What to expect in surgery
The placement of implants used for your breast reconstruction surgery will depend on when you have the procedure. If you have the surgery at the same time as your mastectomy, once your breast tissue has been removed, your plastic surgeon can insert your implant beneath the chest muscle.
Breast reconstruction following as a separate procedure will require placement of a tissue expander between the chest muscle and skin during your mastectomy. This expander will have a port attached that will allow installation of fluid that will gradually increase the amount of space and allow enough room for the implant.
Your surgeon will perform a second surgery to replace the expander with the implant. This is about an hour-long outpatient procedure. With this surgery, your recovery time will only be about two weeks.