Hi there…
I have recenly been disgnosed with at least 2 confirmed areas of DCIS in my left breast and although the consultant had orginaly suggested a lumpectomy, following an MRI, there is more needed to be removed, so a mastectomy has been suggested.
Unfortunately, now confirmed carrier of Bracha 2 (not sure I spelt that right) so double mastectomy now on the cards. I am trying to make a decison on reconstruction… has anyone any thoughts on this ? any advice great appreciated.
Hello,
I just saw your post- might be a bit late but I still thought to write. I was diagnosed with DCIS in my right breast in August and only 3 weeks back I had a mastectomy done and breast reconstruction with an implant.
I was also indicisive about what type of reconstruction to choose- I saw pics where reconstructions with body tissue looked very natural. The type you choose really depends on what your preferences are: some people do not mind the big scaring in theirbody and others do not want to have a fake breast.
My silicone breast does look different than my natural breast but I do not think it is ugly or anything. I recovered really quickly from everything and that made me really cheerful again. I was able to go outside walking the next day after the hospital. I could not bear the idea of having to stay in bed for 4 months to recover from a body tissue breast reconstruction.
Another thing to think about is that if body tissue type fails then I am not sure whether it is easy to go for an implant later on.And how soon you can do that. Whereas with an implant failure, you can then very easily choose another breast reconstruction option.
I hope I was helpful- and not too late to respond : )
I had a mammorgram which showed I had extensive DCIS in my left breast back in January 2012. They also discovered an invasive but small tumour in the right. I had a mastectomy on the left and an immediate reconstruction with an expandable ‘skin saver’ implant. The right was a lumpectomy followed by chemo and radio therapy. I am very slim so using tissue from other areas was not an option for a full reconstruction but the implant does the job. It does look odd when I am undressed as it looks like I have a grapefruit under my skin, but when I’m dressed, even with low necklines, it looks fine. I have just had the right breast removed as I was not comfortable living with it, and had another implant. as this breast has had radio therapy it might not heal as well but so far so good (it’s been 2 weeks now) although I’m very swollen and it’s not yet been inflated. I am told they may not look the same because the radio therapy will have changed the way the tissues heal. My only gripe is that the booklets they give you showing images of how your breast might look following surgery do not focus much on people like us who have implants only. I was initially quite shocked by my appearance naked but have got used to it now. Still, my surgeon is talking about using a little lipposuction to pad out around the first implant to help it looks more normal. It remains to be seen how the new implant turns out. One thing to note though, implants are very firm and feel cold to the touch.