Before and after left delayed breast reconstruction in a 48-year-old breast cancer survivor who was not offered breast reconstruction at the time of her cancer diagnosis. Her aesthetic goals were to be reconstructed fuller than her postpartum right breast, and to have this be her Mommy Makeover in addition to her breast cancer reconstruction.
A staged technique involved transplantation of skin and fat from her lower abdomen to the left chest as a DIEP flap as her first procedure. Six month later, smooth round adjustable saline-filled implants were placed bilaterally – under the left DIEP flap and under the right breast as a balancing augmentation.
A final outpatient procedure involved removing the implant ports, leaving the implants in place. A year and a half after her DIEP flap, the “nipple sharing” technique was used to reconstruction the left nipple, where a piece of the right nipple was moved to the left as a free nipple graft. Medical tattoo created a new areolar circle on the left. The right areola was also tattooed for symmetry.
Long-term follow up photos are shown 6 years after surgery. She is grateful that having breast reconstruction gave her the opportunity to “move forward” after beating breast cancer and reframe her surgical scars into a situation where she took control of her situation and her body again.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
