Tissue Expander Placement Surgery - How Painful?

momgoose

I had a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction with TEs at the beginning of January 2023. In Feb. 2023, the expanders were removed due to non-healing wound edges from the mastectomies. Since then, I've been waiting to re-do the reconstruction (likely around the end of July/early August.)

My question is, for anyone else in a similar situation (with delayed reconstruction), how painful is the surgery to place the expanders? I know how they feel, since I had them for 4 weeks before they were removed, but how does this surgery compare pain/recovery-wise to the mastectomy?

Thanks!