I am just trying to find anyone else who has had a reconstruction which I think is known as stratis with prosthesis. This is using a pig skin sling with an implant and your own skin and nipple. I had this done in October and believe it is a fairly new procedure. The cosmetic result is excellent. At the moment (8 weeks after the op) it feels quite alien and like I have something that doesn’t belong to me attached to my chest! I am told that this will settle down and it will become part of me, which I am sure is absolutely correct but would just like to hear from anyone who may have had this done a few months ago and can be reassuring.
Sorry, I have spelt this incorrectly, it’s Strattice and prosthesis, using a pig skin sling
DB
Very interested to hear where you had this done.
Personally speaking the implant never feels like part of me after over 2 years. It is an alien and is cold to the touch so that doesn’t help. I don’t much understand why airheads like Katie Price fill themselves full of silicon - even being a normal size is grossly uncomfortable.
Sounds like you have been relatively fortunate to have a different op and a surgeon willing to save your skin and nipple.
Presumably you aren’t having radiotherapy?
Reg.
I have been very fortunate to have a non invasive cancer, DCIS so was able to use my skin and the removal of the breast was the cure, with no further treatment needed. I live in Lancashire and had this done in Wigan with a fantastic team of support. I have had major abdominal surgery so reconstruction using my stomach was out. Using the muscle from my back would be a problem for me as I lead an active life, skiing and conducting choirs etc, so didn’t really want restricted use of my arm.
The suggestion of this reconstruction was amazing and it looks super. It is a new procedure in our area and the benefits are that I am only recovering from one operation not two. I realise it will never feel the same, and I can learn to live with that, it’s the discomfort I still feel of this against my chest that is getting me down, but it’s only 8 weeks today since I’ve had it done and I am perhaps expecting too much too soon. I can live with the difference in feel as long as I don’t have discomfort all the time. I am looking for reassurance that I will be unaware of it eventually as I move around, even though on the occasions I touch it the feeling will always be different.