Boobs On Ice™ : Breast Reconstruction Process: Halftime

If you've never heard much about breast reconstruction following mastectomy you may believe that surgeons just remove cancerous breast tissue and replace it with a breast shaped form, sew up the skin, and you're good to go.

Not quite.

Clicking on this image will show an enlarged illustration of how the chest wall is stretched - in a series of weekly or bi-weekly expansion procedures with the surgeon on an outpatient basis - to create a new pocket in which a breast form is placed in a second surgery.

I have one, perhaps two, more expansions before the pocket is large enough to accept the form. The last expansion will be followed by a couple weeks of rest for the chest wall. Then comes surgery to remove the expander and replace it with the breast form. I am hoping to schedule surgery before the end of May.

So far I'm at four months and counting, though some of the feet dragging was absolutely my issue with decision making and needing reassurance. I admit it has been painful and I've had many doubts along the way.

Below is a video done after my visit with the surgeon a little over a week ago in which my chest muscle tissue was further stretched. It will hopefully give you a little more personal slant.

About My Cancer

Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
My form of breast cancer is less common than others. In fact only about 6 to 8% of cases of breast cancer are the invasive form that is based in the lobules, not in the milk ducts.
Invasive, sometimes called Infiltrating, is a scary word. In most cases this form of breast cancer has been present for 8–10 years when detected by a mammogram or physical exam.
In my case there was clearly an area that felt thickened or dense on December 6, 2007. A mammogram the next afternoon was not able to detect it but it clearly appeared on ultrasound and was confirmed by multiple biopsies the same day.
During those 8 to 10 years the cancer took to become apparent to me, there has been plenty of opportunity for those invasive cells to get out of the breast and spread to the rest of the body.
It is after all, by definition, an invasive form of cancer.
Each year about 190 thousand women are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the US and about 40 thousand women will die of the disease. The larger the mass is when discovered the more risk. Mine had tentacled almost 5cm into the surrounding tissue and two other areas in the breast were discovered as well.
My chances of living another 10 years without cancer in another area are about 40%. The likelihood of one of my other underlying health conditions doing the job before that is 20%. it took a few months to get used to that idea.
Now though my attitude is that at least I know what I'm facing. It's just not what I expected. Life changes in an instant.

Comments

I suppose now you want us to throw virtual beads at you?

Watching and listening to you in this video, you're the most cheerful grumpy, in-pain person I've ever seen!

Posted by: Otenth | Apr 26, 2008 at 11:46 PM

I don't want to be a total downer - and I can pull it together for the camera, just as I was trained to pull it together in private school and elsewhere. At the end of the 5 minutes I sleep for hours - ask @badwolf and @kerrybflies.

You think I missed my calling on the stage?

Posted by: Susan Reynolds | Apr 27, 2008 at 01:36 AM

Sansan you're amazing! My next door neightbor went through this last year. Both were removed.

She shared the intimate details as you have on how they rebuilt her breasts. I was shocked to hear how they rebuild the nipple.

She opted for a tatoo instead. I wanted to see the final work but I thought her husband and kids might have found it weird. It fascinated me.

My aunt had a double mas. 30 years ago. No rebuild. No insurance. She was ashamed all her life. Never showed anyone.

The last two weeks of her life I was there with hospice and saw her chest when we changed her. She just looked like a boy with no nipples. The skin was smooth. It didn't look at all bad to me. I don't even know if they did a rebuild back then. They've come so far yet not far enough.

She died in my arms. She lived over 25 years after diagnoses.

Thank you again for sharing!

Hugs!
Brian
http://beyondtheglassdoor.blogspot.com/

Posted by: Brian Walin | Apr 27, 2008 at 05:04 AM

Susan,

Thanks for the education, it's truly enlightening and you are enriching all of our lives. I hope you have many pain free decades ahead of you.

Chaz

Posted by: ChazFrench | Apr 30, 2008 at 10:49 AM

Thank you so much for this blog,it was definitely very informative it is a good subject to explore.

sphin

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