3 weeks after surgery

What the recovery has been like.

It’s a little over three weeks since I had my nipple-sparing double-mastectomy with reconstruction surgery. I thought those of you who are following along, or who might be reading this to find out more, might want to know how I’m tracking.

I went to see the surgeon about ten days after the surgery. She took the remaining dressings off my breasts and put silicon tape over the incisions which is supposed to help with reducing scarring. She was happy with everything and doesn’t need to see me again, but did tell me I still need to have regular breast checks. There’s not a 100% guarantee that they got all the breast tissue so while it will have reduced my likelihood of breast cancer, it hasn’t eliminated it completely.

For me, I’m not allowed to bathe/swim/submerge the breasts in water for long periods of time until they’re fully healed which might be about four weeks, and I have to wear the surgical bras for eight weeks. Basically the point of the bras are to allow the tissue to seal around the implants to hold them in place. I’m getting used to wearing them 24/7.

In terms of movement, I don’t feel restricted at all. I’m not going jogging any time soon (or ever if I’m honest!), but I can move my arms in all directions without pain. I have booked into a physio to get some exercises just to make sure there aren’t any issues, but that’s not until next month. That’s probably one thing I would suggest to others is to book the physio in early if there aren’t many in your area. They told me they generally like to see patients two weeks after surgery for assessment, but I guess it depends on how your recovery is going. For Australia and New Zealand, you can find an accredited lymphoedema practitioner here. But again, check with your surgeon as to their recommendations, because your surgery might be different from mine.

Tomorrow will be my first day back in the office since the surgery though I’ve been working from home since about day 11 after surgery. I know I’ve been incredibly fortunate, because not everyone has it as relatively easy as I’ve had it.

I am driving with a chest pillow similar to this. It’s a bit bulky at times, but has had a nice cushioning effect.

So how do the breasts actually look and feel? (FYI - that’s a stock image below!)

One of my concerns was they wouldn’t look or feel like my breasts when I chose to have implants, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The incisions/scars are about 2cm horizontally out from the areola on both sides and then around the top of the areola. When I look down, I can’t really see them, so they just look like my normal breasts.

Looking in the mirror, I see the scars, but right now they are covered with a skin-coloured silicon tape so even that looks fine. It might be a bit jarring when I eventually remove it.

The surgeon gave them a bit of a lift to make sure the nipples were still in the right place, so they’re perkier than they’ve been in a while which is kind of nice.

In terms of sensation, it varies. Every now and then I’ll get a short sharp pain which I figure is probably the nerves repairing themselves. Sometimes they feel a little bruised, and after I’ve been wearing the bra all day they feel a little sensitive. They are definitely something I’m still conscious of.

I can feel the underneath of my breasts as normal and the middle of my chest is normal, but as I get to the mound where the implant is, it’s all pretty numb. I don’t know how much that will change, but I’ll give you all an update at 2 months.

Aside from that, I’m back to sleeping on my side. I’m still using my underarm pillows just so I don’t put too much weight on the breasts yet, but the breast nurse pointed out that my body will wake me if it’s in pain.

That’s about all I’ve got to report. If you’ve got any questions, leave me a comment.