Hope After Failed Implant Surgeries - Nashville, TN

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of 2012. The prescribed treatments were chemotherapy, bi-lateral mastectomy, radiation, hysterectomy (due to type of cancer) and then finally breast reconstruction. It has been quite a journey for my family and I but I will focus on the reconstruction surgeries for the purpose of this review. My plastic surgeon had decided that the best results could be achieved by using tissue expanders and then exchanging them for implants. The expanders were implanted during the surgery for my bi-lateral mastectomy. I then went through 28 radiation treatments on my right breast that left the tissue and skin on the breast severely burned and damaged. My PS decided that time would need to pass to allow the damaged skin and tissue on my right breast to recover before the expanders could be exchanged. We ended up waiting 14 months and my PS decided that the tissue on the right breast was healed as much as it was going to heal. I had surgery early in 2014 to exchange the expanders for implants. The implants were rejected by my body almost immediately. The incisions that were made during the surgery just simply would not heal. Three weeks after the implants were put in I was back in the hospital for another surgery that my PS wanted perform in an effort to save the implants. About 3 weeks after the second surgery my husband noticed that the implant on the right breast was partially exposed due to a break in my skin. My body was still rejecting the implants and I was very sick and weak. My husband and I made the decision to have the implant removed from the right breast to give me a chance to heal and recover from the 3 surgeries. During the next few months, my husband did some research on breast reconstruction and found that there were better options for women that had undergone radiation. The research ended with him deciding that fat grafting would be my best option and he found the best PS that could do it. We made an appt for a consultation with Dr. JJ Wendel in Nashville, TN. We then made the drive from Birmimgham to Nashville for a consultation. After examining me and then listening to my story, Dr, Wendel offered an option that neither one of us knew about, DIEP Flap reconstruction. Dr. Wendel explained the details of the surgery and asked us to go home and think about it which we did. We researched the DIEP surgery and found that is a very technical and specialized surgery that most PS are not trained to do. We decided to schedule the surgery with Dr. Wendel to remove the left implant and have a bi-lateral DIEP Flap reconstruction and I am so glad that we did. The surgery went very well and even though the surgery is very extensive, my recovery went better than with implant surgeries. Dr. Wendel is a very skilled surgeon and a wonderful person. He is also very kind and compassionate. My husband and I both believe that God led us to him. I would recommend Dr. Wendel to anyone that is considering any type of breast recon as I believe him to be one of the best in the business.