This week, Richard M. Kline, Jr., MD, of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction answers your question about breast reconstruction.
Question: I had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction and I am terribly dissatisfied with my care so far. 11 Months later, the expanders are still painful. I will be asking to have them removed this week.I have 2 questions for you. After I have the expanders removed would I still be a candidate for the DIEP flap? I am still going to chemo (Herceptin) which will run until the end of November, provided there are no more setbacks. My second question is, do you accept VA insurance? One form of payment is through the VA another is Veteran's Choice. I am not sure which would cover outside care. I look forward to your response.Answer: I'm sorry you have had so much trouble, but there is a very good chance that we can help you.Your previous unfortunate experience with expanders does not in any way decrease our ability to successfully reconstruct you with DIEP flaps. The blood vessels which we use to vascularize your flaps are well below the area where tissue expanders are placed, and we have successfully reconstructed literally hundreds of patients in your situation. One potential advantage to having the expanders removed sooner rather than later is that we get an MRI angiogram on all patients who are scheduled for perforator flap breast reconstruction, and most breast tissue expanders are not MRI-compatible. If they use a little magnet to find the port before they fill your expanders, then you can't get an MRI with those expanders in place.We have worked with the VA many times in the past, and Gail, our insurance expert, will contact you to investigate your situation further.Thank you very much for your inquiry, and I look forward to meeting you.Have a question about breast reconstruction or post-surgical you’d like answered from our surgical team? Just ask!
This week, Richard M. Kline, Jr., MD, of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction answers your question about breast reconstruction.
Question: I had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction and I am terribly dissatisfied with my care so far. 11 Months later, the expanders are still painful. I will be asking to have them removed this week.I have 2 questions for you. After I have the expanders removed would I still be a candidate for the DIEP flap? I am still going to chemo (Herceptin) which will run until the end of November, provided there are no more setbacks. My second question is, do you accept VA insurance? One form of payment is through the VA another is Veteran's Choice. I am not sure which would cover outside care. I look forward to your response.Answer: I'm sorry you have had so much trouble, but there is a very good chance that we can help you.Your previous unfortunate experience with expanders does not in any way decrease our ability to successfully reconstruct you with DIEP flaps. The blood vessels which we use to vascularize your flaps are well below the area where tissue expanders are placed, and we have successfully reconstructed literally hundreds of patients in your situation. One potential advantage to having the expanders removed sooner rather than later is that we get an MRI angiogram on all patients who are scheduled for perforator flap breast reconstruction, and most breast tissue expanders are not MRI-compatible. If they use a little magnet to find the port before they fill your expanders, then you can't get an MRI with those expanders in place.We have worked with the VA many times in the past, and Gail, our insurance expert, will contact you to investigate your situation further.Thank you very much for your inquiry, and I look forward to meeting you.Have a question about breast reconstruction or post-surgical you’d like answered from our surgical team? Just ask!People also viewed
