When can you have DIEP after IBC treatment?

Hi, Donna. I wasn't diagnosed with IBC, but it was semantics only...I had a red patch of skin on my breast that was about 3" in diameter that was positive for dermal lymphatic invasion, but didn't involve 1/3 of the breast, as is required by IBC criteria.

Anyway, you're almost exactly a year behind my treatment. My radiation oncologist, who is the most conservative doctor on the planet, wanted me to wait two years after my last radiation treatment, and I believe it was because he was concerned about recurrence. I mentally told him to stick it. My plastic surgeon wanted me to wait at least six months from the end of rads, to let the tissue settle down and heal after the radiation damage.

My rads ended July 17, 2012, and I had DIEP on April 15, 2013. Nine months wait. I'm thrilled with my recon. No, the noobs aren't as pretty as God makes, but they're soft, warm, me, and something to hold out a bra! For the first time since my umx in April 212, I feel beautiful again.

Blessings as you move forward with these decisions!

I was told had to wait a year.  ALL of my Drs (Surgeon, Chemo, Rads and my PA) gave the same time frame.  So I waited to look into recpn.  When the time came to look into recon, spring was coming amd there was no way I wantd to potentially loose part of my summer activities with recovering from elective surgery.  I never went ahead with recon and have never regretted my decision.  Actually it was our Son (adult) who put things in prospective for me.  Hubby had been very surportive of me getting recon because HE  thought I felt I needed to do it.  A big part of why I was thinking of doing it was it was because I thought he wanted me to.  (For those of us who are older, there is an O'Henry Story about long hair and a comb that fits.)  So my final decision was to go with no recon and I could not be happier with my decision.

What is important to DIEP healing/success is the amount of tissue damage from rads. I believe the further out from rads, the better the end result. I was 11 & 8 years past rads and the 8 year side DIEP didn't completely heal for almost 6 months. I'm very fair skinned and rads damage for me was considerable. The end result is amazing. We're all different, and you know best how your body heals.

Hello I am 48 years old and recent was diagnose with IBC in early September. I am presently, having chemo going on 6th treatment next week. (Taxol) . I am stage IV with mets in the bone.I am having a problem with my oncologist at slogan she tells me that having a mastectomy according to her is a clinical trail and she is not sure for me to have it. After during intense research with other cancer centers including Md. anderson survival rate goes up when the primary tumor is remove. My question is has anyone with IBC been told that surgery is not option?

Thank you,

Mercy NJ

Donna, I was that far out from rads and had a third primary hence the time gap until bmx/DIEP.

Sherlocked, my tan lines eventually disappeared.

Thanks, She, it's a comfort to know that it will match the skin around it better in time.

MrsNJBand, I had a similar experience - not with infection, but with lymphedema which can lead to infection. I pretty much swelled up like a balloon on my cancer side right after mastectomy from lymphedema, and the reconstruction helped with that problem by replacing some lymph nodes in the breast. Also had a considerable amount of pain at the mx site that went away when I healed up.

But it's a painful surgery, no doubt about that. The results are amazing - you have breasts that look and feel natural, and a flat stomach again if you're like me and gained weight in treatment. It's not so much pain but just discomfort from the pulling feeling in your stomach. It's odd and annoying and lasts a few months - or did in my case. To me, it seemed like there was so much trauma in my life (other stuff in addition to IBC) that what the heck, get it all over with at once and recover at your own pace. But, everyone's different psychologically too. Such a surgery is trauma. If you want reconstruction, you have to consider: are you one who wants to get it over with and be done, or one who wants to regain stability and come to terms with the crappyness of breast cancer let *alone* IBC before dealing with yet more invasive physical crap? That's probably the most important consideration, as the right answer is different for everyone.