Breast reconstruction in radiated breast?

gretchy

Hi everyone, I met with the plastic surgeon last week and he bluntly told me radiation is great for the patient but makes his job harder I guess because the skin is elastic. I had radiation and a lumpectomy in 2014 and took it well. Just wondering if there are any women on here who had radiated breast and then reconstruction after masectomy. Please let me know your experience. I've been asking a lot of questions on here and I thank you all so much for listening.

SpankyG

I had radiation on my left breast in 2016 after a lumpectomy. In 2018, I was re-diagnosed with DCIS in the left breast in late 2018 and had a double mastectomy as a result (right breast removed as preventative measure).

I am going through breast reconstruction right now. I had the Latissimus Dorsi Flap (Back muscle) & silicone implant (under muscle) on my left side because of the radiation and implant on my right side (under muscle). My surgeon recommended the Lat Dorsi flap for the left because he said that the radiation would affect the elasticity of my skin and could lead to complications, infection and possible failure.

I've since read on this forum that women who've been through radiation have successfully gone through reconstruction with implant only and had great success. My surgeon scared me though telling me that he just did another breast reconstruction with only implants on a women who'd had radiation on the one side. He said that side failed and the women had to start over. The thought of more surgeries really scared me.

If I had to do it again, I would have opted for just implants with no Lat Dorsi flap procedure. Hope this helps. It's been a long road and I'm still looking at more surgeries because the Lat Flap breast is very misshapen.

Lucysbff

I had a lumpectomy in July 2018, followed by 16 rounds of radiation on the left breast. This summer a new cancer was found on the right side. I decided to get a bilateral mastectomy and had immediate reconstruction with implants. I wasn’t a good candidate for any of the flap surgeries, so implants was the only option!The plastic surgeon didn’t have concerns about the previous radiation, felt the skin appeared to be in good shape. I had read that in many cases this can’t be done, but my surgeon didn’t seem too worried. The surgery was done almost two weeks ago, and seems to have gone well. I met with the surgeon today and she was really happy with the results.

rrshannon

I had radiation 16 years ago for my first BC. I had my mastectomy in April after chemo and just had my had my exchange surgery last week. So far so good. About 10 years ago I had a lift and reduction as the radiation shrunk my BC breast a lot. Both then and now my radiated side seems to be healing faster than the non radiated side.

Fritzmylove

I went through the gamut of treatment. Chemo, bilateral mastectomy, and radiation on my right side. During my BMX, my plastic surgeon put in tissue expanders and filled them 20%. I then went for radiation consultation, and my RO wanted me to hold off on getting my non-cancer side filled because it would get in the way of the rays coming in at an angle. So while my body healed from surgery, I had my right side filled to 100%, while my left stayed at 20%. Then I completed my 33 rounds of radiation, and was able to start fills on my left side. I had my exchange last week and everything looks good. In fact my radiated side looks a bit better because the slight tightness of the skin smooths out the rippling that shows on my left side. I do have to watch out for CC down the line, but so far so good.

gretchy

FRITZMYLOVE,

Thank you for sharing your journey with me. I guess it tut a kes a lot of pautience and faith. I'm sorry for your struggles and pray that you are well now.

With admiration,

Gretchy

RosieRed

I had chemo, a BMX w/ TEs, and 28 rounds of radiation on the left side. I had no boosts done to the scar area because of some skin issues I had while healing from the BMX. My last radiation treatment was May 15th and I just had my exchange surgery w/ fat grafting on Oct 1st. All went well with the surgery.

Yuuki

Hi Gretchy,

I had a double mastectomy with implant reconstruction and developed a recurrence 16 years out. After a lumpectomy I had radiation to the affected breast which was very hard onmy skin, and which ultimately (nearly a year later) gave me a nasty capsular contracture and cording which cut my shoulder range of motion down badly.

It took a while to explore my options, but ultimately I had a DIEP procedure two years out from radiation. The radiated side is actually behaving better than the non-radiated side. I did consult with a dermatologist before proceeding and she told me the skin could handle it.

Since time has passed since your radiation treatment, seeing a dermatologist may give you and your PS some peace of mind. In my case I wasn’t a candidate for another implant, but that was due to the contracture and the cording, not the skin.

Best of luck to you!

Yuuki

gretchy

th a k you RosieRed so what part received fat grafting chest wall or breast? Sorry I'm still learning

RosieRed

The breast received the fat grafting to help the skin that was radiated andto help fill thing in a bit. Looking good so far.

gretchy

dear Yukki,

I had not thought to see a dermatologist thank you. I'm so sorry for all your struggles but grateful you are here to reach out to me. Be well.

gretchy

I'm happy to hear that RoseRed.thank you so much for sharing

Jaybird627

Hi. Looking for advice? First BC DX 15 years ago, R breast, lumpectomy - chemo - rads. Second BC DX 2018, L breast, BMX - chemo - rads.

So, expanders, L breast okay after rads. The R breast reacted, developed open wound/infection. Expander removed, L exchange for implant.

Now R breast is 'healed' 7 months later. PS suggests latt flap due to the radiated skin may not support new expander w/out issue. I get that. I am not a candidate for diep. I go back and forth about what is easier, suggested by the PS and what I truly want, just an expander and maybe take a chance of skin failure again. No explanation of open wound/sore. I have heard both arguments.

Looking for experiences. I had nipple sparing BMX so I have both healthy nipples currently. May lose R nipple either way?

Halp! lol.

Jbird