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Westcoastgirl · 02-17-2009, 03:40 PM

Hi ladies,
I am hoping for some guidance. I am 57, tall and slim, with little body fat. I am almost 5 weeks out from a double mastectomy and will soon begin 6 months of chemo, followed by a year of Herceptin, and who knows how long of aromatase inhibitors. Both the surgeon and plastic surgeon did not want me to do immediate reconstruction but the surgeon tried to save as much skin as possible. There is more skin on the uninvolved side however. The surgeon wants me to wait until all my treatments are complete but that feels like a very long time. The plastic surgeon told me to come back after the mastectomies had healed and if there was enough skin he could do a silicone implant, without the expanders. I would just like to look a little normal, "a" cup would be fine, do not care about going back to my "c" cup. I would need to create two breast mounds and am quite slim. I don't think I want to cut any other part of my body as I need all my muscle so am leaning towards silicone. I would love to hear that there are ladies out there happy with their results and appreciate words of wisdom, suggestions.... Thanks, Carolyn

02-17-2009, 03:40 PM	#1
Westcoastgirl Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 128	Reconstruction questions Hi ladies, I am hoping for some guidance. I am 57, tall and slim, with little body fat. I am almost 5 weeks out from a double mastectomy and will soon begin 6 months of chemo, followed by a year of Herceptin, and who knows how long of aromatase inhibitors. Both the surgeon and plastic surgeon did not want me to do immediate reconstruction but the surgeon tried to save as much skin as possible. There is more skin on the uninvolved side however. The surgeon wants me to wait until all my treatments are complete but that feels like a very long time. The plastic surgeon told me to come back after the mastectomies had healed and if there was enough skin he could do a silicone implant, without the expanders. I would just like to look a little normal, "a" cup would be fine, do not care about going back to my "c" cup. I would need to create two breast mounds and am quite slim. I don't think I want to cut any other part of my body as I need all my muscle so am leaning towards silicone. I would love to hear that there are ladies out there happy with their results and appreciate words of wisdom, suggestions.... Thanks, Carolyn __________________ 12/17/08 biopsy after two 6 mos mammo recalls 12/30/08 diagnosed high grade IDC & DCIS ER/PR +, Her2 (+++) post menopausal/age 57 1/15/09 double mastectomy/skin sparing; no evidence of vascular/lymphatic invasion, 8neg/8 nodes (tumor 8.0mm) 2/16/09 given portacath/removed 4/30/10 2/18/09 "surprise" 2.0mm tumor/positive borders~completed 28 rads 10/09. 2/23/09 until 4/19/10~treatments every 3wks (4 Cytoxan + Adriamycin, 4 Taxol + Herceptin, 13 Herceptin alone) 8/09 osteoporosis diagnosis/Zometa 3 yrs of 1x/6 months Chemo side effects; Deafness, kidney function loss 11/09 began Aromatase Inhibitor (Femara)/Feb2014, stopped Femara early/after 3 mos began Tamoxifen for 8 mos to complete 5 years 11/10 Reconstruction, directly to silicone implants 12/11 nipples by skin graft/Right breast size reduced I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me! Dr. Seuss