I had prophylactic mastectomies about 4 years. Implant reconstruction with strattice failed because I was apparently allergic to the strattice. I want to try again but am concerned about recovery time. Can I return to work soon after the expanders are put in? I have a desk job. Then how long will the expanders need to be in before I can have my implants? I'm just looking for maybe a size B breast. How long from start to finish is what I need to know. I assume the mastectomy was the worse part.
Answer: Tissue Expander Recovery In terms of immediate recovery, I would try to get 2 weeks off from a deskjob to focus on drain/incision care and give ample time to recovery. You can usually begin expansion around 2 weeks postop and it will take 4-6 weeks to fully expand you without breaks. This put you at 2 months.Lastly, we like to wait 4-6 weeks for the skin to relax around the expander once expansion is complete. Hence, you are looking at roughly 3 months prior to your final implant placement.
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Answer: Tissue Expander Recovery In terms of immediate recovery, I would try to get 2 weeks off from a deskjob to focus on drain/incision care and give ample time to recovery. You can usually begin expansion around 2 weeks postop and it will take 4-6 weeks to fully expand you without breaks. This put you at 2 months.Lastly, we like to wait 4-6 weeks for the skin to relax around the expander once expansion is complete. Hence, you are looking at roughly 3 months prior to your final implant placement.
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February 11, 2015
Answer: Expanders for breast reconstruction In general tissue expanders are in for about 3 months before you are ready to have the second exchange surgery for the final implant. Once you have the expander placed, you will need about 5 days or so to heal before returning to desk work. Also, you will need to be healing for about 3-4wks before any expansion can start. Once the pocket has fully healed which takes about 3 months, you can schedule your second surgery. Each surgeon may have some variation of this timeline and best to discuss with them for specifics.
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February 11, 2015
Answer: Expanders for breast reconstruction In general tissue expanders are in for about 3 months before you are ready to have the second exchange surgery for the final implant. Once you have the expander placed, you will need about 5 days or so to heal before returning to desk work. Also, you will need to be healing for about 3-4wks before any expansion can start. Once the pocket has fully healed which takes about 3 months, you can schedule your second surgery. Each surgeon may have some variation of this timeline and best to discuss with them for specifics.
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