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Consider Your Breast Reconstruction Options Before Surgery
For this reason, you should be informed about the available types before you even get a consultation from a doctor.
Having some idea of the kind of surgery you would prefer can help get the ball rolling on the procedure.
One popular type of reconstruction involves placing implants into the chest.
They can be filled with either saline or silicone, depending on your preferences.
Typically, saline is considered safer and more common in this country, while silicone is usually more natural looking.
In most cases of breast reconstruction, a tissue expander is placed in the chest area just after a mastectomy.
Over the course of a few months, saline is injected until the breasts are the desired size, and then the expanders are replaced with real implants.
Another common kind of surgery, second only to implants, is called flap reconstruction.
In this procedure, tissue is taken from other areas of the body, like the thighs, abdomen, back, and buttocks, to form the new breast area.
There are several specific names for different surgeries.
In the TRAM Flap procedure, your surgeon will push muscle and tissue from your abdomen up to your chest while keeping blood vessels intact.
A similar procedure, called LDMF Flap surgery, uses skin, fat, and muscle from your armpits and back.
This is combined with implants to shape new breasts, also leaving blood vessels connected.
Some procedures require detaching the tissue first, rather than keeping it connected and just moving it.
For example, the DIEP Flap process involves removing only tissue from the abdominal area, while leaving the muscle.
Then, it is reconnected to the chest's blood vessels.
The result is a natural set of breasts.
However, if you want a particularly large chest, LDMF Flap surgery might be best, since it allows the doctor to work better with a lot of skin and fat.
You will probably not choose your preferred breast reconstruction surgery for sure until you meet with a surgeon for a free consultation.
However, you should at least know your options before you consider the pros and cons of each with the doctor.
Having a mastectomy can be devastating, but you need to know you have several choices for after the procedure.
In fact, the knowledge that there is a way to get back your breasts, and maybe more, after a mastectomy should help you get through it.
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