Seattle Breast Reconstruction doctors
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Richard Baxter, MD
Seattle Plastic Surgeon
6100 219th St SW Ste 290, Mountlake Terrace |
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56 answers |
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Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS
Seattle Plastic Surgeon
1135 116th Ave. NE Suite 630, Bellevue |
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52 answers |
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Karen Vaniver, MD
Seattle Plastic Surgeon
1101 Madison St Suite 1270, Seattle |
5 answers | |
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Shahram Salemy, MD
Seattle Plastic Surgeon
901 Boren Avenue Suite #1650, Seattle |
4 answers | |
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Sepehr Egrari, MD
Seattle Plastic Surgeon
2950 Northup Way Ste 100, Bellevue |
Recent Answers
I'm 1 mo. post-prophylactic bilateral simple mastectomy; no nodes removed. Prior to surgery, I was a 38DD. I expected to have a flat chest post surgery, but what I ended up w/ was flatness above the incisions & rather large "ridges" of skin below the incisions. Will these ridges flatten out any over time or is this the look a surgeon typically gives women who are undecided about future recon? I also have an extra, fat flap near rt. underarm. Will it flatten out? Exploring possible recon.
If you are looking at getting breast reconstruction, the extra skin can either be removed or used to cover implants. Note that your creases below the breasts were preserved and this will help you have a better result. If you don't plan to make new breasts, the extra skin can be removed to tailor the chest wall better.
I have been dx'd with IDC and will be having a bilateral masectomy in March with reconstruction. I love the idea of BRAVA as a more "natural" option however information is limited and are the results worth it or are implants the safest best option? Please advise. Thank you.
With an implant for reconstruction, you will know exactly what dimensions are needed in order to get the size and shape just right. With skin-sparing mastectomy and immediate reconstruction, it is often possible to get it all done at once. With tbe BRAVA system, you would need to wait until you are completely healed from the mastectomy; then wear the appliance for several weeks; then have liposuction and fat transfers, and likely another round later, depending on the size. Make sure you have talked with your breast surgeon AND your plastic surgeon before the mastectomy so that you understand the pros and cons of immediate reconstruction with implant, immediate reconstruction with expander, as well as other options.
Why are all of the photos I've seen of mastectomy scars across the upper part of the breast? and why can't they be lower and curved like the contour of a natural breast?
The traditional mastectomy is designed to remove all of the breast tissue, and since the nipple is where the milk ducts come up to the surface it is considered part of the breast. The scar would then be unavoidably located at the level of the nipple. The good news is that there is a trend toward skin-sparing mastectomy and nipple-sparing, so then the incision placement can be determined by other factors. If you are considering mastectomy, definitely talk to a plastic surgeon beforehand about immediate reconstruction. This is the other big trend, increasingly all in one stage with an Alloderm internal bra and implant.
