Having a reconstruction is a highly personal and emotive decision. I personally, would recommend anyone having a mastectomy to also opt for a reconstruction. The reconstruction removes a lot of the fear associated with the whole scare of having breast cancer and a mastectomy. In my case having an immediate reconstruction meant that I never saw my chest without my breasts. I feel that if I had, then I would have been absolutely terrified and the full reality of having breast cancer and undergoing treatment would have been even more difficult to accept. Having the reconstruction means that I feel as though nothing is missing. The breast cancer has been removed and instead I have healthy breasts.
I decided to have a reconstruction as I didn’t want to have an empty chest following the mastectomy. A reconstruction meant that psychologically I would not actually feel as though I have lost my breasts.
I opted for the TUG reconstruction. Muscle and flesh were taken from my inner thighs and used to reconstruct the breasts. I opted for this type of reconstruction as there is less chance of my body rejecting the new breasts as it is my own tissue. Also I wanted to limit the amount of obvious scarring as a result of the surgery and this seemed the most appropriate option for me personally as the scarring is essentially hidden in the inner thigh and bum crease area.
The operation lasted approximately 8/9 hours, for a bilateral mastectomy with an immediate reconstruction. I was in hospital for a week. I had 5 drains which one by one were removed. The wounds healed well. The scarring is in the immediate inner thigh crease and the bum crease and therefore not that obvious. Walking was a struggle to begin with but within 2 weeks of the operation I was able to take walks.
My hospital stay was fine I had no complaints. I was in a ward with other women who also had similar operations so we were able to exchange experiences – this meant that I didn’t feel alone especially as I was in hospital for a week.
Surprisingly following the mastectomy and immediate reconstruction I actually didn’t feel a sense of loss at all. I firmly believe that this is because I had an immediate reconstruction and therefore there was nothing “missing”.
The impact of the reconstruction has been that I don’t actually feel as though I have had my breasts removed. I went into surgery with both breasts intact and woke from surgery with breasts; therefore I never had the experience of “loss” which is something i was hoping for.
Prior to the surgery I never paid any attention to my breasts however post surgery I became somewhat obsessed with the size and shape of my breasts. The reconstruction is very good as they feel the same and look only a little different. The main reconstruction is complete and once I have allowed the new breasts to settle I know that I can have further surgery if required.
I found it difficult at first to look at myself after the surgery; however it wasn’t as bad as I had originally anticipated.
My husband was very supportive; in fact he was very surprised at how well the scars were hidden in the creases.
I feel I had good overall care, from all the different teams involved in my care.