“Breast Reconstruction After Double Mastectomy”

Hi. I was recently diagnosed with DCIS. The first surgeon I had was a male. I didn't care for his bedside manner, so I fired him. Now, I have a female surgeon who is very understanding. Eventually, I'm probably going to have to have a bilateral mastectomy, w/immediate reconstruction. I'm 62, I'm big busted and full figured. So, I'm a little concerned about how the reconstruction will look. If you're concerned or unhappy with how high the expanders look, why don't you bring this up to your doctor and ask him to set them lower? I wish you luck and hope you are happy with the outcome.

I had reconstruction with implants (mastectomy on one side only but small implant on other to achieve balanced appearance). After 4 years, and a few bumps in the road, I'm delighted with the results. Gravity continues to work so that implants that seem too high and firm to begin with do move into a more natural position. Silicone is heavier that our natural tissue so it takes some getting used to - also the lack of normal blood supply means that one's reconstructed breasts get very cold if one swims in a cool lake or swimming pool. I love the results and having a normal feel and appearance was well worth the minimal discomfort of recovering from the surgeries. Just remember to continue to massage the silicone gel implants to avoid capsular contraction (wrinkles are not cool). Good luck!
PS - I'm 67

I had a double mastectomy in 2005 and still have tissue expanders in place... though over time, they have deflated...between then and now I have tried s lot of things to compensate for my breasts (I constantly raid my mothers drawer of shoulder pads to stick into my bra, they are far more comfortable and not at all expensive) I wonder if there is a way to avoid capsular contraction by using a patients tissue or fat around the implant so that as it settles in, there is a surrounding cushion and less wrinkling...I wish you all well...I am hoping to be in the clear and able to start reconstruction soon...there needs to be more done to put a woman back together comfortably and without so many worries...if we can replace nearly everything else, why is it so difficult to replace a breast, or a set of them...including the nipples, you would think that if they are held in place by muscle, there would also be a way to add some form of tissue and a disolvable material that could be placed over the implant and stitched here and there that would enable tissue to grow over and around it and hold things in place better creating a more natural look and feel that would also prevent twisting and turning so that nipples could be added (female tissue...its already pink) after a period of healing time.

Do you have saline filled implants? If so, may be time to replace them with the very safer silicone gel implants. They are much more comfortable and natural looking and feeling. Talk to your surgeon about the alloderm to provide cushioning - works great. As far as the nipple and areola reconstruction goes: keep it simple. Doing grafts of skin from other areas of the body is expensive and has a high chance of infection and failure of the graft. To make the nipple, the surgeon creates one out of the skin on the breast. This is done after the implant surgery has healed. Tattooing by a specially trained nurse or permanent make-up specialist creates the final natural look. The tattoo process is painless and produces great results.