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Unilateral mastectomy & reconstruction

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Comments

  • angelia50
    angelia50 Member Posts: 168
    edited March 2015

    momwriter, I think the person or maybe place, you have the mammo, matters. My first ones were done locally and I literally had tears with a compression mammogram. However, I then went to a breast center and had no telling how many more, some after have just had biopsy, and they didn't hurt. I also have dense tissue, even though I am 59. What they are continuing to watch in my natural side is calcifications. I had the biopsied prior to my surgery but they will watch them more often than on most people I guess.

  • lala1
    lala1 Member Posts: 974
    edited March 2015

    Fourminor---I am just like you. I live in a bra 24/7 except to shower, which I do quickly. I'm just more comfortable. I told my PS that I think my implant is just to heavy for my muscles which, of course, just illicited and eye roll from him. My native breast was 500cc and my implant is 600cc so I truly think that is my problem. When I'm not wearing a bra I feel like my muscles are spasming. Funny enough, it doesn't even have to be a bra for comfort. If I take a washcloth, fold it up and press it under my arm along my rib cage, I get the same relief. Even my hand held there helps some. So for me It's not so much the bra holding up my boobs but that it gives compression. And I need that compression along the side of my rib cage, especially where the drains were. I don't really mind always having to wear a bra except that I still can't wear an underwire. It hurts that same area where my drains were and the top of the wire feels like it's pokiing into my armpit even though it's not. This must be some kind of result of the nerve damage. And I will have to say, always having to wear a bra (especially my sports type bra that I wear) tends to ruin intimate moments! It's like that constant reminder that I had a mastectomy and I think it kinda psychs out my DH! Anyway, I'm 2 years + out from MX and still dealing with it so I don't know if it will ever resolve. Maybe I should try going without for short periods and increasing that time and see if I can wean myself off a bra, if even for an hour or two.


  • frostecat
    frostecat Member Posts: 223
    edited March 2015

    I love going braless - I haven't been able to since I've been 18! I did just switch out my Bali Comfort Revolution bras for a regular Vanity Fair bra with NO underwire. I felt like I wasn't getting enough support on my natural side. I bought the Bali's for comfort alone. I was never a fan of underwire, and certainly am not now.

  • lala1
    lala1 Member Posts: 974
    edited March 2015

    Frostecat---Can you tell me if there is a certain Vanity Fair that you wear? I'm still in the Bali bras without wire and have been since all this started. I'd love to try something non-wire that will give support to my native side which is now 120cc bigger than before mx thanks to the efforts for symmetry! Is it even possible for non-wires to give enough support that my native side won't sag too much over time?


  • momwriter
    momwriter Member Posts: 276
    edited March 2015

    At the moment my exchange and lift is scheduled for a Thursday. We are planning to go away to relatives for Easter weekend (a six hour drive) the day after or two days after. Will that be too much for me or should it be fine if I'm just the passenger. Also, will I just be wearing button down clothes at first, or can I do pullovers.

  • angelia50
    angelia50 Member Posts: 168
    edited March 2015

    Everybody is different but I could have taken a trip and I had no problems with over head shirts but I didn't have issues with that immediately after the mastectomy either.

  • momwriter
    momwriter Member Posts: 276
    edited March 2015

    Thanks for answering angelia. My other surgeries were much more intense than this one- he said it might be 2 hours, no drains.

    Fourminor and lala- I've been a wearing bra all the time most because of the unevenness. I'm not that big- and I asked my PS to make the TE side smaller than it is now. I think he filled it to 350. I was always A/B cup so I'm hoping to stay on the smaller side. I'll try out the bra suggestions. I hope my PS makes me somewhat symmetrical- can't imagine- I've been lopsided for so long!

    I really was not going to go for surgery on my natural side, but I've learned a lot from you all. Thank you so much!


  • Fourminor
    Fourminor Member Posts: 118
    edited March 2015

    i would not have wanted to deal with any kind of trip the first week after surgery. Two days later some friends came by to visit and even that was too much for me. I was so tired and took naps every day. I also had a lot more pain immediately after surgery than I expected from where PS stitched the new inframammary fold. Any motion that involved using my abs was awful, sitting up, laying down. I took the Norco for the whole first week.

    But that was just me. However everyone told me it would be a piece of cake, which made it worse because I didn't expect it.

  • angelia50
    angelia50 Member Posts: 168
    edited March 2015

    momwriter I see fourminor had a more difficult time. I'm sure it has to do with what all you have to have done. I had alloderm placed at time of my mastectomy, so it had been in place for 5 months, so that was all pretty much a done deal. I totally know what you mean about being uneven. With the fills, my expander side looke like it was 2 inches taller than the natural side and you can't hide that. You can pad if its flatter but you can only raise that natural side so much, so that was something I was very glad to have resolved. Now, my reconstructed side seems a litle flatter to me than my natural side but I dont' think its noticable in clothing. I didn't have to have much pocket work either. Now I did have some fat grafting taken from my mid back and there was one spot that was painful but only if I moved certain ways, not if I was just sitting. It happened mostely when I was laying in bed and would roll over on it in certain ways.

  • frostecat
    frostecat Member Posts: 223
    edited March 2015

    Hi Lala - this is the bra that I'm using right now:

    http://www.amazon.com/Vanity-Fair-Convertible-Wire...=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1426683265&sr=8-6&keywords=vanity+fair+bra

    I'm not saying it is Thee bra to end all bras, but it works for me now and not too expensive. I looked at some Wacoals, but couldn't bring myself to spend $60 on a bra. I was worried with the Bali's that I wasn't getting enough support for the lifted side. I mean I don't want that thing falling anytime soon!

    I was fitted at a 38D, but I felt this ran a little tight around, so went up to a 40D and was happy with that. I can't believe I am still that size after all of this. I kept telling the PS "I don't want to be big!" But they do look smaller, and I've read many women on here were surprised at their size after the fact.


  • frostecat
    frostecat Member Posts: 223
    edited March 2015

    Here's another one I came across too - but they didn't have my size:

    http://www.amazon.com/Warners-Womens-Elements-Wire...=sr_1_4?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1426683507&sr=1-4&keywords=wirefree+bra

    Good rating on Amazon.

  • lala1
    lala1 Member Posts: 974
    edited March 2015

    thanks Frostecat. I actually went and tried on a few VF today and while I liked the one you got, I didn't fill out the cup on the mx side. They didn't have very many sizes for me to try so I'll have to go somewhere else. However I did get one that was the Beauty Back Back Smoother. It looked huge cause it's for full figure but I got a size smaller and was very surprised when it fit! It was the one I was sure wouldn't fit. I only tried it on and it seemed pretty comfy but till I wear it for a few hours, I can't say if it's going to work. I'll let you know. Thanks again for turning me on to these bras. About a year ago I tried the Warner Elements of Bliss that you posted. Pretty comfy bra but oddly enough, the way that the cups are made causes the bra to rub on my foob just in the one spot that when touched causes electric shock sensatiions! :) So weird, the whole thing is more or less numb except right near my cleavage and that's where it would touch. Never a dull moment with this thing!!

  • frostecat
    frostecat Member Posts: 223
    edited March 2015

    Lala - glad you found something you liked. For some reason, it feels good to have the extra support, and it doesn't seem to bother my MX side. I'll probably still use the Bali as a "weekend" bra.

  • momwriter
    momwriter Member Posts: 276
    edited March 2015

    Thanks for all the advice- I talked to the nurse at the PS office and decided to delay my surgery a week- they mentioned the possibility of blood clots, hematoma, emergency rooms -- not that they think that will happen- but it made me think hmm,better just take it easy for a couple of day.

    Now, I can enjoy a fun Easter with the family and plan to simply relax the weekend after surgery.

    Should I order a bra now in anticipation for after surgery- or should the PS give me something and wait until swelling etc. goes down before I order something?





  • Fourminor
    Fourminor Member Posts: 118
    edited March 2015

    I think that sounds like a better idea mom writer.

  • Fourminor
    Fourminor Member Posts: 118
    edited March 2015

    OMG ladies, to my shock, yesterday I pulled out the shoebox filled with my pre-mastectomy bras and for the hell of it tried one on and it fit like a glove! No joke, the unwire came right around the implant and the foob filled the cup and it was more comfortable than some of the non-underwire things I've been wearing for months! Even in a tight shirt there was no way to tell anything had happened, and even the material did not ripple at the front! I have been reading the Bras=101 thread and so was prepared that this was a highly unlikely event. I tried one more on and I suspect though that it will not be universal as anything that was plungy does not cover the medial part of the scar and anything that pushes them in and up shows the top edge of the implant. I need the full cup coverage ones that remind me of an old Sears catalog, but none the less are much more comfortable.anyway. I"m a 32DD so I don't need help with cleavage.

    Now i think my PS was an artist.

  • lala1
    lala1 Member Posts: 974
    edited March 2015

    Lol, Fourminor, that's great!! It's the little things right? I had that happen to me but with my actual boobs. I was so focused on the minor differences between my native boob and my foob. I kept asking my PS if we could tweak things a bit to even them up. Then one day he emailed me pictures from the first appt with him and then the after ones. Wow! That shut me up! I never realized I was pretty uneven before! Once I saw those pictures, I realized just how good my PS is at his job. No more complaining from me. :)

  • angelia50
    angelia50 Member Posts: 168
    edited March 2015

    Fourminor, I wear my pre mastectomy bras and its not a problem at all. I do think they are sometimes more comfortable with the under wire because seems the non under wire, wants to bunch up right about where the incision for exchange was. I sleep in the soft ones and wear the under wire ones during the day.

  • LMVerna
    LMVerna Member Posts: 3
    edited March 2015

    hi

    I am going in tomorrow to have my tissue expander exchanged for an implant on the right side and a breast reduction on the left side. Feeling pretty anxious right now. Any advice or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

  • Fourminor
    Fourminor Member Posts: 118
    edited March 2015

    LMVerna--just lie down on the table.

    Angelia--that's what i think i am going to do, sleep in the soft ones and wear the underwires during the day.


  • Mommato3
    Mommato3 Member Posts: 468
    edited March 2015

    I'm going to have my exchange and reduction/lift surgery in the next month or so. Right now an underwire bra isn't real comfortable with my TE. Does it feel better after the exchange? Has anyone lost feeling in their lifted side? What should I wear after my surgery? Do I have to wait a while to wear an underwire bra?

  • angelia50
    angelia50 Member Posts: 168
    edited March 2015

    Mommato3, when I woke up from surgery, I had on a bra. I guess similar to the one from mastectomy but this one had eyelets in front instead of a zipper. My doctor really never said when to put on another one but I changed into a soft, regular snap in back one that I had been using with the TE. It was more comfortable but I didn't think I should do a sports bra. They always seem so tight to me. I started wearing my underwire in a couple of weeks, once I went back to work. I did have a few times it felt like it was pinching a little on the exchange side because that incision ws kind of on the side but not bad. I'm sure I don't have to wear one at night but I have always slept in a bra so I feel weird without one but I do wear the soft one at night.


  • Fourminor
    Fourminor Member Posts: 118
    edited March 2015

    I was in a bra when I woke up and I was told to pretty much live in one, except for showers, for six weeks. No underwire.

    Well my excitement may have been premature, or fitting may be trickier than I thought as last night when I took off my bra there was an imprint from the wire at the medial edge of the implant like a quarter of an inch away from where the wire probably should have been sitting. I guess the cup isn't full enough. I pulled out another one which also looked like it fit. When I have some time I will go see my bra fitter and see what she things. I was wearing 32 DD. But my real boob really was happy to be fully supported again after 6 months of stretchy things.

  • tress29
    tress29 Member Posts: 9
    edited March 2015


    Hi everyone!  I had my surgery on March 5th. It seemed really weird to be home by lunchtime the next day!  I had relatives in and out for the first week, cooking for me, and helping with my dogs.  I took the Norco round the clock for about 8 days then a few more days taking it just at night.  I went back to work on the 20th.  Couldn't imagine staying home another week, and work in a job that requires almost no lifting. (And I can get someone to do it for me anyway!)

    Big annoyances:  I didn't get the drain out while I still had helpers.  I ended up having to wait through the weekend, but since the drainage was less, I only emptied it once a day!

    Wearing a bra all the time is such a pain!  When I get home I want to kick off my shoes, take my bra off and put on comfy clothes.  Sometimes I've taken it off for a few hours (might as well wash all of them at once!) but have definitely felt better sleeping in them.  Part of my issue is I still have the steri strips in place.  My "orders" said to leave them on as long as possible to minimize scarring, but they're getting sticky!  BONUS with the steri strips though, I could shower after 24 hours!

    My kids (15yo twin boys) have been funny.  They smirk when I can't reach things on the top shelves at the store but have been pitching in with less grumbling.  When one heard I didn't have a nipple anymore he was astounded.  He asked if he could see the scar!  Then, he got his brother so he could see it! It's so not sexual, so why not!

    My first fill is next week.  I'm getting anxious already...

  • momwriter
    momwriter Member Posts: 276
    edited March 2015

    LMVerna- Sending you good vibes for a speedy recovery- let us know how it went!

    tress29- funny about your boys! I think you'll do fine with the fills- my PS was flexible and I went on the conservative side- didn't fill too much at one time- 50 or 100- had to go in a bit more often but on the other hand it never got too uncomfortable.

    I've no idea what kind of bra will work after my exchange next week. I'm curious if my pre-MX bras will work- I'm a 38 A/B- but the TE side is a bit too big. I asked him to put in a smaller implant so I'm hoping I'll be the same size as orig. Of course the lift will change things too but hopefully not too much. I just want to be even-er! I had radiation so I'm hoping my skin is fully recovered after all this time and does what it's supposed to do.


  • momwriter
    momwriter Member Posts: 276
    edited April 2015

    Hi Everyone,

    I'm having my exchange/lift in two days. I'm wondering how everyone is doing with their recoveries. Any last minute tips? Thanks!

  • Sparkle2014
    Sparkle2014 Member Posts: 83
    edited April 2015

    Good luck Mom writer in MA,, keep us posted and hope you do really great..

    I like AERIE for cotton bralette bras and the soft GENIE bras - those i think feel better to me vs Barely There bras without wires - they are online in 3 packs and come in XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXL - - i got mine at Burlington Coat Factory store but saw them online many places,,

    http://www.ae.com/aerie-clearance-bandeaus-bralett...


    another wonderful store for Bras is HER ROOM, wire free and bralette styles here but they have hundreds and take returns

    http://www.herroom.com/bralette,bras,1300,001,10.html


    i seem to be most comfy in a bandeau that is snug and doesn't move vs straps that seem to pull on various muscles and bones and such,, i actually think finding a bra that you can wear is one of the hardest part of all of this! no joke - some of the wirefree soft bras just have such thick band and thick straps that they cut off my circulation and I feel hard to breathe but other size is too big - i have sewn many of my own - i figure out what needs to be tightened and sew it so trying that all year,,, i also really do prefer cotton bras and hope once i get my implant placed and lift on left side that finding a bra that i can deal with for many hours - will be much easier,,,


    i have had Tissue expander in for almost 10 months and kinda now excited to have implant in soon as long as it doesn't feel too heavy where I will feel uncomfy not wearing a bra - i like not having a bra on when I am home,,,,,just a fitted tank and t shirt and long t shirt around the house,,, the expander is ok as it stays in one spot but it feels lilke a cement block - a 34D cement block!


    love to hear more stories of anyone just getting through exchange surgery,,, from what you all say - it is much easier vs the Mastectomy - at least I know no worry over - what size tumor actually is - or final stage or grade or how many nodes will be removed, has the cancer spread - all the unknowns from before Mastectomy that were so scary - that part is a big relief - the not needing to wonder and worry about what we all worried over prior to the first surgery - for 2nd surgery,,, told will be a 4 or 4 1/2 hour surgery to exchange right and lift my left [so that to me is still a big deal] and surgery to both sides of my body at once,, i am sure it will be fine, but i still will wonder how long I will feel pain afterwards and how long will I have hard time lifting and using the upper body area and arms and getting things on and off and the reaching overhead use and basic day to day activities,, i use my upper body a lot - on computer and on calls all day - in call center - non stop use arms and reaching, typing and answering calls and entering info into computer - it's tedious and repetitive,,,, but is a job,,,,, and that I am thankful i have!


    and i see that many of you prefer having compression bra on - i too feel when have on bra - has to be snug and give more compression vs being loose and no support - i do hope after 2nd surgery i will learn to get used to wearing my prettier dainty bras or prettier light support bralettes - i dont like the idea of wearing the thick more sports like bras every day!

    hope everyone is feeling the New Beginning of spring and feeling well, thanks for listening and please keep posting how you all are doing,,, :)



  • lala1
    lala1 Member Posts: 974
    edited April 2015

    It all depends on what all you will be having done in your exchange surgery as to your recovery. Mine was just implant put in on left and lift plus small implant for symmetry on right. My lift was done via the donut incision which is the easiest on your body. If you are having the lollipop incicsion or the anchor incision, recovery will be a bit longer. Also, if you are having fat grafting and such, recovery will be longer. Mine was just about as basic as you can do. I went in early on a Tues morning, I was home by late afternoon that same day. I continued taking Flexeril which I had been on since my mastectomy due to painful muscle spasms. I think if I hadn't had those, I would have been off any pain meds within a couple of days. I had a followup appt on Fri which I had my SIL drive me too just in case I wasn't up to it (it's about a hour from my home). On Sat I sent my SIL home because I realized I could shower and blow dry my hair by myself as well as drive. I did have my DH around to get things off top shelves and help with any heavy wet laundry but all in all, I felt really damn good! I'd say within a week I felt almost normal...back walking at the gym and running errands while being careful. Much much easier recovery than mastectomy but again, that was just my experience. Mileage my vary!

  • momwriter
    momwriter Member Posts: 276
    edited April 2015

    Hi Everyone-

    Thank you so much for the warm wishes and healing vibes! Your stories gave me the courage to go through with this especially the lift on the right side. Everything went well.

    I live two hours from the hospital soI just got home a little bit ago- procedure was at 12:30 or so and it took under 2 hours. I can't believe how well I feel (especially compared to MX.) My range of motion feels fine though I'm not pushing it. I probably have stronger drugs in my system leftover from sx but I"m just on 2 tylenol right now. We will see later how I do- have oxycodine if need it. My main complaint earlier was my left arm- achy in that ALND surgery way for those of you who know, but it is somewhat better now. (I'm always a bit worried I'll develop LE so I'm going to baby and elevate it). They probably had it pinned down hard as most work on left side- they knew it was my MX/ALND arm though- they put a marker on it for that reason. Other than that I'm a little prickly around incision on the left.

    On my left I had an exchange for an implant that was smaller than my expander (which seemed huge to me- I'm only a B max as it is). On the right I had a lift. So right now, when I peak down, I just have two pieces of saran wrap/bandage-. On the right it looks like a C,, and on the left a bandaid. They did not give me a bra so I hope that it doesn't slide sideways.

    Right now I am only wearing a camisole and the girls are fairly symmetrical both in location and size! I'm so happy. My profile will be smaller but I was never big, so It will be more like I was before.

    I am also going to take an antibiotic prophylactically. Interesting the PS said I was to do this before surgery, but after I didn't get a prescription. Turns out the chief resident doesn't like to prescribe them. But since a) I rarely take antibiotics and b) my greatest fear is infection and losing the implant, I asked for it.

    I can shower tomorrow if I want but may wait a day.

    Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to you all. BCO is so great, and I love this UMX/recon thread.

    Blessings,

    Stef



  • angelia50
    angelia50 Member Posts: 168
    edited April 2015

    that is great news. Exchange for me was easy and so was the lift. Most pain I had was from a place on my back where they took some fat, that was sore as heck but neither breast was.

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