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Breast reconstruction or not??

Amy1988
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I was diagnosed with breast cancer in June. I have just completed my chemo and will be having a mastectomy and lumpectomy 4th January. I met with my surgeon a couple of weeks ago and we did talk about reconstruction. But he said I could lose it later because of radiotherapy. At the time I felt ok just to have the mastectomy but as the op is getting closer I'm starting to have second thoughts about reconstruction. It depresses me now the thought of not having a breast so I know I will definitely want a reconstruction. But I'm terrified of having an op as I've never had one before, so that's why i think i would rather get it done at the same time as mastectomy. I'm not sure if I could cope with further surgery. I'm just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and I would be grateful for any opinions or advice. 

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    Hello.

    I had stage 3 agressive breast cancer 3 years ago. I had 15 weeks chemotherapy a node removal, full mastectomy, reconstruction and radiotherapy. 
    my reconstruction was made up from the muscle in my back. The recovery was a little difficult as I had a baby at the time. And yes radiotherapy did shrink it a lot but I'm currently waiting a fat grafting alignment, where they will suck some fat from my tummy or bottom and inject it into my breast to make them the same size. I should have had this done a while back but it has been postponed due to covid. 
    xx

  • Offline in reply to tasha1528

    Hi tasha. I'm sorry to hear you've had breast cancer too. Do you have a new date for your next treatment? Hopefully you won't have to wait too long. I've spoken to my surgeon this afternoon and he said he would be happy to do a immediate reconstruction if that's what I choose. But he did also say that if there were complications with the implant, that would delay the rest of my treatment. That scared me because my first priority is getting rid of the cancer. So I have decided to have a delayed reconstruction, which apparently will be a year after. I will have to learn to cope with a prosthetic breast in the meantime! But he did mention my reconstruction being from the back too. I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you find that procedure? 

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