Breast reconstruction allows a woman to
undergo a mastectomy and yet still remain whole. A woman who is told that she will require a mastectomy to treat
cancer is often devastated. The notion of keeping the breast by undergoing a lesser treatment contrary to the doctor's recommendation could be a
fatally wrong choice.
Breast reconstruction has been around for more than 25
years and yet only recently has it become popular and the treatment of
choice. Perhaps it is the driving force of women that has pushed the
plastic surgeon to come up with improved techniques. Initially, all
the plastic surgeon had to offer was implants. While the use of an
implant will sometimes work well, often, the final result is hard and is only a vague match
to the other side. Additionally, the use of an implant will not
match a mature (and yes drooping) woman's bosom.
Why would a woman undergo additional surgery? And why
would a woman undergo the more involved procedure of utilizing her own
flesh? The reasons are all
personal. A woman does not undergo this procedure for a husband or boyfriend.
The issues are far more complex than that. A woman is reconstructed so
that she is comfortable with herself. A woman is reconstructed so
that she doesn't have to be reminded multiple times during the day that she had cancer. A woman is reconstructed so that when the doorbell rings
she can run to answer the door and not run to find her prosthesis. A woman
is reconstructed so that she can pick up her child or grandchild and not wonder what
that
child will feel. A woman is reconstructed to wear her "normal"
clothes and lead a "normal" life..
When the TRAM flap was introduced about 20+ years ago, there was
finally a method of breast reconstruction that allowed the plastic surgeon to
build a soft mature bosom with a woman's own flesh. While this has been
the standard for many years, the incidence of abdominal hernia and fat
necrosis after this surgery is unacceptably high. The free TRAM flap
does yield a healthier piece of flesh with a better blood supply and a decreased
incidence of fat necrosis, but there is still a significant weakening of the
abdominal wall with the risk of hernia.
The DIEP flap is a significant improvement and
natural evolution of restoration of the completeness of a woman. While the piece of flesh that is utilized is the same as
in a TRAM flap, the blood supply is vigorous like the free TRAM flap. Importantly,
the integrity
of the abdominal wall is preserved and the risk of abdominal hernia is
significantly reduced. The woman on the left has been reconstructed
utilizing this technique. There is no better reconstruction available today
to restore the female body and along with that a woman's self esteem and
confidence.
