Pretty Sick by Caitlin M. Kiernan & Jamie Lee Reardin

Author:Caitlin M. Kiernan & Jamie Lee Reardin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Beauty Guide for Women with Cancer
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2017-09-19T04:00:00+00:00

CONs:

Permanent removal of the natural breast tissue.

Intense surgery that requires a two- or three-day hospital stay.

Recovery takes two to three weeks and includes dealing with surgical drains, pain meds, no exercise—among other things. For some of the flap-based reconstructions, this can extend up to six weeks.

Depending on the type of reconstruction you decide to have, it can mean multiple surgeries. Flap reconstructions are more intense and have a longer recovery period, but all the surgery is done in one shot. With implant-based surgeries, there will be at least three surgeries including: 1) Putting in the tissue expanders—typically done at the same time as the mastectomy—but not always. In some cases, patients can go directly to implants, avoiding the tissue expander step; 2) swapping out the expanders and replacing them with the implants; and 3) nipple reconstruction.

Implant-based mastectomies will require at least one future “swap” surgery to replace the implants once they start to show signs of age and/or wear and tear.

Implants can become encapsulated or rippled and they can rotate or drop—all requiring follow-up surgery to fix the issue.

Since the breast tissue has been removed, the implant is placed under the pectoral muscle to help protect the implant. Because of this, any time the muscle is activated—like opening a jar of pickles, doing a pull-up, even if you get cold and start to shiver—it can cause the implant to move or get squeezed into a weird position temporarily. I won’t lie—this looks as awkward as it sounds.

note: I understand there are some of you who will opt out of reconstruction. For those of you who do, turn to Chapter 8 (here) for all the intel and tips you will need about shopping for and wearing breast and nipple prostheses.

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