Direct to implant

Hi ToughCookie,

I had the procedure 3 weeks ago (left UMX DIT with Alloderm sling) and so far so good (I had skin sparing, but unfortunately the nipple had to go). I'm very happy with the result - the pain was surprisingly minimal and the breast is healing nicely. The aesthetic result is so far satistfying too. However there are 2 methods - under or over the muscle. I had under the muscle so I don't know if that's what your surgeon is proposing?

Well hi there neighbour!

It's true they don't know before they actually do the surgery. I was supposed to have nipple sparing and around a D cup (I had a lot of spare skin), but my PS said the nipple was just too unaesthetic (I had a lumpectomy a month before with a cut around the areola, and it didn't heal nicely) and barely surviving so she removed it and made me a smaller C cup. I'm quite happy with it actually as I didn't want to go bigger - the pirate scar across the breast is a bit jarring at first tho!

Experiences vary a lot - some members had quite a bit of pain, others not; it depends also if you do UMX vs BMX. In the long term the majority seems okay to happy with the result. You will need your healthy arm muscles and abs quite a bit in the first few days! I know I was relieved psychologically to wake-up with a breast. Let me know if you have any other questions about the procedure

BMX vs UMX is a very personal decision. I'm considered high-risk and yet I couldn't handle losing both breasts at this point (and neither was my BF, ah! One was already shocking enough!). I feel I can handle the 6 months follow up instead of the double surgery right now - I'm crossing my fingers I don't regret it!

As for your MRI, especially since you're young, it's very possible that it picked up a benign lesion as it's such a sensitive imagery tool. Aside from my DCIS, my MRI picked a benign fibroadenoma in the same breast. I hope yours is also a false alarm!

Hi, ToughCookie -

I had a bilateral nipple sparing mastectomy with over the muscle DTI reconstruction about 6 weeks ago. (My incisions are under the breast.) I had drains for 2 weeks afterwards.

Post surgical pain was fairly minimal and has been manageable with gradually reduced use of medication. I am down to OTC Tylenol most of the time now, though still using Ativan fairly often at bedtime to help with sleep.

What has been most uncomfortable for me so far was that I experienced significant skin and nipple pain/sensitivity that started a couple of weeks afterwards and lasted about 3 weeks. It is slowly resolving, but felt like a bad sunburn on my upper chest. I've been massaging moisturizer into the area twice daily and also applying an ice pack periodically, both of which are helping. I also started PT this past week.