Before and after bilateral DIEP flap breast reconstruction in a 41 year old woman with breast cancer. She had completed neoadjuvant chemotherapy with near complete shrinkage of the tumor and she was ready for surgery. Her goals for reconstruction were to use her own tissue to reconstruct her breasts, to get rid of her tummy overhang and to be slightly fuller than her preoperative breast size. She chose to have a double mastectomy and reconstruction using the deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap.
Bilateral nipple sparing mastectomies were performed at the same time as her DIEP flap breast reconstructions. Her DIEP flaps weighed nearly double that of her mastectomy weights. Rectus diastasis (separation of the rectus abdominis muscles from multiple pregnancies) were repaired at the time of abdominal closure.
Six months later, she underwent free fat grafting to her upper chest to further contour her belly, her flanks, pubic region and axillary rolls. A small amount of fat was added to the upper pole of her DIEP flap breast reconstructions. Her fat grafting donor sites looked even nicer than after her first procedure.
Follow up photos are shown one year after DIEP flap surgery. Breast reconstruction can be viewed as an opportunity – for a Mommy Makeover, like in this patient’s case, a breast cancer (survivor) makeover, or a new opportunity makeover! We always strive to make the breast reconstruction experience positive and rewarding to patients.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
