"Do I Have To Reconstruct My Breast After A Mastectomy?" - Elaine K. Howley
One of breast cancer’s harshest cruelties is how it can impact a women’s identity through the surgical restructuring of the chest. It also forces patients to make a series of life-altering decisions in quick succession. While many of these decisions revolve around treatment plans, such as whether you’ll need chemotherapy or radiation, some of them will leave lasting scars and reminders of the cancer journey and raise some difficult questions. Jaime Alberty, MD, a breast surgical oncologist at the Dubin Breast Center of the Tisch Cancer Institute of Mount Sinai, agrees that the decision to reconstruct or remain flat should be the patient’s, and making the right decision can help some patients redefine their relationship with their body. “Some women are choosing to skip reconstruction and get very elaborate tattoos and body art. They’re looking as the scars as empowerment.”
- J. Jaime Alberty-Oller, MD, Assistant Professor, Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Surgical Breast Oncologist, The Dubin Breast Center, Tisch Cancer Institute, The Mount Sinai Hospital
