Mastectomy and breast reconstruction pros and cons?

Who did your diep?

I was going with the reconstruction and it was too painful for me. I had the fluid out and that was painfull to. I decide to go flat on my left side. I was told that they last only 10 years and then you have to get new ones

Why pain? Don't understand all pain? I've had Diep flap . a few reconstructions, pain taken care of w strong meds first few days then lesser.
Did u vet your surgeon ?

Hello,
I agree, the patient is different in every situation.
I start my reconstruction process next week, the expanders are uncomfortable but, that is normal and I understand the need for them, fat graft next week to build the pocket and the recovery for 5 months, then implants to follow.
What we are going through with a double mastectomy is to save our lives, reconstruction is a choice.
No one said any of this journey will be easy, but I have been optimistic and my surgeons did their job to clear me of cancer, my radiologist had her role and I am complete with process and her role, my plastics Sturgeaon has a different role and my oncologist stays with me throughout the journey. So, there are many Dr that play in this journey.
I am cancer clear after my surgery 5-22-22, radiation complete, 14 rounds of chemo as preventative and reconstruction.
It takes time and we need to endure a lot to get to healthy!
Be stronger ladies! Be positive! Keep the conversation going to learn from each other.
But be real

Sadly not everyone can tolerate procedures the same way. It might or might not have anything to do with the surgeon. I have an example, the man who works the counter at my local grocery got in an accident and had the same surgeon and the same surgery I had 10 years ago. Large steel plate holding multiple pieces of clavicle bone together with screws. I still have it and other than really setting off metal detectors, there really isn’t a problem. His remained very sore and left him in pain constantly and they had to go back in and remove it and try a different plan. Now he is fine, and a year later mostly pain free.
How long ago did you have your surgery? What helped you make the choices you made?

Hello, I had a double Mastectomy in September of 2020. I chose the reconstruction route because I feel more comfortable having breasts. Clothes just do not look good when you don’t have breasts. Tops always look baggy because there is nothing to fill out the chest part of a garment. I was originally going to have the implants. The plastic surgeon put the expanders in right after the mastectomy. They use the expanders as place keepers in case you need radiation. Radiation messes up any reconstruction. You generally need to keep the expanders in until you have finished radiation and have healed completely from radiation and surgery. About 4 to 6 months. I unfortunately I got an infection in my left breast and had to have the expanders taken out. I then had to wait another 4 to 6 months to get the expanders put back in. During that time that “flat” time I had the prosthetic breasts. I did not like them. I live in Arizona where it is quit hot during the summer, so the prostheses were hot and sweaty. During this waiting period I learned that there is about a 30% chance of getting an infection with any implant and an even higher chance of another infection if you have already had an infection. Plus the infection causes tissue damage which negatively affects the implants. Plus every year you have implant there is a cumulative chance of something going wrong with the implants. Implants do have shelf life of 20 years or so, Given that I was 63, I decided that I did not want to take a chance that I might have to have them taken out in my 80s. Anesthesia is much harder to recover from in your 80s. So I decided to go with the DIEP flap route, They basically take your belly fat/tissue and make them into breasts. (Silver lining : you are basically getting a tummy tuck.) This surgery knocks the stuffing out of you. It is about 10 to12 hours long. They have to tie the blood vessels in the flap to the blood vessels in your chest. They have you stay in the hospital about 3 - 5 days. The nice thing about this surgery is that you have your own tissue. Once it takes that is it. You don’t have to worry about future problems like you do with the implant. The one negative thing about the DIEP surgery is that the recovery period is little longer and it messes with your core strength, I had my DIEP flap surgery in November 2021. I had a great Surgon so my breasts look really great. I feel very good about my appearance. Cloths look so much better than when I was flat. I am doing some PT to get my core strength back. I am very happy with the DIEP option I took. Personally, I did not like the flat option. I feel very good about my body now.

I had the flap surgery for reconstruction in 2004. The 10-12 weeks of recovery was tough but the outcome has been outstanding. I still have a flat tummy and great looking breast from the surgery. I am glad I chose this route in my journey. It may not work for everyone, but it was a great option for me. Knowing what I know now, I would do it over again,