I had a DIEP reconstruction in June of 2008 with a very experienced surgeon. The scars fade back to barely noticeable.
Its the fix-up surgeries that I have found a drainer & now more than 8 years later I am currently into 22 months on the waiting list for yet another one, this will bring it to the 5th fix-up... If I had my time again I would go the implant route. The surgeon did advise that on the day he will be more interested in a successful graft than anything else & that he may have to adjust size afterward in a fix-up, I never expected it to be many surgeries nor for it to be ongoing 8 years later.