
Expanders to Implants 8.2
Advice to newcomers: You will get through this. You will learn to accept and love your body. It will take time, but that is the beauty of this journey, you get more TIME.
I was 22 when I was diagnosed with BRCA1.

When I was 28yo I decided to get my double mastectomy at the strong urging of my doctor.

After my surgery I got an infection which I battled for about two months. I found out I was pregnant right after losing my right expander to the infection.


I chose to have my son instead of continuing with my breast reconstruction and waited until after I had healed from labor to put the right expander back in.

COVID postponed my plans to have the reconstruction surgery for a while but my doctor was an angel and eventually replaced the expanders with saline implants despite it not being an urgent procedure during the pandemic.

As of now, I am 31 years old and fully recovered from the reconstruction. Because of the infection, my right breast is a bit uneven and I’m still missing nipples but you can’t really tell with clothes on. As soon as my doctor is able to, I want to have another surgery to make my chest even and then I do plan on getting tattooed nipples. It was hard for me to see what I looked like after my initial surgery. I honestly cried for days because no one prepared me for what I might look like. I still have moments where I’m sad about my missing nipples, or I feel embarrassed/ashamed of my uneven breasts but I am ALIVE and I got my beautiful son out of this experience. I lost my mom to cancer so to be given the chance to live and not suffer the way she did, is priceless.