breast augmentation after infection

[music] if the best option foryou is a staged reconstruction, you will most likely receivea temporary tissue expander at the time of your mastectomy. during mastectomy,the surgeon creates a pocket, generally behind the chestmuscle where a temporary tissue expander may be placed. at the time of surgery, the surgeon will insertsmall surgical drains for

your body's naturalhealing fluid. through a port locatedinside the expander, the team will periodicallyinject saltwater solution to fill the expanderover a few months. the expander graduallystretches the muscle and skin in preparation for either an implant ortissue reconstruction. after the skin overthe breast area has stretched to the appropriate size,

the expander will be removedin a second operation and the final reconstructionwill be performed. most often,we place a sheet of collagen, a material that is natural inyour body as reinforcement for the tissue expander. this is called an acellulardermal collagen matrix in which blood vessels grow in overtime becoming a part of you. this provides an internal bra ofsorts or a sling to support your reconstruction by preservingthe fold under the breast.

the whole process can take weeksto months and is different for each individual, dependingon whether treatment such as chemotherapy orradiation therapy are required. the tissue expanderis always temporary, hospitalization isusually overnight. and women are usually back towork within two to four weeks, depending on the type of job. there is some discomfortwith the expansion process, because it is stretchingthe chest muscle,

but most women find that it ismost sore in the first couple of weeks improving over time andis overall very well tolerated. the drains will remain in forone to two weeks. at johns hopkins, your experienced breastreconstruction team will do everything possible to make yourbreasts look and feel as natural as possible and will be able toanswer any of the questions or concerns at any timethroughout your treatment.