Forum Discussion

Jrova's avatar
Jrova
Member
13 years ago

Double Recon with Air Expanders

Hi everyone,

Today marks 4 weeks since I had my double reconstruction using the lat dorsi muscles. One side was a delayed recon from the mastectomy I had in Aug 2011, and the other side was a prophylactic mastectomy with immediate recon. Instead of saline expanders, I am part of a trial using air expanders which you inflate yourself at home up to three times a day with a remote control. Is anyone else part of this trial? How is the inflation process going? x Jane

 

2 Replies

  • Jrova's avatar
    Jrova
    Member
    13 years ago
    I actually had a normal lat dorsi with air expander reconstruction on both sides! I also thought there would be a problem on the radiated side, but my skin is great. I didn't burn when I had radiation (just a slight pink with no breakdown) so maybe that could be why. The air expanders are very new. They can expand to the desired size in as little as 15 days. I must admit that the side that had the delayed recon is more painful than the side that had the skin-sparing immediate recon, but I'm really happy with the results so far. I'm shocked that they could turn a concave chest with ribs showing into a fairly normal looking boob!! They aren't expanded to full size yet but immediately following surgery, both boobs were big enough to not need my prosthesis any more. I'm only 4 weeks post surgery but I'm already very glad I did it. x Jane
  • TonyaM's avatar
    TonyaM
    Member
    13 years ago

    Nice to hear from you- it's been a long haul since 2011. I haven't heard of air expanders.How are you finding it? I know you had radiation in one breast ages ago,what recon did you have on that side?I thought there was an issue with radiated skin.I hope it all goes well for you and that you have nice new boobs for Christmas.You soooo deserve a good outcome after all you've been through.

                                       Tonya xx