Implant Exchange After Radiation - What Can I Expect

mocame

I had my original dx and BMX with reconstruction back in 2008. Everything went well with the reconstruction and looked really good. Fast forward to 2019 and I had a recurrence near the incision. In the MRI that they did during this recurrence, they noticed the implant on the cancer side had ruptured. I had radiation that finished in November of 2019 and I am now going to do the exchange of the implants in the beginning of December.

They told me that I may need to have a smaller implant put in due to the radiation's effect on the skin but they won't know for sure until they actually do the surgery. They said because of the radiation, they will have to put stitches in to try and keep the incision together and I will have a railroad track look to it. Also the incision will be raised. The non-cancer side will also be exchanged but I don't think will need the stitches. They told me I would be off from one to four weeks. That is a wide timeframe for recovery.

Has anyone else had their implants changed out after having radiation and what were your results? Did you have any problems with the recovery? How does it look cosmetically? Does the radiation side still look pretty good or did it make a big difference? I can't seem to find any pictures of what it looks like afterwards so I know what to expect.

mocame

Anybody have anything similar done?

hapa

Mo - I had my implants exchanged after radiation. I went from highly cohesive, moderate projection implants to softer, flatter, wider implants. The first set were just a terrible fit for my chest, I have no idea what the PS was thinking. My implant had started to feel firm on the rads side before the exchange, was fine for a little while after, and is firm again about 1.5 years later. I had a revision late last year for fat grafting and at that time the PS also cut a wad of scar tissue out of my armpit which even though I didn't ask for it and had full range of motion beforehand, felt AMAZING compared to the tightness I had every time I'd reach for something with that arm. Anyway...the implant is kind of squished on the rads side due to capsular contracture and I'm not sure what to do about it. It's not horrible and most people probably wouldn't really notice but it bothers me because they're asymetrical. A capuslectomy is risky since my implants are pre-pec. But the scar on the rads side healed up ok, not the same as the other side, but definitely not like railroad tracks. I didn't have any issues from the implant exchange or from the fat graft and scar tissue removal. My scar was reopened for both surgeries and healed with no compliations. Good luck!

mocame

Hapa - Thank you for the information. Did the rads side take longer time to heal? If you work, how long were you off of work until you felt you were able to go back?