Breast Reconstruction After Mastectomy

Breast reconstruction is an option for those women about to undergo a unilateral or bilateral mastectomy, or those who have had one performed. Reconstructing a breast has been shown to provide psychological, social, emotional, and functional improvements to the patient, including improvement in her self-esteem.

There are many factors to consider:

• Whether to have a mastectomy, an oncoplastic mastectomy or lumpectomy and radiation.
• If a mastectomy, should it be a unilateral or bilateral?
• Should I have a matching procedure on the healthy breast?
• Whether to begin the reconstruction immediately or at a latter date.
• For the reconstruction to be carried out by using your own tissue or by the use of breast prosthesis.
• To have the nipples salvaged, reconstructed or tattooed.

Dealing with these decisions may be difficult or frustrating, especially in a patient overwhelmed by a recent diagnosis of breast cancer.

For these reasons, Dr. Mondolfi will sit down with you and spend as much time as necessary to evaluate your case, allay your fears, help you understand your options and coordinate your care with your surgeon, your oncologist and, if necessary, your radiation oncologist.

Should you wish to research some of the alternatives open to you, you may visit: plasticsurgery.org

Dr. Mondolfi has experience with oncoplastic mastectomies, as well as autologous tissue reconstruction, where he transfers segments of your own skin, fat and muscle from the lower abdomen to the chest wall where they are shaped into a breast mound. However, the trend over the past ten years is increasingly one of implant based reconstructions where the mound is built by shaping skin and fat around a silicone implant.

View Breast Reconstruction Before and Afters