Reconstruction

Hi Linda - I had bilateral mastectomy in July 2010 (wow the 2 yrs have flown) and had expanders inserted immediately. I had a complication with an infection and had 1 expander removed a couple of weeks later in the August, then had it put back in in November and all then went as planned. I had exchange surgery in February 2011.  I went from a size DD to between a B & C - still getting used to the size reduction, however my neck and back have never felt better - amazing how much difference the reduction in weight made.

The expanders felt like I had a vice around my chest initially - not majorly painful but just weird!  Because the expander and then ultimately the silicon implants sit beneath the chest muscle, that takes a little getting used to.

Now after nearly 18 months with my new boobs I am used to the feeling - never the same as it used to be though!! Because I had so many surgeries on my left side (6 in total), due to scar tissue it does not sit as well as the right side and I am seeing my specialist in a couple of weeks. I am tossing up whether to get it "fixed" but after being fit and healthy for now 18 months, I am not sure that I want to go through the surgery thing again (although will be relatively minor).

At the end of the day regardless of what I choose, I am well and truly alive, healthy and that is the most important thing.

Hope you get on well with your specialist and feel free to add me as a contact if you want to ask any other questions.

Good luck.

Leanne

I had a bilateral mastectomy (nipple and skin sparing) with the expanders under the chest muscle at the same time. I wasn't able to do anything for a couple of weeks ie no lifting, pushing myself up out of bed/ chair.  Literally wasn't allowed to use my arms for a month.  I also found it very hard to do some of the simple things like washing my hair.

The first couple of times during the expanding sessions, I had very little pain.  Just a bit of discomfort where panadol was all I needed.  (I was going weekly but it is your decision as to how often you go and how much you get expanded during each session).  I ended up needing painkillers for the last couple and my plastic surgeon reduced the amount he expanded me during each session (from 100ml to 50ml).  I was useless on those days as I couldn't find any position that was comfortable and the pain killers only did so much for me.  I had trouble sleeping as well.  But the pain only lasted 24 hours so I always knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.  I found it uncomfortable to sleep on my side and some of my movement was still quite limited (although this could have been the initial surgery).  I was also advised to not carry anything heavy during the expansion process so found myself quite useless since I couldn't carry things like groceries.  If I did carry something too heavy, my chest would hurt. 

When you have the expanders in, your breasts don't look as normal as the muscles sit in different ways.  The bra in the journey kit with the padding was something i couldn't live without during the expansion process.  It meant that I looked the same even though I didn't have any breasts/ "growing" through the expansion process.

My plastic surgeon discussed all options with me (trim flap, latissimus, implants) but in the end, it was only possible for me to go down the implant path.  I was also advised that if I did have the option to go down the other paths, the recovery time would be longer and I would have additional scars. 

I had my implants put in about 3 months after my mastectomy and that was the easiest part.  It was day surgery with an overnight stay.  I didn't need any painkillers.  After that I was pretty much able to do anything as per normal (just no swimming until the scars had sealed). Initially the implants feel quite firm but over time, they have become softer.  My implants have also dropped a little bit as the muscles have now settled down. 

I am 7 months from my initial surgery and I am still getting used to my new implants and how they feel (all in a positive way) and work (positives and negative). 

I had a bilateral mastectomy (nipple and skin sparing) with the expanders under the chest muscle at the same time. I wasn't able to do anything for a couple of weeks ie no lifting, pushing myself up out of bed/ chair.  Literally wasn't allowed to use my arms for a month.  I also found it very hard to do some of the simple things like washing my hair.

The first couple of times during the expanding sessions, I had very little pain.  Just a bit of discomfort where panadol was all I needed.  (I was going weekly but it is your decision as to how often you go and how much you get expanded during each session).  I ended up needing painkillers for the last couple and my plastic surgeon reduced the amount he expanded me during each session (from 100ml to 50ml).  I was useless on those days as I couldn't find any position that was comfortable and the pain killers only did so much for me.  I had trouble sleeping as well.  But the pain only lasted 24 hours so I always knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.  I found it uncomfortable to sleep on my side and some of my movement was still quite limited (although this could have been the initial surgery).  I was also advised to not carry anything heavy during the expansion process so found myself quite useless since I couldn't carry things like groceries.  If I did carry something too heavy, my chest would hurt. 

When you have the expanders in, your breasts don't look as normal as the muscles sit in different ways.  The bra in the journey kit with the padding was something i couldn't live without during the expansion process.  It meant that I looked the same even though I didn't have any breasts/ "growing" through the expansion process.

My plastic surgeon discussed all options with me (trim flap, latissimus, implants) but in the end, it was only possible for me to go down the implant path.  I was also advised that if I did have the option to go down the other paths, the recovery time would be longer and I would have additional scars. 

I had my implants put in about 3 months after my mastectomy and that was the easiest part.  It was day surgery with an overnight stay.  I didn't need any painkillers.  After that I was pretty much able to do anything as per normal (just no swimming until the scars had sealed). Initially the implants feel quite firm but over time, they have become softer.  My implants have also dropped a little bit as the muscles have now settled down. 

I am 7 months from my initial surgery and I am still getting used to my new implants and how they feel (all in a positive way) and work (positives and negative). 

I did reconstrut straight away so am not sure if my help is of much help

(sorry forgive me my chemo brain is shocking tongiht, I am feelign a bit unwell and it is making the chemo brain worse and I am finding it difficult finding the right words - sorry)

I had an implant inserted under the chest muscle at the time of my mastectomy (nipple and partial skin sparing mastectomy and didn't have expanders, my surgeon went straight to implant), and I LOVe it, it looks normal and while it felt a bit funny for a while (had my surgery on 3rd February 2012), I am getting used to it now, it is different to my other (real) boob in that it is perkier and isn't as jiggly, but if you didn't see my other boob and apart from teh scars you wouldn't know it was an impant boob. It took me a bit longer to get used to it I think becasue of a couple of underlying musculoskeletal and chronic pain conditins I have my body had a bit of a hard time adapting to the implant as the muscles stretch and changed and I suffered terribly with cramps (bit I shocked everyone with this as I was and am the ONLY person they had ever heard of it happeneing to (typical for me due to these conditions which as also VERY rare :o)

I was given the option of have the trap or deip flap but decided aginst it and wasn't offered the lattismus flap again due to the conditions I have.

I am actually having the other breast done at the end of 2012 or start of 2013 (see my surgeon again in September and go on the public waiting list then), as a preventative measure (as I have a strong family history of breast cancer and see the geneticists on 1st Aug to se if I have the BRCA gene(s)).

I hope this has been of some small help 9and that you have been able to understnad it).