Preventive Mastectomy: Revision Surgery Fat Grafting

Posted March 29, 2025 by Prairie Wife -

I feel like the Fat Grafting part of my Preventive Mastectomy Revision Surgery is one of the “easier” surgeries.

You can learn a bit more about the process in this post.

We headed into surgery bright and early, and the pre op procedure was pretty standard. We chatted with the surgical nurses, met with the anesthesiologist, and then Dr. Bateman came in and drew all over my body.

I was rolled down the hallway and then had a lovely nap while I underwent surgery.

I woke up with a massive case of the shivers, which was incredibly painful on my tender legs, but the post op nurse gave me medicine that soon helped my body to calm down.

Dr. Bateman stopped by and let me know that they were only able to harvest a total of 67cc’s of fat from my thighs (we knew ahead of time that this would likely be the case), and he evenly spread it out between each breast.

We spent the night at a local hotel, something we do after every surgery, so we are close to our team of doctors for the first 24 hours. I was sleepy but didn’t feel a need to take any pain meds…I was just sore and tender like I had just gone on a long run.

The Cowboy and I went home the next day, where I spent my days resting, taking short walk breaks, and keeping my arms “quiet”.

Recovery from this surgery is relatively uncomplicated. No wearing anything tight on my breasts for 4 weeks, and wearing tight leggings on my legs. It’s incredibly important to keep my arms “quiet” so no cleaning, cooking, or lifting anything for the first 4 weeks. They don’t want me to do anything that may shift or move my chest, which would cause the capillaries growing into the new fat to break, and the fat to reabsorb into my body.

Of course, life didn’t stop over the four weeks of my recovery, but overall, I did the best I could to lay low.

There are four things I want to share with those of you who will be undergoing this particular surgery.

1.  Take bromelain supplements daily, the week before your surgery and for the first three weeks after surgery. I didn’t do this the first time I had surgery. As you can see from the pictures above, I did have some bruising, but it wasn’t anything like my first surgery! At the end of this post, you can find a list of everything I bought to prepare for surgery.
2. Walk during recovery. Yes, I know your legs are sore, but trust me when I say you need to take as many 5-10 minute walking breaks as you can during the first week. And when you’re cleared to go on longer walks during week 2, make sure to take the time to get moving as often as possible.
3. I find the recovery from this particular surgery challenging because for me, the pain level is so minimal, and I feel relatively good within a few days. Trust your doctor and the healing process, and follow their instructions. Watch all those movies and TV shows you haven’t found time to watch yet…and tackle that wish list of books you’ve been wanting to read!
4. You need to wait for months to see the real results. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but what you see during the first weeks of recovery are not your final results. Your breasts are swollen from surgery, and you need to give the fat 4 weeks to see what will actually “stick”. As for the liposuction sites, the results there will also take months, due to swelling and the natural healing process. For me, so little fat was removed that I know I won’t actually see any change in my thigh shape (which is fine, as that wasn’t the purpose of this surgery). Doctors say that generally 50% of the fat will be reabsorbed, and for me I find that to be true.

With how little fat the doctor was able to harvest and the natural way that my body healed, the results from this fat grafting surgery weren’t what we had hoped for…but they were what we expected.

If you recall, the primary purpose of undergoing revision surgery was to make me more comfortable, and I hoped to continue feeling confident about how I look in clothing.

Thankfully, based on those goals, I can say with confidence that these revision surgeries were a success!

I want to remind women reading this who are struggling with deciding if a Preventive Mastectomy is the right decision that the main purpose of the surgery is to throw the first punch in the fight against cancer, and give yourself a chance at a longer life. While I understand you want to feel confident with how you look THIS IS NOT A BOOB JOB and you need to keep your expectations realistic.

Categories: Preventive Mastectomy, Revision Surgery

Tags: , breast cancer, fat grafting, liposuction, preventive mastectomy, revision surgery