Reclaim Your Curves

  • Home
    • Our Work >
      • Reclaim & Recover
      • Breast Reconstruction Awareness Events
      • RYC Peer Support Lunches
      • Order - Postcards
      • Order - Patient Toolkit
    • Admin >
      • Health Industry Contact Form
      • Volunteer Registration Form
      • Suggest a service
      • Volunteer Crew page
  • Breast reconstruction
  • Latest News
  • Connect
  • Additional resources
  • Home
    • Our Work >
      • Reclaim & Recover
      • Breast Reconstruction Awareness Events
      • RYC Peer Support Lunches
      • Order - Postcards
      • Order - Patient Toolkit
    • Admin >
      • Health Industry Contact Form
      • Volunteer Registration Form
      • Suggest a service
      • Volunteer Crew page
  • Breast reconstruction
  • Latest News
  • Connect
  • Additional resources

Latest news and information

Air expanders helping women recover from breast cancer surgery

19/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Bonny Chisolm, who has used the new device, with her children, Tamara, Ryan and Connor. Picture: David Crosling
AUSTRALIAN women recovering from breast cancer surgery now have access to air expanders they can inflate on their own, preventing painful injections and doctor’s visits and reducing the time between their mastectomy and ­reconstruction.

The air expander is filled with carbon dioxide, instead of saline, allowing women to blow their own implants up using a handheld remote.

More than 350 patients have the device implanted and it is hoped that now it attracts a government rebate, more women will get access to it.

Dr Hamish Farrow, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who works at the Austin Hospital and in private practice, said reconstructing the breast was a two-step process that used tissue expanders before the permanent implants were put in.

Currently, patients predominantly have saline expanders inserted, which need to be injected over a period of months.


“The real advantage of an air expander is that you don’t have the pain of the needle or the necessity of doctor’s visits,” Dr Farrow said.

To stop the AeroForm tissue expander being over-inflated, it has a daily air limit that cannot be exceeded.

Although the device would be suitable for only around a third of his patients, Dr Farrow said it could prove advantageous for those living in rural or remote areas.

A study, published in the Annals of Plastic Surgery, found the tissue expander had the potential to make the expansion process faster and more convenient.

Victorian Bonny Chisholm was diagnosed with breast cancer last year after undergoing her first free mammogram.

“I breastfed my twins for 18 months, had no family history of breast cancer and I was fit, healthy and had a good diet,” she said.

But, despite also having no lump nor side-effects, the cancer had spread outside her milk ducts and she ­required surgery.

She had the AeroForm device inserted, which she would inflate using a remote control three times a day.

“I liked the fact that I could do it at home without having to go in for medical appointments to have the saline injected,” she said.

Go to the source

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    August 2019
    July 2019
    July 2018
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013


    RSS Feed

Quick links 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Volunteer with us

You have experience and wisdom to share.

Contact us to volunteer your talent:
Support others online or face to face
Offer your technical expertise
Provide admin support
Help with fundraising
Share your story
Picture
Contact Us

This website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice from a physician or to create a standard of care for health care providers. Please check with a physician if you have any questions, need a diagnosis and/or for treatments as well as information regarding your specific condition.

Reclaim Your Curves 2015 - 2018