Things to Expect After Breast Cancer Surgery

During this year alone, approximately 207,000 women in the United States have been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Moreover, 39,800 of these cases became fatalities. In an effort to minimize the mortality rate from breast cancer, experts have developed several treatments in order to reduce tumor size in the breast. After the tumors are shrunk, they are removed from healthy tissue through Dallas breast cancer surgery.

Option one is a lumpectomy; where there is a small incision made in the breast and removes the cancerous tissue. This will include the advantage of saving some of the sensitivity and appearance of your breast, and is a much less invasive procedure that will heal quickly. It's also got the disadvantage that there are 5 to 7 weeks of radiation treatments, 5 times each week.

For the second option, you can have a mastectomy, removing the entire breast. This is a major decision for most women and is followed by the decision to have breast reconstruction. Should you choose to have your breast reconstruction in Dallas, you can choose from 2 types of implants. There is a silicone filled implant, and a more common saline implant. Your breast is then reconstructed in one of two different ways.

There are two ways by which a surgeon can place the implant during breast cancer surgery in Dallas. One would be to have the implant put in immediately after having the mastectomy. The other would be to place an expander where the breast was removed, pump saline into the device regularly, then fit the implants in where the tissue has sufficiently expanded. If you're getting breast reconstruction in Dallas, it's best to consider that your breast implants may not last forever, and a follow-up surgical procedure may be a strong possibility.

Yet another form of breast reconstruction in Dallas is rebuilding the breast through the tissue flap procedure. Here, tissue is taken out from other areas of the body like the thigh, upper back, stomach or buttocks. This means that surgery will be done on two areas of your body, which will leave scars that may not even heal after a long time. Since you're using your own body tissue, it would contract and expand along with the changes in the patient's body mass or weight. Going for this method means you don't have to be concerned with your breast implants rupturing.

Whichever of these methods you choose to have a breast reconstruction in Dallas, you are going to feel tired and sore for at least 2 weeks, and usually longer when choosing the flap procedure. You can get a prescription from your doctor to help you deal with the pain through this period. You should be back into your regular self after about 2 months. It's important to remember, however, that you may not have the same sensitivity of the breast following a reconstruction procedure.