Hello, some people on Facebook have said it is possible to have reconstruction by wrapping an implant in alloderm and stitching it over the pectoral muscle. This means no muscle is moved, unlike with the latissimus dorsi flap. However, I get the impression this cannot be done with *delayed* reconstruction. Does anyone know? Thanks - JSA
Hi JSA,
I’m sorry you haven’t yet received a response to your post. It might be worth posting your question in our Ask Our Nurses section.
All the best,
Helena
Hi JSA if you haven’t had (and ideally not going to have) radiotherapy, they can do a delayed reconstruction by stretching your skin with an expander implant. There’s lots of types either fitted empty (like a deflated balloon) then gradually filled with saline over several weeks or months, there’s also one which is partially filled with silicon and again topped up with saline. There’s then the option to keep the expander permanently or have it replaced by a silicon one.
I had the latter option, had rads with the expander in then had it replaced 6 months or so later with permanent tear drop super silicon implant. Radiotherapied skin is very fragile and doesn’t stretch well. Not all oncology surgeons will do both a mastectomy and reconstruction, you may need to be referred as o a plastic surgeon.
There are s lots of options to explore. I didn’t want my back or tummy muscle to be used because of an old back injury and I didn’t have any belly fat to do a DIEP, so I went down the implant route. Three years on and courtesy of hormone treatment when resulted in a large wobbly belly, I switched the implant for a more natural looking DIEP flap!
Good luck with your research to find the best option for you. X