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Cancer is a dreaded disease and if it has reached the primary or the secondary stage in the breast, the only cure is the removal of the breast or mastectomy. It is a traumatic experience in which either the full breast or part of it may be removed. The surgeon will check and decide what is to be done but in most cases the entire breast is removed. The patient feels incomplete, may suffer from revulsion at her body or may want to get it reconstructed as fast as possible. Though it is a long procedure spread over weeks and months with multiple surgeries and treatment, breast reconstruction after mastectomy is possible.
The main things that go in before making the decision are the health of the patient, her physical and mental condition and her tolerance for the procedure. If she has high blood pressure or diabetes or is overweight or smokes, all this will have to be brought under control before the surgical procedure takes place. She has to research and find out the best surgeon for the operation. He should have adequate experience, should be certified and she should have confidence in him before the surgery begins. Also her radiation, therapies and cancer medications should be checked before the treatment begins.
The doctor and the patient should discus in detail the procedure, what to expect, how much it will cost and how long the whole thing will take. The doctor should frankly tell the patient that the breast can never be the same as the original one, that she will feel different and that there may be some pain, some frustration, and some risks in the operation. She can chose the procedure, whether she wants to go in for the general one where tissue expanders expand the skin and then implants give form and structure to the breast, or if she wants tissues and skin from another part of the body to be grown and grafted at the breast site. Apart from these she can also opt for some other method.
The patient should know that the tissue expander can be of plastic or metal but the former is to be preferred over the latter as metal may cause some complications during subsequent diagnostic procedures. Once the breast has been reconstructed the areola and the nipples will have to be carefully made. Sometimes the color of the nipple may vary depending upon the site from which it was taken. The doctor may use pigmentation to make it match with the other breast. If both the breasts-the natural one and the reconstructed one- do not match, the natural one may have to undergo a surgical procedure to make both match. Breast reconstruction after mastectomy is done to make the body symmetrical and to make the patient avoid supplements in her bra to give both breasts a natural look. |
