Reconstruction

[Mistafey]

Thank you for taking your time to answer all our questions.  This is very helpful.

Is there a similiar site that one might be able to get some answers on regarding reconstruction after mascectomy?

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear mistafey:  I'm not aware of a site dedicated exclusively to reconstruction.  If the question pertains to reconstruction after mastectomy (not augmentation), we would be happy to post answers here.  Additionally, you might find that others will comment to your question, giving you some "personal" experiences.

[BetJon]

I was diagnosed with invasive lobular left breast, grade T1, no node involvement June 03.  Had lumpectomy and second one for better margins and 36 radiations treatments.  HR positive and am in femara/zometa study.  June 04 found lump in same breast.  The surgeon said there would not be enough of my breast left if he did another lumpectomy; therefore I had simple mastectomy.  Pathology came back negative.  Probable scar tissue.  I am considering having the other breast removed and both reconstructed at same time.  I just don't know if that is the right thing to do.  (This was the surgeons suggestion.)  I know I am at risk to have this cancer in other breast, but, how much is that risk?  I am fairly small breasted, 5'4", wt 145, age 55.   The surgeon said he did not want me to have implant in remaining breast because it would be much harder to see cancer on mamo, so he thought I should just have simple mastectomy and reconstruction on both breasts at same time so both would be similar in size.  I am going to see plastic surgeon 8/11/04 to find out what can be done.  My surgeon suggests implants behind the muscle.  Will I be able to tell if cancer comes back?  How?
So many questions.  I can't find any really good sites for these kind of answers.  Maybe somebody has answers.  Thanks!

[conn480]

I had ductal and lobular cancer in my right breast so mastectomy was my only option.  When told that there was a high possibility that the lobular cancer could appear in the left breast, I chose to have a bilateral mastectomy (August 03).  The pathology report from my surgery showed that the lobular cancer was already in the left breast so I made the right decision.  I chose to have reconstruction at the time of the mastectomies and have been very pleased with the results.  I had the dorsal latissimus flap where muscle and tissue is brought to the chest from the back.  Due to the size of breasts that I wanted, I had expanders that were later removed and implants inserted under the muscle (March 04).  By having the mastectomies and reconstruction done at the same time there is minimal scarring and the breasts are symetrical.  Good Luck!

[rkmsim]

Go to www.facingourrisk.org  You will find tons of information regarding reconstruction.  This is a website supported by FORCE, an organization the deals with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.  Just go to the message board and leave a question and you will get a lot of feedback, I imagine.