Before and after left delayed microsurgical breast reconstruction with the DIEP flap and later left nipple-areolar reconstruction using the “nipple sharing” technique and medical tattoo in a 50 year old breast cancer survivor.
She had a non-skin sparing mastectomy several years previously and was denied breast reconstruction because she was “too fat”. She did not require chemotherapy or radiation treatment for her breast cancer. She found our website via an internet search and was relieved to know that breast reconstruction indeed was an option for her, and that she was a good candidate for the DIEP flap.
A free flap of skin and fat was microvascularly transplanted from her lower abdomen to her left chest wall, disconnecting and then reconnecting the blood supply under high powered magnification. Excess abdominal tissue weighing 1900 grams (4 pounds) was also removed and discarded, giving her a “tummy tuck” abdominal result. She did not require a “balancing procedure” on her other breast.
Ten months after the free flap surgery, her left nipple was reconstruction by a free nipple graft from the right nipple, and medical tattoo created a left areolar circle. Follow up photos are shown 6 weeks after her second surgery. She now feels “whole again” and is grateful that this incredible breast reconstruction technique was offered to her.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
