Sentinel Node Localisation

@Blister I had a bilateral mastectomy (total) in June with expanders inserted by a plastic surgeon. Both my surgeon and PS worked together during the surgery. I had the dye put in while I was in the surgery - I gathered they worked on my good breast while waiting for the dye to track through on the side where the tumour was situated. I had clear nodes which meant I wasn’t going to have radiation. However, my PS was clear before the surgery that he would not do radiation on an expander - that is his decision, there are plenty of women who have radiation with expanders - you should ask how radiation can effect the reconstruction process as you may decide to wait until you know for sure about radiation.

I remember wanting to get everything started, but my medical team and breast care nurse really impressed upon me the fact that I needed to take my time and research what I wanted. They said this is relatively short time - of course stressful and upsetting etc - but they said afterwards, for the years ahead, I needed to be happy with my decisions about reconstruction. My PS - who is amazing - said, ‘You haven’t had a lot of choices so far (regarding BC) but now you get to choose and tell us what you want.’ 

I agree for everything that everyone here has said about the surgery. Please make sure you use the pain relief offered as this will help your recovery. I had 6 days in hospital and went home without drains. The physio will visit you and give you exercises to do and these are essential to start getting your range of movement back - they are very gentle for the start, but so important to do. 

Let me know if I can offer any more advice/support.