Stem Cells from tummy fat after lat. dorsi

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paws0147
paws0147 Member Posts: 12
edited June 2014 in Breast Reconstruction

Hi ! I haven't posted in years but here's my latest story.   I had a very early BC in my right breast  2006 -- treated with lumpectomy and 33 rads treatments. Then tamoxifen for 5 years and now femara.  In 2008 I started having great changes in my right breast --- and started having numerous biospies -- all benign.  But what I was told was that I had a very severe case of radiation fibrosis that would not resolve, just kept getting worse.   On May 6 (last month) I finally had a masectomy with a latissimus dorsi reconstruction on the right side and a reduction on my left.   Healing is going fine -- but yesterday my PS told me that because I have had so much rad damage (he claims it's one of the worst cases he's seen) the skin is not going to get soft enough to do the exchange.  He wants to do a "very small lipo", then get the fat stem cells from it, and then somehow inject that and I guess some fat into the reconstructed breast. He said this will soften the tissue and allow an exchange sometime in the fall.  He also claims it's easy to do, very little recovery time from the lipo (like a couple of days...) and that I really need this to make it all work.

Has anyone ever heard of this --- or experienced this ??   Any advice, insight, stories ??

Thanks !!!

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  • Raelan
    Raelan Member Posts: 200
    edited June 2014

    Paws - The answer to your questions are yes, yes, and yes.  If you scroll down to the "reconstruction after radiation" thread you'll find there are a handful of us attempting various forms of fat grafting after radiation to repair our tissues from radiation damage.

    Lipo is very easy to recover from and I strongly encourage you to consider your PS's recommendations.

  • paws0147
    paws0147 Member Posts: 12
    edited June 2014

    Thanks raelan !!!!!!   Have you done this ??   My PS told me if I had the "Small Lipo" on a Friday, I would be back to regular activities on a Monday, with just some soreness that Advil would take care of.  He also seemed to indicate that once he did this, I would sort of just wait a few months for the exchange --- He didn't even fill me this time.  Any insights you can give would be great --- and thanks for telling me where to look for me info !!

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