Carolyn,
first let me just say,"you CAN do this"! Chemo can be tough but we are tougher!!!
Yes, I do know that radiation can affect the skin and the implant. This is from the breastrecon .com... ( I did not have rads )...
"
For patients with a tissue expander in place, radiation will affect the quality of the breast skin overlying the expander. The skin may recover enough to allow exchange of the expander for a final implant. If the skin does not sufficiently recover, or if other problems arise, it may be necessary to salvage the reconstruction with the use of a flap. One alternative is to utilize a latissimus dorsi flap while retaining the implant as part of the reconstruction. The other alternative is to abandon the implant reconstruction altogether, and to proceed with an autogenous flap alone, such as TRAM flap or an abdominal microvascular free flap.
For patients with an autogenous flap reconstruction that is then radiated, the quality of the skin will be affected and the risk of fat necrosis within the flap will be higher. Should fat necrosis develop, an area of the reconstructed breast may become firm. Sometimes this prompts evaluation with an ultrasound or MRI. If needed, a biopsy may be done to confirm the diagnosis of fat necrosis in the flap. Usually, the firmness associated with fat necrosis will soften over time."
My PS (microsurgeon, I had stacked DIEP flap) removed my port during stage 1 of my reconstruction.
I hope this information is helpful
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