@A MyBCTeam Member They do take the skin from the abdomen along with the tissue. It's a hip to hip oval cut that is in the bikini area at the bottom and (in my case) above the belly button. They do poke a new hole for the bellybutton. my understanding is that some amount of the skin is peeled away from the tissue before it's inserted into the 'vacated' breast. I have a link to a video and discussion of the operation if you're interested. You'd have to take up the discussion of incision area with the surgeon if you wanted to try to save the tattoo - that could get tricky - why not just have the tattoo repaired if possible.

Mentioned Users

A MyBCTea...

I had the DIEP done at the same time as the bilateral. No abdominal muscle taken. 5'4" and 126 pounds (pre-surgery) so not much excess but B cup in and B cup out. I'm now a year out and very satisfied with the results. In the end, it's the low maintenance approach.

You can do it with just body fat. I had implant nightmare for over 6 yrs. Last year I finally got the DIEP done took implants out and then fat graft. It was a tough surgery but SOOOOOOO worth it!

I had my bilateral mastectomies Nov 2014 and chose no reconstruction because I didn't want to use a muscle from my abdomen or my back, I've just recently heard more about DIEP and was wondering if they used skin from your abdomen as well as fat. I have a tattoo at my side/abd so I didn't want the tummy tuck option and have that ruined. Just wondering, thanks for the info. :)

@A MyBCTeam Member For me, the bilateral mastectomy spared nothing, including the nipples - all gone. No expanders, they transfer the tissue and use a couple of titanium clips to hold in place. Hope this helps. Oh, they also do liposuction (later, if wanted) to do fat grafting to some of the hollows around the breasts to make them look more natural.

Mentioned Users

A MyBCTea...