hendymom, there are many factors that feed into one’s decision regarding mastectomy and reconstruction. The best advice I can offer is do not rush.

You didn’t mention your considerations or your treatment plans. You can see my treatment in my info box at the bottom. With that in mind I will share my thought process.

Breast surgeon suggested double mastectomy and implants to reduce recurrence risk and have “perky” breasts. The perky part was not especially important to me at 55 and honestly felt a bit demeaning. I know he was trying to help me find lemonade. I saw a plastic surgeon (woman) who does implants only. She was super helpful and was very clear regarding a single mastectomy and implant- implant breast will never match a natural breast. I saw another PS to discuss flap reconstruction (DIEP). He offered the following thoughts on double mastectomy when i had cancer only on the right and low recurrence risk. My surgical complication risk would be double. The flap on the “healthy” breast could fail. Removing the healthy breast doesn’t really reduce recurrence risk. And I didn’t have enough belly to make two breasts the size of my current ones (D)

I felt like I had everything I needed to know (I knew radiation was needed). In the end I couldn’t wrap my head around removing the healthy breast. The implant route offered to me would have placed the implants under the pec muscle- I had a tissue expander there for 15 months and felt it every time I used my right arm to close the back of the car, swim, do a push-up, etc. I am happy with my DIEP reconstruction and my decision for unilateral mastectomy.

Other than cancer I was healthy, active, and fit prior to diagnosis. The mastectomy surgery and recovery was harder than DIEP for me. I was able to have a nipple and skin sparing mastectomy so my DIEP breast looks very much like my natural breast.

All the best for making the right decision for you.

hi Hendymom,

I had a lot of the same considerations as runrcrb. The one other thing I'll add in -- which a friend who had had a UMX a few years before told me about and I was grateful for -- is that your reconstructed breast is not the same sexually as a natural breast. There are a lot of struggles to keep sex life happy and thriving from cancer treatment, and I'm grateful for my normal old breast's role in the whole mix.

Good luck with your decision!