Breast Reconstruction

Outline the bases before taking breast reconstruction

Breast reconstruction is a kind of surgery for women after a mastectomy (surgery to remove breast in order to treat cancer). It helps those women have chances to reform their breast which do not have natural shapes any more. Thus, breast reconstruction is not a mandatory medical practice. It is understood as a recovery beauty therapy after treatment and definitely decided by patients.

In fact, over 200,000 American women getting breast cancer every year leads to a number of breast reconstruction demands. This is a perfect example to show that how much people around the world care about and spend money on that kind of surgery. There are three basic things that patients should relate while considering breast reconstruction.

1. Acknowledge what to expect

Because breast reconstruction is not a faultless solution, patients can not look forward to excellent results. Some unusual things might happen after the surgery, especially with feeling, incisions and recovery process. Not all patients fulfill with their new breasts. 

To prevent those disadvantages, patients should spend much time to carefully decide and discuss with their doctors. Before any decisions are made, they must get fully knowledge of the surgery procedures, types of reconstruction, time to recover and even possible risks. They have to let their doctors help them picture the shape of breasts and all situations after the surgeries.

The most significant points that patients must master are three popular risks including: smoking, infection and capsular contracture. Patients will be asked to quit smoking in a few weeks due to tobacco can slow down the recovery and cause scars or bad impacts needed re-operating. Infection and capsular contracture can be cured by some practices, even by implant removal and replacement.

2. Decide time and types of breast reconstruction

Patients have two options about time of reconstruction. The first one which is called immediate breast reconstruction allows them to have it at the same time as mastectomy. Therefore, patients have less surgeries, undamaged chest tissues and better total results. Delayed breast reconstruction is another way suggested by doctors for surgery preparation, commonly for smoking patients or those who have other health problems. These two options must be carefully decided with doctors’ recommendations.

Breast reconstruction is carried out according two procedures: implant and tissue flap

• Implant procedure can be done by one-stage or two-stage surgeries. The general principle is implanting plastic surgeons in the positions where breast tissues were removed. The weak points of this procedure are the impermanence and the ability to break or cause infection of the implants.
• Tissue flap procedure use patients’ tissues from other body parts, for instance: buttock, tummy, thigh or back to shape the breasts and place in position. Within this method, two surgical scars will be left on the body, one on the reconstructed position and one for the taken tissues part.

3. Monitor after surgery

After the breast reconstruction, patients should be conscious of their own recovery process such as: time to be out of pain, how long they can move, when they have to meet doctor or replace bandages, the current situations of incisions… Those facts can tell them weather they get well normally or have something wrong. Recovery programs are available now in many places to help patients with volunteer visitors who had experiences about breast reconstruction.

Patients also need to exam their breast by themselves to learn what is expected to be and abnormal changes timely. Doctors or nurses can show them the ways to self-exam. The more careful monitoring way is regular taking mammograms on which doctors are able to know what are happening with their breasts accurately.

The last thing every patient must remember that is they completely can have breast cancer back-coming after reconstruction. This back-coming is not caused by the reconstruction certainly. However, having breast reconstruction does not prevent breast cancer.