My DIEP was an exchange: the tissue expander that was put in last April was replaced with tissue from my abdomen. An implant like an expander prompts the body to form a protective fibrous capsule around it. When the expander is removed, so is the capsule and it’s sent off for pathology to check for any signs of cancer. This completely makes sense, but I had no idea it was going to be done and was only told about it after my surgery which sent me into a complete head-spin. Waiting for the results of any blood tests, scans or biopsies causes next level anxiety. Waiting over a week for them takes it to the nth level. Today I found out my capsule pathology is all clear! I’m obviously chuffed to bits, however, I can’t help thinking that if I’d have been given the heads-up about the test beforehand and got the results sooner I might not have mentally flat-lined as much this week.