Yes I have, my surgery was in January. It is a big operation and you have to take time to recover but I’m pleased with the outcome over all, albeit obviously is what it is! I have a good shaped breast, a flatter albeit scared stomach and I’ve recovered well, I had lymph node extraction at the same time. I wanted the diep as with it being your own tissue it gains and looses weight with you by and large as obviously a prosthetic breast can’t. With only having one side done I wanted not to potentially get lopsided. That said their are ladies who had the prosthetic and are happy with it, it was just said to me I should consider it and that reason really resonated for me. I wouldn’t change my decision. I’m waiting for nipple reconstruction as they do that after and I need a small repair on my tummy as I got ‘dog ears’ but that’s simple and should happen in approximately 3 months, just waiting for my date. Good luck with your consultation and operation whatever you decide x
Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I'll also have one breast reconstructed and the other reduced. I know it's a big op and recovery time is lengthy. How ling did it take gor you to recover? I'm a healthy (ish) 65 year old but feel I need to do this.
Well I could move around slowly pretty quickly and I walked in the garden a fair bit but it was a couple of weeks before I felt comfortable on my own and I stayed off work the whole 12 weeks and needed it. Don’t get me wrong I’m a single mum to a 13 year old and was cooking for us, keeping us clothes etc after 2 weeks but going into work wouldn’t have been an option. I’m 50, so I’d say be prepared for 1 week pretty much resting and feeling it, another week getting better but still sore, then a gradual increase, I could drive, etc just needed to be careful and rest a lot x
Thank you. Sounds like you did really well on your own. I'll see what they have to say tomorrow and decide. There's apparently a two year waiting list so it won't be for a while.
My circumstances were that I had chemo, then the mastectomy and simultaneous reconstruction because I couldn’t have radiotherapy (second cancer same breast and you can only have it once to sane area). It all happened very quickly to be fair, finished chemo in November then surgery in January. I’ve had to wait a bit longer for the nipple recon etc as it’s non essential surgery in the sense it won’t save my life. You may get a surprise when you talk to your team. If you are having radiotherapy then it is wise to wait for the later reconstruction and I have heard there are sometimes long waits x
