Killer Boobs and Refusal for funding necessary surgery!
My readers of this blog that have been with me for over the last 3 years will know that I have a structural problem...!! I am a 5' 3" small framed woman but since my menopause my breasts have become extra large. Having always been well endowed they have increased in weight and size. Those of you that have been with me for this 3 year period will know that I was in a battle with the Hillingdon PCT over funding. The referral to a specialist blocked because of lack of funds for "cosmetic surgery". So let this be clarified the referral blocks the first line out patient assessment by a Specialist... which I feel is an insult to my GP who has made the first line assessment of me and deemed it necessary for me to be seen by a consultant. It is not respecting my rights to see a specialist for an assessment and it is not respecting the rights of the specialist to be able to assess a patient that needs his/her help!
My case if you remember was presented to the exceptions committee and still was refused - even with a detailed powerpoint with Under breast ribcage measures, overall breast measures, upper arm girth and shoulder breadth to demonstate that the rest of my body structure was small. So the disportionate body mass was going to cause long term structural stress problems.
I had seen a private consultant who refused to take a penny from me and said my case was an outright case for the NHS to fund. He had been willing to do the surgery if the NHS paid for this.
My battle was put on hold when I met and married my beautiful Moroccan husband, who loves me know matter but he can see the breasts are a problem. Loves me with or without boobs.. as he loves ME - Marjorie. I say without boobs as some days I feel I could willing agree to a bilateral mastectomy to get literally the weight off my chest! My husband can see there are structural problems occuring.
But the battle is renewed.. referrals have gone in in June of last year and again this year with no appointment granted to see the specialist surgeon.
I am in written dialogue with the specialist who confirms he has no power over referrals and has suggested I contact my MP.. I have emailed my MP who is looking it the case. I have emailed and written to the Chief Executive of the PCT and still await a response.
I have constant pain now each day I live with pain on a VAS of 0 - 10 a pain score of 5 over the thoracic dorsal area. My muscle and skin feels like it is ripping apart with or without a bra for support. Any need to lean forward for work such as cleaning or tending to patiens in my nursing work leads to intense ache of this area to scale 9.
I have nerve pain down my right dominant arm that is like electric shock and have on occassion ataxic movement of this arm to bring it from downward resting position to up towards my head. I sometime lose my grip and drop things. Then it is difficult to bend down to pick things up. This is because my shoulders are not wide enough to take the weight from my bra strap so it keeps slipping and pressing on the upper arm - thus transfering the weight pressure there.
Now more worryingly I have sleep apnoeas with reducted Oxygen staturation in the night and now have to use CPAP on in the night to help me breathe.
I might hasten to add here that the referral to the ENT for snoring went through smoothly and the ENT cross referral to the respiratory, sleep team at Harefield Hospital also went through smoothly. All those teams that I have seen have been respectful and gracious in my needs and can see that the fundamental problem is that the breast tissue is excessive and weighty. Their examination reveals it is too heavy and too much for my ribcage and inspiration to occur without strain.
It is literally like breathing with someone sat on your chest... or as if someone put a sandbag on your chest and you need to breath against this - every minute of every day.
I am noticing that I am having apnoeas when awake now too! Yes while sat quiet watching TV, reading or working at my computer my breathing becomes increasinly shallow and then I have a period without breathing.. be it for a 30 secs or more. But this is followed by a deep gasp of air....
I have shortness of breath when I am walking and talking. My activity as gone down from working full shifts to going for long walks, dancing, gym and playing squash to having no puff or energy to do any of this..
Any exercise requires for anyone fit or not extra expansion of the chest wall to cope with the extra inspiration needed to supply oxygen for the exercise demands. For me to exercise there is added strain on inspiration.
I feel I am losing myself in all this...and that my cry for help not heard. I want to be fit and well for my older years and enjoy what time I have with my husband!
The long term effects of the sleep apnoeas are that because the stress of the reduced oxygen flow stimulates the adrenaline glands to producte adrenaline means that the body is on constant red alert detecting that there is a problem.. so you never have a good nights sleep as you wake with the catecholamine effect of this.. This over time leads to raised BP, cardiac problems and high risk for stroke!
I have had a collapse at work at the end of December where I was on an early shift... I had not slept well and needed to be up for 4:30 in the morning to get in for work for 7 am start.... two buses had to take me there so as I have no car now I have to fit in with the bus time table...
I had felt giddy and dizzy during the shift then I collapsed with bradycardia and raised BP... my work had to call an ambulance to take me to the local A/E - the blood studies and ECG were not showing any cardiac issues and the FAST exam for stroke and transient ischaemic attack proved to be NAD... so I was discharged home.
But a few weeks ago I slept in and failed to ring in ... this is a sackable offence so I have lost my new post in oncology!! The shock of this resulted in me having chest pain with pain radiating down my left arm so I went to A/E again. This time the cardiac enzymes were raised so I was kept in overnight for monitoring.. but the later Trop was negative.. through the night I kept having bradycardia and further chest pain.
This is frightening me as I feel I am being pulled more and more into a patient zone and I would much rather be healthy looking after others!
The Chest pain is like a fist pressing in over the upper inner quadrant of my left breast where I have an irregular palpable mass...
Do you remember my loyal readers how 3 years ago this mass I had felt did not lead to a fast track referral of my case. That only on my own personal proactiveness did I have a mamagram and was called back to the Breast Clinic at Charing Cross where I was seen by an oncologist and radiologist.. the detail ultrasound made them confident I the mass was not cancerous. But they suggested I had a reduction as they could see that the weight was a problem... this never led to seeing a surgeon so was a blind alley to getting the care I need.
I feel all this is false health economics as by denying my right for the breast reduction I am accumulating all the spin off medical problems from the structural and physiological stress it is causing.. so I am already costing the NHS as other referrals for medical help go through or I am taken to casualty...
My condition is inherited as my Grandmother and mother had this problem too and it is worth noting that both died in their early 60s
If I could get the reduction it would quite literally be a weight off my chest!
We also need to to find a bigger house too, as my Dolls House is too small for me and my husband to live in. But I have problems with the boobs always banging into things.. and yes this will raise a giggle in my readers but it is serious too... I can nearly have a Mrs Doubtfire incident of setting my boobs alight over the cooker...
I am humilated by comments in the street and looks... I am desperate to get this matter sorted out. The matter can only be helped with surgical debulking of the breast tissue!
I have found this site for you to read further about the issue.
http://www.labreastreduction.com/large-breasts-symptoms.aspx
This heavy weight can account for an array of problems including:
Chronic back, neck and shoulder pain
Development of bone spurs on the spine
Medical conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia and spinal disc problems
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Headaches and migraines
Poor posture and rounded shoulders
Shortness of breath
Skin irritations, bacterial infection & rashes (intertrigo), under/between the breasts
Sagging breasts and stretch marks in the breast and upper chest area
Limitations of physical activities
Breast and chest pain especially while exercising
Numbness and tingling of the fingers
Trouble sleeping comfortably
Bra-strap grooving and shoulder cuts, often with bleeding and long-term scarring
Shoulder muscle and joint problems such as rotator cuff tears and thoracic outlet syndrome
The doctors on this site have given me faith in the procedure as I have been worrying about the surgery. In all honesty I would rather be scrubbed handing the scalpel to the surgeon that be under the scalpel ... so not lusting for an op.... but this site has made me feel comfortable with the idea...
BUT HOW DO I GET THE CARE I NEED???
http://www.labreastreduction.com/breast-reduction-surgery.aspx
Incisions are made in the middle of the breast as a circular pattern around your areola (darker skin around the nipple) and excess skin, except the nipple - areola complex, is removed from the lower part of the breast. Different incision options include an upside-down “T” (anchor-shaped pattern), an upside-down “L” pattern, or a keyhole pattern where the incision is made around the areola and vertically down to the crease of the breast only.
MANAGING THE NIPPLE (AREOLA COMPLEX)
In order for the nipple to survive and maintain its rich nerve and blood supply, it is left attached to its tissue and the breast. In addition, leaving the nipples attached to their glandular component allows most patients to breastfeed in the years after surgery. This breast tissue attachment is called the nipple pedicle and it is specifically designed based on the surgeon’s experience and patient’s surgical needs.
Patients who have extremely large or long breasts or certain medical risks, such as a history of smoking or gigantomostia (extreme growth of the breasts), may require the nipple to be treated like a skin graft rather than leave it in a pedicle that would be too long and too wide to properly reduce the breast. With free nipple grafting, the nipple and appropriate amount of areola is completely removed from the breast to be attached later during the surgery.
HOT PRESS NEWS 9TH FEB - MY GP PRACTICE HAS FOUND A WAY TO GET ME SEEN BY THE BREAST SPECIALIST... I WILL KEEP YOU ALL UPDATED....
