I had chemo after my mastectomies with reconstruction. (of course the chemo attacked the implants and I ended up in the hospital 2x with infection). I had the latissimus dorsi flap which uses tissue from upper back, and I also had saline implants put in. (one stop lube job from the back because I had no fat--now I have enough fact to give 20 women breasts--lol) I have almost total numbness in my breasts and a constant feeling of a belt under the breasts. I would have opted to wait (or no reconstruction at all ) if I had known. Recovery time would have been dramatically reduced. I have scars on my back, and they always itch even though I have no feeling there. (go figure). Nipple sparing was not an option for me. I also was never told you have to mold your breasts by massaging them after reconstruction. I was afraid to touch them, I didn't know. Everything is probably better now, and I have a lifetime warranty--my surgeon said he can fix it all up. I chose to do nothing more and live with "as is". Truly wish I would have waited though. I also went in front of a panel, so now physical therapy after reconstruction is offered to all--I am very proud of that:)

Hi, sweetie. Please be advised everyone's mastectomy is different--and everyone's reconstruction experience is different, too. Many surgeons LOVE performing nipple-sparing mastectomy (I have a girlfriend who got to keep hers!!) but whether or not they can is dependent upon where the tumor is (if it's close to the nipple, they won't recommend trying to keep it--recurrence risk is too high). If you're leaning toward immediate reconstruction, please be advised it is relatively rare to find a plastic surgeon who is comfortable throwing in implants on the spot--there is RARELY enough skin leftover to cover them, and your 'immediate' reconstruction is usually carried out in two stages (they put in expanders under your muscle wall and pump them up to stretch your tissue to make room for an implant, and then in a later surgery, they exchange the expander for an implant.) Another consideration that's VERY important for you to think on is whether or not you're going to need radiation. If you need to radiate after surgery, chances are it will do crazy things with your skin and can cause big reconstructions complications (infections, shrinkage, extrusion--where the incisions might even split open). If you have a good long time to heal between surgery and radiation (like if you do chemo after surgery), your chances of completing a successful reconstruction are better than if you jump right into radiation after surgery.... I'm a failed reconstruction and have met TONS of women who are, too. Radiation and timing are HUGE things to take into account when you make your reconstruction decisions.

Did they do Breast MRI of both? That will tell you if there is anything in the other side. I had BC in both breast ,IDC in left and DCIS in right. My IDC had been there longer than the DCIS. Since I had missed mammon they were found at the same time other wise I would have gone through BC 2 different times.

I had a double mastectomy and reconstruction . I ended with something more than I was diagnosed with, so the double mastectomy saved my life, so I will never be sorry. However I wish I would have waited on the reconstruction. Please keep in mind that was 9 years ago, and everything improves. My advice...ask a ton of questions--then ask more, you always have time to research . I had no one to talk to , so my decisions were based on emotions and what I read. I wanted it out, and I wanted it done--kind of a one stop lube job. Unfortunately, nothing about this disease is that simple.. but it is getting better:)

@A MyBCTeam Member My best friend found her lump and has no history of breast cancer in her family. She chose to have a bilateral because she did not want to take the chance of it coming back in the other breast. Each individual is different and you have to make the decision. But after my surgery, I am happy with my decision because I would not want to do it all over again. Some will say it is not that bad, but everyone has a different pain tolerance and mind frame.

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