Surgery Decision

After much research and discussion with 3 doctors, nurses and friends who have been through this.......I have made a decision on my surgery! And I am actually really excited about it!

I have decided to do a double mastectomy with implant reconstruction. The exciting part of this decision is that I will get the boob job that I have always wanted but never would have done for myself, until now.

The final decision maker was the discussion with the plastic surgeon, Dr. Marie Frankel, yesterday.

These were my options:
1) lumpectomy on right side (and given the area they would have to take out, most likely they would have to fix the left side to match). This option REQUIRES 6 weeks of radiation. Recovery time from surgery 1-2 weeks.

2) single mastectomy with implant reconstruction. In this case they would give me a breast reduction / lift on the left side to match the right side. Recovery time 2-3 weeks. hospital stay 1-2 days. Radiation required only if doc determines cancer was too close to chest wall to be confident all was removed. Implant Surgery

3) Double mastectomy with implant reconstruction on both. Recovery time 2-3 weeks. Hospital stay 1-2 days. Radiation required - TBD from surgery.

4) Single mastectomy with breast built from back fat. Left side reduction / lift. Recovery time 2-3 weeks. Hospital stay 2-3 days. This is more invasive than implant because they are cutting into your back muscles and fat and moving it to build a breast. More to heal. In this case, they only do one reconstruction with the back fat - because if they did both, you would have no way of laying down without being in pain - both sides of back and torso are cut into. Lat Dorsi Flap

5) Single or double mastectomy with a tummy tuck (called TRAM flap surgery). This is not an option for me. She would not do this surgery on me. She feels this one is too invasive and the recovery is too extreme for young mothers of young children. The recovery time is 6-8 weeks with loss of stomach strength for long period of time. The hospital stay is 2-5 days. It affects our circulatory system, on and on. And I would only get small boobs from what I have on my stomach. TRAM Flap surgery

Given all these choices, and all require surgery on both breasts. I have decided let's just take both breast and rebuild them to match. And as it turns out, the implant reconstruction also has the easiest recovery. It does require follow-on visits, to pump the saline into the implant to stretch the skin and then the final surgery to put the implant in. All of these are minor procedures.

I feel good about my knowledge of my choices and the decision that I have made! In the end, I will be very happy with the results!