this op to compare notes (well - maybe not - they all seem to have had good experiences!) On a positive note - the woman in the bra shop said that mine was the best reconstruction she had seen - so can't all be bad! I sometimes start to lose faith that the consultants actually know the solutions to some of the problems we are having and just want reassurance that all will be well in the end! I'm contemplating asking to see the consultant before 8th December, when I'm currently due to go, but don't really know if there's much advantage to that. How are you? Is the wound finally healing? I went to a Lymphodema awareness workshop and have a longer list of exercises to do now! Best Lotty ... View more

Good luck and stick to your guns! just wanted to add that the silver dressings were left on for longer than one day to allow them to do their stuff, but that was probably a month down the road. Keep me posted. lottyx ... View more

I can't understand why you haven't been offered district nurse visits before, you're definitely entitled to it. As far as my knowledge goes, the important thing is for the wound to be kept clean at all times, so it can start to heal. Putting a plaster on just encourages a scab to form, when it needs to be healing from the bottom up without a scab forming. Have you been to the plastics dressings clinic at your hospital? They don't always have the silver dressings as they are expensive, the district nurses ordered mine in especially and laid it in the wound and then put a melanin dressing over. If you need more info, I will have a look in my 'dressings bag' and see exactly what I had. They didn't use the silver dressings at first, simply wiped it out with iodine, using with a sterile dressings pack (gloves, swabs tweezers etc), after a couple of weeks it was wiped out with sterile saline solution and a dressing put on and after another week or so they started the silver dressing. Actually when I say wiped out they let the iodine run into the wound they didn't wipe inside just the edges. Every day before the district nurse came, I had a shower and directed the shower nozzle into the wound to wash it out, then covered it with a sterile dressing until the nurse came. Don't even allow your towel to touch it! it was a bit of a nightmare at first, particularly when I needed to be able to get dressed and get out of the house in the morning, as the nurses would never be able to give me an exact time for their visits. At the time it seemed to go on forever, but as with everything, now it seems way in the past and it's all knitted together, although about 1cm thick/wide in that particular area. Actually even the PS has now admitted that she didn't think it would knit together as well as it has. The rest of my abdo wound is very neat and just a thin line and she wants to taper the end where there is a bit of a dog ear and also to neaten up the thicker scar where it healed itself. needless to say - I'm not in a great hurry to do this! Anyway - I'm more than happy to share any of my experience with you, as it felt at the time as though I was the only one having this kind of problem and I can only assure you that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Very best wishes lotty ... View more

I saw an article in the paper about it. It's good to see how surgery is advancing. They didn't say in the article that many people have to lose their nipple/s due to the risk of any cancer cells remaining. So I don't think they created a completely realistic picture. if the nipple goes, then it would be no different to the skin sparing surgery they have been doing for years. ... View more

Hi Debs and Twinmummy I bought a really good girdle from M & S. You get 2 for I think £8. I pair beige and one pair black. They are cotton and pretty firm, but comfortable to wear. As well as being much cheaper than some of the other control pants. I started with a larger size than I normally wear and went down a size later. Lotty ... View more

Hi Ostrich Don't worry. I had a wound infection on my abdomen and had to go back into surgery for a wash out and was then told they would leave the wound open! Panic or what. It was about 5 cms long!I was told it was important to shower and let the shower water really wash the wound out daily before dressings were applied. I was paranoid about reinfection and obsessed with checking that the nurses had sterile gloves on and didn't leave the wound uncovered whilst they faffed around with the new dressings. The whole thing took about 6 weeks to draw together healing from the bottom upwards. The district nurses came in every day to dress it after I was discharged and I also went to the plastics dressings clinic. They also used the silver dressing on me and we were all amazed how quickly the wound pulled together. Don't despair, I'm sure it will be alright. Just be patient and make sure nobody changes your dressings without being extremely careful about keeping everything sterile. lotty ... View more

I would like to keep in touch with you two about distended tummies, lumps etc. will share my experiences when I next see my PS Lotty ... View more

Ostrich Have just read your original posting on this thread and wondered how the tightness is in your arm? I had really bad tightness maybe 6-8 weeks post surgery and was also worried about the possibility of Lymphodema. I managed to get rid of it completely by my own massaging method! It worked for me fairly quickly. First of all I 'walked' my arm up the wall and stayed in the highest position at full stretch for several minutes, massaging with my other hand by grasping my wrist firmly and pulling back towards my armpit as tightly as possible in a sort of sweeping/pulling motion. By doing this you are giving your arm the fullest stretch you can. I was pretty ruthless about it and could feel different parts of my arm releasing with a kind of poppping or cracking. At first I thought something had snapped, but afterwards realised that something had released and it was helping. I also held my affected arm up in the air above my head and held the wrist with the other hand and pulled away from my armpit as hard and long as poss and threw a small hand towel over the top of my bathroom door and held one side with my right and one side with my left arm and pulled down as far as possible with my unaffected arm, so the affected arm was stretched as much as poss. Sometimes I would just hang there for several minutes - pulling as hard as I could in both directions! I did these exercises religiously night and morning. The cording didn't disappear over night, but by keeping up my massage and stretching, it went more or less completely over about 4 weeks and now I feel just a slight tightness in my wrist from time to time. Although I had been told that it would go away eventually, I felt quite pleased that I had managed to speed up the process. Hopefully it will work for you too. Lotty ... View more

hi there I had a DIEP flap reconstruction 6 months ago. I have a slight dent now on the top of the breast, but only really noticeable when lying down and partly due to slight swelling above that, which makes it appear to dip under. If that makes sense. The underside of the breast is very hard still and I can feel where the hardness ends on either side. I massage it every day and hope to help ease it along and reduce the hardness. I feel it helps, but the hardness is taking a long time to go. Lotty ... View more

Hi Debs I am in the same quandry as you are except further down the line. (6 months) I too feel as though I should have been given a support. However, from the responses you have got, it seems as though everyone is different in terms of recovery. I think that it makes sense to wear a girdle and have now bought one from a surgical shop. I think it is probably too late, but intend to ask my PS. Why not make an appointment to see your surgeon and mention your anxiety and the responses you have received to your post (tactfully.) As most surgeons seem to advise wearing a girdle, the ones that don't must surely have a good reason. Keep me posted how you get on. Lotty ... View more

Hi S I have to say that I'm at a bit of a loss to advise and am hoping other people who have been through this and out the other side will give us all some advice! Having said that....2 weeks is very early days, so I would give it a lot longer to settle before making any decisions. Mention it when you have your next check up and see what they say. When you say 'extended', do you mean swollen or just tight?? Lotty ... View more

Hi kookie I also have ectopic beats which I found out for the first time when I had an ECG in hospital. At the time, I was there for a lumpectomy, but have subsequently had a mastectomy and reconstruction. I am also on beta blockers ( a low dose 2.50mg) They don't seem too concerned, as hundreds of people have this problem and I had probably had it for years without knowing. They really seem to want to monitor the condition of the heart 6 monthly with echocardiograms(scans), to check that the ectopics aren't causing any wear on the heart. Hopefully the beta blockers will be helping to regulate the beats so the condition of the heart is unaffected. I'm not really concerned, as I don't even feel the ectopic beats and would never have known about them if I hadn't been told! Someone suggested that acupuncture could help, but I haven't tried it yet. I wouldn't worry unduly if I were you. Best wishes Lotty ... View more

Hi Junieliz I've spent a fortune on bras since my mastectomy and reconstruction - all very annoying, but hard to find the perfect one - offfering the best fit and supporting in all the right places without digging in. Did you know about Amoena and Anita bras, specialising in post mastectomy bras, with right pockets, left pockets, both or none! You could go on their website and find a local stockist to you. I've never found M & S bras a good fit really, but don't worry - there are other makes! Lotty ... View more

Hi Lizzie Sorry - I got the name of the oil wrong - just checked the bottle - it's called Rosa Mosqueta oil and I buy it from Fresh and Wild .It may be a London chain of health stores, as I know there is a store in North London and my local one in Battersea. I think there is another chain called Planet Organic that sell it as well. It is quite expensive, but very good. Just watch out though as it does stain, so your white bras end up a lovely yellow colour inside! I've recently started to towel it of fwith a slightly damp flannel after giving it a good massage into the skin, to take off the excess oil. Lotty ... View more

My PS asked me if I would do it - but never sent the form! Don't think she will now. where do you get the form from? Lotty ... View more

Re: scars and things. I meant to say that the area of hardness is on the boob itself - under the nipple area. sorry for being misleading! Lotty ... View more