Hey all. I had SMX 8 Feb this year with immediate reconstruction with expander implant as at the time wasn’t sure if I would need radiotherapy. I was lucky and I didn’t. Anyway the port is aggravating me so saw the surgeon this week who suggested either removal of the port or swapping for a silicone implant. I am mostly happy with the expander although the bottom is higher than my natural boob but the tops are even and I am happy with the size.
I really wanted DIEP originally so wonder if I should wait for DIEP, stick with expander and just get port removed or commit to a silicone implant?
Anyone have any experience or views on this?
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Hi
I had an expander put in 2011 after having DCIS in the left breast which was removed because the DCIS was wide spread no further treatment was necessary because no lymph nodes were involved. I found the expander hard and uncomfortable so had an implant with tissue replacement and right breast up lift in 2012 I found the implant more natural feeling and nothing like the expander.
Following on from this in 2018 a 2.5 cm cancer tumour developed just on the implant so the implant along with tissue and lumph nodes were removed and ER+HER - breast cancer confirmed I had 6 rounds of chemo and 3 weeks of rad followed by letrozole for 6 years Reconstruction of the left breast by DIEP was done in 2022 the operation and recovery was straightforward and the left breast although heavily scarred feels and looks very natural
Things to be aware of sometimes the skin dies and breast has to be removed , there is only one tiny blood vessel supplying the new breast so lifting anything even plates out of an over head cupboard can cause problems and the blood supply can be lost, heavy lifting can lead to a hernia and your tummy can feel really hard with the tummy button not in the same place I had a nipple reconstructed but the tattooing caused a rash so stopped after two attempts and the nipple is not the same colour as the right breast. I think if you can face the operation and recovery time which was 8 weeks in my case then the DIEP is better although the risks of failure higher and you need to have good veins in your tummy for the op to go a head against the implant which has a certain life span and would need replacing not sure if its the same for an expander
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Thank you that is really helpful. It’s so tricky isn’t it you think that’s it and then you find out more things need to happen…
I wish you the best of luck going forward 
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