No Idea what to do
Hi, I'm only newly diagnosed and not sure which way to go. I have a second meeting with my breast surgeon today and I'll see the oncologist for the first time tomorrow. I have a 6cm Invasive Lob...
Forum Discussion
I really wanted to have an immediate recon at the same time as my double mastectomy but the plastic surgeon that I chose - and that I love - told me that he would not do it, if there was a strong indication that I would need radiation. His words "I'm going to do an amazing job and give you great boobs but if you have radiation on the new boobs I give you, it could compromise the result and then neither you nor I will be happy" - he was probably the most honest of all the doctors I've had.
So before I made any decisions, I went to have a consultation with the radiation oncologist - she was amazing. She looked at all my pre-op pathology and explained to me why, even before I had the post-surgery pathology, there was a very strong likelihood that I would be recommended to have radiation - even if I didn't have to have chemo (which I ultimately did because I had nodes involved but we didn't know that at the time).
After that, I accepted why I would have to wait for a recon and went for air expanders in the interim. At least that means I'm not feeling totally flat. I've pumped them up to what I'm happy with and to be honest, I'm enjoying seeing my ribcage for the first time in many years!
My plastic surgeon says that he's prepared to do a DIEP flap around 6 months after radiation finishes, or if I choose a transfer to implants, he'll do that 12 months after radiation finishes.
So before I made any decisions, I went to have a consultation with the radiation oncologist - she was amazing. She looked at all my pre-op pathology and explained to me why, even before I had the post-surgery pathology, there was a very strong likelihood that I would be recommended to have radiation - even if I didn't have to have chemo (which I ultimately did because I had nodes involved but we didn't know that at the time).
After that, I accepted why I would have to wait for a recon and went for air expanders in the interim. At least that means I'm not feeling totally flat. I've pumped them up to what I'm happy with and to be honest, I'm enjoying seeing my ribcage for the first time in many years!
My plastic surgeon says that he's prepared to do a DIEP flap around 6 months after radiation finishes, or if I choose a transfer to implants, he'll do that 12 months after radiation finishes.