breast reconstruction

Sue, first of all, sorry to learn about  you.  I had br.can in 2007, left mastectomy, axillary clearance and am now starting to think about reconstruction.  What ever you do, ask others who've had recon. and get a good plastic surgeon - insist upon it.  I have seen what a good plastic surgeon can do and I can honestly say I am going to insist upon him  being the one to do this as I want to feel like a woman again, not a stastic.  I also want my clothes to feel like they fit properly.  You go girl, but make sure your surgeon is the right one.  God bless, Ann x

I had a right mastectomy and immediate reconstruction with implant in June 2010. I was terrified of having this op, but it was not nearly so bad as I expected. Now I am 10 months on, and am thrilled with the results, in fact I have made enquiries about having the other boob removed!! I know that this is a really scary time, but the fear of it is actually worse than the op itself. If you want to chat at any time, you can send me a personal message with your contact info and I will be more than pleased to share my experiences. Good Luck and Take Care x

Hi Sue,

Sorry I cant help you. But I wish you all the very Best.  Look after yourself

Take care and be safe Big Hugs Love Sarsfield.xx

Hi Sue.   It would be interesting to know what your Breast Care Team plans are as they can help with your many questions that you no doubt have. There are a number of ways to have reconstruction.

Hope you get your answers and take your time in making your decision as it is a huge step but a very positive one and as people have said the fear is worse than the operation itself.

Diagnosed last April, underwent Chemo, surgery and reconstruction at same time, followed by Radio therapy. Have some pics of op you can see, the scars have almost faded one year on. Best wishes xxx

Hi Sue

I was in a similar situation to you in 1996, when I was 31.  But in '96 they didn't do immediate reconstruction (how things have moved on)

I had reconstruction using my back muscles and elected to have the other one removed and reconstructed at the same time about 18 months after the original mastectomy, I didn't want to wait that long, but that was the length of the waiting list.

I wasn't given a choice as what kind of reconstruciton as I was too skinny to have the tummy one and had to have implants for the same reason.

I then had several operations over the next few years (to have nipple reconstruction and to replace the original tissue expanding implant and a few fiddles to improve the look).

It's now over 12 years since the reconstruction and I can quite honestly say I have never regretted it since.

I agree with nutcracker about ensuring you get a good plastic surgeon, you must trust them totally.

On a lighthearted note - My rule of thumb is to never turst an ugly plastic surgeon (not that ever actually found one) as their view on what looks good me be low!  My plastic surgeon was very striking, he looked like omah sherif's better looking brother!

I took part in a information video for the hospital to be shown to women having to make a decision about reconstruction to explain how it is done.  My bit (along with some others) was to show the results.  It's probably very out of date now (the fact that it was on video says it all)  Your hospital may have a similar thing on dvd.

Take care

Jo