Conversion from Implants to DIEP

Hi Alice- I did immediate DIEP however I’m in a FB group for women who went to/are looking at going to NOLA for recon. Several of them had implants with similar tightness as what you describe. From their posts, they have experienced relief from the pain. I will say with DIEP it’s not all about the looks, but also the feel. And truly the scars aren’t that bad if you have a good microsurgeons who is dedicated to quality outcomes. I had DIEP done in Feb 2017 with revisions in November and you can hardly see them. What you can see is faint and easily hidden in even a small bikini. Insist on seeing before and after photos of the surgeon’s patients before moving forward with them. And if you wouldn’t be happy with the results you see in the photos, keep shopping for a microsurgeons who can give you results you’d want.

I had UMX with immediate DIEP for the very thing you’re now experiencing. I have sensory issues and know I would never have been able to tolerate an implant. My left breast feels and looks incredibly natural inside and out. The surgery is long, as is the recovery, and while I had minimal incision issues I did wind up with a superbug infection that landed me in the hospital twice. It’s a tough surgery but for me, it was the absolute right decision.

AliceKO- I think your answer as to whether to let those PSs have another crack at your recon is right there in your reply to post:

The pictures I saw at my surgeons office looked AMAZING. I do not look amazing. I asked if something went wrong, they said I have a good result, the breast is synthetic and what do I want and they can do a DIEP for me. They never had a DIEP that they could not save to this day, they have been doing it for at least 10 years.

So how did the ladies in those pictures get that amazing result and you didn’t? Doesn’t sound like you had complications and they admit nothing went wrong. So why don’t you look amazing with your implants too? Answer is likely the surgeon’s fault. Or he was showing pics of breast augmentation vs recon or he touched the photos up before printing for patients to see. If you are considering letting them have another go and do DIEP with them, you need to know who trained them, how many DIEPs have they done in that 10 years? How many have they done in the last year? How many do they do each week? How do they address the lower part of the body needing sculpting in stage 2? Do they get insurance to cover that sculpting or do they require you to pay for it if you want it done? What flap procedures have they pioneered in their 10 years?

NOLA docs started their clinic in 2003. They’ve pioneered the APEX flap, SGAP flap, and body lift flaps. They have performed over 10,000 flap recons between them. They each do a minimum of 2flap recons a week. There was a thread on BCO once asking if the members who championed NOLA were really patients or just employees of NOLA posting on the boards. Many can’t believe NOLA is that good. The reality is, NOLA is THAT GOOD. I’ve had too many surgeries to count for various issues, been to lots of docs. No doc or hospital experience has even come close to the experience at NOLA. The NOLA experience is how allmedical care should be.