Breast implants

lulu1010

I am an ovarian cancer patient but I am BRCA 2 positive and the doctor has suggested I have a bilateral mastectomy. He feels the implants would be best due to what I have already been thru and the fear that the ovarian cancer could return at any time.
Does anyone have experience with this and could tell me what to expect and give me some tips.
Thanks and I wish you all a full recovery!

AMomNETN

Choice
Lulu,
That is a tough choice to make. If you are doing this as a preventive measure because of genetics then that is the right thing to do. Only you can make that decision and I wouldn't want to make it myself. I had a bilateral mastecomy, cancer was only in my right breast so my choice was a single or bilateral mastecomy. I chose bilateral because I didn't want to go through it again in a few years. I also thought then I'd have a matching set of girls. I have the silicone implants and I'm pleased with the results. Just remember your breasts won't have the sensation you do now. That's the biggest downer of it all to me. I had my implants a year ago and just had tatooing done. My biggest plus is that I don't have to wear a bra. That is so nice. I hope this helps. I think I'd do about anything not to have to go through all the cancer treatments.

Janie

lulu1010

AMomNETN said:

Choice
Lulu,
That is a tough choice to make. If you are doing this as a preventive measure because of genetics then that is the right thing to do. Only you can make that decision and I wouldn't want to make it myself. I had a bilateral mastecomy, cancer was only in my right breast so my choice was a single or bilateral mastecomy. I chose bilateral because I didn't want to go through it again in a few years. I also thought then I'd have a matching set of girls. I have the silicone implants and I'm pleased with the results. Just remember your breasts won't have the sensation you do now. That's the biggest downer of it all to me. I had my implants a year ago and just had tatooing done. My biggest plus is that I don't have to wear a bra. That is so nice. I hope this helps. I think I'd do about anything not to have to go through all the cancer treatments.

Janie

thank you
Thank you for your reply. I have encountered a few who had gotten Tram flaps but was wondering if I will be just as happy with the implants. I am glad for your imput. Was your recovery long and difficult? Were you in the hospital long? I cant believe you dont have to wear a bra!...that is pretty cool!

Thanks again....I am pretty sure it is the right thing to do. My mother had breast cancer. I just not sure what to expect. You have helped.

AMomNETN

lulu1010 said:

thank you
Thank you for your reply. I have encountered a few who had gotten Tram flaps but was wondering if I will be just as happy with the implants. I am glad for your imput. Was your recovery long and difficult? Were you in the hospital long? I cant believe you dont have to wear a bra!...that is pretty cool!

Thanks again....I am pretty sure it is the right thing to do. My mother had breast cancer. I just not sure what to expect. You have helped.

Expect
The first couple of weeks were the toughest. The worst part was the drains. Mine came out at 7 and 10 days. Once those were out things got better. I had expanders put in and they were filled every 3 weeks just before my next chemo. You pick out your size or in my case my hubby and I picked them out. I did have to miss a couple of fills because of infections ( from chemo) This started in March and I traded in the expanders for the implants. Then it was almost a yr. before I got tattooed, Drs. schedule not my idea. I didn't get the areola dark enough so I go back in June.

Things for surgery. Take the pain meds especially the first few days. I only stayed in the hospital one day but everyone is different. After surgery I had a pain pump and that was nice. Have someway to kinda sleep proped up makes getting out of bed easier. You will sleep on your back for a while. You will have to milk your drains and measure the output and record it. Based on drainage is when drains come out. Have clothes easy to get in and out of. Especially tops that button up the front. You will to wear a tight fitting thing around you to hold things in place. Should get one after surgery. Once you get a little better you can wear a sports bra. I wore one til a couple of months after my implants.

Just slowly do things you normally did. It was a daily process. I was out of work for about a month. A lot of it is attitude. You will have choices later about your nipples. I opted for just tattooed. You can have small nipples or bigger ones. The bigger ones meant I'd have to go back under like major surgery. Plus with just the tats, no bra. :-) The tram flap I didn't want to do because my surgeon told me that it was a lot longer surgery. 6-8 hrs compared to a couple of hrs for implants.

I hope this hasn't overloaded you. Anything else just ask.

Janie

lulu1010

AMomNETN said:

Expect
The first couple of weeks were the toughest. The worst part was the drains. Mine came out at 7 and 10 days. Once those were out things got better. I had expanders put in and they were filled every 3 weeks just before my next chemo. You pick out your size or in my case my hubby and I picked them out. I did have to miss a couple of fills because of infections ( from chemo) This started in March and I traded in the expanders for the implants. Then it was almost a yr. before I got tattooed, Drs. schedule not my idea. I didn't get the areola dark enough so I go back in June.

Things for surgery. Take the pain meds especially the first few days. I only stayed in the hospital one day but everyone is different. After surgery I had a pain pump and that was nice. Have someway to kinda sleep proped up makes getting out of bed easier. You will sleep on your back for a while. You will have to milk your drains and measure the output and record it. Based on drainage is when drains come out. Have clothes easy to get in and out of. Especially tops that button up the front. You will to wear a tight fitting thing around you to hold things in place. Should get one after surgery. Once you get a little better you can wear a sports bra. I wore one til a couple of months after my implants.

Just slowly do things you normally did. It was a daily process. I was out of work for about a month. A lot of it is attitude. You will have choices later about your nipples. I opted for just tattooed. You can have small nipples or bigger ones. The bigger ones meant I'd have to go back under like major surgery. Plus with just the tats, no bra. :-) The tram flap I didn't want to do because my surgeon told me that it was a lot longer surgery. 6-8 hrs compared to a couple of hrs for implants.

I hope this hasn't overloaded you. Anything else just ask.

Janie

You are very helpful!
I am sorry you had to go thru this too but your info is very helpful for me. Yes, the doctor said I had been thru enough with chemo for the ovarian cancer to go thru a long surgery. That is why I am getting the implants. I am glad to find someone else who took this road and is pleased with the outcome.
I guess I better plan on just taking it easy for a while.

Thanks so much and I wish you the best of health!

VickiSam

lulu1010 said:

You are very helpful!
I am sorry you had to go thru this too but your info is very helpful for me. Yes, the doctor said I had been thru enough with chemo for the ovarian cancer to go thru a long surgery. That is why I am getting the implants. I am glad to find someone else who took this road and is pleased with the outcome.
I guess I better plan on just taking it easy for a while.

Thanks so much and I wish you the best of health!

Just my 2 cents .... ...
Tissue Expanders ----

Take ibuprofen after each fill (expanders) this will help alleviate the tightness in your breast area. Ask for 30cc fills, you can tolerate 30cc while in PS office, you can ask for additional fluid -- 60cc and so on.

Mastectomy ----

take pain medication when necessary. Multiple pillows in various, sizes help with sleeping on your back.

Ask Plastic Surgeon's RN to show you 'how to' milk your drains -- this is very important.

Please have cups, saucers, plates at arm level - as well as re-arranging your fridge for more commonly used items at arm levels. Tide/Downy small container sizes - also at arm level. Reaching up and grabbing heavy items -- will tear your stitches, as well as hurt your arms. Muscles and tissue in breast, as well as arm areas will be cut, moved and sewn back together.

I tried to take a bath ..but hence could not pull myself out of the our spa tub, no muscles or strength in my arms after bilateral mastectomy.. It took my husband, and daughter some time to pull me out of the tub == without hurting me. Not a pretty time or sight, to say the least. So I opted to shower ...My husband removed our shower head, and replaced it with a flex hose type so I could shower maneuvering the flex hose from waist down, as well as place shower water under my arms -- glorious feeling of being clean.

Lastly, please make sure you do your exercises and move --- as prescribed by Plastic Surgeon, and Physical Therapist.

Strength, Courage, Hope and Speedy recovery.

Vicki Sam