Flat and very pleased with the results- A Previvor’s Story

I am 8 months out from a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy, which I chose to have due to a BRCA 1 mutation. Before my surgery, I joined the FB group Flat & Fabulous, and seeing how many women’s requests to be made flat were ignored made me very worried. I must have sent my surgeon 10+ messages explaining that I wanted to be made as flat as possible, and I sent her many photos of what I deemed to be acceptable and unacceptable results. I also consulted with a plastic surgeon prior to my mastectomy, and while he did not participate in my actual surgery, he did ink me up with permanent marker the preceding day, to provide my breast surgeon with some guidance. I specifically requested a “gull-wing”  scar pattern (you can make such requests!) because I find its curviness aesthetically pleasing,  and because I can wear lower-cut shirts without showing my scars if I feel like being sassy but not *too* sassy, lol.

I am very pleased with my results. I did have minor revision surgery under sedation 6 weeks ago to minimize some lumps I had on my side, but I think my surgeon did an excellent job, overall. For what it’s worth,  I wore a 36G bra before mastectomy, so the excuse that a surgeon can’t make a woman flat due to their chest size doesn’t hold water. It isn’t wise to expect a “perfect”  post-mastectomy result (medicine is an imperfect science, and closing a round opening with a linear seam is tricky), but we should be able to expect acceptable results.