During my search for a breast and plastic surgeon, I made it my mission to meet as many women as possible who had been through the surgery. After all, the Internet can sometimes be the worst place to look at pictures of women before and after surgery; while blogs can be helpful, or sometimes anxiety inducing (I say this because I feel like some people only write about the bad stuff).
Last March I had the privilege of meeting Leann and Mindy. A friend and colleague, Jessica, provided me with Leann's contact information when I told her that I was searching for doctors and mentors for surgery. When I reached out to Leann, she was eager to meet. She said that she would invite her friend, Mindy, who was currently going through the reconstruction process. Leann is a cancer survivor and Mindy is positive for the BRCA mutation. Both have had one or both of their breasts removed with reconstruction.
On a cold, rainy day the three of us gathered at Heine Brothers. Right off the bat, Leann and Mindy offered to show me their breasts in the bathroom. Although I was excited to participate in a little "show and tell," I begged them to at least let me buy them coffee first :)
When I told the ladies that I was searching for surgeons to set up consultations with, the two of them said, "Look no further. Use Dr. Scott Jones for your breast surgeon, and Dr. Thomas Noel for your plastic surgeon." They shared their stories and their experiences with surgery and reconstruction. They answered all of my questions. At the end of our meeting, we gathered in the bathroom and both ladies lifted up their shirts. A sense of relief came over me. Both women looked absolutely beautiful! I left the coffee shop feeling hopeful and a little less fearful of surgery. The next day I scheduled a consult with Dr. Jones.
I liked Dr. Jones the minute I met him. He was professional and very knowledgeable. After all, he had been performing breast surgeries for over 30 years. During our visit, Dr. Jones made me feel like I had options, and that surgery was not something that I had to do right at that moment. He encouraged me to have children and breast feed, if that was something that I wanted to do. We discussed the controversy over nipple sparring vs non nipple sparring mastectomies, and he told me that he does not perform nipple sparring mastectomies. Dr. Jones said, "if you are going to such an extreme surgery, why would you risk leaving any tissue behind?" That question really stuck with me. My cousin, Kelley, and I left the appointment very pleased with Dr. Jones.
Choosing to keep your nipples versus loosing them is a personal decision. Naturally, I wanted to keep my own. I wanted my breasts to look as real as possible. I wanted the possibility of still having sensation. But, I know myself all too well. If I chose to keep them, then I would continue to worry that I might get breast cancer, and I wanted the surgery to give me piece of mind. After all, nipples are just ornaments anyway :)
In April, Cooper and I met Dr. Noel and were more than pleased. We discussed different methods of reconstruction, and Dr. Noel introduced me to two patients in the office who had reconstruction; one with tissue expanders and one with the TRAM flap. Although a tummy tuck sounded amazing, I knew that the TRAM flap surgery was pretty extensive, and that it would make my core muscles considerably weaker. I decided that tissue expanders with implants would be better suited for me. In addition,Dr. Noel educated me on methods to reconstruct the nipple and tattooing the areola.
In May, I made the phone call to schedule surgery. Some say that is the hardest part of this whole process.
A few months prior to surgery, I got a personal phone call from Dr. Jones himself. He called to inform me that he would be retiring at the end of the year, and he wanted to make sure that I felt comfortable moving forward with surgery. Typically he follows patients for approximately 3 months post op, but in my case it would be more like a couple of weeks. I congratulated him and told him that I knew I was in good hands, and that I still wanted him to perform the operation. Dr. Noel also reassured me that all would be okay, and that he would be the surgeon that would follow me. If I had been a patient with cancer, then things would be different.
On the day of the surgery some of the nurses told me that Dr. Jones had not operated for the last 6 weeks. They also said that he came back for me, and that I was his last case. I have to admit, there was something very special about the whole thing.
Dr. Jones did an excellent job removing all of my breast tissue during surgery. He removed approximately 2 1/2 lbs total from both breasts. This number came as quite a surprise; I certainly thought my breasts would have weighed more because they were so big. He also dissected 4 lymph nodes total; 3 in one breast and 1 in another. I received my pathology report the day following surgery, with good results. No cancer!!! Dr. Jones saw me a couple of times while I was in the hospital and requested to see me in his office for a follow up on November 21st, his last day.
My friend Jayne was kind enough to drive me to my appointment on Thursday to see Dr. Jones. He took a quick peek at my incisions and said that he was very pleased with the results. Dr. Jones also told me that I had good skin. I'm guessing that will work in my favor during the expanding phase :)
The appointment ended with Dr. Jones hugging me and telling me that he was proud of me. Dr. Jones said that he has been using my quote, and that I handled the disease before it handled me. As we parted, we wished one another a good life.
Last March I had the privilege of meeting Leann and Mindy. A friend and colleague, Jessica, provided me with Leann's contact information when I told her that I was searching for doctors and mentors for surgery. When I reached out to Leann, she was eager to meet. She said that she would invite her friend, Mindy, who was currently going through the reconstruction process. Leann is a cancer survivor and Mindy is positive for the BRCA mutation. Both have had one or both of their breasts removed with reconstruction.
On a cold, rainy day the three of us gathered at Heine Brothers. Right off the bat, Leann and Mindy offered to show me their breasts in the bathroom. Although I was excited to participate in a little "show and tell," I begged them to at least let me buy them coffee first :)
When I told the ladies that I was searching for surgeons to set up consultations with, the two of them said, "Look no further. Use Dr. Scott Jones for your breast surgeon, and Dr. Thomas Noel for your plastic surgeon." They shared their stories and their experiences with surgery and reconstruction. They answered all of my questions. At the end of our meeting, we gathered in the bathroom and both ladies lifted up their shirts. A sense of relief came over me. Both women looked absolutely beautiful! I left the coffee shop feeling hopeful and a little less fearful of surgery. The next day I scheduled a consult with Dr. Jones.
I liked Dr. Jones the minute I met him. He was professional and very knowledgeable. After all, he had been performing breast surgeries for over 30 years. During our visit, Dr. Jones made me feel like I had options, and that surgery was not something that I had to do right at that moment. He encouraged me to have children and breast feed, if that was something that I wanted to do. We discussed the controversy over nipple sparring vs non nipple sparring mastectomies, and he told me that he does not perform nipple sparring mastectomies. Dr. Jones said, "if you are going to such an extreme surgery, why would you risk leaving any tissue behind?" That question really stuck with me. My cousin, Kelley, and I left the appointment very pleased with Dr. Jones.
Choosing to keep your nipples versus loosing them is a personal decision. Naturally, I wanted to keep my own. I wanted my breasts to look as real as possible. I wanted the possibility of still having sensation. But, I know myself all too well. If I chose to keep them, then I would continue to worry that I might get breast cancer, and I wanted the surgery to give me piece of mind. After all, nipples are just ornaments anyway :)
In April, Cooper and I met Dr. Noel and were more than pleased. We discussed different methods of reconstruction, and Dr. Noel introduced me to two patients in the office who had reconstruction; one with tissue expanders and one with the TRAM flap. Although a tummy tuck sounded amazing, I knew that the TRAM flap surgery was pretty extensive, and that it would make my core muscles considerably weaker. I decided that tissue expanders with implants would be better suited for me. In addition,Dr. Noel educated me on methods to reconstruct the nipple and tattooing the areola.
In May, I made the phone call to schedule surgery. Some say that is the hardest part of this whole process.
A few months prior to surgery, I got a personal phone call from Dr. Jones himself. He called to inform me that he would be retiring at the end of the year, and he wanted to make sure that I felt comfortable moving forward with surgery. Typically he follows patients for approximately 3 months post op, but in my case it would be more like a couple of weeks. I congratulated him and told him that I knew I was in good hands, and that I still wanted him to perform the operation. Dr. Noel also reassured me that all would be okay, and that he would be the surgeon that would follow me. If I had been a patient with cancer, then things would be different.
On the day of the surgery some of the nurses told me that Dr. Jones had not operated for the last 6 weeks. They also said that he came back for me, and that I was his last case. I have to admit, there was something very special about the whole thing.
Dr. Jones did an excellent job removing all of my breast tissue during surgery. He removed approximately 2 1/2 lbs total from both breasts. This number came as quite a surprise; I certainly thought my breasts would have weighed more because they were so big. He also dissected 4 lymph nodes total; 3 in one breast and 1 in another. I received my pathology report the day following surgery, with good results. No cancer!!! Dr. Jones saw me a couple of times while I was in the hospital and requested to see me in his office for a follow up on November 21st, his last day.
My friend Jayne was kind enough to drive me to my appointment on Thursday to see Dr. Jones. He took a quick peek at my incisions and said that he was very pleased with the results. Dr. Jones also told me that I had good skin. I'm guessing that will work in my favor during the expanding phase :)
The appointment ended with Dr. Jones hugging me and telling me that he was proud of me. Dr. Jones said that he has been using my quote, and that I handled the disease before it handled me. As we parted, we wished one another a good life.
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