GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT BREAST CANCER #48: END OF AN ERA – Removing the Implants…

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Yesterday, my wife went in for a consultation to – after nearly 10 years with discomfort that began almost immediately – remove the breast implants that, along with a platform and removal of several muscles, were the “breast cancer reconstruction”. The removal of breast implants is also called an “explant”.

I did an entire series starting in April of 2013 and if you want to read it, the links are at the end of this essay.

Needless to say, the date of the consultation, originally made two years ago…and then cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic…was met with (for me) incomprehensible trepidation. In other words, deep fear that was truly impossible for me to understand.

My wife had seen the surgeon on a television interview on a local news station, and unlike the male surgeon who performed the initial reconstruction, was a woman. She seemed to be the perfect match for my wife, in that she was also an oncologist. If anything were to go wrong, this is the doctor who would know what to do next.

So yesterday, my wife set off for the long, long delayed consultation, with her oldest and closest friend at her side…because I was sitting with my middle school grandson who had come down with influenza (which was, of course, sweeping through the middle school…which is a surging mass of coughing, sneezing, touching pre-and-mid-adolescents…don’t get me wrong, I really loved my decade as an 8th grade Earth science teacher. I WAS however burned out and gladly advanced to teaching high school…albeit BARELY more civilized ninth graders.)

At any rate, the two coincided and I sat while my wife and her best female friend headed to the clinic. I can’t give you details of what transpired there, but she went in pensive and mostly silent while I was in the car. The biggest concern was if the surgeon would still do the surgery with the threat of lymphedema hanging over her head.

I won’t draw it out, but she texted me 45 minutes later (BARELY enough time for them to get to the clinic, let alone enough time to discuss the explant and make plans!) she was on her way to pick me up from my grandson (who was fast asleep)...

But that’s what happened. The doctor was very matter-of-fact, sympathetic, and authentic. My wife liked her, and they discussed what the expectations are for both the end result and the actual surgery. As might be imagined both the surgery and the recovery are significantly less invasive than the reconstruction was. The explant is standard procedure for any woman with implants, and should take place between 10 to 15 years. (See this link for an article on what, precisely is done: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2022/03/related-medical-issues-right-now-6.html)

Recovery will involve the same kinds of adaptations to post-surgery procedures: chest drains, restricted lifting, stretching, reaching, or other day-to-day movements that will have to be approached with caution until healing is complete. They talked about other issues, but one unexpected bonus, was that the doctor gave my wife a contact for getting her compression sleeves covered by our insurance.

So, we wait today for the date of surgery to be assigned – and a few more blog entries on the subject in the future.

THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA Series
Part 1: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-reconstruction-era-part-1.html
Part 2: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-reconstruction-era-part-2.html
Part 3: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-reconstruction-era-part-3.html
Part 4: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-reconstruction-era-part-4.html
Part 5: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-reconstruction-era-part-5.html
Part 6: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-reconstruction-era-part-6.html
Part 7a: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-reconstruction-era-part-7a.html
Part 7b: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-reconstruction-era-part-7b.html
Part 8: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-reconstruction-era-part-8.html
Part 9: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-reconstruction-era-part-9.html
Part 10: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-reconstruction-era-part-10.html
Part 11: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-reconstruction-era-part-11.html
Part 12: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-reconstruction-era-part-12.html
Part 13: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-reconstruction-era-history-and.html

Image: http://wrex.images.worldnow.com/images/23784252_SA.jpg