Is anyone going flat or living flat?
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Beesy- I will pass the compliment on to both of the beesies.
My birthday is in March. I use a former boyfriend's birthdate as part of my username. Thank you for the birthday wishes.
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I recently had a BMX no reconstruction. I had it within the week my 65th birthday. And 44th wedding anniversary. What a way to celebrate.
Cancer was in my left breast, but I had the right removed as well, just to play it safe. I didn't want to live with only one breast. To me that would be more depressing.
It's a little hard to adjust to the New Me. It will take time. I have cancer in my bones. The surgery wasn't going to cure me, my drs and I said the mastectomy will just get out the primary tumors. At my age who needs breasts? Only real reason we have them is feed our babies...
With reconstruction, there are complications, who needs that? So many have the expanders removed.
Good luck to you.
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"At my age who needs breasts? Only real reason we have them is feed our babies..." The sweet memory of feeding my babies is made more real. Everyone is different.
Christine, I will be praying for you. The C in my screen-name stands for Christine.
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christene- I have to respectfully disagree with you regarding our breasts. I didn't choose reconstruction and I have no regrets. I did not choose to have children but I did enjoy my breasts. Even for individuals who are not breastfeeding or sexually active breasts can still have meaning to that individual. I do miss not having sensation in my breast. Whenyou have a double mastectomy the sensation is gone. For some of us, we do miss having nipple sensation with sexual activity. Most of us adapt and compensate for the loss. I see nothing wrong with acknowledging the loss. I am very sorry to hear you're dealing with additional cancer in other parts of your body.
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Everyone's different, but I found life post-surgery to be less disturbing than I thought it would be. The time before is just very intense and scary. I think it gets easier to adjust to it over time.
I feel fine about my body now. It looks different, but it still gets the job done. When I'm hugging my hubby I don't even notice it.
—unrelated...
I learned about Tig Notaro today. Comedian who got a double mx and goes flat and is still rocking at life.
Being half flat, I was a teeny bit jealous. She looks awesome, and presumably doesn’t have to deal with bras anymore.
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Schweety
The girls above all have great advice
Its such a personal issue, I struggled for months trying to decide on reconstruction
Ive been married 41 years , I usually wear small silicone prostethics in a coozy bra so my clothes hang nicely
But at home I sometimes go without, as for feeling sexy a nice bra during intimate times goes a long way..
At the time of my DX I had a tumor on my right side and lymph nodes involved. But I insisted on a double because I didnt want to be lopsided nor worry it may appear in the other
My plastic surgeon was very honest with me and explained because I would be doing radiation I may have expanders in for a long time as the tissue would take a long time to heal and may require several surgeries .I was 63 at the time
And for me it was just not wanting to waste time with surgeries that may or may not take
As it turned out there was a new tumor undetected in my left that the pathology from my surgery discovered so for me the BMX was the right choice
Life was more important. Now 2 years post surgery and my treatments Im still healing from the radiation and have develpoed more scar tissue , according to my phys therapist who works my right arm and chest to keep my lymph fluid flowing..I had 29 nodes removed 3 positive
Anyway ..Do I miss my boobs to be honest of course Id like to look like I once did
but on an everydy basis ..no I barely notice
And its two less things I need to worry about!
But I feel fortunate to be alive and getting on with the important things
As I said a good bra with pockets and inserts look very nice.. its become a part of the new me
Like 'oh man feels so good to take these boobs off 'or 'hang on need I to adjust my boobs..'
For me my main concern is surviving.. its only been 2 years.. I take arimidex and pray it keeps the cancer at bay..
Its a tough decision and a very personal one as the other girls said only you can decide what you are comfortable with
Get all the facts from your Drs thepros / cons of all your options etc
Best of luck
Mamaoz
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Dear mommaoz….. Thank you so much for your reply. Getting the low down right from the girls who've had to deal with this is so very valuable...even tho the decision is personal.
Thank you all again!
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hi Girls,
My topic is not exactly about our living flat
But I had one of the best oncology Surgeons.
Dr Manuel Torres-Saliche. In Miami
I had a 2 yr follow up appt scheduled which the office called to cancel a few weeks ago
He was so dedicated, skilled and compassionate
He also was an expert on nipple sparring (. Which not haveing recon I didnt need) but a friend of mine did
Anyway , he always took all my calls answered all my erratic frightened questions ,called me even after hoirs with test results. That kind of Dr
He was the Doctors doctor..a giant in his field..
He put in my port and hopefully got all the radical lymph nodes during my bmx
He unfortunately passed away Monday. He was 57 , he fought an aggresive bladder cancer that took him in 8 mo
Life can seem unjust at times. The man saved lives...
I just needed to take a moment to acknowledge him
He will be sorely missed in the fight againsr Breast Cancer community here
He touched my life and I was blessed I had the good fortune to have him on my team
Rest in Peace Dr Manny I will never forget you
💕💕💕
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mamaoz- I live in the Miami area. One of my dear friends knew Dr Manuel Torres Salichi very well. She is an RN who had the honor of working with this excellent doctor for many years. She said he was always a professional, compassionate and kind. He did not put up with nonsense from staff and expected all of his patient to be treated with respect and dignity. According to my friend, he always had time to give a person a smile, ask about their day entry staff with respect . She is devastated at the loss. The staff at Baptist Hospital are reeling at this sudden loss. He's diagnosed and months later dead.
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- thank you Jo. He was amazing. AllMy other Dr 's had such reverent respect for him..
- when I had made my appt recently ( after getting my reminder card) I asked the receptionist if I was still supposed to see him as it was now 2 years after my surgery. And she said oh yes you will see him every year.. thats the dedicated man he was..
- my heart goes out to not only his family but all his co workers...
- Hope you are doing well
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mamaoz- thank you. I'm doing great. How have you been doing?
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ok for the most part. Arimidex is rough
And my arm is acting up the last few weeks. Ive been lucky so far with no swelling. (29 nodes) My lymph
Pt thinks now after 2 years the radiation scar tissue is causing some issues. And then this morning I was out gardening ( extremely hot) and used my sleeve which I never normally do, but thought it might help with my arm ache. Well after an hour I took off my garden gloves and my hand was swollen!! I freaked and called my pt. She was off today but gave me advise and told me it was the heat and not to panic. So I spent the rest of the day jiggeling my arm and hands ...the puffiness has gone down a bit
But my arm and hands have been tingly lately. So sometings going on.nerves or blockage
I had been told the recovery from radiation was slow but not sure how to alleviate the new scar tissue.its causing I see my PT once a month as I live in the keys so its a bit of a trek up to miami
So arent you glad you asked!? Lol
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Mamaoz- you need to be very careful in this summer heat. It has been so damn hot lately . Miami is a nice little Trek from the keys. it's still a good idea to see your physical therapist and make her aware of your new symptoms.
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thanks Jo.
My hand is still a little swollen. Ill see my PT Wed
I couldnt get there sooner. But I did discuss what to do with her and its helped
Especially staying out of the heat and drinking more water. But im convinced it was the darn arm sleeve
That caused it. It was too tight and i hadnt worn it in quite some time.. thatwas the only different thing I did
As I garden often..
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Just popping in to say hello. Grateful for this forum. I'm learning a lot! I just turned 47 and I'll be having a bilateral mastectomy on August 1st without reconstruction. Looking forward to being flat and fabulous!
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Wish you speedy recovery.. I had radical on one side and modified on the other 2.4 yrs ago w nodes removed. I turned 47 at that time.
P.S. please remember sleep is the best medicine there is.
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Speedy recovery LMS I had my BMX w/o reconstruction on 6/25 and am very pleased. I'm so happy with my decision!
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Thank you both.
I am still not sleeping as well as I should, but it's getting better day by day. I'm not so tense all the time now that I have the first step scheduled. I'm at peace with my BMX decision and I'm grateful my husband is okay with it, too. He just wants me here as long as possible!
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LMS best of luck. I had mine 5/20/17
Im doing well with that decision. Especially when the pathology showed a new undetected tumor just starting on the opposite side..
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hey Jo
An update on lymphedemia
Saw my PT and she wrapped my hand for 24 hours it helped and thank goodness swelling went down!
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hello I was diagnosed with breast cancer while making wedding plans. I had reconstruction after Lmast after one filling in expander I developed a extremely high fever my fiance now husband rushed me to E R and it was removed my body rejected it as foreign object. Praise God I am a 25 yr Survivor and just had 25 yr wedding Anniversary in May. I wear a prothesis ever since and very comfortable with it. I wear one in my bathing suits also. Very comfortable too. msphil idc 3mo before and after Lmast stage2 0/3 nodes we got married then 7wks rads and 5yrs on Tamoxifen. Then our Honeymoon in Poconos Mountains.
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lms. Hope your surgery went well and yoir on the mend
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ms phil. Its always wonderful to hear of long time survivors. Thanks for sharing!! And congrats on 25 years!
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Hello all, flat since December 2015, no regrets. Completed last treatment radiation in March 2016, and just two weeks ago finally got tattoos to cover scars. I will always miss my breasts, but those cannot be replaced. Being in the summer heat it's wonderful to not have anything on your chest! Years ago I dealt with watermelon size breasts (I actually had a reduction10 years before my diagnosis) I still have a little bit of dog ears on my sides, but I'm not a fan of surgeries, I can just live with it. Gave away my prosthesis finally after holding onto them and never wearing them, LOL. Really no one looks at my chest but me, or my husband :-) here is a picture if anyone is interested what it looks like, lots of choices out there, keep living friends!
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I second every word you said!!!
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Looking fabulous, Brightside
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brightside
Looks great!
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Bright side, lovely tattoo art! Impressive.
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Brightside - You look Great! Thx for posting the photo - gives me motivation to get my tats done
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Beautiful! I love the tat idea.
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