Nipple sharing recon

I will shortly be having nipple sharing (i.e. taking half of my existing nipple and grafting it on to the recon breast which has no nipple) - this is because I cannot have a nipple fashioned out of the recon breast because I have had rads and it may not work.

I am also having some dog ears tidied up on both breasts (following LD flap ops x 2)

All of this will take place under local anaesthetic (although I will be having a pre-op assessment beforehand) and have been advised that the op is likely to last 75 minutes.

So have any of you ladies out there had this type of nipple recon? If so, any particular advice for immediately afterwards such as baggy tops for a few days etc)?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Love
Bubs x

I had this done at the same time as a tidy up of the reconstructed breast and a lift for the other one. It was all done under local anaesthetic and lasted about 2 hours. Little squares of foam with a circle cut out was taped on on to stop anything touching either nipple. This meant if you didn’t wear a baggy top people could see these strange squares through my clothes!
Apart from this it was really good. Not having a General Anaesthetic meant you don’t feel ill at all. There was no soreness and I could have gone to work straight after it. I had a week off but only to reduce the risk of banging into something.
Good luck.
Kelley

Thanks, Kelley, I’ll start looking out the baggy tops!

Did you have to go back a week later for a check up? And have you had any tattooing?

Yes I went back several times to check the nipple and the other work. I had the op in September and had it tattooed in December, some more colour was added a while later. I was very pleased with it. This was 4 years ago and i must admit it has faded a bit and doesn’t look quite so good but I’m still happy with it.
Kelley