reconstruction

lmaniacek
lmaniacek Member Posts: 5
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I am going through reconstruction at his time. I have had 2 surgeries already and both have not worked. I have been trying to find surviors of breast cancer that have had reconstruction and surviors that have decided to just go without breast. At this time I feel like I am not whole without breast, but then do i want to keep having surgeries to try to get breast. I am hoping someone can help me. I have alot of questions and noone to ask.

Comments

  • mmontero38
    mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
    #2
    Hi I had reconstruction 4
    Hi I had reconstruction 4 months after my last chemo. I went with the tram flap reconstruction. What kind of reconstruction was tried on you? You can post your questions here or you can email me here at the sight. Hugs, Lili
  • RE
    RE Member Posts: 4,591 Member
    #3
    in the midst of recon surgery
    Hi, I am in the midst of reconstruction surgery. I currently have the expander in my chest and have 600 cc's of fluid within. The next step for me will be to have the expander removed and the actual implant put in.

    I am not sure what type of surgeries have been done on you, however I can tell you that my sister had to have her original attempt at reconstruction undone and redone. The original attempt was similar to what I am having done. She had a lot of radiation and they were not successful. The second reconstruction was the dorsi flap where they take a portion of the muscle from the back muscle to the front. The second attempt was successful. I hope this has been helpful for you.

    RE
  • survivor51
    survivor51 Member Posts: 276
    #4
    absolutely worth it all
    Hey Sweetie,
    I have had several unexpected problems that are most unusual. I have had 4 reconstructions due to one problem or another. I was expecting to hear from the surgeon this week, we are all finished. I had cancer in both and had a bilateral mastectomy. I did have the reconstruction with the muscle from the back used. I had the nipple reconstruction and the final tatooing done. When I went in yesterday, he looked at me and I knew that my right breast had changed. He told me it was deflating and had to be replaced. This will be number 5 for me and yes, there are times I wonder if it is all worth it. I looked in the mirror last night and to be honest, I love my new breast. I did love my original ones that God gave me but to be honest, all of this has been worth it. They are really beautiful. No, my breast do not define me but they do make me feel sexy after 31 years of marriage. My husband loves me and no matter what my decision, his love is there. I choose to go on in with number 5 because when I look in the mirror, I feel proud that I have survived this cancer for 2 years. They don't know at this time if it has gone into my bones and we can't do a scan until July due to so many test my organs can't take more radiation. Then why don't I just wait until I find out and is reconstruction a 5th time worth it???? Absolutely and I will be manking the date next week. I am almost 53 and I will not allow this take anymore away from me. The scars are almost totally done so if you didn't know I had a bilateral, you would not notice anything was done. Now with the one deflating, it is a difference but that will soon be taken care of. My new girls are there and I feel better. More power to those that decide not to do reconstruction and it is a totally personal choice. As for me, I am so glad. Angela
  • ritazimm
    ritazimm Member Posts: 171
    #5
    My choice
    My choice was to have reconstruction. I actually started immediately with the tissue expander implanted at the time of the mastectomy. I have fairly large breasts and did not want to be that uneven or have to deal with a prosthesis that large. And...since God chose to give me large breasts, I decided that I didn't want to change that. Having it done immediately was right for me. I din't want to have them remove all of the breast skin since my tumors were deep, and then have to have it stretched later on. It worked out very well for me. I did have to have 1 additional surgery, which was exchanging the tissue expander with a saline implant so that they could do radiation. I have since had a lift done on my 'ggod' breast and will have a DIEP flap done in August. I then will have another surgery to make the nipple and finally the tattoo done and I will finally be all finished.

    No doubt, it is a lot of surgery but I love my new boobs and am very excited that within the year, I will be all done. Obviously I will never look like I did bc, but when I look int the mirror, I am okay with what I see and that was VERY important to me. I felt like I was very vain that it upset me so much to lose my breast and nipple. I think if I could have kept my nipple, I would have been much less upset, but now I realize that it wasn't all that important and I have accepted what I look like underneath it all...mostly anyway.

    I have not had any complications (other than finding out that I was allergic to the glue used in surgery) so I can't speak from that perspective but I will say this. If you have ANY question about your surgeon's skills, get a second opinion. Another physician may give you a different perspective on why the issues happened in the first place and if they can be avoided the next time around. I have the most wonderful plastic surgeon in the world (my opinion) and I hope you have someone that you can trust equally as much!

    Good luck with your decision. Go with your gut. A few inconveniences now can make you life better in the future if that is what is right for you.

    God bless nd Happy Easter.
  • lmaniacek
    lmaniacek Member Posts: 5
    #6
    mmontero38 said:

    Hi I had reconstruction 4
    Hi I had reconstruction 4 months after my last chemo. I went with the tram flap reconstruction. What kind of reconstruction was tried on you? You can post your questions here or you can email me here at the sight. Hugs, Lili

    Hello, I tried the tram flap, but my cells on the left side were dead, and the cells on the right side are not strong enough. With this I have had to go with expanders. My right side is doing fine. The left side is what is giving me problems. I had the expander removed 2 weeks after surgery. I developed a infection, and my skin started to die. Now where i was cut from the tram flap i have developed an infection and 2 small spots have opened up. So now my mom has to come over everyday to pack it. I do now that if I still decide to try again that I might need skin graft. Not sure about this. My husband says what ever i decide he is behind me. The rest of my family feel I shuld just forget it and go without breast. For myself, I am not sure I can do that. Thank you for you response

Discussion Boards