Women’s Experiences Undergoing Reconstructive Surgery after Mastectomy due to Breast Cancer

INTRODUCTION

In 2010, breast cancer was the most common cancer in Australian women (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer), accounting for 28.0 per cent of all new cancers in women (AIHW, 2014). It affects an essential part of female self-consciousness, and therefore causes a wide range of psychological traumas (Teymouri et al., 2006). Patients recently diagnosed with breast cancer are distraught with concerns not only about surviving their disease but also about how its treatment will affect their body image and self-image (Djohan et al., 2008).

In 2007, about 29.2% of American women performed BR following mastectomy (Kruper et al., 2011). Mastectomy challenges the woman’s body as an entity, and the sexual and maternal dimensions of femininity (Everson, 2009; Guenot, 1995).

There are three major surgical techniques of BR: a breast implant, autologous tissue flap, or a combination of both (Platt et al., 2011). Autologous reconstruction relies on the transfer of flaps of tissue from donor sites such as skin, fat, and muscle to the anterior chest wall (Ahmed et al., 2005). Breast reconstruction with autologous tissue leaves extensive scarring and muscle weakness at the donor site, but can provide a BR that is more natural in appearance and feel. In the other hand, implants are less invasive but they carry the risks of implant migration, rupture or encapsulation, and the implants do not age with the woman’s body (Fallbjörk, 2012).

Women undergoing breast reconstruction have better psychological adjustment than other breast cancer patients (Harcourt and Rumsey, 2001). In time BR offer more options to obtain a satisfactory outcome (Djohan et al., 2008). Women undergoing flap reconstructions may be surprised at the amount of scarring an...

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