Radiotherapy after diep reconstruction yes or no?

Hi, I had a diep flap reconstruction in October and had radiotherapy in December. Nothing was mentioned about age to me, I am 62, or percentages. Also, nothing was said about the flap failing. I haven't had any issues so far since the radiotherapy. Xx

Thanks for your reply.

I think the radiotherapist was saying it was part of the decision making process as to whether they recommend RT or not for my particular type of cancer. They said that in my situation they usually only offer it to people 50 and under and I am 51 and that it is more likely to reduce the size of the reconstructed breast but can make it fail. 

Maybe she is just giving me all the side effects including the rare ones which is making it seem worse than it will be. It's why I wanted to talk to people going through something similar. 

I think it's difficult when they ask you to make decisions. The only decision I had to make was whether I wanted a reconstruction and which type. I was glad they wanted to do mastectomy  rather than lumpectomy, it was my preference anyway. I did ask for a double, but they wouldn't remove the healthy breast. I would have preferred not to have the worry of a recurrence. I also need to have a second surgery, to reduce healthy breast, so they match. I have read that other people have asked their team what they would do if it was them, to help them make decisions. Xx

Decision making is hard especially when I thought the only decision I was going to make was what type of reconstruction like you. I think I'm leaning towards getting it done just because recurrence worries me more than damaging my reconstruction. Asking my team sounds like a good idea and will definitely chase that up this week. Thank you

It was suggested to me to have the radiotherapy, I think because my type of cancer has a high recurrence rate. However, if given the choice I would have opted for it anyway. RT is an easy process and painless, just tiring going everyday. In my mind I would want to throw every possible treatment at it that was available to me. Good luck with everything, let me know how you get on. Xx

Hi, I think this doesn’t have a definite answer. I have a friend (who I met in here) that experienced hardening of the breast after radiotherapy on her diep recon so it is something that can happen, but doesn’t always happen as others have had no ill effects. I can only recommend you really explore it with your team, hopefully a few others can give you their experiences too. I had a diep but couldn’t have radiotherapy this time around as I’d had it previously. I was told however that if I’d have needed radiotherapy, they’d have delayed my reconstruction. My friend was in the same situation as you where radiotherapy was added on afterwards and she wasn’t expecting it. Her reconstruction didn’t fail though, just hardened. All the best to you x