Reconstruction options

Ace44

Wondered if anyone would give their opinion on the type of reconstruction they decided on. I am 40 years old and fairly thin but PS sàid I could probably do a lat flap.its either that or implants. I have read the pros and cons as written by the cancer websites but would like to hear some real opinions from those that have gotten either of those types. Thanks. 

disneyfan2008

I am small breasted and  I

I am small breasted and  I had two lumpectomies on the same side. I never considered reconstruction. I was late 40s then- My second surgeon suggested it a couple of time. HE mentioned removing fat from one area and shapping the side where I had cancer.

 

 

Denise

Clementine_P

Hi Ace44,

 

I too was 40 when diagnosd.  I am 5'4" and 115 pounds.  My plastic surgeon said I was not a candidate for the lat flap so I had expanders and reconstruction. For me, I found the procedure of the expanders to be easy and pretty much painless.  I did feel tight immediately after a "fill" but that lasted only a couple of hours.  The surgery to swap out the expanders for the implants was really easy.  I was in the hospital at 7am and home by lunch.  Pretty much no pain at all afterwards too.  The expanders are not very comfortable in your body.  They, for me, felt obtrusive, foreign and were pretty unattractive.  Some women complain of them being painful, that wasn't the case for me.  I like the way my implants look.  When clothed nobody can tell that I have implants.  They look pretty realistic.  Naked, they look somewhate realistic but for me, not a lot of people are going to see me naked other than my husband and maybe someone will catch a glimpse when I am changing at the gym so I don't really care about that.  They are pretty soft but I think that with the flap method breasts are probably softer and move in a more realistic manner.  My implants don't move very much (part of the reason for that is specific to me - my chest muscles have always been tight and this remains the case even 5 years after getting my implants).  If you have any specific questions about the implant proceudre, feel free to ask.  Nothing is off limits here.

Best,

Clementine

Ace44

Clementine_P said:

Hi Ace44,

 

I too was 40 when diagnosd.  I am 5'4" and 115 pounds.  My plastic surgeon said I was not a candidate for the lat flap so I had expanders and reconstruction. For me, I found the procedure of the expanders to be easy and pretty much painless.  I did feel tight immediately after a "fill" but that lasted only a couple of hours.  The surgery to swap out the expanders for the implants was really easy.  I was in the hospital at 7am and home by lunch.  Pretty much no pain at all afterwards too.  The expanders are not very comfortable in your body.  They, for me, felt obtrusive, foreign and were pretty unattractive.  Some women complain of them being painful, that wasn't the case for me.  I like the way my implants look.  When clothed nobody can tell that I have implants.  They look pretty realistic.  Naked, they look somewhate realistic but for me, not a lot of people are going to see me naked other than my husband and maybe someone will catch a glimpse when I am changing at the gym so I don't really care about that.  They are pretty soft but I think that with the flap method breasts are probably softer and move in a more realistic manner.  My implants don't move very much (part of the reason for that is specific to me - my chest muscles have always been tight and this remains the case even 5 years after getting my implants).  If you have any specific questions about the implant proceudre, feel free to ask.  Nothing is off limits here.

Best,

Clementine

Hi Clementine:

Thank you for your post. Were you given a reason that the lat flap was not an option? How many weeks did it take to fill the expanders? did you stick to the size you were or go larger? I do not want to go larger which is why I was curious. I am under a little time crunch with my insurance and would like to get this all done this calender year. How long did the process take altogether with the mastectomy, filling and expander swap? When you were diagnosed what stage were you? Have you ever been worried that you might get cancer again with the tissue that remains or did your surgeon seem to think it would be very rare to get it again? How long have you had your implants? Have you ever had any problems with them? Sorry so many questions...this is all new to me and I am still in the freaking out stage. My daughter is only 5 and I want to be around for her as long as I can (of course).

Thank you for your response.

Ace44

disneyfan2008 said:

I am small breasted and  I

I am small breasted and  I had two lumpectomies on the same side. I never considered reconstruction. I was late 40s then- My second surgeon suggested it a couple of time. HE mentioned removing fat from one area and shapping the side where I had cancer.

 

 

Denise

Denise=one more question

Thanks for your post Denise. MY PS said I don't have enough fat to take from another area and I have had a c-section so my abdomen is out too. Are you happy with the decision not to have reconstruction?

 

Clementine_P

Ace44 said:

Hi Clementine:

Thank you for your post. Were you given a reason that the lat flap was not an option? How many weeks did it take to fill the expanders? did you stick to the size you were or go larger? I do not want to go larger which is why I was curious. I am under a little time crunch with my insurance and would like to get this all done this calender year. How long did the process take altogether with the mastectomy, filling and expander swap? When you were diagnosed what stage were you? Have you ever been worried that you might get cancer again with the tissue that remains or did your surgeon seem to think it would be very rare to get it again? How long have you had your implants? Have you ever had any problems with them? Sorry so many questions...this is all new to me and I am still in the freaking out stage. My daughter is only 5 and I want to be around for her as long as I can (of course).

Thank you for your response.

Ace44

Hi Ace44,

No worries on the questions, I am happy to answer any/all of your questions if it can help you navigate this tough situation.  The reason I was given for the lat flap not being an option is that I did not have enough body fat.  I had a size B cup before my reconstruction and I went up to a size C.  I will admit, that I made the decision to go bigger in an impulsive way and now after having lived 5 years with C cups, if I could re-do it I would have remained a size B.  I just think that for my body size, mother nature had it right the first time and I should have stuck with that.  While I was getting my fills I was undergoing chemo therapy.  I had a fill every other week.  If I recall I think in total it took me about 5 fills in total (so about 10 weeks).  I think if you are not undergoing chemo, the fills can happen more frequently than every other week.  From mastectomy to reconstruction was a little over 6 months.  Again, however, I had 4 months of chemo in between the two surgeries though so if you don't do chemo or if you don't do the same kind of chemo I did you can probably get it all done in less than 3 months.  I am worried that I may get cancer again, but as I understand it, the surgeon takes out all (or as close to all as they can) breast tissue that you have.  So, theoretically, if your cancer hasn't spread, then since you don't hve breast tissue anymore, it can't come back.  Nevertheless, I do worry but now that I am several years out, i worry much less than I used to.  When I was diagnosed, I was stage 2A.  I had both Invasive Lobular cancer and Invasive Ductal cancer in the same breast which in total were over 5 centimeters.  There was a tiny amount of spread into my nodes (which is a big part of the reason I worry still).  I have never had any problems with my implants.  I did get 2 frozen shoulders but I think that was because I got bigger implants than made sense for my small frame and I am physically fit so my muscles were tight.  Put those two factors together and I got frozen shoulders.  I went to physical therapy for this though and they improved quite a bit from the therapy. 

So, I completely understand that you are freaking out.  It is a really scary time and I would be surprised if you weren't freaking out.  I hope that you stay on the boards here.  There are so many ladies with really useful information here no matter where you are in the process.

Hang in there,

Clementine

Ace44

Clementine_P said:

Ace44

Hi Ace44,

No worries on the questions, I am happy to answer any/all of your questions if it can help you navigate this tough situation.  The reason I was given for the lat flap not being an option is that I did not have enough body fat.  I had a size B cup before my reconstruction and I went up to a size C.  I will admit, that I made the decision to go bigger in an impulsive way and now after having lived 5 years with C cups, if I could re-do it I would have remained a size B.  I just think that for my body size, mother nature had it right the first time and I should have stuck with that.  While I was getting my fills I was undergoing chemo therapy.  I had a fill every other week.  If I recall I think in total it took me about 5 fills in total (so about 10 weeks).  I think if you are not undergoing chemo, the fills can happen more frequently than every other week.  From mastectomy to reconstruction was a little over 6 months.  Again, however, I had 4 months of chemo in between the two surgeries though so if you don't do chemo or if you don't do the same kind of chemo I did you can probably get it all done in less than 3 months.  I am worried that I may get cancer again, but as I understand it, the surgeon takes out all (or as close to all as they can) breast tissue that you have.  So, theoretically, if your cancer hasn't spread, then since you don't hve breast tissue anymore, it can't come back.  Nevertheless, I do worry but now that I am several years out, i worry much less than I used to.  When I was diagnosed, I was stage 2A.  I had both Invasive Lobular cancer and Invasive Ductal cancer in the same breast which in total were over 5 centimeters.  There was a tiny amount of spread into my nodes (which is a big part of the reason I worry still).  I have never had any problems with my implants.  I did get 2 frozen shoulders but I think that was because I got bigger implants than made sense for my small frame and I am physically fit so my muscles were tight.  Put those two factors together and I got frozen shoulders.  I went to physical therapy for this though and they improved quite a bit from the therapy. 

So, I completely understand that you are freaking out.  It is a really scary time and I would be surprised if you weren't freaking out.  I hope that you stay on the boards here.  There are so many ladies with really useful information here no matter where you are in the process.

Hang in there,

Clementine

Thank you

Thank you so much for your posts. I think you are a wonderful person and I appreciate your candor with me. It's given me a lot to think about and also a lot of answers to questions I have had. I was dx was dcis plus a gene mutation which is why I am considering the bilateral mastectomy. I am hoping that this will give me the piece of mind I need to move on a little bit. I don't want to look over my shoulder forever even though I'm sure a little. Again thank you for your posts. You have made me feel so much informed on the surgeries and what I can expect. I know things are different for everyone but I have read so many negative blogs (not on this site) it was nice to hear someone that had a positive response.

April

Clementine_P

Ace44 said:

Thank you

Thank you so much for your posts. I think you are a wonderful person and I appreciate your candor with me. It's given me a lot to think about and also a lot of answers to questions I have had. I was dx was dcis plus a gene mutation which is why I am considering the bilateral mastectomy. I am hoping that this will give me the piece of mind I need to move on a little bit. I don't want to look over my shoulder forever even though I'm sure a little. Again thank you for your posts. You have made me feel so much informed on the surgeries and what I can expect. I know things are different for everyone but I have read so many negative blogs (not on this site) it was nice to hear someone that had a positive response.

April

You're welcome!

Thank you for the kind post, April.  It is so overwhelming at the beginning but I'm sure that you are going to get through this with flying colors.  I really did have a mostly positive experience and I bet you will too, whatever route you end up choosing to go.

Best of luck,

Clementine