A question about Angelina Jolie and Double Mastectomies

[Ms. Toad]

10. In addition to the point marybourg made -

which would have been my first response:

(1) I think the cellulitis is primarily related to the implant/preparation for implant process - so if you are not having reconstruction it may well not be an issue (or at least a less significant one). Portions of the skin cut off from good circulation (or which have limited circulation) are more likely to have bacterial infections (and be harder to fight). That may well apply more to skin around the breast which is being expanded that tissue which is attached to the chest wall and is able to create new circulatory paths or expand existing ones more naturally.

(2) the recovery time can vary dramatically depending on what has to be removed and the skill of the surgeon. Partly that was addressed by marybourg - but even when cancer is involved there is still much variation. My mother has has two mastectomies, by two different surgeons, with two different kinds of cancer. One surgery was major trauma which took months to recover and was extraordinarily painful and debilitating (including the development of lymphedema). The other was a non-event. She took one dose of narcotic pain medication in the hospital (mostly because she was afraid it would be painful) and nothing after that, we stopped at a restaurant on the way home from the hospital at her suggestion, and the home nurse she had retained for the first night in case she needed assistance in the middle of the night got a good night's sleep. Sentinel nodes were removed (and no more) in each case. The cancer was larger in the first case, but it had not spread so the surgery should have been very similar.