I’m still early in my cancer diagnosis, and I am trying to gather information about the impact of bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction on swimming and life, in general. I’m looking for information about over the pec versus under the pec reconstruction in terms of scar tissue and mobility issues. I would be interested in hearing from people who chose not to reconstruct as well.
I would also be keen to hear if riding the trainer was possible after the three weeks of prescribed immobility I have read about.
So far the oncologist doesn’t seem to think I will need chemo or radiation, but I will be on estrogen blockers. I am post-menopausal.
Hi Meg, I don’t really have much to share other than hoping for the best for you. I did a quick search of the forums (still learning how this search tool works) and it doesn’t seem like there’s a whole lot here (yet). I’ll keep an eye out, and I’m sure there will be other members of the forum who will have some insight. I did find some threads that touched on post-implant or post-reconstruction, so maybe you’ll find something helpful in those. There used to be a women’s forum and some of those threads may have had something too. Rooting for you!
Thanks so much! I am not the greatest with the search tools, so I appreciate your nudge to look there. My oncologist doesn’t quite understand what I mean when I say I swim and ride–so I’m hoping there are endurance athletes lurking who have experience in this realm.
Maybe something will catch your eye that didn’t catch mine in your search!! I don’t have 1:1 experience with oncologists, but maybe as you start to explain to them what you’re hoping to get back to, they’ll have some good suggestions for timeline.
I do think I remember seeing some triathletes on Instagram who shared their cancer story, but I know not everyone is on IG. I’ll see if I can find their profiles and share with you.
I just wanted to pass on my best as you get through this, and I am watching this thread for someone close to me (although not active like us). Hopefully they caught this at the early stage. If you PM me, one of my former athletes went through the entire process (she had done several IMs, went through Breast Cancer, double masectomy and reconstruction and is racing again and working towards a BQ). In any case, I can point her to this thread in case she can comment.
I can give you my experience as a swim coach working with athletes with implants. I don’t know of any who went through reconstruction. I can only assume they were for cosmetic reasons.
In swimming, each athletes stroke or movement is like a fingerprint - no two are alike. With some of the athletes I coached, I began to notice that a few of them were moving almost exactly the same way. I had never seen before. It turned out that they all had implants.
I asked some of the doctors on the team who had experience with plastic surgery. They described under the muscle implants and we figured that the implant was stretching the top part of the pectoral muscle. This, in turn, was making it difficult for the athlete to grab the water at the setting of the catch with the arm extended out in front. I figured with the implant they were giving up about 8-10 inches at the top of the stroke when there are few muscles that are involved and the top of the pectoral muscle is one of them.
I hope this helps and I wish you all the best with your treatment and recovery,
There is a woman at the pool where I swim who had both breasts removed circa 18 months ago. She opted not to have them replaced (not sure if that is the correct word). She swam daily throughout the whole process and said she was under no restrictions from her doctor. She is cancer free now and said the swimming gave her something else to think about other than treatment. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
There are not a ton who have opted out of reconstruction, so this is interesting to me. I’m trying to figure out if the “you’ll be concave” commentary that I have gotten is real or just fear.