Reconstruction sisters in Charlotte, NC

carolinsaamy, good luck tomorrow. You'll do great and push through the recovery. Be kind to yourself. xo

hope surgery went well and you are recovering. Its hard at first but charges changes at the 3 week mark. Take care!

checking on you. xo

Hello CarolinaAmy,

Hope all is well, haven't heard anything from you. Let us know how your feeling

Prayers and Happy thoughts.....🙏🏼

I am considering diep flap surgery with Dr. Lefaivre. Curious to know what any of you have thought. I am in NP school also...how soon could I go back to clinicals. debating on waiting till school is all over.

Is this post still active? I have surgery in 17 days

hello, i had the DIEP surgery. Dr. Robinson did my stomach flap harvesting and Dr. LeFaivre did the chest recon for my surgery. My results were fantastic.

Hi - wondering if any Charlotte girls are still active here and have upcoming reconstruction. My initial plan was silicone implants, but I've had complications on both sides and have ended up having TEs removed, one implant placed but removed ten days later, so now I am flat on both sides with an open wound healing on the left (radiated) side. I think now some type of flap will have to be my reconstruction plan. Dr. Turk did my mastectomy and Dr. Appel the expanders/implants in October.

Is Robinson/LeFaivre the only option, or the best option, for flap surgery in Charlotte? Did anyone consider traveling to New Orleans? I think it will be at least late summer before I can have the surgery (taking Xeloda chemo pill now and want to finish that - plus wound has to heal), but I'm trying to gather info and start making decisions now.

Thank you J3nny4 - that's great to hear that you were pleased with Dr Clavin and your results. It looks like Robinson, LeFaivre, and Clavin are all in the same practice at CMC now...not sure if that was the case when you had your surgery. I'm just nervous because the flap is a much bigger surgery than I thought I would be having with just exchanging TEs for implants. Thanks so much for responding, I hope you are doing well after all that you had to go through!

Hi Sonia- I’m just north of Charlotte and I did go to New Orleans (NOLA) for DIEP. And I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was so different (in a good way) than any other dr/hospital/surgery experience I’ve had anywhere (and I’ve had a lot of surgeries as this is my 4th go round with cancer). I don’t know about the docs at CNC, but at NOLA they focus on your body as a whole. So during stage 2 they’re not just focused on your breasts and ignoring the changes to your lower half. They sculpt the lower half so that it better matches now that your tummy is flat. Without it, you can appear more short waisted and have a somewhat unnatural silhouette curve. And they get it paid for by insurance. Many docs either ignore the lower 1/2 altogether after stage 1 or tell you they can do it but you’ll need to pay out of pocket. I’m after reviewing my before & after photos, I can honestly say I look better now without clothes than I did before and I looked pretty darn good then. I don’t know many women that battled BC and had mx with recon that can say that. NOLA’s before & after photos on their website are the real deal. Let me know if you have questions!