Breast cancer survivor in Glasgow says she's facing an 'unending wait' for reconstruction surgery

A breast cancer survivor says she faces an “unending wait” for reconstruction surgery and has been left “permanently disfigured” following a radical mastectomy.

Shareen Gault, 44, from Glasgow was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in March 2023 and started chemotherapy within weeks.

She underwent a radical mastectomy in August 2023 to remove her right breast, but has been given a “suggested date” of 2026 for plastic surgery to reconstruct the breast tissue.

“I was given no real indication of how long that wait would be,” she told STV News. “One of the breast cancer nurses who was helpful said ‘don’t expect this is going to be soon’.

“There seems to be an indication it would now be at the earliest two years, I have to say I don’t have much faith in that, given the worsening figures we’ve seen over the last five years.”

Shareen couldn’t have immediate reconstruction surgery following her mastectomy as she required radiotherapy treatment, which is considered elective surgery.

“It’s not a cosmetic issue,” she said. “For any woman who has gone through cancer treatment and endured the side effects of that, in terms of the loss of self, it’s so important as a necessary part of recovery that reconstruction can happen.

“In the period where people are not able to achieve reconstruction that is a time of limbo, there is a constant anxiety of ‘when might this be possible?’ When can I achieve even physically an appearance that looks a bit like my old self?

“Cancer changes you. However, on a daily basis I now have a very visual disfigurement of my body that leaves you looking odd.

“Operating with one breast, having to use a prosthetic daily impacts almost every part of your day, from the shower you have in the morning and having to be reminded of the scars and treatment you’ve undergone. It has an impact on your sense of womanhood.”

Her case was highlighted in the Scottish Parliament in November 2024 by Conservative MSP Sandesh Gulhane.

But Shareen says its still not being taken seriously.

She said: “Each time it’s been raised in the Scottish Parliament there have been messages of sympathy and regret – but each time , there’s been no action taken. I’m entirely frustrated by the whole situation.”

“I wonder if this was a men’s health issue whether we would see such length delays and such a disregard both psychologically and physically in terms of the women who are left to endure this.”

Health secretary Neil Gray said: “Delayed breast reconstruction is categorised as a routine elective procedure (rather than clinically urgent) and the current waiting times for routine delayed breast reconstruction is 104 weeks.”

He added: “Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 significantly impacted patient care, resulting in the entire suspension of all non-cancer treatments.

“No new patients were evaluated and those on the plastic surgery waiting list maintained status while resources were reallocated to deliver acute patient care.

“Upon the remobilisation of elective plastic surgery services, a significant backlog of patients awaited treatment.

“I can confirm that all patients are treated in order of clinical priority and then by length of wait. At present, all capacity within the Plastic Surgery breast reconstruction service is utilised for urgent breast cancer and cancer risk reducing surgery.”

Lisa’s story

Lisa Bancroft from Dunfermline co-founded a charity supporting people with a type of gene mutation that makes them more likely to develop certain cancers

She underwent a double mastectomy and reconstruction surgery aged 28 when she found out she had the BRCA gene and a 70-90% chance of developing breast cancer.

Lisa, now 32, considers herself one of the lucky ones but told STV News: “It’s a total postcode lottery. It’s frustrating for us as a charity, in terms of waiting times and reconstruction.

“The worst case scenario is we’re seeing (people waiting) three to four years, which is heartbreaking. It’s a long time to be left in limbo, especially when it’s preventive and you want to act on it.

“We’re seeing a bit of a theme in terms of a rise in the number of people coming through our community who are contracting cancer during the wait for preventive surgery, or managing to get to their prevention – and they always test tissue they remove – and then they find cancer within that.

“They then need to have further investigation. It’s one of the most heartbreaking things you can see because there are people who are trying to do everything in their power to stop that happening and it’s outwith their control having to wait.”

The charity has an online Mastectomy Monday page where they encourage women to share photos post-surgery. “It gives you an overview of what different bodies look like with different reconstructions,” added Lisa.