Think Pinker

Possibilities

I just got through watching an episode of Plastic Surgery–Before & After. I often find some of the procedures they do are not something I would want. But I saw a procedure tonight that is really very revolutionary in breast reconstruction.

A woman had breast cancer seven years ago and had implants for her reconstruction. While the implants looked fine at first, the woman was plagued by scar tissue causing discomfort and hardness. She had six surgeries to correct the problem in seven years, each with new breast implants. The same problem happened after each surgery.

She located Dr. Robert J. Allen of The Center for Microsurgical Breast Reconstruction with offices in New York and South Carolina. Dr. Allen has helped develop a revolutionary procedure that uses tissue from the upper buttocks to replace lost tissue on the breasts. The surgery is long, requiring two doctors who remove skin, tissue, and blood vessels from the donor site. The tissue is then positioned and the veins and arteries are attached with sutures smaller than a human hair.

Six weeks after surgery, the breasts looked amazingly normal. The patient was happy with her results, and it was much easier than losing muscle from her shoulder or abdomen because this new procedure, the DIEP Flap Procedure, does not use any muscle tissue.

Hopefully, other physcians will begin using this procedure to help women achieve the best results possible after such a radical change that mastecomy causes.