The Benefits of Breast Reconstruction
You’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, and it’s horrifying. Fortunately, the survival rate is higher now than it has ever been, and your doctor is confident of a positive outcome. You’ll undergo a mastectomy in which your breasts will be removed, and you will win your battle. You are strong. However, you need to begin to think beyond the moment and start planning for the future.
A mastectomy is going to completely remove your breast tissue to excise the cancerous tissue. This process leaves patients with no breast definition and, often, no confidence in their bodies. Many women feel that in the process of fighting their cancer, they lose the most feminine part of themselves. They feel unattractive, their personal relationships suffer, and their happiness suffers. Choosing to undergo breast reconstruction, during or after your mastectomy, can help you heal emotionally following your cancer battle.
What Is Breast Reconstruction Surgery?
Your mastectomy removes a large portion of your breast tissue, leaving little to support breast implants through traditional breast augmentation. Breast reconstruction focuses on building a new tissue mound that can act as your breasts or that can support implants for added volume. It is normal for breast reconstruction to be performed at the same time as your mastectomy, but some patients wait until later to decide if it is the best decision to help them heal.
Techniques used during breast reconstruction surgery vary from patient to patient depending on how much tissue is removed and your body’s build.
- Free Flap: Transfers your tissue to recreate the breast mound. Your muscle, fat, and skin are repositioned to provide sufficient support for a breast implant.
- TRAM Flap: Transfers muscle, skin, and fat from the abdomen. The flap can remain attached to the original blood supply in the abdomen, or it may be detached and formed into the breast mound.
- Latissimus Dorsi Flap: Similar technique to the TRAM flap, but the muscle, skin, and fat are harvested from the back. The donor material remains attached to the donor site’s blood supply.
- Tissue Expansion: For patients with adequate skin health, tissue expanders placed during your mastectomy can slowly stretch the skin to make room for an implant. The expander is placed and slowly filled through an internal valve over a period of three to four months. This stretches the skin, creating a new breast pocket. During a second surgery, the expander is replaced with a breast implant.
- Nipple Reconstruction: Reconstructs the nipple under local anesthesia and adds the color of the areola once the nipple heals.
Getting It Covered
If your hesitation about undergoing breast reconstruction is your fear that the procedure will be costly, put your mind at ease. It is the federal law that group insurance plans that cover mastectomies also cover breast reconstruction surgery. Qualifying insurances should cover:
- Reconstruction of the breast(s) removed during mastectomy
- Surgery to add balance to an unaffected breast
- External breast prostheses
- Any physical complication(s) at all stages of mastectomy
Allen Doezie, M.D., is a board certified plastic surgeon with over 10 years of experience. His office is located in Orange County, California. To schedule a consultation, please call 949-481-9850.