Implant After Radiation

Anonymous

Implant After Radiation

Sue1950

I am scheduled to have a mastectomy for Stage 1 ductal carcinoma. I had radiation for DCIS 13 years ago. The plastic surgeon I just saw will not do an implant, due to my prior radiation. Comments?

MinusTwo

Sue -You should get a second opinion with a different doc. And maybe a third.

Go to the search area of this site and look for implants after radiation. There are lots of posts. I don't personally have knowledge, but apparently fat grafting over several months is one things that allows an implant to be placed.

Moderators

Hi Sue, welcome and thanks for posting.

We're sorry for the reasons that bring you here, but we're really glad you've found us. As you can already see, our Community is a very helpful source of advice, information, and support -- we're all here for you!

As MinusTwo suggests, it's always a good idea to get a second opinion to confirm that your doctor's recommendation is on target. We hope others will chime in here soon with their experiences. In the meantime, please let us know if there's anything we can do to help while you navigate the forums.

--The Mods

Floral

I have implants after radiation. It’s only been two months since the implants were placed, but it didn’t seem to be a problem and So far the results are fine.

Maybe check with a plastic surgeon who specializes in breast reconstruction after cancer

OCDAmy

you might want to consider flap surgery. That is the route I took because rads really did a number on my breast and my PS didn’t think an implant would work.

StaceyG6368

I too had radiation back in 2018, and now with a 2nd reoccurrence am struggling with an implant after my mastectomy in December. The radiation caused so much damage I had to go back into surgery on 1/12, to remove extra dead skin. I had a seroma that burst as well. Talk about scary. A week post op of that surgery I had a fever for 4 days which resulted in the removal of my implant and now I am on day 9 of daily wound packing. At this point I am waiting for the infection to clear up toschedule my 3rd surgery. Which may require a flap for extra skin to replace the removed damaged tissue. So yes, radiation killed my skin. Please get a 2nd or 3rd opinion. The last 6 weeks have been hell. I just want to start healing so I can start chemo and get on with my life. Best of luck to you!