construction site

That would be me.

Several of you have written to ask how breast reconstruction works. Since I’m in the middle of it, I can certainly tell you. So… if you are not one of those have asked or you have no desire to know, now is your chance to change channels or turn off the set.

…………. (Those of you who wish to stay can hum a little tune now while the others go elsewhere.)

Okay. Here’s the skinny. There are a couple of options for reconstruction after mastectomy. I chose the tissue expander method. In this case, an empty sack was placed under my chest muscle by a plastic surgeon just after the breast surgeon had completed her job. It has a little tube and a valve in it, and a few weeks after the initial surgery, the plastic surgeon starting injecting saline into it, a little bit at a time, every couple of weeks or so. Basically, this stretches the skin. Once it gets to the desired size (a couple of months from now), I go in for another surgery. Then the sack will be removed and replaced with a permanent saline or silicone implant.

But, wait! That’s not all. Then comes the reconstruction of the nipple (or nibble, as one of our kids used to say.) But that’s another chapter, another time.

It’s a pretty amazing and sometimes uncomfortable process. But I really can't complain too much about the latter.

I know I am lucky to be doing this instead of needing chemo or radiation. While this is no walk in the park, in the scheme of things I am very fortunate.