Hi all, my heads spinning - I’ve got to have a mastectomy and have been offered a diep reconstruction at the same time! The op sounds like quite a big one and I’m not sure if the benefits outweigh the negatives. Be grateful to hear of anyone’s experiences of diep xx
Hi Kelly
decisions are difficult when none are ideal!
I had a mastectomy and DIEP in September last year.
The surgical team would not have offered it as an option if they didn’t feel you were going to be suitable …because as you say…it is a major op.
I found the information on this site really useful.
the op itself is more extensive than the implant route… but a benefit is a breast which looks and feels like your own. (similar weight and appearance … ask if they are giving you a new nipple at the same time )Plus you don’t have to have replacement implants .
The abdominal scar is extensive … 8 months later mine is nice and flat now and hidden by the big pants I started wearing post op… love them now
I won’t bore you with the details as my op didn’t go as planned and I stayed in hospital longer than expected.
so all in all… it is a challenge but I have a cleavage and no one would know I had had a mastectomy.
Prepare well for it… get as fit as possible. Do everything the physiotherapists tell you … before and after the op.
I am 64 and previously quite fit (nordic walking and allotmenteer) and I can say it took me 6 months of gradual improvement to feel normal… but everyone is different and as I said things didn’t go to plan for me so this may have affected me too.
so after my long ramble… I am glad I had it done but a quicker option to returning to normal would be the implant route!
make sure you look at the info on the site and don’t be afraid to ask lots and lots of questions to your surgical team and BCN. That’s what they are there for.
Hope this helps. X
Hi
I was diagnosed with extensive DCIS in Feb and had a right side mastectomy and Diep reconstruction on 4 May. I’m obviously early on in my recovery, but have absolutely no regrets at this point. The hardest bit was the post-surgery period, when you’re kept very toasty indeed, but I’d found some great (easy to listen to) podcasts and spent most of the night in a sweaty haze, drifting in and out of sleep - so no real complaints. The op was on the Tuesday, breast drain out on Thursday and abdominal drain out on Friday before I went home (surgeons obv have their own ways of doing things, and mine was clear that it’d be out on day 3). It’s almost 2 weeks on, and whilst I’m bruised and swollen, and sleeping for England, I couldn’t be more pleased with how it’s all gone.
Hope this helps you, and happy to share any more info if you’d like
xxxxx