I saw my plastic surgeon again yesterday. I didn’t write about because I was hoping I’d get more information today, so I could fully process what we discussed. As I’ve mentioned, our main goal is to get the radiated side, where the skin has shrunk/tightened so much, to stretch out enough to create an inframammary fold–the droopy bottom part of the breast. Right now, the spacer has just created an awkward mound. Thus far, the plan has been to overfill that side, then remove some of the saline, then overfill again until there is some elasticity in the skin to allow the implant to naturally fall. I fully expected to have another fill yesterday and bear the uncomfortable pressure again for a few days. However, my doctor has a new plan.

He wants to move forward with the fat grafting surgery, where he will liposuction my midsection, fill in the spots around my breasts that need extra padding (the chemo port left behind a big sunken spot), do a slight tuck on the radiated side to pull the stomach skin up and help with the fold, and put in the final implant on the right side. Then we will continue to fill the one that needs to stretch a bit more. His thought is that studies are showing fat cells actually help the radiated skin improve elasticity and discomfort, and having the final implant in on the other side gives a better comparison goal. The downside is that I’ll need yet another surgery to put in the final implant on the left. Sigh. At least it would be a quick one.

The kink in moving forward with this plan is that I have my vacation with my family coming up in a couple of weeks. So instead of leaving in all the saline of my overfilled side, he removed some. Ok, he removed a lot, so that I could actually get these suckers into a bathing suit. Instead of the uncomfortable pressure, I’ve been getting used to feeling the spacer move around a bit again. Now I won’t see him again until March, at which time he will refill, measure me, and then schedule surgery. It’s a double-edged sword that he has a very good reputation for both his talent and his compassion because now he’s really busy. What I was hoping to find out today was how far out surgery may be since he couldn’t answer that yesterday. I’m still waiting.

In the meantime, I’m thankful that my doctor has been thinking of ways to improve my outcome. And I’m thankful that I had some of the overfill removed, so it’s more comfortable and (somewhat) natural looking for my upcoming vacation.