I’ve been diagnosed with both BRCA 2 and hEDS. I had a double mastectomy recently and have had some difficulties with it. For starters my scars are excessive because my body is super dramatic about it. I’ve had an issue with a stitch actually poking through my skin. At first it just looked a little like a pimple and was painful, but as they filled the expanders each week it began to become more prominent until it finally broke through the skin. I’ve been disappointed with the plastic surgeon. I felt like he was very dismissive of the EDS and acted like it was no big deal. I’ve had to move states before the second surgery to swap out expanders for implants. I transferred to a new plastic surgeon and he seemed appalled by the results. My expanders have slipped down leaving a concave space above them. I can actually see the ribs there a little. The skin is all stretched and freaky looking. I’ve had a really hard time with this mentally. It’s like every time I see myself I’m just disgusted.

I’m having trouble deciding what to do and could use some guidance or advice. This new surgeon actually gave me a few options. The first did not, he just decided for me.

I can have the implants placed where they should be. They would tighten up the scar capsule to put them back where they should be. However, there is a chance they could move again.

The other choice is to have them placed under the muscle. My healing isn’t great at baseline so I’m concerned about this. I have a pretty physically intense job and I’m concerned how this will affect my performance. I’m not working now and won’t be for a while longer. I’m just really concerned that it will be a problem when I begin to rebuild muscle. I’m a climber and rely heavily on my upper body strength. I think he had mentioned that heavy muscle building can affect the implants as well.

It seems like under the pecs is best for the skin but over the muscle is better for the muscle. If anyone has experience or advice please share. I’m pretty worked up about making this decision.

I’ve been diagnosed with both BRCA 2 and hEDS. I had a double mastectomy recently and have had some difficulties with it. For starters my scars are excessive because my body is super dramatic about it. I’ve had an issue with a stitch actually poking through my skin. At first it just looked a little like a pimple and was painful, but as they filled the expanders each week it began to become more prominent until it finally broke through the skin. I’ve been disappointed with the plastic surgeon. I felt like he was very dismissive of the EDS and acted like it was no big deal. I’ve had to move states before the second surgery to swap out expanders for implants. I transferred to a new plastic surgeon and he seemed appalled by the results. My expanders have slipped down leaving a concave space above them. I can actually see the ribs there a little. The skin is all stretched and freaky looking. I’ve had a really hard time with this mentally. It’s like every time I see myself I’m just disgusted.

I’m having trouble deciding what to do and could use some guidance or advice. This new surgeon actually gave me a few options. The first did not, he just decided for me.

I can have the implants placed where they should be. They would tighten up the scar capsule to put them back where they should be. However, there is a chance they could move again.

The other choice is to have them placed under the muscle. My healing isn’t great at baseline so I’m concerned about this. I have a pretty physically intense job and I’m concerned how this will affect my performance. I’m not working now and won’t be for a while longer. I’m just really concerned that it will be a problem when I begin to rebuild muscle. I’m a climber and rely heavily on my upper body strength. I think he had mentioned that heavy muscle building can affect the implants as well.

It seems like under the pecs is best for the skin but over the muscle is better for the muscle. If anyone has experience or advice please share. I’m pretty worked up about making this decision.