My Experience

I had lobular invasive breast cancer, and was scheduled for a mastectomy of my left breast and breast reconstructive surgery.

Before the operation, I had to have a chest X-ray and EKG and I needed to decide on the type of reconstruction I wanted, either TRAM (transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap surgery where the breast is reconstructed from lower abdominal skin and fatty tissue) or a reconstruction via a tissue expander (adjustable implants are put behind the chest muscle to expand the muscle and skin over time to eventually accommodate a breast implant). I opted for the tissue expander approach.

The day of the surgery, I had to arrive at 6:00 am to meet with the business office and get admitted to the hospital. They then took me to a waiting room, had me change and wait for the doctors to arrive. Nurses came in to take blood, blood pressure and other vitals. The reconstructive surgeon took pictures prior to the surgery and used a marker to help properly position the tissue expander. At 7:00 am the surgery began and ended 3 hours later. I remember a warm blanket over me, and being told I should wake up.

I felt better than expected after the surgery but was very sore for several days. The kind of sore where you can’t move and pain medication was welcome. The mastectomy was not the difficult part for me after surgery, instead it was the tissue expander was. It was a foreign body that weekly has saline injected and caused a very tight feeling across my chest.