Radiation after immediate implant vs after tissue expanders

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NewJourney
NewJourney Member Posts: 4
edited July 2017 in Breast Reconstruction

I had my plastic surgeon consult yesterday and he discussed the possibility of an immediate implant rather than tissue expanders w/ implant later. I do not know if I will be needing radiation yet (MRI scheduled for tomorrow), but I was wondering if any of you could share your experience with either of these procedures. Did radiation affect your implant?

Thank you for your help!

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  • dcdrogers
    dcdrogers Member Posts: 115
    edited July 2017

    Hello NewJourney,

    I had direct-to-implant procedure after having a double mastectomy. I knew I would need radiation going into the surgery, but my plastic surgeon felt confident that there would be minimum issues with the implant. She said that if there was an issue we could always do flap surgery later on down the line.

    I completed 25 radiation treatments last Wednesday and the skin is dark, but implant has held up very well. The implant is still squishy (I massage a few times today) and all seems to be going pretty well so far. I've read that there are some times side effects a few weeks after the completion of rads, but I think I'm in the clear. I will continue to apply the ointment (miaderm & aquaphor) twice per day per the instructions from my RO until the skin lightens back up.

    ~Dee

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