I’m now 4 months on from having the LD flap operation (the flap is the skin graft from the back) and am now at the stage of having my expander inflated every few weeks.
I originally had a lumpectomy and rads 15 years ago, but developed Pagets in the nipple and DCIS throughout the same breast.
I did find the recovery from the operation pretty awful; I was in a lot of pain, the back scar became infected after having the seroma drained and then continued to leak for weeks afterwards.
The actual reconstruction has softened up a bit now and is feeling a lot better, however it has no sensation whatsoever and looks very odd. The ‘flap’ is a completely different colour to the remaining breast tissue so i have a pale oval surrounded by angry red radiotherapy burned skin which is so thin you can see every blood vessel.
In a bra it looks ok, I could wear low cut tops and show off my cleavage!
That is as much as you can hope for really.
I wouldn’t say I am happy with it, but I feel slightly more ‘normal’ and symmetrical than if I didn’t have it.
Everyone’s experience is going to be different and the results will vary, but I hope I’ve been helpful in relating the pros and cons of my experience.
Overall, I am glad I had it done and have accepted the limitations of what can be achieved.
Hi all
Just wanted to tell you about my recon.
I had a right mastectomy (first primary) in 1993. Had to wait until 1996 for a recon (there were no immediate reconstructions offered then) and elected for a TRAM flap (I could have had it done using my back, but the very helpful leaflets I was given stressed that this was not likely to turn out so well). I was given all the time I needed to make up my mind.
The operation lasted 8 hours, was carried out by a specialist PS in a specialist unit, and I was completely out of it for a good two days after that. Recovery was long and painful, but uncomplicated. BUT, and it a BIG but, the result was, and still is, fantastic.
Yes, there is little or no sensation, but the sense of symmetry, of balance, of normality, is all there and I value that enormously. I’ve even coped with communal showers.
However, I do think it is possible that this additional surgery may have triggered my first lymphoedema by disturbing the axilla again. But hard to say for sure…just something else to weigh up, I suppose.
I think there has been a tendency to move away from the very complicated reconstruction surgery which I had towards simpler methods, on grounds of cost. An 8 hour operation doesn’t come cheap and I was in hospital for 10 days afterwards - but it might be worth waiting/holding out for.
X
S
Hello all
I had an immediate LD flap recon after a Mx for widespread high grade DCIS and a grade 3 tumour. I did’t have an implant at the time as I then had extensive radiotherapy (25 sesh’s, 12 enhanced) after TAC chemo. This was in Mach 2008 so I’m 15 months down the line.
Until today I have moaned quite a lot about my decision to have immed. recon as the side effects from this surgery seem to go on and on - my shoulder is unstable which gives me disconfort in my back and neck. The sensation in the skin is coming back slowly (vit B complex helps with this…according to my onc who advised it for peripheral neuropathy - it is better since I’ve been taking it) I have developed a big crease in the recon where the moved muscle is not inserted in quite the right place being amongst the things which ‘irritate’ me at the mo… The operation was 8 hours and I had a week in hospital. I have small children and couldn’t lift for about 3 months - but can now. I can do anything now - drive, swim (except front crawl) lift, deliver babies whilst lying on the floor - all the things I need to do I can do and comfortably…
The thing that has stopped my moaning about my decision - I was thinking that I’d made the wrong decision as I felt I should’ve opted for a simple Mx with recon at a later date so that the recovery from surgery would’ve been easier and the chemo would’v been a lot easier - is that I looked at some photos of ‘simple mastectomy’ scars today ( I was part of a breast services review, looking at the information given prior to surgery) and I was desparately sad that the surgery is so devestating physically. It is the right thing for some women, but having two (albeit very different!) breasts is the right thing for me…
I’m waiting for my implant in 2010 now, and my new nipple (maybe - I quite like the silicone one - choice of having it sticking out or not!) after that.
I’m pleased with mine. Be sure to look for a surgeon you get on with who’s work is good!
Td x
hi td, it is very important to feel that we have made the right decision for us and i know thats what bothers me as i have said that i wasnt 100% about immediate recon and wish i had stuck with my initial feelings as then i would have done it my way. but i felt i was pushed to a degree into surgery. also regarding the surgeon i had a lady ps for 2 years who i really liked and the hospital changed the surgeon 10 days before op and said i would wait 9-12 months if i wanted my original surgeon. now at that point i was all geared up for the 17hr op and had sorted babysitters etc and i was told mt new ps was fantastic at microsurgery and they strongly believed he was the correct 1 for the job…
i agree so strongly that we need to feel confident in our surgeons and also to do whats right for us and not be swayed into something we didnt want to do…xx
Feebones - you started this thread and at last I am added to the “being honest list”
I would repeat some of what I said to Konski earlier in the thread. I would also like to add that my LD Flop has been a technical and personal disaster and the surgeon who did it persuaded me he was the man for the job, declined to send me for a second opinion and then proceeded to botch it up big time. Furthermore he blamed my build, my expectations, and told me to “focus on something else”. I am, I am now focussing on a formal complaint about him, his attitude, his comments about me and he skills, the lack of, and he has done LD flops >200 times OVER 200!!! And he is still subjecting women to this.
The LD is the simplest (bar the implant only) so-called breast so-called reconstruction. However, comma, not only was mine terrible to look at, it left me permanently unable to do some things and I am normally an active person, very active. Having lived with the absence for >500 days I longed to be made whole again and so the despair of it all going wrong has been very hard to deal with, especially when the sefl satisfied in denial surgeon stood over me and declared himself “pleased, even if I do say it myself”. I have 4 other surgeons tell me the truth about this dog’s breakfast. It has left me in constant discomfort and frequent pain, I have had shoulder problems which occurred only after the surgery and might (I am told) have been an injury sustained whilst in theatre, although it’ll be hard to prove that.
As someone else in this thread has said, other ops may be longer and take longer to recover from and be more complex and risky BUT:
- The LD has its own risks, not often mentioned by surgeons
- The other ops produce better results
- Aesthetics are very important unless you just want something to stick in a bra
- If you just want something to stick in a bra then buy a lump of silicon from Amoena because it will have the same function and you will have fewer scars
- You have to live with this for a very long time
- You deserve the best outcome that can be achieved
- You should ensure you have a PS on the case
- Always get a second opinion - they all have egos!
- Want the best and be prepared to see the worst, whatever you get will be second best because they CANNOT reconstruct a breast - it will be a mound whatever its constituents
- See the book I recommended
Good luck and keep asking questions.
D
dahlia unfortunately as you have found it can go wrong and its damn awful as we are expected to accept what we have and shut up. on monday it was very matter of fact my surgeon advising me if the grafts dont work after 1 attempt the breasts would be removed… it was as though he didnt give a damn… i think this forum would benefit from a place we could put pictures as i would post my disasters. i know some people may think that would scare others however as i have said a few times all too often our expectations are raised then dashed when it fails. i was told 97% success rate and i was lied to being told i wouldnt really know the difference. if pics were on here it would be upto the member should they wish to look or not. i think these surgeons who mess up are being allowed to continue to mess up as too many people wont complain…
rant over ( sorry having a bad night courtesy of everything going wrong)…
i want to say also i would never discourage ladies from this op ever but i just wish i had been better informed as to how bad it could get. i was also never given councilling before op as apparently i fell through the net?? xx
A few people have commented that the LD flap operation is not the best, but for some of us it was the only option because of our body shape, the fact that we had not had children etc.
I don’t think most of the plastic surgeons try to mislead us exactly, but they do not no what it is like to actually experience it; they know what physical appearance is to be expected but not what it is like to have their handiwork as part of their own body.
jane - I so completely agree with your sentiments; I certainly feel like glassing every well-meaning fool that tells me to be positive.
I’ve not even finished my treatment, I’ve had my hours cut at work and my partner of 15 years has told me he wants to buy me out of the house - sprung that one on me 12 days after my operation.
Still, I’ll be positive and it will turn out fine I’m sure…
Ladies,
I just want to say a huge thank-you for being so honest about your experiences on here.
I’m a ditherer, having had my mx last year followed by chemo and radio, now on Tx. My boobs were quite small, an A cup, and I have an excellent falsie care of Amoena, but am suffereing body-confidence issues now I’m heading into that post-recovery/back to ‘normal’ phase.
My local hozzie is running a talk about recon in a couple of weeks so I’ve been reading about your experiences prior to going to this so I can be armed with a bucketful of questions. Again, thank-you, and I’m so sorry some of you continue to have such a tough time. My love to you all,
Bella x
Thank you to you all for the stories, both good and bad. I think it has been helpful. I feel that I am under no illusions now about the procedure and that, although there is never a good time for it…it can certainly wait. I have a baby who is almost one so it makes sense I think to wait till he’s older to have the procedure and just take my time. I want to be able to swim, cuddle my kids etc and to have a cleavage will be a bonus—but I think your stories have helped me to take a step back. I’ve found a good surgeon, now I get to choose WHEN…
Feebones
I’ve already posted this on the DCIS thread :
My update is that none of my scans have shown signs of the cancer spreading. And, after a lot of reading of various threads on this invaluable forum, & after a lot of consideration - I’ve decided to simply leave it, not have the recommended mastectomy - & get on with my life.
All good wishes to all of you.
Konski
Konski
Good, that takes courage but it is YOUR decision and that’s important.
Very best wishes
D