A really long wait.......

Hello everyone,

More than 10 years ago I was dx'd with stage IIIC in my left breast. I opted to have both breasts removed and begin chemo right away (because I was young and had a one year old, my oncologist told me that he wanted to be very aggressive with his treatment). At the time of my mastectomy, the PS put in expanders. Within just a couple days we realized that the fluid in my drains was becoming cloudy and was increasing instead of decreasing. My chest began to feel hot and look red. I had an obvious infection. After days and days of antibiotics it was clear to all of us that the expanders would have to be removed. A month or so after stopping chemo, the expanders were put back in. The infection I developed this time was so bad I ended up in the hospital for a week. Again the expanders had to be removed. We all assumed that I would try again after waiting 6 months or so. That never happened (life gets in the way sometimes). Now here we are and I'm trying again. The thing is I have quite a bit of scar tissue, not just from putting in and removing expanders but also from radiation and because I went back later and had some skin removed from the area (it was rubbing terribly and causing significant pain). My new PS has said that he will use alloderm to help with the scar tissue and that he would like to put in allergan gummy bear implants after we've expanded.

I go in to see the PS tomorrow for pre-op exam (my surgery will be next week) and I have written down some questions I have but I hope you can perhaps give me any others you think I should ask. Though it has been 13 years, I haven't been thinking about this until now. Literally, I mentioned the possibility of doing this and within a week or so I was scheduled for surgery. Here are the questions I have (and maybe you might have the answers)

1. Will my muscles need to be cut and will the expanders / implants go over or under the muscle? I really don't remember what they did last time, I was kind of in shock from the whole thing.

2. Will the alloderm be used when the expanders are put in or the implants or both?

3. Does the alloderm come from donors or from me?

4. How many CC's will be put in at the time of insert of expanders? Will it likely be very little due to scar tissue??

5. After removing the drains (which I really hope we can actually accomplish this time) what are my restrictions? Will I have to wear a bra? Can I exercise (I like to take 2 hour morning speed walks / jogs)?

6. What about height / projection, moderate / full? Not sure I truly understand all this

7. How will weight loss affect expanders / implants? I will definitely be losing weight and potentially (hopefully) a lot of it.

Thank you all for your assistance with this. I was feeling fine until the last day or so. Now I've begun to get a bit apprehensive.