The Breast Reconstruction Guidebook ─ Issues and Answers from Research to Recovery

Since 2002, The Breast Reconstruction Guidebook has been the best resource on this topic for women who have had a mastectomy. Equal parts science and support, it is filled with stories that illustrate the emotional and physical components of breast reconstruction. Kathy Steligo, a gifted writer and breast cancer survivor who has twice had breast reconstruction, compassionately answers women’s questions about how they will respond emotionally and physically to losing a breast, whether to treat or prevent breast cancer. Steligo provides detailed descriptions of the various surgical options for mastectomy and reconstruction, as well as information on choosing and paying for a surgeon, preparing for and recovering from surgery, and handling the many practical details and difficult decisions women will face along the way. A road map of the mastectomy and reconstruction journey, this book gives women the comprehensive, unbiased details they need to make their own informed decisions about whether reconstruction—and which reconstructive option—is right for them.

Readers learn how breasts can be recreated using implants or their own tissue and the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Surgery timelines, recovery, and potential problems (and how they can be resolved) are also explained. A new foreword by Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo, MD, of the PRMA Plastic Surgery Center for Advanced Breast Reconstruction, highlights the book’s strengths and offers a medical perspective on breast cancer and reconstructive surgery.

The extensively updated text includes new discussions of• innovative reconstructive procedures• contralateral mastectomy• the benefits and limitations of nipple- and areola-sparing mastectomies• nipple delay procedure• patient-controlled tissue expansion• cohesive gel silicone implants• microsurgical advances that improve tissue flap procedures• fat grafting• nipple reconstruction• nipple and areola tattooing• reconstruction with the BRAVA system• pregnancy after TRAM• male mastectomy and reconstruction• decision making and solving cosmetic and medical post-op problems• surgical procedures that reduce the risk of cancer• the latest research data on mastectomy and reconstruction• and much more

Kathy Steligo is the editor-at-large for Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE). She is the coauthor of Confronting Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Identify Your Risk, Understand Your Options, Change Your Destiny and Confronting Chronic Pain: A Pain Doctor's Guide to Relief.