Nipple Sparing Mastectomy with immediate reconstruction
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Hey everyone! So I went to a breast cancer fundraiser last night that a friend of mine had. Some of the women there (who have never had BC) were all like "Woo Hoo! Save the Ta-Tas!!" For some reason it rubbed me the wrong way. I said, "Hey, how about Woo-Hoo! Save the lives!!" I know it's all in good fun, and don't mean to be Ms. Crabby Pants, but I don't think that people understand that BC is still fatal for many women. We are the lucky ones here. We got to save our lives, our ta-tas and our nipples!
SusansGarden- Post MX I don't think you'll appear swollen so much as shrunken and even that will be determined by how many cc's your PS puts in your TE during surgery. The more cc's the more you'll appear "normal" but also the more you may be uncomfortable. You might ask your PS during your pre-op appointment what they will do. The average seems to be about 100 cc's. I think the biggest surprise for me was how hard my breasts were with the TE's. No one had warned me about that. I somehow was expecting soft little balloons that got a little bigger with each fill. Just remember, though, it's just temporary!
julie- Glad you're doing so well! I think it's much easier post MX for those that go into it who are in great shape. (umm, that wasn't me, unfortunately....) (On that note...it's off to the treadmill I go!)
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Thanks again ladies!! Sharing your experiences helps SO much!
I guess I am fortunate that I got on a real "health kick" in July and already eat really healthily and exercise regularily......I'm "stepping it up" this month as my surgery approaches. I am crossing my fingers that it helps me with an easier recovery.
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SusansGarden- Yep, you're doing all the right things! I don't want to say the MX was a piece of cake but it was so much easier than I had anticipated. I thought I wouldn't even be able to lift my arms above my head (and so couldn't blow dry my hair so not only wouldn't I have breasts but my hair would look like crap, too). (I know....I obsess about the strangest things!) But, with the exception of lifting anything too heavy, I didn't feel too restricted.
One thing with the drains- you can either pin them to your clothes to keep them out of the way or you can buy a special camisole that has pockets on it for the bulbs on the ends of the drains. I bought mine at the cancer center gift shop. It was nice because it kept everything out of the way. Another good thing to have is some kind of lanyard to go around your neck for showering (if your PS lets you shower with your drains in- some don't). You just pin your drains to the lanyard before showering.
Somewhere on here is a thread about what to do and buy right before MX. I'll try to find it if you haven't seen it yourself.
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Thanks for the tips Kate...that would be really helpful to see the do/buy list!
Yeah...I was assuming I wouldn't be able to lift my arms up either! I wonder if that would be the case if they end up having to take more lymph nodes?
I bought a book off of Amazon, The Breast Cancer Survivor's Fitness Plan, and have just starting to read it. It's actually full of great and fascinating information about all things relating to breast cancer...as well as having very specific exercises and stretches to do before and after surgery...specified to the different types (lump, BMX, DIEP, etc). I would highly recommend it!
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SusansGarden- Here's one of the threads-
http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/91/topic/699896?page=3#idx_61
One tip I had forgotten about, that was on there, was ask your BS/PS's for your prescriptions at your pre-op appointments and get them filled ahead of time. That way you won't have to stop on the way home from the hospital.
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Thanks..that's a great suggestion!!! ....darn it..the link didn't work for me?
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Sorry Susan! The title of the thread is "Shopping/packing/to-do list for surgery + recovery". Just put in shoppingpackingtodo into the Keyword(s) box and it should be the 2nd thread that comes up.
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SusansGarden - My PS told me not to lift my arms out to the side, but if I kept them close to my side I could get my hands to my head - so I could kind of do my hair - does that make sense? I couldn't shower until the drains were removed, that was one week later. I could sit in tub, my husband washed my hair while I leaned over the tub. One thing I wish I would have done - the surgical bra I had on got really stinky after a few days and I think it would have been ok to take it off and quickly throw it in the washer - I would have felt much cleaner. Also my TEs had 50cc in after surgery, not much but I had the first fill 2 weeks later.
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Hi Susan: I will try to post pics on the forum of my BMX NSM . I have pics from 3 days after surgery and a week after. Please keep in my that I had open heart surgery in June which is the scar you will see between my breasts. The plastic surgeon re did the upper portion for me as i had a pretty ugly scar there. I will let you know as soon as I figure out how to post it. (computer challenged) LOL.0
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Susan the pics are up in the forum.
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Susan - I just wanted to throw one more helpful hint onto everyone's great tips: My PS suggested to me to use a fanny pack to put my drains in. It worked like a charm for me, especially when I was out in public. I didn't have to worry about whether or not the drains were being exposed under my clothes. Of course I had to do something like Kate suggested when taking a shower,..I used a wide ribbon around my waist and pinned them to it.
Kate - I can so relate with you about how certain things people say can rub you the wrong way. For me, having" bigger, perkier breast" is not a fair trade off for having BC. I think my friends mean well, but it never sits well with me! I'ld take back my old small, saggy breast over this BC stuff any day!!!
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SMH- Amen to that! I was definitely the one who never knew what I had until it was gone. Never thought I would miss those tiny, never-fit-into-a-bikini-or-a-sexy-bra things but I do! The fanny pack is a great idea. Wish I'd thought of that. Finding clothes that hid the drains was definitely a challenge!
BTW, I sent you a PM. Did you get it? Just had a few questions for you since you are local to me.
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Hello everyone, I am writing this from my hospital room. Things went great!!! The day of surgery of course was mainly a blur and yesterday was just resting and sleeping off and on most of the day, my doctor wanted me to get out of bed and that was painful but probably helpful to my healing. Today is soo much better I've been in and out of bed several times and even took a walk down the hall. My doctors were so awesome they are constantly checking in on me. I had Dr. Robert Allen assisted by Dr. Christina Ahn, and then also had the NSM on the left side with Dr. Robert Shapiro (I had a right mastectomy a year ago). I already have feeling in the nipple, I'm so excited about that. My personal opinion is these doctors are some of the best in this field and I can't say enough positive about them and my whole experience.
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That's wonderful, Sherrie! Hope the rest of your recovery goes just as smoothly!
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sherrie12, That is wonderful news and you already have some feeling! That's a really good sign!
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sherrie12, Great to hear everything is going good - may it continue to do so - it's wonderful when you love you doctors!!
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sherrie12- Just wanted to welcome you here. So glad that you were able to have NSM for this MX and that everything went so well. I think it's great you are getting around so well and it will help so much with your recovery. Don't forget to drink lots and lots of fluids, too. It'll help get all the anesthesia out of your system which will make you feel so much better, too. Hope your recovery continues to go smoothly. (((gentle HUGS)))
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Sherrie12-so glad to hear you had a positive experience with your surgery and that your doing great. Continue to rest and give your body time to heal. That is great that you have some feeling in your nipple!
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Love hearing about your positive experience , Sherri! I hope things continue smoothly for you! 0
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Sherri12: Very happy for you. Hope you continue to do well.
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Day 4 and I was released to go back to hope lodge and will now have a visiting nurse coming in everyday to see me. The trip was very tiring and I had to take a 3 hour nap and rest from all the activity. Nipple seems to be doing very well and I continue to have feeling iin it. They did not sever something called the sensory nerve and tell me I should have feeling back in most of the breast in about 6 months. Having had a full right side mastectomy a year ago I can tell you that psychologically it feels much better to look down and see the nipple on the left side.They did reconnect the sensory nerve on the right so I will also get feeling back on that side but they said that would take much longer (at least a year for that side, maybe more). Overall, I'm very happy with the outcome of my surgery.
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Yeah for having feeling back in your nipple...and possibly in your other side as well!! 0
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Sherrie, that is interesting about the sensory nerve - do they routinely sever that or not? I would hope not... boy, my surgery is 9 days away and I still have so much to learn!
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I was wondering the same thing, Julia!! You would think they would try at all costs NOT to sever that! 0
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That is something to ask your doctor, I'm not sure if that is how all doctors do it. Maybe someone else who had nipple sparring can jump in here. Do you have feeling in the nipple??
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no..none..but it has been returning in the breast. The areola and nipple are numb still
I am almost 8 months out
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I had NSM 10/7. I have no feeling in the nipple on the cancer side (left), but I've had probably 95% feeling in the nipple on the prophylactic side (right) ever since surgery. Only difference I can think of is they were extra careful to get as much tissue as possible from the left side. I'm thankful I was able to get this procedure, and extremely grateful I have the feeling in the right side.
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Sherrie12-I have no feeling in either nipples. I lost part of one and have a slight irritated feeling when I touch that one. I never heard of the Dr being able to save the sensation. That is so awesome. If they can do that I wonder why it's not being done. Most the people have talked to that have had a MX or NSM has lost a lot of sensation in their skin and nipples if not all. Some report some skin sensation coming back. I am totally numb on one side of my breasts and the other has some skin sensation on the sides only.
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cc4np, we are opposites! My prophalactic side's nipple seems quite numb while my bc side's nipple has some feeling!
I do notice that my areola though has quite a lot of feeling in both sides. My numb area (like 100% numb) seems to be located on both sides from the cut in the crease going up to the nipple. The middle, top and sides all have feeling..maybe not as much as I had before surgery, but quite a bit! I know that feelings have come back though since my NSM bc I can remember my entire sides being numb and wondering if I am always going to be like that. I have a friend who had augmentation through her armpits and claims that she has zero nipple feeling! I don't understand why since they went in through her armpits but that is what she tells me!This is kinda funny and odd, but recently, since I have been smothering myself in cocoa butter, I had this painful teeney tiny pimple on the edge of my areola appear (cocoa butter clogs your pores!). I was in shock how much pain it caused but I was also happy to have felt the pain!
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Hi, my surgery is Nov 25 and I have a question regarding nipple. My PS told me that my nipple area will be flatter then now? What does that mean exactly? I thought nipple will be remaining "erect" after surgery ( you know, the same way as when you get cold ) , am I wrong? Can you please help me to understand that part? 0
