To Be a "B" or Not to "B"

Week 8: The following day, I met with my new plastic surgeon. She was great. We went over some options but a few of them were immediately ruled out. Because I had radiation as part of my first treatment, she said my skin won't behave the same way. It won't have as much elasticity and it won't heal as well. That removed the possibility of gradually stretching my skin with an expander followed by a permanent implant sometime down the road. That's what I did the first time. Bummer...no double-D's in my future. The second option was to take tissue (muscle, fat, skin, and attached blood supply) from my abdomen and relocate it up into my chest to form a new breast. Unfortunately, that approach was off the table because my abdomen has already been compromised from when I had the emergency appendectomy (not to mention a subsequent scar revision surgery - at which time I at least got the benefit of a mini tummy-tuck). Still another alternative was to take tissue from my back and relocate it to create a new breast (like the abdomen procedure, but more difficult). I decided that my back is off limits because it's the only part of my body that's still in good condition - no scars, no sagging, no wrinkles. Only two options remain. Do nothing, or go with a smaller implant that may not provide a good result because of my radiated skin. I'm going with the implant and keeping my fingers crossed.