Tag Archives: breast reconstruction

Choosing Breast Reconstruction

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Jean

Choosing breast reconstruction  is a choice that not every woman is prepared to make soon after after a diagnosis of breast cancer.
Women opting to have reconstruction need to have a detailed discussion with their surgeons with regard to the risks and benefits of reconstruction. They need to understand that if they are considering reconstruction to maintain their body image that the reconstructed breast will not look exactly like their natural breast.
Women need to know that:

A reconstructed breast will not have the same sensation and feel as the breast it replaces.
Visible incision lines will always be present on the breast, whether …

 

Breast Reconstruction is Not a New Procedure

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Jean

The physicians and other health care professionals I met during my two  breast cancers and my years as a navigator spoke of breast reconstruction as a seemingly new process for giving a woman a natural alternative to a breast prosthesis following a mastectomy.
I recently learned that breast reconstruction is a process begun over a century ago as a surgical approach to rebuilding the anatomic breast using tissue from the patient’s body and prosthetic implants. Breast reconstruction began as a means to reduce chest wall complications and deformities following a mastectomy.
Reconstruction techniques have continued to be perfected over the years and …

 

Benefits of Breast Reconstruction without Implants

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Jean

The following information appeared in MedicineNet.com (www.medicinenet.com) explaining the advantages, challenges and follow up care when choosing one’s own tissue for breast reconstruction.
Benefits
Using one’s own tissue and muscle in reconstruction results in a more natural looking breast that is not vulnerable to the problems that sometimes occur with implants. The shape, feel and contour of a breast reconstructed from a woman’s own tissue more closely resemble the characteristics of a natural breast.
Transferring tissue from the abdomen also results in tightening of the stomach resembling a tummy tuck.
Challenges
Reconstruction using Flap surgery is more involved than implant surgery.
And, like all major …