Skin sparing mastectomy with reconstruction recovery time

I work for nsw health but no trauma cover on my super but was able to take LSL. I also claimed against my life insurance which had trauma cover (private) so could take my chemo time off. 

I will certainly check with my super... I work for Nsw health

Thanks so much everyone.... this is wonderful and I'm very grateful to you all for taking the time to help me xx

Hi KatieA, I had a single nipple and skin sparing mastectomy with immediate recon using silicon implant. Phew what a sentence full!! Had pain on the left hand side of my breast but from what I have read is consistent with the sentinel node removal. As far as pain from the mastectomy and implant, my chest was a little bit tight (implant is 540ml) but was off all painkillers except panadol three days after surgery. I was off work for 8 weeks but that was only because I went home with two drains - one came out one week after surgery and the other hung on for 8 weeks. As soon as it was out I was back at work the next day. It turned out that the drain was causing my fluid levels to stay high as it was causing irritation. Overall I reckon it was certainly the best decision for me and I have no regrets. Surgeon said I would be off between 2-45 weeks. Bruising was minimal, still have a couple of blue patches on my breast due to the dye used for sentinel node biopsy and my surgery was June 15 last year. Hope this all helps. Go with your gut, and what you feel is right for you. And then let us know what you decide. Hugs. Xx Cath

Hi Katie, I have had a TRAM flap so it was a much longer recovery.  We are all different as you can tell from the responses above. Going straight to implant does have a faster recovery than the tissue flap surgery which for me was around 6 weeks. Has your surgeon told you 2 weeks? If he has then maybe he has seen ladies able to return to work then.  Judging from some of the above ladies it took them longer.  I would be thinking somewhere between 2-4 weeks, but that depends on the type of work you do and the length of hours.  Maybe going back half days is an option?  I agree that it all depends on if the surgery and recovery is complication free. Will you have help with the children during your recovery? I think being someone who also suffers from anxiety that having a backup plan is definitely a great idea.  Check out the reclaim your curves website for tips on preparing for and recovering from surgery. Also they have an "ask an expert" option where you can ask questions of a plastic surgeon.
Have you had a scroll through the posts in the Choosing breast reconstruction group? You could also ask your question of the group.  There are also quite a few implant photo stories in the announcements at the top of the page.
Hope this helps
Paula xx

I was told 3 weeks for a bilateral skin sparing mastectomy and tissue expander reconstruction. This was almost fully inflated and a dermal sling was used so the implant was contained. It looked great from the start and healed really quickly. However...it was far more than 3 weeks. 3 weeks for just a mastectomy bilateral maybe but after 5 weeks I still couldn't sleep and was in quite a lot of pain requiring round the clock pain killers and eventually lyrica due to nerve pain from my sentinal node biopsy. I ended up finding more info on American sites where these procedures are done more often and they said allow 6 weeks. I was considering at 5 weeks ringing the surgeon and begging for removal. But then magically at 5.5 weeks it was suddenly comfortable and the pain just stopped.

I was very weak in the arms initially having both sides of the chest wall cut. Driving wasn't an option at all. In fact my husband did the cooking as I couldn't stand that long due to upper back pain from the stretching. I also (just to add to my joy ) unfortunately hurt my back in hospital due to being stuck on my back for 4 days as was nauseated, vomiting and couldn't keep down pain killers. So moving like a tortoise on my back out it went.

Sorry. I'm hoping you'll breeze through but have a back up plan and don't feel disappointed with yourself if you are not ready for working in 2 weeks.

I'm having my expanders changed over in 3 weeks time and was told I would need 3 weeks off just for this. I am hoping I can at least manage this in 2 as it has all been stretched already and the cuts will be minor in comparison to the first. But I have a back up plan in case I'm not ready. 
Kath x

@Cate64 I absolutely know!! hence why I love your Spirit!! damn Amazing!!! x

@melclarity i am one stubborn girl... if someone says you cant i automatically hear the words ... yeh?? Watch me ....

I had bilateral mastectomy with tissue expander and I was in hospital for 10 days. Then home resting. I actually needed a reexcision because legion was close to skin. It was booked for two weeks after but delayed because I got a really bad cold!! One month later I had the reexcision. I was able to continue with some intermittent work after two weeks -between catching cold and reexcision - but it was all from home. I can hardly remember it all now but there were so many factors that can complicate the process. 

I think you want more wiggle room than two weeks. I ended up just having to surrender to the process and the time it took. Best laid plans tend to come undone in cancer (e.g. I'm in hospital now for recon and thought it would be one night and it's #4). I think the more space you can make to recover the shorter the recovery time because you will let your body rest and heal. Easier said than done with kids, but kind of essential too.

Take care,
jen :)

Hey Cate!!! Stop showing us up haha!!! You are incredible absolutely an absolute gun! Dont know how on earth you do it!!! Yeah I couldnt keep my nipple or an inch right around due to radiation treatment and major lumpectomy scars the skin he said would have died. Oh well, I can see the end result will be really good, Im so surprised!!! x