double mastectomy

Hi Sam,

I have had a double mastectomy but a year apart. My R breast with the cancer in 2005 & L breast in 2006. The L had calcium changes and my husband and I decided to have it done for peace of mind.

The recovery time for the R breast was much longer because of the lymph nodes being removed and having a tissue expander in. My L mastectomy was done at the same time as I had the R prosthesis changed over. Luckily, the L one could have the prosthesis in at the initial mastectomy stage. This was only decided on the operating table as the skin was looking ok. Otherwise it would have been down the tissue expander path again.

That stay was about 5 days in hospital. The tissue expander scenario does lengthen the recovery time. I struggled with it and the pain but after a couple of weeks I could feel the tension across my chest easing significantly. No real pain or extended recovery time with the prosthesis though.

Hope this helps you with your decision making.

Alyx :)