Many women who choose reconstructive surgery after breast cancer are surprised at how different their breasts feel. Others are disappointed when the surgery doesn’t go as planned. And almost none are prepared for the complex emotions of coming to terms with ‘a new body.’

Join the conversation on Breast Cancer Healthline — a free app for people living with breast cancer.

下载应用程序

Jane Obadia是43日,即将与她的替代品进行胚胎转移,当她发现自己面临乳腺癌诊断时。在她的放映中始终保持警惕,她被告知在常规乳房X光线照片中,她在她的两种乳房中有多种癌症遗址并立即需要手术。她的家庭建筑计划持有,而她专注于她即将到来的治疗。

“我很幸运能够得到一切,”她在乳房切除术和植入手术后说。但三个月后,她经历了并发症,需要再次进行整个重建过程。

And then six months later, it happened again.

Obadia决定介绍植入物的替代品,因为另一种并发症的机会太高了。她选择使用自己的组织进行另一次重建。

“I think when you’re initially diagnosed, you’re coming from a place of doing anything to save your life. You’re not really considering the impact of the lack of sensation, the numbness. You’re met with your chest wall being numb, and that’s hard to deal with.”

“One of the big emotional struggles women have is when it
doesn’t go the way they anticipated it would.”

根据上秋季发表的一份报告,乳房切除术后重建62 percentfrom 2009 to 2014. As surgical techniques advance, results are growing increasingly more natural, but it doesn’t mean that a woman feels her body is natural.

“乳房重建是一个过程,多种手术往往是达到最佳结果,”康斯坦斯博士·陈博士解释说董事会认证整形外科医生在纽约在她的并发症后进行了奥代亚组织手术。“身体一次只能处理这么多的变化,并且在手术后也改变并定居,所以手术室桌上看起来很棒的东西可能看起来不大或多年后。”

After her surgery, Obadia was grateful to be able to have sensation in her breasts again, thanks to a nerve graft procedure. She could feel temperature changes and skin touch again. “It was life-changing.”

许多在乳腺癌后正在进行重建手术的女性惊讶于他们的乳房感觉如何,特别是在植入物之后。“比大多数女性意识到更复杂和更长的过程。他们没有意识到他们签署了一年的重建,“劳拉豪德 - 马丁博士和精神科医生和associate professor在UT Southwestern Medical Center。

“Cancer is a lot more complicated than people think, so
is reconstruction.”

良好的沟通的plastic surgeon is important. Reconstruction options are usually addressed around the time of mastectomy, but a variety of factors play into whether or not rebuilding the breasts will happen immediately. That provider-patient relationship plays a major role in how well a woman is able to come to a good place emotionally when facing reconstructive surgery.

“That’s an absolute must,” explains Dr. Anne Wallace, director of the Comprehensive Breast Health Center and professor of plastic surgery at UC San Diego Health. “People come in with the expectation of everything being perfect, or the opposite — expectations of total disasters. The biggest thing at the beginning is to manage expectations.”

Wallace finds that the women she works with who struggle with their self-esteem are the ones who put the most emphasis on the results of their reconstruction. “That’s where we need to do better,” she reflects.

“我们需要认识到如何让他们对自己感觉良好,无论与完美的乳房无关。它甚至没有乳房切除术。它在乳房上致敬,实现了我们如何帮助他们。“

It surprises women how uncomfortable they are after reconstruction and that can carry over into their relationships and everyday life.

“女性的一个大情绪斗争是,当它不会以他们预期的方式,”Howe-Martin解释道。“这已经习惯了这个新的身体,也许是亲密关系的差距,现在他们正在回归是一对而不是照顾者和病人。”

奥迪亚理解乳房切除术后重新定义关系的过程和重建。“你到达了一定程度的亲密关系,它要么让你走开,或者在你的关系中创造了很大的亲密关系。”

当一个女人获得初步诊断时,有一种倾向于生存模式,因为她只是想成为无癌症。奥迪亚鼓励其他女性知道是的,你正在处理癌症,但是生活超出了它,并有信心你会到达那里。

“Mastectomy and reconstruction is starting all over,” says Wallace. “It’s a lot more complicated, but once women know that, they’re fine with it and they’re not disappointed. But it takes a team to deliver that information correctly. Cancer is a lot more complicated than people think — so is reconstruction.”


Risa Kerslake,BSN,是一个登记的护士和自由作家,居住在与丈夫和年轻女儿中西部的中西部。她对生育,健康和育儿问题进行了广泛。雷竞技ray您可以通过她的网站与她联系Risa Kerslake写道,或者你可以找到她Facebook推特.