Hi Ladies,
Hope you can help me & give me some advice & guidance regarding an LD flap?
I was offered this by my plastic surgeon as had MX in April last year, was told would need to put weight on to use tummy & having just lost my cheo weight, not keen to do this. Was also suggested about using bottom but this doesn’t appeal to me.
Was wondering how pleased you are with your new breast & would be grateful to hear about the complications that you may have had also?
I’ll have this done at the N&N in Norwich so if any of you have been operated on by the surgeons there it would be good to know who it was & your opion of them.
I have put for you below the link to the part of the website where you can watch an animation of the various different types of reconstruction which I hope you find useful, I’ve also put the link to our leaflet on reconstruction.
Use your bottom - it is better all round and you won’t lose the contour or use of your back/arm.
I’m surprised they are offering this at Norwich as Elaine Sassoon is will not very willing perform this op any more because she has seen so many complications that arise.
SGAP or IGAP is the way to go I’d say but you need to reasearch it and not just canvass opinion on here.
If you don’t have tummy already then forget a tummy flap - you cannot grow one.
Get surfing and get hold of Dick Rainsbury;s book and start reading on the risks associated with LD - there are some but they are not well publicised for fear of putting women off.
Hi. I had a bilateral LD back flap recon in early November 09. I am delighted with the shape of my new breasts and the scarring on my back is very neat and hidden by my bra - it has not altered the contour of my back at all.
I did find recovery quite challenging at first and even a couple of weeks ago was worried that I would never get my full strength back and that the tightness under my arms would be there for ever - as some people on this forum seem to experience. However I can now do everything I want to and the discomfort has suddenly started to ease a lot.
Before I had this done I spoke to 2 ladies who had also had the LD flap recon and they were both very pleased with the result and said they didn’t think about breast cancer any more as they often forgot they had a reconstruction! One of them did say because she was so pleased and now able to get on with her life she no longer contributed to forums such as these and perhaps there is a disproportionate number of people who have had bad experiences still contributing to the forums?
Good Luck anyway.
I have posted on other threads so will keep this brief.
I had a delayed LD flap recon following mastectomy 13 months earlier.
I was absolutely thrilled with the result (back to tennis and yoga within a matter of a few weeks), so much so that 9 weeks ago today I had an LD flap on the healthy side to achieve better symmetry, and again with absolutely wonderful results, so much so that I am sitting here typing this and thinking how normal I feel, ie. as though nothing has ever been done to me. (And was back to yoga 2 weeks after the op, and tennis after 4 weeks).
Those who very sadly have had a bad experience with one type of recon or another are clearly going to be biased. I would say keep an open mind and consider that it is very much a matter of individual choice and suitability, which should be thoroughly discussed with your consultant plastic surgeon beforehand.
It is your body, after all. All I can say is tha LD flap worked for me (twice). For some reason, the LD flap procedure gets such bad publicity, but for some people it actually is the best option.
I’ve posted on your Norfolk thread today, but Elaine Sassoon has performed an IGAP on me a year ago - the bottom one - and it was very successful. The recovery was much quicker and less painful than the DIEP she performed on me 2 years ago. Don’t be put off - it was a breeze compared to the DIEP - she did it with Richard Haywood (and the DIEP), and I’ve had no complications at all. If you would like to know more re. recovery etc., I have posted in the reconstruction forum - just search for IGAP. Also, please PM me if you’d like - I’m happy to answer any questions. I think I’m a bit of a one-off, having had a DIEP and and IGAP but I might be wrong (!).