Approaching surgery date
Hi ladies
can anyone tell me what to expect with the latismus doris procedure, pain after surgery and life after surgery
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Hi , welcome to the community! We’re sorry to have you here for this reason, but glad you found us.
If you’re getting ready for a latissimus dorsi flap, these Breastcancer.org resources may help answer some of your questions about the procedure, recovery, and life afterward:
Hope this helps! And if anyone here has had a latissimus dorsi flap, please share what recovery was like for you. Thank you, your experience could be really helpful to @baas2026!!
The Mods
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I had the LD flap surgery in 2020. Radiation made implant construction difficult. The surgery was not as bad as I made it out to be in my head. Be patient with the drains. The back area where the muscle is harvested might take longer to get volume down. My PS warned me about a seroma developing in that area if he pulled the drain too soon.
I had been going to exercise classes at the gym 3x per week before surgery. Didn’t do PT. Just resumed classes after 8 weeks. I still go to gym consistently.
I don’t really have any significant long term issues other than some weakness in my shoulder that is noticeable when swimming. Sometimes I get pain when rotating/twisting towards the opposite side. It’s hard to explain, doesn’t last long.
The one thing that I didn’t anticipate was the capsular contracture that occurred shortly after the surgery. It was severe. The PS basically said that I still had the radiated skin so could happen. I thought that the LD flap would help that. Usually does for most people.
I did get a DIEP flap the next year. Didn’t want to continue dealing with capsular contraction.
Hope things go well for you! I’m more than happy to answer any other questions you might have.0
