Every year thousands of women are handed a diagnosis of breast cancer. This can be a devastating diagnosis for so many reasons. For one thing you’re being given a diagnosis of cancer, which can be extremely frightening to have to deal with. And then you’re also being told that the cancer is located in one area where a woman feels her femininity most: the breasts. Many women who have a diagnosis of breast cancer wind up having a mastectomy, which essentially means having the breast tissue removed. Of those women, a majority of them wind up having some form of breast surgery done in order to make themselves look, and feel, better.
Reconstruction
Women who have their breasts removed in order to cut out the cancer may go through a period of depression simply because they have no chest tissue left. A woman often feels defined by her chest. It is one of the visible things that makes women different from men, and when it is gone, it can make a woman who is already in a fragile state feel worse about herself and her body. Fortunately having a full reconstruction is possible. A woman who is having her breast tissue removed knowingly will often request that a plastic surgeon be on hand during the operation. This is because the surgeon can then help to suture the wounds closed in such as way as to make it easier to do the reconstruction on the chest area later.
Women who do not have a cosmetic surgeon there during the procedure may still be able to get their chest enlarged at a later date, but will likely have to deal with more scars. If it is possible, it is always good to get a cosmetic surgeon in on the operation in order to close the wound.
Other Options
Aside from having a reconstruction done, there are other types of procedures that can be done to help a breast cancer sufferer that do not equate with breast enlargement. Some of these methods involve simply making the scars less visible, so that the woman feels freer to wear lower shirts. Others involve moving, or even creating, a nipple so that she feels much more normal. Regardless of whether you decide to have the chest enlarged after your operation or to have the area made to look better, most plastic surgeons will have a way to help you to feel better about your mastectomy.
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