Reconstruction

Hi there,

Sorry for the late reply, been off having a little knee surgery.

I think the girls have covered lots of your queries.  As you are a member of our private Breast Reconstruction Group you should be able to read the posts about Private v's Public hospitals.  you may pick up some hints there. If you would like to post a question to the group just click on the big pink post tab at the top of this page and you will get a drop down of the groups you belong to and your blog.  Just click on the Breast Reconstruction Online Group and you post will only appear in that group.

Shout out if you need a hand.

Hugs

Paula xxxxx 

Hi Maribel, have you managed to join Reclaim Your Curves yet?: This is the link to joining the group: reclaimyourcurves.org.au/connect. There are a number of women in that group from Brisbane that might be able to generally advise on waiting times in your area (times seem to vary greatly depending on where you are in Australia).

You could also post your questions into the private Breast Reconstruction group on this site (I can see you are a member) to try and get a few answers. The group has a number of blogs in the Topic List that cover things such as implant reconstruction, surgeons in Brisbane etc that might help you. Just message me if you are having trouble finding anything.

When speaking to the surgeon, they should be able to give you an idea of waiting times and if you have options ie, going private in a private hospital, private in a public hospital or public patient in a public hospital. Often being a private patient in a private hospital incurs substantial out of pocket costs which the surgeon should quote you before you go ahead with anything. You could possibly choose to be a private patient in a public hospital which usually means no costs for the hospital stay and you can choose your surgeon. Being a public patient in a public hospital should not cost anything but may mean longer waiting times and you can't choose your surgeon. You could also ask your surgeon whether they will "no gap" your surgery, or any further procedures to reduce any costs. Information about comparing private vs public can be found here: canceraustralia.gov.au/comparison-public-versus-private

I understand that surgeons generally like to wait 3-6 months after chemo before they do reconstruction to give your body a chance to recover before stressing it with an operation. This is a good time to do your research so that you feel confident with the procedure you are going to have and to get a couple of opinions; surgeons often specialise in particular procedures and may only offer that when there are potentially other choices available.

Hope this helps. Best wishes, Jane xx

I had a  bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction through public system and had it done 20 days after 1st consult ..but this was when I had cancer. I guess the only way to find out is to have a consult. I was very happy with my breast surgeon who did implant reconstruction and did a fantastic job. If I had chosen a flap reconstruction though I would have seen a plastic surgeon through the public system but it takes a bit longer. You should only have to wait a few weeks after chemo before surgery.  Goodluck.