To exchange or not exchange? Dilemma of a IV Stager.

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EvaGor
EvaGor Member Posts: 41
edited February 2018 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

I'm scheduled for an exchange in August. This was all planned before I found out that I'm now Stage IV. My oncologist says to go with it, since I may have a considerable amount of time left. I'm not too sure it's worth it. All I know is that I want this expander out as soon as possible! But then since I'll need surgery anyway, I might as well go with the implant... not entirely sure what I should do!

I know it's ultimately up to me, but I'm curious if anyone's been in a similar situation and what they did.

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  • Snowfall
    Snowfall Member Posts: 90
    edited January 2018

    I'd say go for it, at the very least to get the expander out. I had an expander placed for reconstruction surgery and then we discovered aggressive metastasis. At that point I was put on chemo and was told that removing the expander wasn't an option because elective surgery would be unwise until we had the cancer under control, if ever.

    In an odd twist, my mastectomy incision opened up and because of the risk of infection they had to reopen the surgical site, which gave them the chance to take the expander out. I did not have them put in an implant. I had planned DIEP surgery and a reduction, so there was not enough skin to leave me balanced with an implant. I'm thrilled to have the expander gone, but without that twist of luck I'd have been left with it in, possibly forever. If you have the chance to get yours out now, I'd take it.

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  • pajim
    pajim Member Posts: 2,785
    edited January 2018

    Evagor, I think you should go for it too. I didn't have a recon for reasons mostly due to where they were radiating.

    My thoughts:

    (1) its OK to think long-term. My onc told me when they found the mets "not to give away my stuff". All true. 3-4 years from now you'll be unhappy you didn't finish the recon. He also strongly urged me to have the spine operation with 6 months rehab rather than the one-day operation that would leave me with leg tingles/pain. He was absolutely right. I groused four months in, but 5 years later I'm happy about it.

    (2) you need to get the expander out. So put in the implant! No skin off your chest (so to speak).

    (3) you should try to live a somewhat normal life, and hopefully that includes a good body image for as long as you can manage it. What would make you happy next year, the year after?

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  • ABeautifulSunset
    ABeautifulSunset Member Posts: 990
    edited January 2018

    I recently had my last expanders removed. I hated them. I like not having anything foreign in there. It feels so much better. Then again, I am not flat, as I've had autalogous fat transfer and I do have small breasts. Ive been stage 4 for six years and I've had multiple reconstructive surgeries. They were difficult, but I finally like how i look and feel. And Im still kickin'. So, yeah...I guess it was worth it.

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  • EvaGor
    EvaGor Member Posts: 41
    edited February 2018

    Thank you ladies for you opinions. The more I think about it the more I'm leaning toward getting that implant in spite of all this stage IV nonsense!

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  • Partyoffive
    Partyoffive Member Posts: 188
    edited February 2018

    hi EvaGor

    I did go ahead and have my implant put in. I was diagnosed 41/2 years ago and at the very beginning was misdiagnosed so I had a mastectomy and started expansion,two weeks later they scanned me and found out I was metastatic. In retrospect I’m glad things played by out the way they did and I’m glad I opted to have my implant put in. I figured for whatever time I did have I wanted to feel as good about myself as possible never imagining I’d be on my first treatment almost five years later. Good luck with the decision making!

    Kristin

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