Nipple Reconstruction and Fat grafting (what is recovery like?)

I didn’t do nipple reconstruction but did fat grafting that came from my stomach. Expect a lot of bruising. Without much feeling in my chest that wasn’t really any bother. The donor site though was the majority of the pain. Hated my PS for 2-3 days anytime I had to move. I forgot when I drove, probably by day 3-4. That area was pretty tender though for a good two weeks. Driving and easy cooking was the extent of my activities, was told to take it easy to let everything heal for 2 weeks. Very happy to added that step to my reconstruction

Not to rain on the parade, but my experience wasn't so great. I didn't have nipple reconstruction but I did have fat grafting to smooth out wrinkles in the DIEP breast and fill in some low spots around the margins. The donor sites were on the front and side of the hips and inner thighs. The hip sites were extremely painful for several weeks - there were sharp stabbing pains every time I sat down. I could drive OK, but getting into the car seat was an adventure. It was almost two months before I could wear non-stretchy pants without padding the waistband with surgical pads. After 6 months, the hip donor sites still swell up a bit at the end of the day. The thigh donor sites were a little sore, but not too bad. I had the surgery right before the winter holidays and only missed a couple of days of work.