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Leslie,
The reconstruction thing is so hard to comment on. I have this nagging feeling that if I knew then what I knew now, I might not have chosen reconstruction. HOWEVER, I never went through the breast-less stage, so I don't know what it would be like to be without one, or both. I didn't have a lot of tissue to donate, so I'm stretched pretty tightly. For women who have more tissue, the recovery may be much better and the return to normalcy may be much sooner. Honestly, I suspect that I'm weaker in the abdomen but I never felt any muscle pain. My tight tissue simply won't let me stretch yet. I have normal range of motion if I twist from side to side but trying to do a yoga cobra stretch is pretty tight. When my stomach gets gassy, it's uncomfortable.
Besides physical therapy, swimming (and I'm a water-phobic non-swimmer) has helped to get the range of motion back in my arm. I had what I described as a "rod" in my armpit that is finally loosening up. It took about two months to feel like I had my arm back and today is exactly 10 weeks post-surgery.
Is it only California law which mandates that insurance companies pay for reconstruction???
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