Mastectomy with reconstruction question??

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Contrary
Contrary Member Posts: 4
edited November 2014 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

Can someone please share your experience with surgery for mastectomy including reconstruction. I am thinking of having the Flap reconstruction on one breast. I am anxious about the surgery as i hear it is about 6-8 hours. I would love to hear personal experiences as far as pain and aftercare. I have DCIS but covers a large area so Mastectomy appears to be the best option for me currently.

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  • Sacnaillady
    Sacnaillady Member Posts: 59
    edited November 2014

    I'm 3 1/2 weeks out from an sGAP flap surgery. It's quite a surgery, mine was about 11 to 12 hours. It's a pretty big surgery I thought the pain was manageable but I have a high pain tolerance. I was off all pain meds after a week and on plain Tylenol. I was in the hospital for 5 days and the have to check your flap for blood flow every hour for 3-4 days. So not a lot of sleep and rest happens. I can't speak to the end product because I've only had phase one. But I think so far so good. 

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  • LAstar
    LAstar Member Posts: 1,574
    edited November 2014

    I had sgap also.  DIEP takes less time and might be more like 5 hours for unilateral. Sacnaillady is a rock star because I was on pain meds for 6 weeks!  I think 4 weeks is a minimum for most.  The recovery is long but doable if you have some help.  The results can be lovely.  Definitely try to find a very experienced microsurgeon. 

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