Surgery to remove expanders

dibs1947
dibs1947 Member Posts: 4
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I am scheduled to have my expanders replaced with silicone implants April 20th. I am very nervous about the surgery and wondering how it will compare to my double mastectomy. I would love to hear your experiences/recovery time.

Comments

  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #2
    I have not experienced that,
    I have not experienced that, I plan to have reconstruction surgery with my own tissue in June, but I have heard that implant surgery is relatively easy. Many people are back to work within 1-3 weeks. As always, talk to your Dr. I bought a book off the ACS online bookstore called, "The Breast Reconstruction Guidebook"...the book is also recommended by the surgeon who will be doing the recon in June.

    I'm sure someone will answer with more personal experience, but I hope this is useful. seof.
  • chriss26
    chriss26 Member Posts: 18
    #3
    I just had surgery yesterday and had a memory gel silicone implant put in.
    This is my second time. The first one ruptured about a month ago. I originally had saline 7 1/2 years ago. The implant surgery is not that bad. I am sore today, but my doc said he removed a lot of scar tissue even on my ribs. Be sure to get your implants checked with a MRI every 2 years to make sure they are in good shape. With saline I did not have to have it checked and I was quite surprised and very upset when it ruptured. I had the surgery yesterday and will return to work on Saturday. I am a barber/hairdresser so I will be using my arms all day. I also returned to work in about a week with the first. You will be sore for a few days but nothing compared to the mastectomy. To me the expanders were very uncomfortable. I was relieved a lot when they finally put the implants in. Good Luck! I hope I helped.
    Chris
  • mmontero38
    mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
    #4
    chriss26 said:

    I just had surgery yesterday and had a memory gel silicone implant put in.
    This is my second time. The first one ruptured about a month ago. I originally had saline 7 1/2 years ago. The implant surgery is not that bad. I am sore today, but my doc said he removed a lot of scar tissue even on my ribs. Be sure to get your implants checked with a MRI every 2 years to make sure they are in good shape. With saline I did not have to have it checked and I was quite surprised and very upset when it ruptured. I had the surgery yesterday and will return to work on Saturday. I am a barber/hairdresser so I will be using my arms all day. I also returned to work in about a week with the first. You will be sore for a few days but nothing compared to the mastectomy. To me the expanders were very uncomfortable. I was relieved a lot when they finally put the implants in. Good Luck! I hope I helped.
    Chris

    Chris, I'm glad everything
    Chris, I'm glad everything went well. Hugs, lili
  • mmontero38
    mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
    #5
    Hi I didn't have implants
    Hi I didn't have implants either as I opted for the tram flap, but I don't think that having the implants inserted could be worse than going through the mastectomy. Besides, now you will have perky, soft new girls and not those hard ball expanders. Good luck to you and let us know how you make out. Hugs, Lili

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