Mastectomy and breast reconstruction pros and cons?

For those that have done reconstruction. Im just a 3 months out of my final surgery and so far its great.

Great plan!

I decided to remain flat also. I am 3.5 years out and very happy with my decision. I had 3 tumors in one breast. I had my surgery at Mayo in AZ. I am happy to talk with anyone who has questions re: flat closure.

Hi AZme, welcome to the Breast Cancer group. Wow, three tumors in one breast. Did they find any in the other breast? May I ask, were you large breasted before surgery? Did you have to buy new clothes to accommodate the new you?

None in the other breast but I felt that I would handle not worrying about the other breast f/u mammograms etc. I was a 36C not super large, avg. I wore a lot ov V necks. Now I still wear some with a tank or camisole underneath. Some things I couldn’t wear I can now, which is great. And I don’t miss bras. Especially in the AZ summers.

My friend who is reconstructed gets a CT scan every year. Did they replace the mammogram with another type of screening for you?

I self check monthly or more and my Onco NP palpates my chest and Axilla every 6 months. Along with the usual labs. No extra imaging, no scan anxiety. I feel very much at home with my decision to stay flat and feel it’s very easy to check my chest.

That sounds like a sweet deal if you aren’t interested in reconstruction. Thank you for sharing about your decision to remain flat.

Interestingly there is are a fair number of younger women choosing flat. In a couple of groups I am in we have a significant number of women in their late 20’s to late 40’s ( as well as the more likely 50’s on up) that chose to stay flat. We refer to ourselves as Flatties. Prior to Covid I hosted a Flattie beach day and we had a blast! We ranged from mid 30’s to mid 60’s. We are planning another for next summer.

^^^^^ Flat and Fabulous!!