Breast implant

I will be done with the tissues expander in couple of weeks. The size looks acceptable, except two breats are  mile apart. I look ok with a bra and some creative inserts to lift the sagging breast.. My PS almost always does a small implant to accomplish symetry. My obgyn says it will interfere with the screening. There is also an option of breast lift. I 'd like to hear from those who have gone through this.

Thanks


This discussion is related to Preventative Mastectomy with Immediate Breast Reconstruction.

[LisaBaia]

I had a mastectomy on the left side and a tissue expander put in.  After the TE was removed, the implant was surgically inserted.  I will never have a mammo on the left side again.  The right side was sagging and so at the time the left was inserted, a maxoplexy (sp?) lift was performed on the right with all sensation in tact still.  It's been two months and feels fine.  The implant feels funny, and if I get an itch inside I can't scratch it, but I can wear a bra or not, I mostly wear cammies underneath my shirts.  You'll never be the same, but you can wear bathing suit just fine too.  There should be no issue with mammos unless you are having an implant on the non-mastectomy side.  My surgeon recommended against that because they can't do a thorough mammo.

[Mary0327]

Eleven years ago, I had a mastectomy followed by reconstruction with a silicone implant.  I had the other side lifted.  Everything looked good, but my nipple sensation on the real side was affected.  I still had feeling, but it was mostly an unpleasant feeling.  I weighed about 15 pounds less then, and that has been somewhat of a problem.  My real side is bigger now than the reconstructed side.  Also, even though you're not having mammograms on the reconstructed side, be sure to carefully check for lumps.  I recently noticed a lump under my arm on the side with the mastectomy, and it turned out to be a recurrence.  After a mastectomy, who would have expected that?

Mary