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newleaseonlife1 t1_jbzm2du wrote

Reply to comment by Delouest in Cancer timeline: treatment for stage 3c triple positive breast cancer (all cancers are unique, this is my personal timeline; similar diagnoses will have a similar, but not identical, timeline) [OC] by BluebellsMcGee

I had the mastectomy and clotted twice in surgery, which led to a huge necrotic wound that took 3 months to heal. That led to a blood disorder diagnosis. In revision surgery, I got a staph infection, my incision ruptured, and I needed IV antibiotics. The CT scan found an enlarged heart. And this is all WITHOUT cancer. Yet. Oophorectomy was ok, but I struggled for a bit when I had to get off the estrogen due to the blood disorder.

Have you considered a DIEP reconstruction? Even with all the problems I have, my boobs/figure look pretty great, I feel somewhat like myself again (loss of sensation is hard) even though I lost a nipple due to necrosis. It'll get reconstructed. I'm really happy with how realistic everything looks and feels. It was a really rough recovery the first 2 weeks and I just had to move really really slow, but I was back to myself 6-8 weeks later aside from strenuous exercise

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Delouest t1_jbzmtq4 wrote

You've really had a string of terrible luck!

My surgeon said I'm not a candidate for diep due to being to small and I have pretty bad asthma and can't be under anesthesia for the length of time they'd need. I think that was his explanation. This was in 2019 and I was more concerned with the cancer and treatment and just kind of accepted what my team was telling me the plan was. At this point I'd honestly be happy to be flat. I was never very attached to my breasts, and I won't be able to get feeling back either way, so it's just kind of moot. At the end of the day though, I'm probably going to avoid extra surgeries so it's probably going to be just whatever they say I need to replace the current implants and just do it at the same time.

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newleaseonlife1 t1_jbzq9u2 wrote

So have you!!

That makes total sense. The length of the surgery is hard on anyone, and you shouldn't go through a recovery like that if you ultimately don't care as much.

I very very much get that "Idgaf I just wanna be done with it" feeling. Shit has been so rough I wanna keep my plastic surgeon as my emergency contact 🤣🤣. I don't even wanna have a gallbladder removed without him in the room

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BluebellsMcGee OP t1_jbzp5gf wrote

Out of curiosity, what's your blood disorder? I have FVL and MTHFR, which is why I chose implant-based reconstruction rather than autologous reconstruction.

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newleaseonlife1 t1_jbzpver wrote

My blood disorder is unknown. I've had high factor VIII and protein S, high RBC and high hemoglobin. My cbc and coagulation workup is literally different every time. Until they have a better idea, my treatment plan is lovonax after surgery.

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emmet80 t1_jd6ia0s wrote

Can either of you say more about this? I am considering my surgical options and also have MTHFR and FVL mutations.

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BluebellsMcGee OP t1_jd6kii2 wrote

Because I had FVL, there was an increased risk of an autologous fat transfer failing. I opted for silicone reconstruction.

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