Continuing to Weigh My Options
Due to scheduling, I was originally going to have to wait two weeks after my first reconstructive surgeon consultation before I could get in for the second consult. It wasn’t ideal, but I thought I could put it out of my mind until my next appointment...
That turned out to be a LOT harder than anticipated.
I ended up having such a hard time waiting that I called to see if I could get in earlier. Luckily, the surgeon was able to squeeze me in last Friday before the Andy Grammer concert!
Because it was so last minute and Safi already had surgeries scheduled that day, I went to the appointment alone. I said I wasn’t scared to go in myself, but judging from the look on my face in the selfie I took right before, I was terrified!
Rather than the native tissue (ie from your own body) reconstruction approach I learned about in my last consult, this one focused on reconstruction via implants.
With this surgery, there would be a 50/50 chance that after the breast oncologist performed the bilateral mastectomy the reconstructive plastic surgeon could immediately put in the implants. If placing implants immediately isn’t possible, I would need to have expanders placed in my chest for 3-5 months, then have another surgery to swap those out for implants.
I took pictures of the expanders and implants– I may be a doctor but I hadn’t seen these before!
The recovery from this procedure is much more predictable than the native tissue approach. There are risks of implants that were surprising to learn (including cancer and an inflammatory response for the whole body), though these complications can be resolved by removing the implant. There’s also more flexibility on when to schedule this surgery.
Now on to making a decision...