Radiated skin and future cosmetic surgery.

Eil4186 said:

At first I didn't
At first I didn't understand, because the incision would be below the nipple and my lumpectomy is well above the nipple. But the surgeon said that he would have to separate the skin from the breast tissue in order to reposition the breast in a higher position. This separation would prevent the radiated skin from relying on nearby skin for blood as it has been doing since the radiation. This is all new to me. So now I cannot have my boob lift. Just another way that cancer has screwed me over. Pardon my bluntness. I'm just very disappointed is all. My breasts are uneven, and scarred, I just thought that with a lift I could make them look a bit better. Thanks for your responses girls.

Eil4186 said:

Thanks girls for your
Thanks girls for your advise. I contacted a second surgeon and he concurred with the first. He said he wouln't even consider operating on irradiated skin. I guess that is that.

carkris said:

I wonder if it depends on
I wonder if it depends on where you live?

Cancer Radiated Guy said:

Radiated Skin
I came across this discussion by way of Google. I am a 55 yr old male and I was again searching for a Doctor that specializes in operating on radiated skin. I know it is a waste of time but still trying . I had a good portion of my nose removed due to cancer and had it reconstructed and it looked pretty good. Then the cancer spread to my neck. I had that removed by surgery and since the cancer moved I had to undergo chemo and radiation. The radiation totally destroyed my nose by shrinking the skin tissue. Looked like a boxer of 50 years. I then had a forehead flap to fix it (where they take a 2" strip of skin from the forehead). This was non radiated skin but would not take due to trying to attach it to radiated skin. I have tried over 18 procedures now and I can tell you and sorry to say that after radiation your chaces of plastic surgery reconstruction are nil to VERY slim if not impossible. In short I guess we have to thank God we are still alive. Held my two grankids yesterday !!!! Screw cancer.

 Im told that it is still possible for me to get mastectomy and reconstruc if i so choose cause i have tremendous amounts of pain in cancer side and had abcess on chest wall very bad cellulitis 2 years out was in hospital for 5 days so im almost at the point of wanting them removed just cant deal anymore so ive heard it is possible maybe pending what kind of reconstruc u do my original surgery for was partial mastectomy on left with bilateral reduction and grafts  so that was april 6 2011

chirop777 said:

hyperbaic treatment (oxygen)

I would look into hyperbaric treatment. This helps with increasing blood suppy and oxygen to radiated tissue and may improve the condition of your breast tissue for a future breast surgery. I looked into this because I would like reconstructive surgery due to breast cancer and I did research and found out that hyperbaric treatments help improve radiated skin. I unfortunately have terrible scar tissue and learned that this helps to improve the radiated skin. I hope this helps Mich

 

I had a bi-lateral in July 2013.  Had expanders placed at the time.  Filled and on to 34 rounds of radiation.  I had permanent implants placed in July 2014.   In June I will be having additional surgery.   The radiated side - the skin tightened around the implant.   In June my PS will "re-do" my left side to bring back the symmetry by reducing it and evening me out.   His only hesitation about operating on my right side was that it's not been a year yet and because radiated tissue is tighter there's just no guarantee it wouldn't do it again.   When I suggested the alternative of the left side - it was literally like a light went on!  He said - as a surgeon you get so use to wanting to fix what is obviuosly wrong - sometimes not thinking outside the box.  My PS is one of the only in our area that will place expanders knowing you're going to have extensive radiation.  Don't give up - and never say never.  They're making tremendous strides in all areas, including plastic surgery

Hello! I'm new to this site, so if I do something wrong, please forgive me and politely let me know. I had my cancer in 2005 and this December will mark 10 years clean, I hope. I had a very small medullary carcinoma of the breast and adenocarcinoma of the lymph nodes under my arm, above my collar bone and along my sternum that was only identified as being neither a breast or lymph node originated cancer. I had chemo, a lumpectomy with lymph nodes removed under my arm and then radiation. The following January I was tested for the BRCA genes and was positive for BRCA2. Why this test was not offered to me at the start, Idk, considering my extensive family history and I was only 32 years old at the time. I opted for a BMX with reconstruction, which took the entire next year to complete. I was told that the doc I had was the best for this type of reconstruction in the city. My results are disastrous! Maybe I expected too much, but I was assured it would be no problem and other than the nipples having a sketchy outcome, it would look as good as before. Unfortunately, not remotely true! Don't get me wrong, I am thankful to be alive, but had I known it would look like this, I would have opted for prosthesis. I am so ashamed of the outcome, I have resigned myself to the fact of being alone for the rest of my life. They are not the same size, shape or nipple color or placement as each other. My advice to anyone considering reconstruction after rads is to ask for before and after photos, do your homework and think about it really hard before you make your decision. Also, I had muscle from a cadaver used in my surgery to help support the implants. Idk if they still do that or not. Sorry so long.