TE’s expanders placed over the muscle

Anonymous

TE’s expanders placed over the muscle

ACrozier

I'm having a nipple sparing mastectomy in two weeks due to being BRCA2. Today my PS told me he was going to place the tissue expanders over the muscle and i was curious if going above the muscle provided for an easier recovery? Could anyone share their experiences with this type of reconstruction?

amtreb

ACrozier-

I am about 5 weeks out from my nipple sparing BMX with TE over the muscle. The recovery hasn't been bad at all. The first 2 weeks while the drains were is was the worst part. I wasn't expanded at all at the time of surgery bc I had 2 areas of bruising that my surgeon didn't want to stress. So having the TEs in flat was very uncomfortable, felt like I had plates shoved in there. My swap out surgery isn't until Jan 9th so I don't have any input on the implant yet. All in all from what I hear I feel like its been a very easy recovery. I took arnica and got lymphatic drainage massage act 2 weeks post surgery. I have been back to light exercise for several weeks already.

Sound like you are doing this preventatively so maybe they don't take any lymph nodes which may make recovery easier as well.

There is a whole thread about over the muscle implants you could check out!

A

Moderators

Hi Acrozier-

This is the thread Amtreb mentioned, lots of good info here: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topics...

The Mods

ACrozier

Thank you will check it out!

Kahnartist

I️ had a bmx three weeks ago and have TE in now. My PS also places them over the muscle and mine are empty because of old scars from a breast reduction he didn’t want to stress out the tissue. My first fill is 11/20. I️ never really couldn’t move my arms but my side with the node removal and cancer is more tender and the TE are annoying and make my skin hurt. My doctor swears by over the muscle and has been doing it for year

ACrozier

thank you for you response .....hope you get to feeling better soon.

ACrozier

My BMX was on 11/21 the Dr placed the TE over the muscle and did not put any saline in due to my small size. My recovery was good as i never took any pain meds except over the counter. My goodrecovery was probably due to the expander in front of the muscle.

red332

for those of you have had this surgery, or explored it, why is it now an option when it wasn't earlier? what are the risks of going over the muscle vs under? Thanks!!

ACrozier

Red332, my plastic surgeon says it’s something new they are doing that apparently makes a more natural looking breast when it comes time for the exchange surgery. It also cause less pain after the surgery since they don’t have to cut the muscle and decreases the risk of mobility issues. I had a great recovery so as for me it’s so far so good. I will add that I believe the above muscle option works best on smaller framed women. Hope this helps

XXXGGGYYY

I had a UMX (nipple and skin sparing) in late September. I wanted to keep my breast, but due to the tumor size and my small breast (A cup), the breast could not be saved without major disfigurement. My PS put in the TE over the muscle. I experience very little pain, which extra strength Tylenol took care of. Also, I had a quick recovery, and I am back to running 5 miles a day, as well as doing push ups and pull ups at the gym. My exchange surgery is in early January. I'm very happy, and relieved, about how this all turned out. (I was triple negative, stage 1. Sentinel nodes were negative.)

ACrozier

XXXGGGYYY, glad your recovery went well. I just had my first fill today and was not painful at all. I was so relieved 😌. I am starting to workout some and it feels so good to get back to my ‘new normal’. Good Luck with your exchange surgery.