Deciding on which reconstruction

Drained6513

I had a breast sparing left side mastectomy and an expander put in immediately. I developed an immediate infection and after antibiotics etc. the expander had to be taken out and my immediate reconstruction failed. I am now about 7 months post chemo and that last surgery. I am getting pretty much back to my self and it feels good. Now the decision to fix that part. It is nice to be able to take my time and not rush into this now. I had an appt with another plastic surgeon, different one than the one that did my immediate failed reconstruction. He recommends the Latimus Dorsal Flap. I am not an athlete, but I do go to the gym, where I need my arm to be strong enough to stay active i.e., elliptical, rowing machine, yoga etc. I was told my arm will be 30% weaker permanently, but I would only notice it if I was trying to do chin ups etc. anything involving using the arms above my head. Otherwise, it would not impact my life. He said it was the "Gold Standard" as he put it, for breast reconstruction. I'm having a hard time believing that. How can anything that takes 30% of your arm strength be the gold standard? 30% is not far from 50%, half of my arm strength, for life. He said there are no other complications with this procedure. They don't take enough muscle that it would effect anything in the back and years down the road I won't even notice the arm weakness really.

I am going for another appt with a different plastic surgeon coming up for the Diep Flap procedure. Now this sounds scary with how long the surgery is and how long you have to be in the hospital and recovery time. But in the long run it sounds more feasible. Having it come from the stomach area for a flap isn't going to affect me like a Dorsal Flap. Like every woman on here I just want to be able to continue with my active life without hinderance.

Can I get some stories and opinions on both of these different procedures from women that have done them.

Peregrinelady

Drained, I don't know anything about the Latimus surgery, but I am very happy with my DIEP flap surgery. I read all of the related threads here and found that knowing what to expect made it much easier. It is a long, somewhat painful process, but well worth it in my opinion. Good luck with your decision.