I had bilateral and chose to go flat, I only have two issues from the surgery. My definition of "flat" and the surgeons were different; my closure is not as visually appealing as I would have liked. I have lumps on the sides of my chest; I have a bump in the middle of my chest and the breast area looks as if the flesh was scooped out and concaves inward. I'm not sure if this was because of what needed to be done for the surgery to get everything or not - but what's done is done. I'm 71 and don't intend to have any reconstruction. The second issue is they removed lymph nodes under my arms and the closure now makes it slightly difficult to shave my underarms. There seems to be an indent that is difficult to shave - I've tried both a hand razor and an electric shaver - it takes a while to finally get it shaved for the summer months.
Do I regret going "flat" - definitely NO; do I regret making sure the surgeon and I were on the same page for the definition of "flat" - definitely. In hindsight I should have taken a picture to make sure we were on the same page.
Double mastectomy in October 2023 with lymph node dissection and flat closure, nipples also removed due to location of the tumors. No regrets. I'm 56 years old and very active. I do plan to get prosthetics for better fit of some clothes. My husband tells me daily that I am beautiful. I need that! I miss my hair (chemo) more than I miss having breasts.
I had three drains. The first two came out after one week. The third, an axillary drain, was in for 6 weeks. I continued to wear an ace bandage wrapped around my chest for about 7 weeks, and now wear it if there seems to be any fluid build-up. It does the trick. When I exercise I wear a compression sleeve on the arm that had ten lymph nodes removed. Sometimes fluid builds up a little in that armpit, but a day in the ace bandage remedies that.
Omg! Thank you so much for mentioning fluid buildup under the armpits. I had mastectomy in January this year and just now experience fluid buildup again. I had recently done some weight training and carrying heavy luggages. I never thought it could come back after eight months. I’m wearing compression bra again and it has gone down a bit. Ace bandage seems to be better solution. My PT order compression sleeve for me but I never use it. Also, thanks to all the ladies who come to share experience. Something we don’t hear from doctors.
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Omg! Thank you so much for mentioning fluid buildup under the armpits. I had mastectomy in January this year and just now experience fluid buildup again. I had recently done some weight training and carrying heavy luggages. I never thought it could come back after eight months. I’m wearing compression bra again and it has gone down a bit. Ace bandage seems to be better solution. My PT order compression sleeve for me but I never use it. Also, thanks to all the ladies who come to share experience. Something we don’t hear from doctors.