Why did you choose breast reconstructive surgery?
Breast reconstruction is something that was really close to my heart because breast cancer affects a woman's femininity, at which point she loses her hair and breasts, which differentiates us from men.
How does the breast reconstruction process work?
Reconstruction is approached together; it's really a journey between the patient, the surgeon, and the partner. If he can be there, that's great because the reconstruction process is really long, and so there needs to be a relationship of trust with the plastic surgeon. Above all, the patient needs to feel confident.
During the first consultation, it's really an exchange, a first contact, we don't make any decisions at the end of the consultation, you have to feel very comfortable with that. We're really there to discuss. Then we'll discuss the disease itself, what happened, the experience. It's very important to see a little bit about the patient's state of mind, whether or not they feel ready to start a long reconstruction process. And then we discuss the different reconstruction techniques.
Because in each patient, not everything is possible depending on the experience, radiotherapy or not, and the condition of the skin, and whether or not everything has been removed. Depending on the cancer that is discovered or we just remove the tumor, it is called a lumpectomy, with or without lymph node analysis we remove only part of the breast and sometimes radiotherapy in addition in this case we must wait two years before reconstructing, but nothing prevents us from going to see a plastic surgeon to see what is possible to do in the meantime. In the case of a total mastectomy: complete removal of the breast: the delay before reconstruction is one year.
Why a year?
It's time for a woman to recover from this long journey. During this year, the skin will also partially regenerate, which will help us with the reconstruction behind it. Reconstruction after a partial or total mastectomy can be done using fat, with or without the placement of a prosthesis. In the case of a total mastectomy: there are other possibilities for autologous reconstruction such as dorsal lamping. The contralateral breast is also taken into account and can be symmetrized to restore overall harmony.
What advice would you like to give to women?
I think it's very important to listen to yourself, without being alarmed by the slightest anomaly, but I really advise women to listen to their bodies and take care of them. Self-examination should be part of everyday life, I invite women to introduce it into their beauty rituals, when exfoliating in the shower or applying a balm to the body.