MySharona Thank you for sharing your experience! I've had many of the same thoughts, and have been considering getting a reduction. It's nice to hear you can go without a bra, what a big change and relief it must be.
Lake Effect I hope your surgery goes well! I am looking forward to hearing about your experience.
Thanks so much for posting this. I was curious and looking through this Subforum for anything like this. I am a 42 G/H, post menopausal and just diagnosed with breast cancer from a routine mammogram. The surgeon is offering breast reduction at the time of the lumpectomy ( she will step back after the lumpectomy and let the plastic surgeon step in) because she said after having treatment, specifically radiation, it will change the tissue such that reduction at a later time would not be an option.
Thank you so much for asking and the good wishes! My surgery date is coming up shortly. The plastic surgeon outlined similiar specifics to yours. I have to say I am really looking forward to having smaller, lifted breasts. I will circle back and keep you posted.
Hi ladies, I am just circling back to let you know I had my procedure done a week ago yesterday! It was done as an outpatient procedure, with authorization for an overnight stay necessary. I live alone and am grateful for several people volunteering to stay with me initially; my sisters stayed with me the first two nights. It was uneventful but we all enjoyed the peace of mind.
The breast surgeon did the lumpectomy and a lymph node removal on the right and then she stepped back and then the plastic surgeon stepped in to do the reconstruction with reduction / lift on that side and reduction/ lift on the left for symmetry.
I had 7 am surgery so I left the same day surgery center by noon. I took the prescription pain medication the day of surgery and at night for the first 3 nights and have been fine with OTC Motrin/Tylenol since. My niece handled texting family updates and I was fine eating when I got home after surgery and sending a few texts. My sister had me outside for a 5 minute walk the next day. I did not require any drains and have only had tiny spots on my dressings since the surgical dressings were removed.
I saw the plastic surgeon two days ago and all is well. I can fully shower. Using a little Vaseline with gauze pads. Not in love with my surgical bra, but I have a microfiber bralette I can use and found a cheap cotton/spandex front close bra at a local department store that works and have ordered 2 front close bras online. Not going to get anymore for now.
I have to say I am completely amazed at what the plastic surgeon did/was able to do with my breasts. I certainly had enough breast that she could rearrange what I had. Right now my breasts look rather squashed and flat, like I am wearing a goods sports bra, but I can even see now how as the swelling goes down and as the tissues settle that the girls will look great! It underscores how I may want to take care of the rest of my 62 year old self
I am clear for full shoulder motion and am restricted to 5 lbs lifting for the next three weeks with no pushing or pulling and no strenuous activity, fyi.
Even though this option was thrust upon me 7 weeks ago, I would definitely encourage any woman of any age to explore this option with a
qualified surgeon and know that you may require drains or have other risk factors. And of course there are a host of side effects that the plastic surgeon advised me on the preop visits.
I can circle back in a month or two to update.
Good morning, I am back here to let you know how my breast reduction/oncoplasty went ... it is a long post!
As a recap, just as I turned 62 in December, I was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer from a routine mammogram screening. As an aside I had always been DD/DDD (depending on my weight, which has fluctuated over my adult life) prior to menopause, on what I consider a large frame, 5'8". So unlike some of the more petite gals here, I felt like while larger, my breasts were, for lack of better way to put it, manageable, prior to menopause and I never really considered reduction.
Following menopause, I just found with weight gain in general and in my breasts, and where did all the collagen in my skin go ... I found myself in 40 H/42 G/H and had stopped using underwire bras. I still never thought about reduction. I thought frankly I was too old and thought the incisions, recovery would be quite extensive and arduous. Most of my discomfort more recently was with the band on the bottom and not much for my shoulder and back.
So several days after the biopsy came back positive, I found myself sitting in a surgeon's office among other things, asking me if I had ever considered breast reduction and that I would be a candidate ... after not much thought, I was all for it. My surgery date was about 6 weeks after my diagnosis and I was glad to find this thread and
@MySharona 's post
I went into the process with the idea, okay, I will be getting the lumpectomy and whatever the plastic surgeon can do, and it may not be perfect, will be for the best. The plastic surgeon had a great reputation and a relative who works in the health care system said patients she works with had nothing to say but the best so that was good enough for me.
It was amazing to me that while I had the surgery as a same day procedure it was not the arduous process I thought it would be. I watched a few YouTube videos ahead and found it helpful to go out and buy a few button-down pajama/shortie night dresses from Target, I did not go out and buy any special pillows etc. I did bring one pillow from home to use with the shoulder strap safety belt for the ride home (and after used a big bulky scarf I could fold while driving for a good month) and slept on several bed pillows for several weeks.
I live alone and my sister was really concerned about the same day surgery and offered to stay overnight, bless her heart, to take me to the ER at night if I was in excruciating pain. Another sister came in from out of town to stay the next night. I took the pain meds at night the first 3 days and otherwise used OTCs and ice packs (I am fan of using cold therapy in general). We were all, especially me, pleasantly surprised that while uncomfortable, my pain level was not off the charts and my nights following surgery were uneventful.
I was on restrictions (corrected from prior posts) of no pushing, pulling at all and no lifting over 5 pounds for 6 weeks. Then I was encouraged to ease into lifting up to 10 pounds over the next two weeks, with all restrictions lifted 8 weeks post-op. I had no difficulty with the relatively easy stretching recommended one week post-op. My niece kindly helped with grocery shopping and household things like vacuuming. I did my best to follow the restrictions and found I could do very light cleaning and stay active with 'activities of daily living'. The plastic surgeon (as opposed to my breast surgeon who did the lumpectomy and is following up my cancer treatment with the oncologist) recommended 6 weeks of recovery time. In my mind, prior to our actual consultation, I was getting the feel, could I work through chemo, how much time did I need to take off, blah blah ... I will thank the plastic surgeon for saying that while she has signed off on return to work for women who requested it in 2 and 3 weeks, she suggested to consider taking 6 weeks for mental healing as well. I think I spent a whole 2 hours thinking, yup, I will do whatever I need to make that happen. Fortunately my employer told me take whatever time I needed, no explanation needed.
I do believe if I needed no other treatment following surgery, I would have been fine to work from home after 3 or 4 weeks. I started chemo 4 weeks post op so I was fatigued and had side effects initially after that so 6 weeks was spot on to get me through that.
Back to my newbies, haha what I call my new breasts, as opposed to OB's, my original breasts. So right after surgery, they were squashed flat, with my nipples up front and level. I had the anchor incisions (around my nipple, then down to bottom of the breast, then underside to the inner breast midway and outer breast, straight out to the side of my ribcage) which looked amazingly good after a short time, like a week or so. I had dissolving sutures, no drain was needed, minimal bruising. I wore the surgical bra lined with mini pads and gauze to keep pressure off the incisions. I have to admit, I had a few cranky days here and there as no amount of shifting gauze and or mini pads to cushion a particular incision seems to work and it was uncomfortable, but it passed. The incisions look good and expect they will fade a little more, but will be there to some extent. I have been using Vaseline on them up to this point and am looking at doing a little scar massage now.
As the swelling slowly started to go down, I was a-may-zed at what the surgeon did for me. I measured myself the other day, 41 inches, C cup and was told two weeks ago by the nurse practitioner, who pointed at the microfiber bra I took off for the exam, oh, you don't need to wear a bra .. I was
and she laughed. I had several microfiber bralettes and sports bras from before, that were more for lounging, that I have been wearing and that suits me fine. When I go braless for sleep, which I just started, I do feel the weight of my breast on my lower incisions. It is an odd sensation and slightly uncomfortable so I am completely fine wearing microfiber bralettes for now (and ever!) during the day. I do have an area that is still healing, about the size of dime, at the outer end of one incision. I had a small abscess there, which I was told was normal. The complete healing has been slowed by chemotherapy but my oncologist is watching it like a hawk and it should completely healed in another month. Then I can swim, yay. I do have full sensation in my right breast and some decreased sensation on the left; that has been pretty much since surgery. I have been told the sensation on the left may or may not return. And um, keeping it real, I used a lined bra or inserted a liner for t shirts prior to surgery and yup, still need to do that now ...
I have a good array of microfiber bras already and shaper/smoother tanks so I am holding off any serious bra shopping until that last spot is fully healed. I am ready to get some fun tankini bathing suits when I am cleared to swim!!! I love that I never have to wear another underwire anything unless I want to. I am eager to check out some summer dress shopping too!
It is a bit of an adjustment as I now have this pear shape and and can see my thicker mid-section. I chuckle that I have my 25-year-old breasts on a 60 something body, but I am happy overall with the result. I am on my journey to enjoy each day as it comes and take care of myself as best I can.
Feel free to ask me anything here. I told one of the nurse educators where I am being treated to that I would be happy to speak with anyone considering oncoplasty reduction at the center as I had so many misconceptions. Just please make sure if you are considering plastic surgery to make sure your professional is properly qualified! I am not sure what that would entail (because my breast surgeon works with this plastic surgeon so that was good enough for me) but if we can educate ourselves on our handbag brands, we can educate ourselves on how to find reputable plastic surgeons.
