Radiation after Recon/ expanders
Hi all just wondering if anyone out there had rads after recon.
All the doctors are telling me is that 1)there will be some changes to your left breast, and it will look different to the other one [not great when all you want is a matching pair] 2)there will be a level of damage but it depends on the individual. 3) capsular contraction, its not a rare chance but they dont know to what degree of damage to expect.
They won't given my a gerneral idea of what to expect and I tend to panic if I don't know what's going to happen. And they know what will happen ok general terms, they have seen this before!!!
Does anyone even know where I could get information about this?
I would nearly skip having radiation altogether, they are shooting at thing that they don't know are there. They could just be killing good cells, and destroying my skin in the process, and my recon.
I want to get all the treatment thats out there, but some of it I find hard to see the point. The recon is so important, it's for the rest of your life. Maybe I should get another plastics opinion???
Comments
Hi karren, yeas this does help. My biggest fear is that the rads will cause the expander to deform, because the skin would thicken and shrink. So this hasn't happened in your case. That is great news!
Ania,
There are lots of different recon options tho your body and boobie size and shape may only allow certain ones.
I had delayed recon as I needed RT. Skin held up pretty well during RT but as I was a D cup I did not have enough skin left to make faker so they took a patch of skin from my back while doing lat dorsi with implant recon.
Yes there are more scars and my topless days are defo over but I have a firm pert C/D cup which looks great, tho I have no sensation in it 
A good plastic surgeon should be able to work wonders.
Honestly it does not make sense not to do RT since it is a well established protocol post chemo and surgery.
Lindylu
Hi Ania,
I don't need recon, but I just wanted to let you know that I did ask the question about why they were shooting at things that might not even be there after surgery and chemo. The answer I got was that radiotherapy is actually the most potent treatment and the most targetted, even though it seems to be more easily tolerated than others.
I have had some skin modifications that set in about 6 months after rads ended, but nothing drastic.
I hope this helps in your decision process. It's not easy for sure.
Hugs
Kath
Ania
I had immediate reconstruction, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and Herceptin with the treatment regimen in that order.
I have encapsulation that kicked in just as I started radiotherapy so we can't blame radiotherapy for that problem and what looks like an issue with my tendon where the muscle was moved from my back for part of my Latissimus Dorsi reconstruction. I was made well aware that these things could happen before going ahead with surgery. For me, neither issue is painful, more uncomfortable. I'm booked in next month for my mammogram & MRI, then we are away for a holiday. When I come back, I'm meeting the surgeon to get the results of those and presuming that they are clear, we are going to talk about a small bit of surgery to sort out the breast. Also, it's not unusual for a surgeon to go back twice or three times in order to fix any problems that happen over time.
Not sure if this helps but I had a saline expander put in at the time of my mastectomy in order to preserve skin for a Diep recon at a later date (Which I just got my referal for) I went through RT with it and skin seems OK, I moisturise with aqueous cream every day to keep it supple. It seemed like the best option for me at the time, and hopefully the fact I kept some breast skin in tact will make for an easier recon later.
Good luck making your decision!
Karen