[sarah]

Hello shirley,
tough decision. people tolerate pain differently. I had a mx and reconstruction done at the same time in 1999 so a long time ago but I found it tough and would not have said oh go ahead it's easy. in fact when I woke up if I could have died right then, I'd have checked out! the morphine drip did zilch for me - it's right beside the bed and you press it to get a certain amount over a 3 hour period. That said it feels exactly like your own breast. They thought I had more tummy fat and muscles than I did! so maybe be sure that's not a problem. the op was 8 hours for both surgeries.
take your time and ask the hospital if you can speak to women who've done both types of surgeries. don't talk to people the surgeon suggests because they'll all say it's easy!!!
I was in hospital for 6 days. the insurance said 4 days was normal but there was no way I could have gotten out of bed after 4 days. the 5th day I got out of bed with lots of help and the 6th day I went home. don't expect to return to work any time soon after this. I found the recovery long.
take care, there are no wrong decisions. getting rid of the cancer is the most important one.
In France they take flesh from the back, the consider the stomach "primitive!" but I'm not sure the back doesn't have problems also - maybe the thighs!!!!
Anyway research well, talk to lots of people.
take care, be well, love
sarah