Hi Chris-Sylvia, sorry you are in the situation of having to make this decision. I am 62 and recently had the same decision to make. I knew straight away that I wanted to go down the reconstruction route using tissue from my tummy. I had this surgery in the middle of October and am very pleased with the result. I still need to have further surgery to reduce the healthy breast. I feel pretty good now, although I do have a small part of tummy wound that has been slow to heal. Not sure if this could be to do with a previous hysterectomy scar or not resting enough. At the moment I'm attending the hospital each week for a wound check  I hope that you come to the right decision for you  it's a very personal decision. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Xx

Hi Pippin 24

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I do appreciate it.

I must say, my initial instinct was the same as yours- it was only when I realised how much longer the recovery period might be that I began to question what I should do. My breasts are quite small anyway- I’m not sure if that makes it easier or harder to decide!

Were both your procedures ( mastectomy and reconstruction) carried out in one operation? How long afterwards did you begin to feel ‘comfortable’?

Thank you again 

Hi Chris-Sylvia, sorry to take so long to reply, I missed your post. I had the Mastectomy and reconstruction done at the same time. I had hoped that they would do the reduction of healthy breast at the same time as well. Unfortunately they decided that this would be a separate op, as initial one was already going to take 8 hours. I have recovered really quickly and my arm mobility is nearly back to normal. I was doing things around the house the following week and was able to do some cooking. May have done things too quickly though, as I still have a few issues with a small section of my tummy wound. I don't know if I did too much too soon, or if it would have occurred anyway. I did have a previous scar there from a hysterectomy, so this could also be something to do with it. It's now 4 weeks since surgery and I am still a little sore in places, mostly due to nerve damage in armpit and down the top of my arm. Probably due to having 20 lymph nodes removed. I hope that you are soon able to come to the right decision for you. Good luck with your surgery and let me know how you get on. Xx

Hi Chris-Sylvia, sorry to take so long to reply, I missed your post. I had the Mastectomy and reconstruction done at the same time. I had hoped that they would do the reduction of healthy breast at the same time as well. Unfortunately they decided that this would be a separate op, as initial one was already going to take 8 hours. I have recovered really quickly and my arm mobility is nearly back to normal. I was doing things around the house the following week and was able to do some cooking. May have done things too quickly though, as I still have a few issues with a small section of my tummy wound. I don't know if I did too much too soon, or if it would have occurred anyway. I did have a previous scar there from a hysterectomy, so this could also be something to do with it. It's now 4 weeks since surgery and I am still a little sore in places, mostly due to nerve damage in armpit and down the top of my arm. Probably due to having 20 lymph nodes removed. I hope that you are soon able to come to the right decision for you. Good luck with your surgery and let me know how you get on. Xx