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World’s First Needle-Free, Patient-Controlled Tissue Expansion Device for Women Undergoing Breast Reconstruction Following Mastectomy Approved in Australia.
Australian women will benefit from this new technology which aims to minimise some common barriers to breast reconstruction such distance to services and pain associated with expansion.
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![]() The fact that I had to amputate my boobs is hilariously ironic (re: terribly tragic) for two reasons. For one, I had to cut them off when they were doing the only job they would ever have — breastfeeding. (I mean, other than snagging a husband — Hey-O! ) But seriously, out of all my years, I was only actually going to put my boobs to use for, like, two of them, and in the middle of their only freaking job in life, they decided to try to kill me. Lauren Brown is the special projects editor for Quartz and this is her recent article.
I was 31 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My gynecologist called, and I ducked into the supply closet of our Union Square office for some privacy. She said something about a New York Times article, about estrogen receptors. It was February 2014—we’d just moved offices—and I was surrounded by unpacked bins of computer wire and post-it notes. I didn’t know how to extricate myself from the mess and re-enter the world with this information. I texted my pregnant coworker, I cried in the bathroom, I cried at my desk, and then I did some work. Breast cancer has a prevalence of 1 in 8 American [and Australian] women, with its incidence ever-increasing as screening becomes more widespread. While breast cancer can be a trying and life-altering diagnosis, plastic surgical techniques for breast cancer reconstruction have improved significantly over the past several decades. Women facing mastectomy have a variety of options when it comes to breast reconstruction, and post-operative results are better than ever.
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.
Singer-songwriter Jewel has penned numerous lyrics empowering women after heartbreak and loss, and now she hopes to do the same for breast cancer survivors.
Jewel's latest song, "Flower," was written to raise awareness about the importance of breast reconstruction options for breast cancer survivors. For women who plan to have immediate breast reconstruction, traditional skin-sparing mastectomy removes the breast tissue, nipple and areola. In an optional procedure, new nipples can then be recreated on the reconstructed breasts.
Nipple-sparing mastectomy is a newer, more conservative option for women who have immediate breast reconstruction; it preserves all of the breast skin, including the nipple and areola. Many women feel that this allows them to keep a small part—and from an emotional perspective, perhaps the most important part—of their natural breasts. COSMETIC surgeons would be banned from using the title “surgeon” without appropriate medical training under a draft law released by the NSW Labor opposition.
Anyone with a basic medical qualification can call themselves a surgeon and professional medical associations are asking for a crackdown on use of the title. |
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