Breast Cancer Reconstruction

A breast cancer diagnosis turns your world upside down. Having to sort through decision making and insurance is difficult enough. Having the added pressures of the emerging world pandemic in 2020 added a layer of confusion to my already turned-upside-down world. In February of 2020, I had a bilateral mastectomy with immediate nipple/skin sparing reconstruction. All was well, until it wasn’t. I ended up back in the hospital with an infection. Covid was in full bloom. Weeks went by and my incision from my second surgery wasn’t healing….months later it was clear I had a failed breast cancer reconstruction on multiple fronts. My oncology surgeon and gynecologist were not pleased with the care I was getting from the in-network plastic surgeon who had done my reconstruction, and referred me to Dr. Pablo Prichard.

Dr. Prichard is a Scottsdale plastic surgeon and renowned trauma surgeon who has a passion for helping women with breast cancer feel whole. One of his specialities is failed breast cancer reconstruction. That was me. I walked into my first appointment in 2021 with an apprehensive heart. I walked out with a two staged breast cancer re-reconstruction plan customized for me. Dr. Prichard is clearly not only an innovative surgeon but an artist who sees each person as an individual. His expertise as a plastic surgeon and trauma surgeon sets him apart in little touches like moving nipples to natural locations or fat graphing as needed for to perfect the silhouette. The time he spent measuring and drawing on me prior to my first surgery was considerable. I was a canvas and he the artist.

Jadie Peck, Dr. Prichard’s assistant, meets each patient with the same care and keen aesthetic judgement as Dr. Prichard. Together their attention to detail is unsurpassed. Having “girl talk” with Jadie before Dr. Prichard would come into the room for follow-up appointments and then appointments to start filling my breast expanders was invaluable. Whenever I was feeling a bit lost or scared, Jadie had a way of picking me up. Jadie, at my request, even stood in front of the full length mirror examining me head to toe at one of my expander fills appointments laughing as we discussed what would be the perfect breast size for me. Jadie, like Dr. Prichard, sees the whole person. As a female, she lifts me up with hope at every twist and turn of this journey.

My heart and mind are totally at ease as I prepare to have Dr. Prichard complete my second stage of breast reconstruction at Vincere Cancer Center next week. Dr. Prichard may humm as he works, but as his patient my heart is singing a happy tune filled with joy. — Laura Hobson