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Re: Bilateral mastectomy support group
Nancyo, I too had a double mastectomy. I eventually did opt for reconstruction but waited a goodly amount of time before making that decision. I have no regrets, however. I was not comfortable with prosthetics and mostly went flat chested in the years before reconstruction. I did however have one bra and my two prosthetics for just the occasions you describe. When I wanted to dress up out came the bra and prosthetics. It is easy enough to get them and it might be something you want in your drawer to bring out when the occasion necessitates it. Otherwise the dresses looked just as you say. It was part of the dress up, nice clothes, a bra with prosthetics, along with makeup for those few times I wanted to truly look nice and pass for 'normal'. Good luck. Carolyn
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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
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