For those who are interested I am posting pictures of the different stages of the reconstruction process. This first photograph was taken pretty much straight after surgery with the skin expander inserted but not filled. As you will see the drains are still in.
This second photo is taken a few weeks later when I had the first of my saline injections to start expanding the skin expander.
Here we have the skin expander after it was injected a second time. It is now taking on a more breast-like shape.
Third and final saline injection. My poor skin was so dry and stretched my this time, that it was decided not to do any more saline injections after this. The scar runs along the centre of the breast.
This photo was taken almost three weeks after the operation. The scars will eventually fade. The underside of the breast still is a little bit firm and bruised. This is just an accumulation of dried blood in the skin underneath. This will also soften up as time goes on. It is also still a bit swollen so the new one is a bit bigger than the other. My new nipple will be created once all this has healed in approximately three months. I now also have a 'new look' tummy button where a hole had to be cut out over the original one and stitched around the outside of it. I am due to start chemotherapy on the 15th April for six months and am most probably going to shave off my hair the weekend previous to that starting.
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