Category Archives: Breast Reconstruction

Breast Implants, Breast Reconstruction

Over or Under the Muscle: The Debate Over Where to Place Breast Implants

Leave a comment
Increasingly, doctors are placing breast implants over not under the muscle for women who are thinner, very active and athletic, to minimize a problem called distortion when the implants move around. We address this issue in our book; some doctors, however, say that positioning implants over the muscle gives a more unnatural look. If you are a weight lifter, boxer or very athletic, thinner woman considering implants, this is an important issue to discuss with your plastic surgeon.

NYTIMES.COM
New Approach to Breast Reconstruction May Reduce Pain and Weakness for Some
The technique places implants on top of muscle, instead of under it.
Best Advice, Breast Reconstruction, Mastectomy, Previvors, Resources, Surgery Decisions, Tissue reconstruction

Free, Reliable Breast Surgery, Reconstruction App Debuts

Leave a comment

A new, reliable source of information on breast cancer surgery choices  _ from going flat to undergoing immediate or delayed breast reconstruction _ that you can read on your phone debuted today.

The app, two years in the making, is for iPhones; an android version is coming later in September, according to the app’s creator, Dr. Minas Chrysouplo, a leading breast reconstruction surgeon.

He and his San Antonio team gathered suggestions and input from dozens of breast cancer survivors, previvors, doctors, health care workers and writers, including Patricia Anstett, author of “Breast Cancer Surgery and Reconstruction, What’s Right for You.”

To download the app, go to https://breastadvocateapp.com/

 

 

 

 

 

Breast Reconstruction, Genetics

Many Breast Cancer Patients Do Not Receive Timely Genetic Counseling from Credentialed Experts, Study Finds

Leave a comment

Too many women with breast cancer do not receive genetic counseling, and those who do may not get it from a genetic counselor, or receive it after they have surgery, when doing the test earlier may have changed their decision, a University of Michigan study has found. https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/rounds/some-breast-cancer-patients-missing-out-on-genetic-counseling?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=What%20they%27re%20missing&utm_campaign=20180316%20Weekly%20Digest%20Final%20RESEND

Breast Reconstruction, Mastectomy

1 of Every 2 U.S. Women Consider Prophylactic Double Mastectomy for Early Tumors, University of Michigan Study Finds

Leave a comment

One of every two women with early-stage breast cancer now consider removing both breasts, even though they only have cancer in one, according to a new University of Michigan study. This option has soared upwards from 3.9% in 2002, it said.

Half of women with early-stage breast cancer consider prophylactic double mastectomy
A quarter of women with early-stage breast cancer and a favorable prognosis strongly considered…
healio.com
Breast Cancer Research, Breast Reconstruction, Genetics

Take-home Messages from #FORCE17

Leave a comment

Force17

Here are 4 key messages of #FORCE17, which held its 10th anniversary conference last week on hereditary cancer issues.

  1. One-step and done? Nearly all breast reconstruction is not. Beware too, of scarless mastectomies claims.
  2. Breast reconstruction options for larger-framed women are improving. Now 3 of 10 women get nipple-sparing operations.
  3. Expect more gene discoveries in the next year or two that identify the deadliest tumors needing more aggressive treatment for prostate, pancreatic and other cancers where hereditary plays a role.
  4. Men need genetics testing too.

Summarized by Patricia Anstett, author, “Breast Cancer Surgery and Reconstruction: What’s Right for You,” from presentations at the conference of Facing Our Risk Empowered (FORCE).

Breast Reconstruction, lumpectomy

Lumpectomy guidelines reduce need for return operations, study shows

Leave a comment

After years of women returning for repeat lumpectomies because the margins of their tumor contain cancer, new guidelines are reducing these re-operations. Here’s a new study on the issue: http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2630063?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=content-shareicons&utm_content=article_engagement&utm_medium=social&utm_term=060517#.WTVwtIWiO2E.facebook

Breast Reconstruction, lumpectomy, Mastectomy, Surgery Decisions, Uncategorized

New Pain Relief Options After Breast Reconstruction

Leave a comment

Linda holding pain system bag Apr 28 2017

Detroit breast cancer survivor, Dr. Linda Johnson, is shown here with the “On-Q Pain Relief System, which she used to reduce post-operative pain after breast reconstruction. It is a non-narcotic system. “This is a little pump about the size of a small can of soup that contains pain reliever that comes into your system automatically for a few days after surgery,’’ says Johnson, a retired school principal. “The pump goes to a tiny plastic tube that the surgeon installs in your chest. This little dickens really worked!!  All I had to do was to carry it around in the little nylon bag shown in the picture.  By day I used it like a shoulder bag and at night I just kept it beside me in the bed. The doc will take out the 4 or 5 inches of tubing that went into my body when I go for my check up next week.  Easy breezy, it gives a constant stream of pain relief, and doesn’t involve pills.” For details: http://www.myon-q.com/why-on-q.aspx

 

Breast Implants, Breast Reconstruction

Over or Under: Breast Implant Placement Debate Continues

Leave a comment

Where to place breast implants — under the chest muscle or over it — remains more a plastic surgeon’s choice. It’s an important discussion, in particular, for thinner, very active women, who sometimes complain that implants move inappropriately when they exercise. In plastic surgery, this is an issue known as “distortion.”

Here one doctor provides some clarity on why he and many other doctors prefer to place implants under the chest muscle. https://niume.com/post/247372https://niume.com/post/247372.

For more discussion on implant placement, see our book’s breast implant chapter. It discusses types of implants; problems; placement concerns and other issues.