All about SGAP

ijl

I am leaning toward SGAP as I had DIEP 12 years ago. I am very please with DIEp and that’s why I am leaning toward flap this time as well.

I could not find recent topics for SGAP on this forum so decided to start one.

Please share your experiences here. Perhaps you can also share some tips on preparation for the procedure.

It would be great if you can also share some things that you did not expect that caught you by surprise.

For example after my DIEP surgery I had to stay 24 hours in a very hot room to let blood vessels stay wide and increase chances of good blood flow to my new breast. Those 24 hours were torture and much more difficult for me then the rest of the recovery.

I hope others considering SGAPreconstruction will also benefit from this discussion and experiences of others who went through it.

Hiddenledge

I had a SGAP about four years ago when my implant failed. Brutal surgery because it was so hard to get comfortable in recovery. I’m tiny and didn’t have enough stomach fat for a DIEP. The only suitable area was to take it from my butt. My incision went clear across one entire cheek, right to my anus, and the incision was right in the middle of that whole cheek. It was literally impossible to sit down for weeks because I would have to sit right on top of that huge incision. My PS also doesn’t like to use pain pills, so after a week, I was cut off and made to seem like an addict when I asked for more. Aesthetically, the reconstructed breast looks pretty good, but it’s not a process I would want to go through again.

My surgeon is excellent and does many SGAPs, but it was at Memorial Sloan Kettering, so there’s certainly no hand holding when it comes to patient care, you’re just one of hundreds they treat each year