Tips for surgery

Hi Ange, buy some new PJs, as these will be easier to manage with the drains. The nurses should also be able to give you a shoulder bag or drawer string bag to carry your drains in. These hide them from view, and make lugging them around a lot easier. I also agree with Mon. Do your research, and then be happy with your decision. I have finished my recon now, having had an immediate recon and a delayed one. The better result is from the immediate recon, but I am still very happy with both my boobs. I had expanders and then silicone implants. My first mastectomy was in Dec 2010, and the second one and reconstruction of both was 9 months later in September 2011 after chemo was finished. My only suggestion would be, to go a bit bigger than you think you want. I felt so large with the expanders, that I stopped at 500mls. I was a size 14B before, and didn't want to be larger. However, once the silicone is in, and the swelling goes down, it all looks a bit smaller than I thought. I am back to wearing my old underwire 14B bras, but I don't fill the top as well as before. In clothes they look terrific, and no one would probably notice. I just think that another 50 to 100mls might have filled this better. The expanders do not look as good as the implants, and I wish I had understood this better beforehand. My original breast weight was only 390g, so when my new implants were 495g each, I thought they would be huge. In hindsight, I could have gone larger, without looking too big. Good luck with your upcoming surgery. Love Chris xx