Hello and advice

Hi Puffetta,

No experience of the medical establishments you mention but re surgery I've had 3 lots and recently DIEP and I can assure you they were all very straightforward, no pain with great care in the hospitals I was in, Yes, recovery does take a while but if you look after yourself before & after ops (fitness/food/drink wise) you'll be fine.

Not sure if you've private medical but I went NHS for mx and that was fine, I was lucky that scar was very neat & tidy and luckily had a great surgeon (I want great care is a good place to look at surgeon reviews).  DIEP, for me, a very different matter...if you're NHS there's a good chance (and maybe with private too?) that it will be delayed due to the covid impact, mine was delayed but due to having rads.  I decided to go private for DIEP and did research on plastic surgeons before I chose mine and that determined the hospital I got treated at, got some great advice on social media (happy to point you in the right direction - private message me).  I was treated through the Royal Marsden who I found to be excellent in all respects.

The aftercare is more annoying than anything, I'm not squeamish but never relish injecting self, changing tapes & dressings, worried that something might fall off..ha!!  But managed (and am managing it currently) and you will too.

Sometimes examining the removed material does show that tumours can be larger than thought but I don't think it changes the type as biopsies have already examined the cells.

Good luck For Jan  & Hapopy Christmas!

Sam