How long is the recovery time after breast reconstruction? i am worried about how much sick leave i will have to take if i opt for breast reconstruction. what is the usual amount of time someone needs to take off before they may return to work?

The : The answer is different for every patient. Factors that affect the estimated time for recovery include age, current health status, what the diagnosis for breast reconstruction is, what type of work you do, how you experience pain, what type of reconstruction you are going to have. That is why you need to consult a professional, or several professionals before considering this option. As a hypothetical , if you were having a breast removed for a low grade (early sage) cancer, & you had a sympathetic surgeon who can perform a skin sparing mastectomy, you may just be happy with an implant. Implants have downsides though, especially if you need radiation therapy (most will go hard in this situation). The total time for recovery from the surgery should not take you longer with this type of reconstruction than with no reconstruction. Using your own tissue, like a tram flap, which uses your belly at and muscle to reconstruct a breast with, on the other hand, will take you at least two weeks to recover from (without complications) & may well take longer. This is because you will basically have a tummy tuck to close the donor area after the flap is harvested, & a tummy tuck is a large surgery.

Depends: Typically i ask patients to plan for 2 weeks to recover from an expander reconstruction. However if muscles of your belly or back are used, you may need extra time. It also depends on what type of work you do. Your plastic surgeon can better answer this question.

2-6 weeks depending: There are many different types of breast reconstruction procedure including breast implants and various techniques that use our own tissue (flaps and fat grafting). Recovery time and time off work vary based on the complexity of the surgery (2-6 weeks). The more complex flap procedures (like the diep or gap flap) usually require 4-6 weeks off work (i recommend you plan for 6 weeks to be safe).

Breast reconstruct : Breast reconstruction where a tissue flap used is typically a 6 week recovery when I use the diep flap. This is of course can vary between patients. Other forms of reconstruction like implant based reconstruction can allow for earlier recovery because another area of the body is not involved. Fat grafting has a very short recovery period.

Reconstruction Recov: The recovery from breast reconstruction depend on whether the reconstruction is done the same day as the mastectomy, the type of reconstruction performed, and the stage of the reconstruction. Patients undergoing nipple reconstruction can generally return to work the next day. Expander or implant reconstruction will require 2-4 weeks off. Abdominal flap reconstruction will require 6 weeks downtime.