u/AffectionatePeach703

I have a question for my fellow teachers, but first some background.

I'm ++- and had a double mastectomy 8-1-25 with reconstruction. When the bandages were removed the left side had developed necrosis and the skin was dying. So on 8-22-25 I had surgery to remove the implant and necrotic tissue and add a tissue expander. Spent the fall/early winter going thru 6 rounds of TC chemo. Beginning of February I returned to work as Special Education teacher. April did 25 rounds of radiation. 1.5 weeks before the end of the school year I noticed a scab on my left side from radiation. Within a week it had fallen off and I had a quarter size hole in my skin that exposed the tissue expander. That led to surgery the day before the last day of school to switch out the tissue expander. Everything was going great until 5 weeks after I started leaking serous fluid from a pin prick hole. Later developed a second hole and then a third. All along the scar line. This led to a fourth surgery on July 24th where I woke up with no tissue expander because there wasnt enough tissue and being told I'll need a skin graft when it's time for the tissue expander. Since then I've healed and have tried to wear my prosthetic book, but my chest wall still hurts. I've spent most of the summer with just the one boob to reduce pain.

Question: If you're a teacher did you go back to work with only 1 breast and how did the students respond?

I've had severe knee pain ever since I started Letrozol 2.5mg in May. It actually made the knee pain from my body being in menopause significantly worse. Could hardly get off the couch because of the pain. Stairs were a nightmare. This past Friday my PMR doctor gave me steroid shots in both knees. It has taken away almost all of the joint pain. No problems getting off the couch or going up and down stairs. I highly recommend adding a PMR doctor to your team if you can.

3.5 weeks ago I developed a small scab on my left breast that had a fully filled tissue expander and was the side I received radiation on. This scab fell off 3 weeks ago today and I had a hole in breast that exposed my tissue expander. Saw my plastic surgeon the following Monday morning and he told me I was having surgery on Wednesday to remove the tissue expander, clean the tissue, insert new tissue expander and stitch me up. I was literally missing the last 1.5 days of school (I'm a teacher). I was ending the school year as I started it on medical leave. My plastic surgeon also removed a lot of fibrosis tissue that was from radiation. So now that I'm drain free and lopsided I feel like I'm back to where I was mid-Ausust when I had to have emergency surgery to remove necrotic tissue and implant, and put in a tissue expander. I'm just so over everything. I don't recognize my body. I'm struggling to walk thanks to Letrozole. This summer was supposed to be the summer of living after a year of surgeries and treatments. Can't even wear a bra with my silicone boob, it hurts too much. So i walk around lopsided. I keep being told I'm in survivorship, but it doesn't feel like that. I'm in more pain than I was after my double mastectomy. I'm just over it all.