Before and after right lumpectomy and reconstruction by local tissue rearrangement (breast lift) and a left balancing breast reduction/lift in a 45 year old woman with breast cancer. She had always considered having a breast lift after having kids; she did not expect to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but she viewed this as an opportunity to get her “Mommy Makeover breasts”.
A combined lumpectomy, sentinel lymph node biopsy, mastopexy as the reconstruction method and balancing breast reduction was planned as an outpatient surgery. After surgery, the patient completed 3 months of chemotherapy (starting at 6 weeks postop) and 5 weeks of radiation therapy (starting one month after chemo was over).
Radiation therapy will shrink a breast up to 20% of its volume. If it is known that radiation is required after breast reconstruction, the plan is to make the reconstructed breast up to 20% larger to accommodate for expected shrinkage. She completed her cancer treatments and continued following up with our office for scar therapy and evaluation of her outcome.
Follow up photos are shown 6 months after completion of radiation therapy with expected skin discoloration in the radiation field and slight expected shrinkage of the right breast. She is very pleased she was able to keep her (lifted) breasts and get on with her life at this point!
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
