recurrance after reconstruction need radiation

Mikesgirl17

Hi. I am 40 years old. At 34 I was diagnosed with D.C.I.S. Opted for double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. I just found a lump. Had it biopsied and it is cancer again. 5mm triple negative. I need radiation, but in order to do it they have to remove both my implants because one would be in the way. Now I am faced with having the horrible expanders put in after the surgeon removes the tumor. The one that would be in the way of the radiation will not be filled until after radiation. The other would be fully filled before radiation starts. I don't know what to do. My fear is that the radiation will make my skin unable to heal properly. I also can't stand the fact that I will have the expanders in for who knows how long. I already have low self esteem and can't imagine not having breast. If anyone has had expanders in and then radiation, could you please let me know what your outcome was. Thanks.

Bren58

Mikesgirl, I am so sorry for your situation. Having to go through this is hard enough once let alone a second time. My tale is similar to yours, but I had 12 years between DX's. I had many of the same fears that you are facing and talked to my PS before I even talked to the RO. Risks vs. benefits and quality of life are important components to consider when we make the hard choices about what treatment plan to follow. The doctors can give us all the information but ultimately we have to make the choices that we are comfortable living with. I often felt like I had to choose between crappy option #1 and crappy option #2. There are no easy answers sometimes.

After chemo and ALND surgery I chose not to have rads. And it was a decision that I am still comfortable with. I know there are several ladies that have had TE's then rads though, so hopefully they will stop by with some wisdom and encouragement. (((hugs)))

BayouBabe

I had TEs and then rads. My rads side was overfilled to allow for shrinkage from the rads. I went through rads being about a C cup on no rads side and a D on rads side. Filled in bra with a partial prostheses. I had exchange surgery a little over 4 months after rads ended. So far my results have been very good. I had fat grafting at exchange and that has helped heal some of my rads damage. Feel free to pm me if you have specific questions. I would be happy to share more.