Hello all. I’m new to the forum but am an 8 year survivor. On 11/19 I am having a bi-lateral mastectomy done. In 2006 I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer (ER/PR negative, HER2 positive) so I opted for a lumpectomy and radiation. After 14 months of chemo I have been clean since. In January of this year I had a scare when they found a lump in the affected breast. A needle biopsy came back clean and they think it was simply some scar tissue that had developed around one of the tumor markers. The stress generated from all of this is what has prompted me to have the surgery.
I have had a breast reduction (1999) so I am somewhat familiar with the process only this time they will be removing all the tissue, not just some. But my question is for anyone who else who has had radiation in the past and then opted for a mastectomy. What was the recovery process like on the radiated side? Anything to watch out for? My surgeon has told me that side would heal slower, but since she has not gone through it personally I was hoping for some info from someone who has.
Thank you so much for reading this.