What can I expect after Double Mastectomy?

Hello, yes I will be having surgery next month. I was diagnosed 3 days before my 51 st birthday. I have Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Stage 2 Breast Cancer. I decided to have a Bilateral Mastectomy. It’s scary but reading some of the comments from other women helps ease my mind about things. I’ve done a little research in my own. I went through 4 rounds of Chemo. The Chemo did its job so I’m preparing for surgery after the first of the year. What a way to bring in the New Year. I’m grateful though. God is good. It helps to hear from others who’ve been through what I’m about to go through. It helps a lot.

I had double at my second surgery with little pain. I did have the nerve blocker and i was without any breast pain. I second the drain being bothersome. You get those for surgery's done on the upper half of the body. They teach you how to clean them and i got practice with them on my first surgery but had my sister there to assist. On the first surgery i had my ovaries and tubes removed. My stomach mid-section hurt, not my breast area. I really was amazed. I was in the hospital overnight for observation, but i was good. I was wrapped very tight with a number of pads and the DALE bra. Velcor closures for easy removal. They will tell you when to shower. I was given Norco which i took the first 2 days, then went to Tylenol. The 2nd surgery i did the same.

For the drains, I bought the pouch i found online. I bought a shirt and then a belt for the drains during the day. Google items you need for a mastectomy. Many more then what i mentioned for holding drains. What i was told was the more movement you have, the more liquid produced in the drains, I had one drain with lower output so one came out after 1 week and the other at 2 weeks. My surgeons did a great job and i had 3 sentinel nodes removed, so there was numbness on the breast side that had the cancer, that did not go away till 1 year later.
I did not buy any wedge pillows. I had a number of small pillows and squishy pillows at home. The first couple of nights were weird. Mentally you know a breast or two are gone. You also know the cancer is gone. I was grateful. We do adapt and find out about our own body's reaction. We do not have all the same reactions.
Always let your medical team know how you are doing once home. You will have checkups, and you will tell them the truth on how you are doing.

I personally had a fairly easy double mastectomy, the hard part was after. I had stage 4 ductal in both breasts and had spread to lymph nodes. I elected to have reconstructive surgery after finishing my chemo. I was told I wasn't going to have to do radiation. They put spacers in waiting for me to do my chemo and then they would do the reconstructive surgery. Turns out after my mastectomy felt that I should do radiation. The spacers melted during the radiation and became like rocks in my chest. I finally had my reconstructive surgery 2 YEARS after my mastectomy as I then had to do more chemo. The nurses said they had never seen anyone have to keep the spacers in more than 6 months. When I did finally get the reconstructive one of the inserts slid to the side under my armpit. I wish that I never would have done the reconstructive surgery as I believe I would look better without the breast implants. Not saying that you should persue this avenue but to me it was not worth the hassle.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I go in on January 10 for a double. Reading this really helps secure my decision not to do reconstruction. With appreciation. And happy holidays.

@justforjoyce I did paravertebral block and went flat and the whole thing was pretty easy! Good luck!

Thank you. After you happy with decision?

@justforjoyce totally happy! In fact I can wear clothes I wasn't able to wear before 🙂 The scars healed and are not really visible. No problems at all.

I had a dbl with implants that are not big. No issues 2 years post. For me, I look outwardly like nothing has changed. Many go flat, but being smaller busted I did not ever consider that.

The whole cancer experience is a journey. So many things happening at once and everyone throwing information at you. I wish you well in your journey. Just make sure to ask tons of questions from multiple sources. The women and men who have been through this can really help out.

Thank you so much.