The Complete Guide to Breast Reconstruction: Choosing the Best Options after Your Mastectomy (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book)

The definitive guide to breast reconstruction--now completely revised and updated.

For more than twenty years, The Complete Guide to Breast Reconstruction (formerly The Breast Reconstruction Guidebook) has been an essential resource for individuals who are undergoing mastectomy and thinking about breast reconstruction. In this revised edition, two-time breast cancer survivor Kathy Steligo covers the critical information patients need, from finding the right surgeon to weighing options and making informed decisions.

Anyone considering a mastectomy faces a perplexing array of issues, questions, and decisions in their treatment options. This updated and expanded edition provides a comprehensive road map of the entire mastectomy and reconstruction experience. Steligo explains the advantages and disadvantages of postmastectomy options, including staying flat, using prostheses, and undergoing reconstruction with breast implants or a patient's own tissue. The extensively updated text includes new information on

- The benefits and limitations of traditional versus advanced procedures
- How mastectomy affects sensation, scarring, and projection
- What to expect from nipple-sparing mastectomy
- How reconstruction restores shape, size, and projection
- The pros and cons of saline and silicone breast implants
- The differences between muscle-sparing and muscle-sacrificing natural tissue reconstruction
- Improving results with fat grafting
- 3-D nipple tattooing
- How radiation therapy impacts reconstruction
- Male mastectomy and reconstruction
- The physical and emotional effects of surgery and recovery

Featuring before-and-after patient photos, expert commentaries, and patient stories, this guide describes the mastectomy and reconstructive journey from research to recovery so readers can make informed decisions about what is best for them.