Hi Happy Days, I like Jane (Hopes and Dreams) had a single skin and nipple sparing mastectomy with immediate reconstruction using implant. My tumour was 2.7cm and I was size 14C so I was told that the amount of tissue that needed to be taken was going to cause quite some disfiguration of my breast if I had a lumpectomy. I also had a benign lesion next to the tumour but had already decided to have mastectomy with implant. At that stage my brilliant surgeon who did both the mastectomy and the reconstruction advised me that I was definitely having chemotherapy and in all likelihood radiotherapy as well as it was believed that my tumour was very aggressive. I did ask about the implant and what would happen if I needed radiotherapy and my surgeon said her team would not be particularly happy about doing the radiotherapy but would do it all the same and there may be some slight hardening of the implant. As it turned out when the pathology came back my tumour was grade 1 stage 2 so I was incredibly lucky and didn't have either chemo or radiotherapy. As to how it feels - I have lain on my stomach a number of times and have no issues with the implant. I did initially have a tight chest as my implant was 540mls and that was straight off and the only area that did hurt was where the sentinel nodes were removed from and that was done from the same incision line as the mastectomy so all very neat and tidy now. I did go through a very small phase where it felt like there was something sharp under the implant (not unlike when you get a small piece of glass in your foot) which was a bit uncomfortable and I think that was simply the area under the implant healing. The implant is soft now and while it looks normal externally, internally it does not feel like a real breast. I only get the occasional twinge from it so all is good. Would I go for mastectomy with implant again? Too right I would!! The small amount of discomfort I have experienced has been totally worth the procedure. I still have to have surgery to match my right breast to my implanted left breast as I am lopsided but I will also be having fat grafting to make sure they match shape wise. Out of this whole thing I end up with two perky boobs and a flat stomach due to it being the donor site for the fat. Woohoooooo!!!!! I am currently seven months post surgery and feeling absolutely fantastic. Go with what your gut is telling you, if your surgeon has not placed limitations on the type of surgery you can have you choose what is best for you and your lifestyle. Wishing you all the best, let us know what you decide. Xx Cath
