@A MyBCTeam Member ;-) Yes - at the time of the dbl mastectomy the surgeon inserted "expanders". For 8-10 weeks+/- I would go to the Plastic Surgeons office & have 50, 60, 70 cc's of saline inserted in expander once a week. The 1st month I was basically fine but as the skin started to stretch to make room for the insert it got painful and grotesque looking BUT it was all worth it!! (I wore a lot of scarves!) My original surgery was in August of 2014 so I wanted to be DONE w/ all of the surgeries in 2014 so December 18th of 2014 I had the expanders removed & the "gummie bears" inserted (out patient surgery). (at that point I didn't care what size I was! I just wanted them OUT!!) I felt better immediately!!! REALLY I DID!!! The pressure was gone!!! Then on February 27, 2015 I had the nipple re-construction which was an out-patient procedure - no big deal!!, they don't even put you out w/ drugs, just give you Novocain... In 8 weeks I'll have the tattoo of the areolas, an office procedure and then I'll BE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God willing ;-) In reality, I'll NEVER be done, you know what I mean ;-) The toughest time during this journey was the 1st major surgery and that's what it is - a MAJOR SURGERY!! Don't kid yourself! It sucks BUT you're alive to tell!! The recovery period was 4-6 weeks for me but you have to just suck it up and DO IT!!! People don't die from breast Cancer anymore!! You just have to do the right thing ;-)) Continue to stay STRONG and ask questions and talk with people!!! You are NOT ALONE!!! And you WILL get through this!!! I'm at that stage where I can FINALLY SAY THAT!! GOOD LUCK!!! STAY POSITIVE!!! xxoo And please keep in touch

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It's a personal choice... but I had a double... Originally I was told I needed a single mastectomy on my right breast due to cancer and a lumpectomy on my left breast due to "slow growing" cancer. I explained to my surgeon that I was NOT interested in having mamos ever 3 months on my left breast along with additional biopsies KNOWING that I had cancer in that breast - decided to have them both removed at the same time instead of prolonging the inevitable... and I'm REALLY GLAD I DID!! I can start to relax a little now... Good luck with your decision ;-) God bless!

I had both removed. My thought process was if I do this now I wont have to worry about the other one in the months to come. Glad I had both removed.. A word of advice... do not have implants done at the same time of your removal!!! I had mine done and it was a disaster... They are both removed now and after several infections and extra surgeries I have to have yet more surgeries to repair the scare tissue left behind. Wish someone would have told me about the risks before I went into surgery.. if you have questions just ask and ill tell you all about my journey!! sending good wishes and hugs your way!! You've got this!!! keep your head up!!

@A MyBCTeam Member my reconstruction was creating pockets in my chest muscle first with tissue expanders and gradually filling them with saline solution up to 600cc. Then surgery was scheduled to exchange the tissue expanders to breast implants.

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@A MyBCTeam Member No I did not have chemo prior to the surgery, I'm actually taking an oral chemo every night for the next 5-10 years which is JUST FINE WITH ME!! My cancer was found early and was labeled as Stage 1. The 1st hospital stay for the dbl mastectomy was 4 days; trust me, you're not going to want to be any place else at that time... In the beginning of my journey I didn't want to share the news with anyone either... Then a good friend of mine said "You are going to NEED your friends - let them in!" so I did. And it really did help a lot to be able to discuss it and not try to hide the BA CA diagnosis. it's' amazing the number of people that you meet that has gone through similar situations. Let it all out - you'll feel better!! Sounds to me like you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself! Just a thought ;-)) xx

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