"Poor breast reconstruction after mastectomy"

I had a mastectomy of my right breast carried out at Perth Royal Infirmary in June 2023 due to breast cancer.  I have two concerns that I wish to raise: 1 - the breast was reconstructed very badly with a far too large implant and 2 - the breast nurses were not allowed to inform me about what were the most popular choices in reconstruction, or not, to help me make an informed choice.

I chose to have an implant inserted at the time of surgery as I presumed it would be the most straight forward choice. The surgeon advised that there are risks associated with this choice and I might need surgery again if I get a contracture.

They showed me the size of implant that may be used and I was shocked, I remember saying that it was massive and that there was no way I was having that one.  They promised me they would use a smaller one but it was not small enough and I am left with a right breast twice the size of my natural left breast.  It is so big that I need to use a large silicon bra filler to make my bust look even in clothes.  I feel disfigured and a freak. 

Surely a surgeon knows what a natural breast will look like after HRT is withdrawn and what size of implant is needed to match it?  I appreciate the two breasts will sit differently and feel different but a big mistake was made when the size of implant was chosen for me and absolutely no-one from the surgical team has invited me back since June to see and discuss the result. 

I requested a meeting with a Breast Care Nurse in December; they were caring and kind but confirmed that this is the size I will need to get used to.  It is not large due to a seroma or inflammation, it is all implant. Now I have no choice but to have further surgery to remove/replace the implant or live with the very obvious disfigurement.

During the process of choosing reconstruction or not I asked two different breast care nurses, on separate occasions, what do most women choose in my situation, one nurse stated that they were not allowed to tell me and the other stated that they couldn't tell me in case it influenced my choice.  All I asked for was facts for me to make an informed choice.  I have since discovered that only a minority of ladies make my choice of implant at time of surgery; if I had known that in June I would most certainly have made a different choice.  

Every single clinician I have met in my cancer journey has been enormously kind and caring.  I simply want this feedback to effect a change in the protocol of information breast care nurses provide and for breast surgeons to care to see the results of their surgery and learn how to choose the appropriate size of implant to somewhat match what they foresee the size of the natural breast to after treatment.