November 7, 2017 – Reconstruction Decisions

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Anchor lead: Women who are considering breast reconstruction need support, Elizabeth Tracey reports

More and  more women are choosing breast reconstruction following mastectomy, data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality find. Gedge Rosson, a breast reconstruction expert at Johns Hopkins, says women need to take a comprehensive approach to deciding which option is best for them.

Rosson: Reach out to support groups, find other women who have gone through it, see what was important to them, really immerse yourself in trying to figure out what is best for you. We tell all of our patients you have three options: you can have no reconstruction, you can do reconstruction with implants or you can do reconstruction with your own tissue. We encourage people to reach out as much as they can, definitely there are patient support groups that are wonderful. Here at the breast center there are so many patient volunteers and nurse navigators to help patients with that.  :30

Rosson says each option comes with a full set of considerations so women should proceed deliberately, and choose centers that offer the full range of support and experience to assist. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.