Immediate Reconstruction - has anyone had it

Not sure if this will help you or not but I had mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. I have expander with implant. I'm going through chemo at the minute and will also have radiotherapy. After all treatment I will then go for final reconstruction where expander is removed and an new implant inserted. Well that's the plan!

Did they mention what would be the effect on radiation on the expander/implant ,and what hospital are you attending

Hi Snoozy,
Hoping you are ok. I know it's hard to make a decision, sometimes I used to think it would have been easier if the decision was made for me by the medical know-alls but it was really important for me to be involved through the whole process - in sure it's something to do with trying to be in control!!!
Anyway, I had immediate reconstruction with LD flap - they used about a third of the muscle on my back, just below the shoulderblade and brought it round under my armpit and used it with an implant to give me a more natural look.
I knew what the pro's and con's were going into surgery; however, I had encapsulation of the reconstruction just as I started radiotherapy so it would be fair to say that it wasn't radiotherapy that caused any problems with my surgery. However, after radiotherapy I had Herceptin so two years after my first surgery I had revision surgery which was dealing with scar tissue, putting in a new implant and trying to free up a tendon on my shoulder that was causing a small bit of bother. So it is all ok now.
I suppose I went into it a bit naive - I thought that everything would be back to normal after treatment and surgery but while you have a breast shape and no-one knows the difference to look at me, I have put on weight since surgery so I'm a good two size bigger on the non-surgery side. I've over come that by using a deadly chicken fillet that the breast nurses gave me so I'm grand. I suppose I had an image of Pamela Anderson and Katie Price having surgery all the time... They have a lot to answer for, lol!!!
All my surgery scars have more or less disappeared with the help of massage, and I've good enough movement - any stiffness is because of not keeping up a good physio regime.
I hope this helps, and very best of luck to you x

Hi Snoozy,
I had immediate reconstruction.. the surgeon took muscle and fat from my back and gave me a lovely boob. I had chemo and radiation and neither affected the reconstruction, it was fine...I was like yourself I didn't know whether to go for the immediate reconstruction but I have to say it helped me mentally..at least when you wake up from the op you still have two boobs. best of luck xxxx

Hi lyn999

I wish I could be confident. I keep changing from immediate to delayed. I am limited to the expander or implant option as I am slim build and have already lost a stone so I dont think the other 2 options would work for me. I feel really annoyed that I am being rushed on this without even seeing my onconogist

I too am slim and only had those 2 options. I'm glad I went for immediate reconstruction as I now have 2 breasts, albeit not perfect. I will deal with any cosmetic issues after all my treatments so for me I don't even think about my reconstruction very much at all. I was allowed to keep my nipple and skin and if I opted for delayed reconstruction, this would not have been an option.