Before and after DIEP flap breast reconstruction in a 36 year old breast cancer survivor. She had completed neoadjuvant chemotherapy for a right sided breast cancer.
She required a mastectomy next and although she had not yet had children, she felt very strongly she wanted to use her own tissue to reconstruct her breast. She was fit and active but had always had “a belly” and was thrilled to put it to good use via microsurgical transplantation!
She was tested for the breast cancer gene(s) and was negative. She elected to preserve her left breast for future breast feeding as she was newly engaged to be married. A right nipple sparing mastectomy and immediate DIEP flap breast reconstruction took just over three and a half hours to perform.
Postoperatively, she spent a week in the hospital for supervised healing and returned to unrestricted exercise at 6 weeks. Long term follow up photos are shown 3 years after surgery. Her scars are mature and she is thrilled to share her pregnancy news with us!
As for a tummy tuck, the belly will stretch normally during pregnancy and will likely bounce back to its current state after her baby is delivered. We keep in close contact with our patients and have recommended she come back and see us once she has finished having her babies for an assessment of her results.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
