Re: 2 Questions-emc mom

[Guest guest]

Chantal THANK YOU FOR YOUR POSTING:

Maybe it's just me. but I kept crying about the assymetry to the doctors

assistant and she told me that I wasn't taking it very well?? and maybe try some

anti depressants... Well I did work my way through it without the drugs...

and only because of something that my daughter told me that day on our 2 hour

drive home.. She said Mom.. remember you are not in reconstruction yet.. you

are still in recovery from the mastectomy... give it some time and let him

see if he can fix it.. my right was flat and had a crease going through the

middle of it.. never seemed to expand the way he wanted.. the left just kept

getting filled and getting bigger and bigger so that now it hangs under my

armpit.. hhmm don't know of any bra that fits under there..LOL.. but I am

trying

not to be negative..I just keep taping it up for support and I don't want it

to stretch much more... now it has been 7 months since mastectomy and I am

scheduled to see plastic surgeon in March to discuss options.. by then I hope

to have a couple of second opinions as to why this might have happened.. It

was not the radiation, as I said.. it never fully expanded to begin with.. my

daughter says it feels so hard that it feels like they might have left a

sponge in there.. she says " I'll bet when they get in there mom they are going

to

find some buried treasure " ??

The right side that had the cancer was always tight and has a hard bump

under my armpit ..I call it my turkey butt... it looks like the surgeon

gathered

up the left over skin and tissue and lumped it together before closing..I

asked him if he spilled his dermabond in there because it is sooo hard.. That

is why I am not sure I want him to do the reconstruction.. I am looking into

a doctor in Texas that does a DIEP and reattaches some of the nerves if

possible so that she gets sensation.. she devotes 100% of her practice to

reconstruction only.. That is if I can't find one here in California.. UCLA

also has

a doctor that does this a lot..

Lord knows I have some fat to offer for that.. it would be a tummy tuck and

boob job at the same time..

my doctor tried to dissuade me from it.. only because he only does the

TRAM...and Latissimus.. I don't want to sacrifice muscle..and the Diep would

not

use an implant... Unless I did what is called a " STACKED DIEP " where they use

your fat and skin and then also place an implant under the muscle.. I

already have the pocket made from the original expander placement.. so they

could

drop in am implant behind my own skin..

I had a skin sparring which left me with almost as much breast skin as I had

before.. Now on the left I actually have more skin that has stretched.. my

incisions are barely noticeable since we used vitamin E and 3M micropore tape

across the incision.. that radiated side shows no incision mark at all it is

so tight right now..

Maybe you should suggest that a larger expander be placed before you do the

permanent implants..?? I have large 650cc expanders filled to the brim..which

is helping keep a nice breast space I had said to the plastic surgeon that I

wanted to end up like I was a nice C+ cup ...since I had radiation and the

muscle is tightening now.. radiation and expanders don't do to well

together... but I had a great radiologist who did not burn me at all..

Hope all goes well for you.. sorry this is so long.. this is the first time

since all of this began that I am talking to people other than my family about

this.. I have been reading posts for a long time and just finally jumped in

this week.. so thanks everyone for making me feel like I belong here..

And again I thank my new sisters for being here for all of us..

Cheryl