My life with Poland Syndrome
When I was younger I was constantly throwing up, but whenever I went to the doctors I had already stopped and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. They admitted me to the hospital for tests in the end and found I was lactose intolerant. But upon discovering this a doctor noticed that as I was throwing up, my chest on the right side was caving in as I convulsed. He'd seen a similar case in another child and that child was diagnosed with Poland Syndrome. I was sent for some observation at the local children's hospital where they confirmed it was indeed Poland Syndrome. I was 10 years old at the time and, as a female, it wasn't until I hit puberty at 14 that I really started to notice. It affected my mental health pretty severely, I knew I was different from the rest of the girls my age and only my best friend knew. Getting changed for pe was a challenge, hiding in a corner or going to the toilet to change, I was lucky no one said anything to me about it. Unlike a lot of people with PS I don't have the hand deformity, only the chest, my right hand is slightly shorter than the left but only noticeable when I put my hands together. As my mental health got worse, my doctor who was also the surgeon said I could have an operation by having a tissue expander in my chest as I was only 15 and they thought I would develop more (which I did not). I had the surgery and I felt a lot better about myself, I could finally wear pretty bras like other people instead of plain and old looking mastectomy bras which were not made for my age. At the age of 18 I had a second operation but on my left side, this was corrective surgery so both sides would be more similar to each other, it included a lift and resizing of the areola. I'm more open with people now about having PS, because now instead of being weird they find it interesting and people always say they'd have never known which helped my paranoia that people knew and were laughing at me behind my back.
I sometimes still feel down about how everything looks, I wish I felt like a normal woman, but I'm lucky I have a boyfriend who loves me for me and a family who have been supportive at every stage of my life.
I'm 22 now and would only consider the surgery again as the implant needs to be replaced every 15 years or so, but apart from that I'm relatively happy and in a good place mentally about it.
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