Point of View #6: Felicity

Felicity (a pseudonym I've given her) has joined ranks with the previous 5 women who've all very kindly and generously allowed photos of their One Step reconstructions to be posted for the benefit of other BRCA+ and high risk women who are considering this form of surgical risk management. Felicity's One Step was performed by Dr. Salzberg and Dr. Ashikari in Dobbs Ferry, NY. She has shared both "before" and "after" photos of her breasts, along with interesting and detailed commentary on her 4 photos that show very clearly, like mine, a definite and obvious improvement over time from week 1 to week 7 that is quite dramatic. Felicity is feeling quite happy with her outcome now, so what better name to pick for her than Felicity? (I also needed an "F" name, perfect timing!)

To see Felicity's password-protected reconstruction photos, please email me to request it at rebecca (at) onestepscoop (dot) com.

To see a list of the other 5 women's Points of View One Step photo galleries, just scroll down to the section of my blog's right hand sidebar entitled Points of View.

Like I did with Alicia's Point of View post, I'll include Felicity's comments here since they are very detailed and helpful even without the accompanying photos.

"Before [photo]:

This is me the night before my "one-step" PBM with Drs. Ashikari and Salzberg at Dobbs Ferry hospital. You can see that my breasts are quite small (duh), as I was always a 34A to begin with, and gravity (I'm 46) and nursing 2 babies have taken their toll. Dr. Salzberg said my figure would actually look better after my surgery, and I knew he meant that in a positive, not insulting, way -- it actually helped me deal by thinking that at least something good would come of all this.

I tried on implant sizes in his office during my consultation, with my husband along, and after a lot of debate and some laughs, we both decided that the 350 cc Mentor silicone implants (Dr. S uses the high profile) would be best for my frame -- my goal was a large B. I was scared of going too big, but I've read a lot of FORCE posts where women are sorry they didn't go big enough, so I erred on that side. Then because I had to be doubly sure, I brought a friend back with me and we came to the same decision on the 350 cc's. This is exactly what Dr. S ended up using, probably b/c I didn't have enough breast tissue taken out to require him to add in the difference with more silicone! I think I also received Strattice, as opposed to Alloderm.

One Week After [photos]:

This picture was taken exactly a week after PBM, the day Dr. Ashikari pulled my drains out. As you see, my breasts look quite scary. But I was so relieved to have the drains out; one on the right side must have been pressing a nerve, it was so uncomfortable. I also had pretty bad anemia right after surgery (which is rare), so I was still taking it easy, couldn't do much and felt neusea, headache and fatigue (complete opposite of Rebecca who was out taking walks and making salads at day 3!)

Back to breasts -- very bruised and discolored, especially the right one. You can see they are uneven, with the right nipple lower down and pointing outward more. They are also lumpy and dented. Both Dr. A and Dr. S had said they were looking good, and obviously they see beyond the ugliness we see! Plus, I knew to expect that this could happen from Rebecca's photos, which reassured me that things could change a lot over the weeks.

I'm pretty sure Dr. Roy Ashikari assisted Andrew during my surgery, since when Andrew came to talk to my husband after surgery, his dad was in scrubs nearby as well. Either way, I felt I was in the absolute best hands with Drs. A and S.

I took my first shower this night; it was great to get clean, but I couldn't stand touching my boobs and feeling nothing, it was strange and disconcerting. I also didn't look in the mirror much, understandably.

Almost Five Weeks After [photos]:

A month later and a big difference. A lot of the bruising faded, and the Steri-strips are off. The indentation lines going vertically down my boobs are from the DKNY bra, which I tried to wear as tight as possible for support and separation, as instructed by Drs. S and T (the lines faded quickly). The right nipple is still lower and facing out. A couple of weeks prior, Dr. A had told me that in addition to massaging, I should actually lift up that breast and hold it for 30 seconds or so each time to help it stay in the right place.

Seven Weeks/3 Days After [photo]:

Now I'm feeling really happy with my breasts. They are fuller, rounder, not really bruised anymore. There are scars underneath, but they are not too noticeable unless you look for them, and I know they'll fade. I've been massaging vitamin E cream into the incision line twice a day, and Dr. S has me pushing each breast in toward the middle of my chest twice a day, for 30 seconds, for cleavage. The right nipple still needs to move in and up, and actually the very bottom of my right breast feels "lumpier" than the left, like scar tissue or something is stuck and impeding the implant, I don't really know. The right is not as full on the "outer" side as the left. I'll show Dr. S next time I see him; I have faith that he'll tell me it will change, or he'll eventually fix it."

Thanks Felicity for sharing your photos and comments with us!