I'm excited.  I have my last breast reconstruction surgery on Tuesday, Sept. 8th.   I'm happy to have this be the end of all my treatments.  It is an outpatient procedure.  I'll be at the Newport Beach Surgery Center.   I trust Dr. Kaidi to do a nice job and I trust his anesthesiologist to keep me comfortable.

So what are they going to do?  I have some photos and explanations here.

The goal of breast reconstruction is to create a soft, natural looking breast for a woman who must undergo breast removal due to cancer or other disease. Whether it is performed immediately following mastectomy or at a later time, breast reconstruction can dramatically improve a woman's appearance, self-confidence and overall quality of life.

A tissue expander is inserted following the mastectomy to prepare for reconstruction. (this was done a year ago and 3 months for my right breast and 5 months ago for my left breast).

The expander is gradually filled with saline through an integrated or separate valve to stretch the skin enough to accept an implant beneath the chest muscle.   The stretching and the saline injection is not that painful.  It's the expander itself.  It is hard and uncomfortable.  I am looking forward to the soft implants.

After surgery, the breast mound is restored. Scars are permanent, but will fade with time. The nipple and areola are reconstructed at a later date.  Dr. Kaidi creates a very real looking nipple by doing a tattoo!

So, there you have it. Please pray that everythng works out okay and I'm home free.  I will be at home the rest of the week, resting.  School starts where I am teaching a class on Saturday afternoon.  And my new interns come to the clinic on Monday.  I'm so ready to move on after all this.