Hi ladies! I’ve just finished 16 rounds of chemo for Triple Negative BC. Shattered! My single mastectomy surgery is coming up in a few weeks (just over 4 weeks from my final chemo). I am a gene carrier but I’m having the other boob off next year to hopefully increase the chances of keeping the implant and less chance of an infection.
Apologies as I know these questions have probably been asked in some way before but I’ve never had surgery before and it helps me to know as much information as possible. Any experiences you could share would really help - especially if you had your surgery after chemo.
Main questions: How was your recovery? How long until you were going for walks and up and about? What is the range of movement in the arm? How numb is everything? What do implants feel like? Anything you wish you knew before you had it? Tips and tricks?
I will also be having drains. I can’t envision where they are or what they feel like. How long do they usually stay in for? Do I have to drain them myself?
Sorry for all the qs! Haha. Thanks 
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@kittenmccaro well done for finishing your chemo, thats the toughest bit! I had SMX and immediate reconstruction with expander implant. The reason they went for expander was becasue they were unsure if I would need radiotherapy. As it happens I had PCR so was very blessed so didnt require radiotherapy after all. My recovery was excellent, I went back to walking within just a few days. My top tip is keep up with the exercises they give you three times a day and that really helps. I only needed pain killers for a couple of days. The numbness is still there, my surgery was 8 Feb this year. It is the most odd sensation to touch your boob and feel detached from it but I got used to the altered sensation really quickly. My drains came our after 5 days but this varies between people and some need less and some need more.
In terms of the implant, mine feels quite hard and is larger at the top than my natural boob (I was and still am quite small chested) but when i have my clothes on you wouldnt know it was not my natural boob and to be honest I am sure its not that different without my clothes on, its only me being critical of it. If you would like to see a picture i can DM you one? x
Hope it all goes well xxx
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Thank you so much and thank you for replying, it really helps to hear from people out of the other side of it! 
Congratulations on the PCR! That’s amazing!
I am expecting residual but I was told I wouldn’t need radiotherapy after as there’s little benefit as SMX removing most of the tissue and my tumour not close to chest wall but it’s up to me. I’m thinking I might leave it unless they discover I had it in the nodes.
Great to hear you were out walking after a few days and the recovery wasn’t too bad! I was disappointed at first my surgeon wasn’t on board with the double mastectomy but in a way at least I can come to terms with the different feelings for a bit before lobbing the other one off. Also very happy to hear the drains were out so quickly! Were you told to empty them yourself?
Thanks again for your message, I feel a bit calmer now!
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Glad I could offer you some reassurance. I didn’t have to empty my drain myself, although I do know some people who did. In fact, my BCN didn’t empty them until day 4, when I said it was heavy, so they emptied it for me and only once x