Two Years and Counting

Trip to the Mediterranean 2012

It certainly has been quite awhile!  Yesterday, I received a private message from another compatriot that underwent a preventative mastectomy with reconstruction for LCIS and we both were wondering if we should follow up with our breast surgeons since it has been over two years.  I was told by Dr. Satoloff that I would just need to monitor myself to see if there was any change in shape to the implants which may suggest leakage.  She was told that she should have a yearly MRI to show if anything like that is occurring within her body.  We both decided that physical monitoring rather than the uncomfortable and expensive MRI would show the same thing if we were both vigilant.  

I wanted to update my post to talk about life after the PM and to tell you about our conversation.  We both shared information about our lifestyles in that they haven't changed much from life before the PM.  Personally, I like the way I look now more than before the surgery.  In terms of how I feel, I still consider it the "new normal" and very rarely is there any truly uncomfortable feeling with my body.  For me, the most uncomfortable feeling is when I do not have a bra on which has perplexed my husband.  "Why would you have discomfort when there is no tissue there?", he would comment.  My thought is that the skin has to hold up the implant without a lot of support so when there is no bra in place, it pulls and becomes slightly uncomfortable.

I still and will always welcome questions or conversations even though it has been more than two years.  Please feel free to call or email me at arlene.flick@yahoo.com if you are just beginning the process.  My mind is a little fuzzy since it has been awhile which is why this blog is still a good chronicle of events that will occur should you select this option.  I urge you to read from the very beginning and then call or email me.  It is a big decision and I would love to lessen the unknown if you would like to pick my brain.