50+ Single Woman Tram Flap Reconstruction - Oklahoma City, OK

After undergoing Chemo before and after my bilateral mastectomy for stage 3 estrogen positive breast cancer in my right breast. I had to undergo more rounds of Chemo to be followed by radiation. I chose not to undergo radiation due to my adverse reactions to the chemo. Plus after requesting an MRI on my chest again my results came back negative for any signs of cancer. I wanted to get well, have my reconstruction and get my life back to whatever my new normal was going to be now.
I had done some research online on the implant option and after reading implants might be linked to Lymphoma another type of cancer I knew this would not be an option I'd even consider. I had met a fellow breast cancer patient who had done reconstruction using tissue taken from her shoulder to reconstruct one breast. It looked and felt like real breast tissue. But my plastic surgeon informed me due to the lack of back fat and the need to reconstruct two breasts and not one this option would not work for me. He suggested a Tram Flap procedure. It's similar to the free flap but they do not severe the blood vessels leading to the tissue but rather keep it attached while moving it up under your skin of your abdominal wall and reopen your mastectomy scar to pull the tissue through fashioning a almost oval shape mound then reclose the incision. Tram flap uses tissue, skin, fat, even blood vessels from your lower abdominal area. With and incision from hip to hip and above your naval and down to within several inches of your pubic area. So essentially you get two new breast and a tummy tuck in the process. Something to consider had you ever wished you could rid yourself of your belly fat that wouldn't budge. He had no before or after photos to show me. And I could find no one local who had undergone such a surgery. So I went online again this time in search of someone who had been through this type of reconstruction. I found one woman who had video taped her time spent in the hospital and another short video once she was recovering at home. She spoke of the lack of muscle strength in her lower abdominal area due to two vertical muscles being used in the reconstruction process. She also spoke of how to get in and out of your bed, chair and so on by holding onto something to pull yourself up. But she did not show her before or after breasts which still left me unclear as to how I was going to look. But I decided to proceed with the surgery and my surgeon assured me that since I was not a smoker and I had plenty of belly fat to use I was good candidate for Tram Flap surgery. Being a smoker inhibits the bodies ability to heal itself, FYI.
My surgery I was told would last about 6 hours. My recovery in the hospital about 4 days and I would go home with 5 JP drains in my body and a walker since I would not be able to stand up straight for a few weeks after. It seems in my life that nothing ever goes as plans and this surgery was no exception. I was in surgery for 10 hours not 6. I required 2 blood transfusions. My heart began racing and they were not able to get under control so I awoke the next day in ICU. I remained there for 4 days. Then I was moved into another room. I was in the hospital for 8 days when my right reconstructed breast skin around my lower incision turned black as it was dying. I also developed fat necrosis in my right breast as well. This is when fat dies and turns into a very hard lump. My plastic surgeon performed an emergency surgery to try and save my new breast by removing the dying skin and the fat which had died. They were successful and I remained in the hospital another 6 days. Finally after being in the hospital for 2 weeks I was released to go home and doctor arranged for a visiting nurse to come check on me daily to change dressings, empty drains, check my vitals and monitor my healing. I came down with Pneumonia the day after my release but quickly got over it as I was already on very strong antibiotics. My JP drains came out one by one over the following weeks. I was able to use my back muscles to pull myself in and out of bed with no problems. I soon was walking upright again and my incision in both my lower abdominal area which was my donor site and my new breast healed within a few months. I then underwent several fat grafting procedures to add volume to the right breast. They took 3 inches of skin from each hip to fashion a areola and nipples. After a couple of months I returned to have nipple tattooing done to give color to the new nipple areola area. My surgeon informed me that I would have limited sensation in my reconstructed breasts and they would never be sensitive like my own natural breast were. For the first year I was cautioned about going in the sun without being covered up and having on sunscreen as you can't feel heat or cold even pain in your new breasts. They were not joking as I did get a slight sunburn one day while mowing the yard and I never felt it but from then on out I was covered up to my neck when going outdoors. I can tell you my new breasts as I call them are very soft to the touch. Unlike implants would be as you must remember with implants you won't have the benefit of your own breast fat to make them feel softer since your breast tissue was removed. It's been three years now since my surgery and my reconstructed breast have drooped slightly giving them a more natural appearance which you don't get with implants. They don't look bad considering the scars which of course I'll always have as a reminder of the battle I've gone through with breast cancer. My new breasts also are a lot more sensitive to the touch than either my surgeon of myself ever expected. I swear sometimes I feel like my nipples get hard when it's touched by cool air, water or a hand. But I know this can't be and it must be some phantom feeling you hear people have when they lose a limb. But they are sensitive to touch and I love it. This is my new normal, my new body and my new life. I would recommend this surgery to any woman having to decide whether or not to do reconstruction. I feel it was worth all I had to go through. I love my plastic surgeon Dr. Benny Tan who now practices somewhere in Phoenix Arizona.