It is very normal to be stressed with all you are going through. When I talk to a patient about reconstruction I first try and determine the patients goals as to size. My experience is that most women want to get back to the size they were before the surgery but this is not always the case - some want to be bigger and some smaller.
The ultimate choice of implant size is based on the size of the womans rib cage - a bigger chest diameter say 38 or 40 would require a bigger implant to acheive a certain cup size while a smaller chest diameter- say a 32 or 34 - would require a smaller implant. Implants come not only in cc's but also in diferent base diameters which change the projection of the breast implant.
This all sounds very confusing but your plastic surgeon should be able to help you understand which implant would be the best choice for you. I sometimes use the weight of the breast that was removed during the mastectomy to give me a guide as to the appropriate size. If the mastectomies were done a while ago I have also found it helpful to have the patient try on a bra in the size they wish to fill and use implants to fill the bra and get a idea of the appropriate size for the desired reconstruction.
