Has anyone had DIEP Flap reconstruction in stages instead of all at once?

There are so many variables to consider with breast surgery. Will you need radiation? Often radiated skin needs time to heal before a major surgery. Also you mention general surgeon. Please go to a surgeon who does numerous DIEP surgeries a week. Their skills are critical to the success of your surgery. Look on Facebook there are several private groups related to DIEP reconstruction. They are a wealth of information and resources.

The surgeon I spoke with is a breast surgeon. She has a plastic surgeon she works with but doesn't do the DIEP. I would have to go to a bigger facility to have that done. The facility she said the surgeon would do it at isn't in my network for insurance. So I have been looking at other surgeons and plastic surgeons. I think I have found a plastic surgeon. I spoke with my breast surgeon again this afternoon and told her I didn't want the expander. She proceded to tell me that she didn't feel with the size (2.2 cm) of my mass I would be a candidate for the immediate DIEP Flap surgery and there might be a slight possibility of it spread to my nodes. The radiologist at my ultrasound said he didn't see anything in the nodes, but I know that can't really be determined until the surgery. So, I am supposed to hear something back about an appointment with the local plastic surgeon Monday, in the meantime I had my PCP do a referral to the other breast surgeon in Nashville. They said they might be able to get me in next week. My thinking is to meet with the local plastic surgeon and get the ball rolling on getting this stuff out of my body and hopefully meet with the other surgeon and get a second opinion about the immediate Flap reconstruction before making a final decision.

I had DIEP flap reconstruction at the time of my double mastectomy. But I had already had a lumpectomy and radiation 2 years before. I still had to wait 3 months to get the procedure because it’s a 12 hour procedure and the doctor only does one a week. If I’d have had to have expanders, I might have gone flat, I think.

MDAnderson took care of me when I was diagnosed with stage 3 HER+ breast cancer. They were amazing. I had my port put in and then had 6 doses of the chemo, then mastectomy and 26 adenoids removed, then 31 days of radiation and then I 12 more treatments of Kadcyla which I had complications with, 8 months later they did the DIEP flap. I was under for 8 hours. Three months later they did a reduction on my other breast. I believe one’s treatment all depends on the doctor and facility. However the radiation did leave my right lung scared and I did have complications throughout my chemo treatment and broke 3 ribs due to passing out. Not everyone has the same outcome it just all depends on your body and the doctor who will be taking care of you. Check out their reviews and make sure that you have one with a 5 star rating.

I had both at the same time, even though I had radiated skin from 22 years ago. It worked out well for me. Bit it could've failed had I not had a top-notch plastic surgeon. Get a second opinion.

Many patients do go through DIEP flap reconstruction in stages rather than having it done immediately with the mastectomy - both approaches are commonly used depending on various factors that the surgical team considers. It's completely understandable to want to minimize the number of surgeries and recovery periods, so discussing the reasoning behind the recommended timeline with the plastic surgeon who would perform the DIEP procedure could help clarify whether immediate reconstruction might be an option in this specific case.