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Moving On......After the Flap

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Comments

  • Teacher64
    Teacher64 Member Posts: 402
    edited February 2015

    islanders, so sorry. Hopefully, the PS won't mess up your pretty girls too much.

  • Zenful
    Zenful Member Posts: 394
    edited February 2015

    Klanders, I am sorry to hear you are going through this. It reminds us all to be vigilant eventhough we have had BMX. Glad you caught it early. I pray that The damage to your breast will be minimal. ((Hugs))

  • lahela
    lahela Member Posts: 145
    edited February 2015

    klanders, you are in my thoughts.

    This evil disease never quits. My sister-in-law had BC seven years ago, then as a result of treatment for that she got chemo induced leukemia the following year. 2 weeks ago the leukemia came back and she passed away a few hours ago.

    We need a cure.

  • Jeannie57
    Jeannie57 Member Posts: 1,314
    edited February 2015

    Lahela, my sincere sympathies. It is not right that our treatments can cause a new cancer. I'm sorry for your loss.

  • Janet_M
    Janet_M Member Posts: 500
    edited February 2015

    lahela - Dammit. I'm so sorry for the loss of your sister in law. My heart is with you and your family.

    Janet


  • LiLi-RI
    LiLi-RI Member Posts: 160
    edited February 2015

    Lahela: I am so sorry for your loss. Prayers and hugs to you and your family. Lisa

  • Teacher64
    Teacher64 Member Posts: 402
    edited February 2015

    Lahela, so sorry for your loss

  • jmb5
    jmb5 Member Posts: 59
    edited February 2015

    Lahela, I  am so very sorry for your loss.

  • klanders
    klanders Member Posts: 152
    edited February 2015

    Lahela, I too, am sorry for your loss. It's tough. Sometimes it does seem like if the cancer doesn't kill us the treatment will. Praying you find comfort during this sad time.

  • GwennyMD
    GwennyMD Member Posts: 68
    edited February 2015

    Lahela - I am so sorry for your loss. My prayers are with you and your family.

  • katcar0001
    katcar0001 Member Posts: 321
    edited February 2015

    Lahela, What a crushing loss for you and your family. I am so sorry. Damn disease just takes and takes. Big hugs to you.

  • lahela
    lahela Member Posts: 145
    edited February 2015

    Thank you all so much for your kind words - you ladies have been such a comfort through this horrible journey, helping me find strength when I need it. Much love to you all.

  • jmb5
    jmb5 Member Posts: 59
    edited March 2015

    I'm curious if any of you have children who have struggled with your diagnosis/treatment. It seems to have really affected my teenage daughter, and as she shares bits and pieces with me, I'm concerned about how it's affected her.

  • jmb5
    jmb5 Member Posts: 59
    edited March 2015

    Just read this article regarding anxiety after treatments end...
    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/anxiety-lingers-long-after-cancer/?_r=0

  • debiann
    debiann Member Posts: 447
    edited March 2015

    My kids are grown (26 & 28) and live on their own, so I didn't tell them much about what was going on other than "Its early stage, I'll be fine". They didn't see how crappy I felt after each tx, which I can imagine would be really scary. My son started calling me more, so I guess he was concerned. My daughter came and cleaned my house once and took over the things I usually do for my mom, like grocery shopping and taking her to appointments. I think my daughter is now more worried about getting cancer herself since just before my dx her father's brother had prostate cancer and recently her father (my ex.) was dx with melanoma. Hopefully this only causes her to be a little more vigilant but doesn't create a lot of anxiety for her.

    My husband's granddaughter, who is only 3 but very close to me, avoided me when my hair fell out. One day she said, "Nanny, put your hat back on!" lol. In general, we didn't see his family much during my treatments, I didn't feel like socializing. This past weekend his older granddaughter (14) asked if she could stay over for the weekend, something she hasn't done since my dx last year. We had a great time and she said she missed coming up this summer, which was really nice to hear, especially since I'm the "step" grandma.

  • jmb5
    jmb5 Member Posts: 59
    edited March 2015

    Thanks for sharing debiann. My younger girls (15, 12) seem fine and say they're fine. My oldest daughter (17), has struggled. She stepped up more with household stuff after my surgery. She has shared how hard it was to see me like that. She went on an overseas mission trip about 6 months after my surgery and wasn't able to talk to or text me at all while she was gone, and it caused her a tremendous amount of anxiety, she says because of all that had happened. Since then she has struggled with anxiety a little bit. I've been struggling too since all the surgeries and appointments have ended. People don't realize how hard it is when it's all over and you have to try to move forward and things are different.

  • jmb5
    jmb5 Member Posts: 59
    edited March 2015

    I wanted to ask a tattoo question also... I have an appointment at Vinnie's in about 4 weeks, and I'm getting a little nervous as it gets closer. I guess I'm afraid I won't like the finished product. I was looking at pictures on his website and found a woman with scars similar to mine, and I didn't love the way it looked. I had scars that we call crop circles. After the nipple reconstruction, the circle was a little smaller, but it's still fairly large. So the scar basically looks like a large areola. I thought that they would tattoo the whole area, but then it would probably look too big. So in the picture of the other woman, it was a smaller tattooed nipple inside the circle scar. I was hoping I wouldn't be able to see the scar, but the only way to do that would be to tattoo the whole scar area, which might look too big. Anyone else have this issue? What did you do?

  • migrantt
    migrantt Member Posts: 4
    edited March 2015

    hi all- i'm kind of jumping over here (going to be having my BMX in June/July). i was wondering if anyone had done or knew of anyone who'd had the BodyLift Flap procedure at NOLA? that's my plan (it's really the very best option i can find for me) but i'd love to speak with folks who've had it done or really anyone who's had surgery with the NOLA Dr's. I'll be coming from Los Angeles to get the surgeries done. I met with Dr's Dellacroce & Stoller and feel really good about them, but still.. would love to hear how people on the other side of the knife felt.. thanks so much.. michele

  • debiann
    debiann Member Posts: 447
    edited March 2015

    JMB5, my surgery was too recent to know for sure, but I think that scar continues to fade till it is hardly noticeable. My lumpectomy scar from last March is already at that point.  That's what I'm hoping for.

  • MartyJ
    MartyJ Member Posts: 819
    edited March 2015

    migrantt - post your question on the NOLA in September? thread (https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topic/736412?page=900#idx_26981). You will get answers there. There are a number of people who have had the body lift.

  • migrantt
    migrantt Member Posts: 4
    edited March 2015

    thanks martyj- i'll do that!

  • jmb5
    jmb5 Member Posts: 59
    edited March 2015

    Thanks for the responses. Still not sure what I'm going to do about the tattoos. I'm hoping the experts at Vinnie's will have some good advice.

  • Ridley
    Ridley Member Posts: 95
    edited March 2015


    jmb -- I'll be interested to hear what the folks at Vinnie's suggest -- I'm going to have the same issue, especially on one side, as my "crop circle" is larger because they had to remove the lumpectomy scar, and because of its position, it was replaced by part of the crop circle.  The oldest scar I have now is from my original sentinel node biopsy, and it is really faint, so I'm hoping these newer ones just follow right along and continue to fade, but we'll see.  Regardless I think once you have the tattoos, your eye will be drawn to those, so I expect the scars will fade because of that as well.

     

  • jmb5
    jmb5 Member Posts: 59
    edited March 2015

    So the bras that I bought after stage 1 have really not been comfortable for a while. I just felt like they were not fitting well. I went to Victoria's Secret today to see if I could find something more comfortable. I figured I had two fat grafting surgeries since I bought the first bras, so my breasts are a little different. Those bras were a 34C. (Before the mx, I was a 34B... barely.) Can you believe I am now a 32DDD!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I honestly thought VS changed their sizing or something. I am just floored. No wonder I have been struggling to embrace my new boobs. I'm not sure what a DDD is supposed to look like, but when I look in the mirror, they don't seem that huge. I don't know. It's all just very weird. Lol. PS told me before surgery that she thought she could get me to where I was, maybe a little smaller, so I was expecting a small B, large A. Crazy! Must have been some good fat grafting! Anyone else have an experience like this?

  • Jeannie57
    Jeannie57 Member Posts: 1,314
    edited March 2015

    Yes! I was a 34C before this and I'm now a 34DD. It was shocking!

  • GwennyMD
    GwennyMD Member Posts: 68
    edited March 2015

    I have changed bra sizes 3 times. Before surgery I was 38B/C. After surgery, I wore stretchy 38DD. They were obviously larger but I was not allowed to wear real bras. After first revision surgery when the girls were lifted, I wore 38D. After 2nd revision surgery with major fat grafting I am now in a 36DDD. I had not been able to get into a 36 in 10 years. Its nice to finally have boobs that are bigger than my stomach. SillyHeart

    I noticed that the implant girls have a thread just for bra info. Now, that I have a shopping bag full of bras that I need to donate and that were purchased during the last 16 months, maybe we should create one for flappers.

  • jmb5
    jmb5 Member Posts: 59
    edited March 2015

    gwenny, so maybe it's the fat grafting? I remember hearing that you couldn't really change your cup size with fat grafting because so much absorbs. I had two big fat grafting surgeries too, and I was a C cup before them. I told the girl helping me at Victoria's Secret, "I don't know what happened." Lol. Just not what I was expecting.

  • LiLi-RI
    LiLi-RI Member Posts: 160
    edited April 2015

    Hi Ladies: I finally got a diagnosis which addresses all my issues over the last year - Cushings disease! It took a lot of research and tests and Drs who had no clue what was wrong with me. I have tumor on my left adrenal gland. I met with endocrinologist who specializes in adrenal issues on Monday at Dana Farber. I am scheduled for surgery on May 4 to remove left adrenal gland and tumor. The Dr said it would take a 1 1/2 years for my levels to become normal. I will be in hospital for a few days. Finally an end in sight! Lis

  • jmb5
    jmb5 Member Posts: 59
    edited April 2015

    Lili, Wow! So glad you got a diagnosis. I've never heard of that, so I googled it. :) Hope all goes well with  your surgery.

  • enjoyevrymoment
    enjoyevrymoment Member Posts: 239
    edited April 2015

    Lahela sorry for your loss.

    Jmb, I have learned to accept my new normal, there is coloring in the crop circles now and from a distance no one would know my breasts are different. I went to an excellent tattoo artist at UPenn and I think my point is the crop circles mean your areola may be bigger than it was before but that is really a normal variant among people, some do have larger areolas than others. Best wishes, I have heard nothing but the best about Vinnie, he is a true artist.

    Thinking of you klanders. :) praying you have great outcomes and a speedy recovery.

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