My name is Carole LaNata and this is my breast reconstruction journey. A mammogram on October 2012, showed a suspicious area of the left breast. I was then referred to a surgeon for a biopsy, which showed I had ductal carcinoma of the left breast. Before scheduling surgery, I met with Dr. Gustavo Colon, who had done my previous implants, and I found out that he was retiring, (in fact I crashed his retirement party). He was very gracious and he introduced me to Dr. Thomas Sands, who was taking over his practice, and he also informed me that one of Dr. Sands’ specialties is breast reconstruction. Both Dr. Colon and Dr. Sands told me not to worry, and that Dr. Sands would work with the surgeon and do the immediate breast reconstruction at the time of the mastectomy, thus saving me of the trauma and expense of an additional surgery.
Dr. Sands explained the different procedures for breast reconstruction and what I could expect medically and aesthetically. Since I had experienced breast implant surgery before, therefore I chose to have implant reconstruction, using expanders in the left breasts. I had small drains on my left breast after surgery. With the approval of my general surgeon, I elected to keep my right breast, but some adjustment needed to be made on the right breast to match the new left breast. To complete the process I underwent nipple tattooing on the new left breast in March 2014.
Initially, my first thought was that at 71 years of age, I was too old to even think of reconstruction. However, after thinking about it, I decided that I wanted to be the best that I could be. After all, I had always exercised, colored my hair and used every anti-aging cream that I could get my hands on.
Everything with regard to my breast reconstruction went well. I look good in and out of my clothes and I am completely satisfied with the results. In all, I experienced minimum discomfort. Dr. Colon and Dr. Sands and their staff were wonderful throughout the process. It was a good decision for me and I am glad I made it.
