Episode 49: Fat Necrosis: What to Know and Look for in Breast Reconstruction
Release Date: 01/31/2024
Episode 74: Breast Cancer & What's Right for You: Options, Planning, and Decisions
DiepCJourney Podcast
When you have cancer you become a patient, and advocate, a student, and yes, I said student. It’s like taking one of those classes at university that you must take to learn the topic, but you don’t really want to take it. Have you ever met someone in the breast cancer community, and you think to yourself, “Damn! They really did a good job of navigating this whole process.” They view their life before cancer. They view their life during diagnosis, after treatment, after surgery, and what that should look like to them. Then they got on with it. I met one of those people and we chat on...
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Ep. 73: Breast Reconstruction Surgery at Southwest Breast & Aesthetics
DiepCJourney Podcast
As promised, season five presents our listeners with interviews from experts and shares with you all your options for breast reconstruction surgery after mastectomy. In this episode of the the expert we interview is who collaborates with a team of surgeons at in Phoenix, Arizona. One of our goals on the podcast is to provide access to care, no matter who you choose for your breast surgery. When you dial down to autologous reconstruction, using the patients own tissue, it becomes important to research the background, skill, and collaborative team effort of the microsurgeon you choose....
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Episode 72: Stacked Flap in Breast Reconstruction for Radiated Skin and to Achieve Volume
DiepCJourney Podcast
Listeners of the are familiar with the DIEP flap breast reconstruction procedure where the abdominal skin, tissue, and underlying blood vessels are used to replace the breast tissue lost due to mastectomy after being affected by breast cancer. On this episode we are going to discuss the “” in breast reconstruction. I’m speaking with of in Phoenix, AZ. He is a board-certified plastic surgeon who is specifically trained in microsurgery. It is the specialty of microsurgery that is required to perform a stacked flap procedure. Dr. Matatov and his team perform these and why I reached out...
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Episode 71: Rori Zura of Foobs and Fitness: Exercise and Breast Cancer
DiepCJourney Podcast
My guest on this episode of the is a young woman who during the height of the COVID pandemic, at only 33 years old, became diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. Her Journey was not easy but, it is truly inspiring and motivating. She has a strong family history of distinct types of cancer. This is a quote from her website: “Tired of reactive approaches, that waited for symptoms to appear, I refused to let history repeat itself. Recognizing that others face similar challenges I knew action was needed." This quote reflects her work, her passion, and her profession. My guest is , who...
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Episode 70: The Gift of Patient Advocate Wisdom
DiepCJourney Podcast
This episode of the is our final edition in 2024. I share a discussion across continents with two women leaders I admire who engage in patient advocacy and the patient story. is well known for “” a platform where she gathers writers and bloggers sharing their stories across social media platforms. Her journey in patient advocacy began twenty years ago with a diagnosis of breast cancer. Marie poignantly tells us in the interview that, "We find when we are diagnosed with a serious illness, something is missing. We look around and see who can fix this. I discovered the person who could fix...
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Episode 69: A Decade of Collaboration: Celebrating a Mentor
DiepCJourney Podcast
Ten years ago, on December 1, 2014, I was in the trusted hands of a skilled microsurgeon who took tissue from my tummy area along with the skin and blood vessels, and rebuilt what cancer had taken away from me. I lost my breasts to a double mastectomy. For those of us who have been affected by breast cancer, a mastectomy is an amputation. The skilled microsurgeon is my guest on this episode of the . , president of in San Antonio, Texas, reconstructed my breasts using the training, skill, and compassion that makes him who he is as a breast reconstruction surgeon and is one of the finest human...
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Episode 68: Pathways to Care Due to Secondary Issues from Breast Cancer Treatment
DiepCJourney Podcast
Solutions often begin with a conversation. When faced with the task of planning your surgery, it is the goal of the to provide for those affected by breast cancer. My guest is , an international expert in advanced reconstruction and a highly skilled microsurgeon. Dr. Elkwood is the founder of The Plastic Surgery Center and in New Jersey. You can also visit or call 954-218-5137 to schedule a consultation with a surgeon on these advanced and specialty conditions. The surgeons in the IFAR network perform breast reconstruction surgery due to loss of breast after mastectomy from breast...
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Episode 67: The Role of Social Media in the Breast Cancer Community
DiepCJourney Podcast
What is it about social media that draws the breast cancer community together? We are going to explore this question with my guest, , consultant breast cancer surgeon and medical educator on social media under the name, @DrTashaG. We will look at the benefits, downfalls, information, and disinformation provided by various social media platforms on this episode of the . How can you find the right community that supports both your emotional and educational needs when each person is unique and there are distinct types of breast cancer? Why is it important for physicians to interact and be active...
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Episode 66: Wildfire Community: The Power of Story Telling in Breast Cancer
DiepCJourney Podcast
In this episode of the I interview . She is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of . April has an extensive background in writing and landed her first memoir-based magazine cover story at 16. She worked for her college newspaper and then the local newspaper in Santa Cruz, The Sentinel, following graduation. During the tech boom of the early 2000s April worked “over the hill” from Santa Cruz in Silicon Valley. However, in 2012, in the midst of this career, April was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at age 35. Four years later, while struggling to “go back to normal” and find others in...
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Episode 65: Breast Reconstruction at Tucson Plastic Surgery
DiepCJourney Podcast
Are you aware of the value of the two-surgeon model in reconstructive microsurgery? Have you heard about the benefits to patients of ERAS (Enhanced Recovery after Surgery) protocol? I spoke with two board-certified plastic reconstructive surgeons who practice at to answer these questions and others on this episode of the . My guests are and . They met at the , a well-known yearly gathering of microsurgical specialists from around the world who present the latest techniques in flap surgeries. Their combined training in breast reconstruction microsurgery and aesthetic plastic surgery offers...
info_outlineWith any type of surgery there are risks and possible complications. We are tackling a topic on this episode of the DiepCJourney podcast that is frequently discussed in the community served at DiepCFoundation. I reached out to an expert in the field for our discussion on fat grafting in breast reconstruction.
Dr. Emily A. Williamson founded Plastic Surgery Northwest in Spokane Washington in 2010 after completing her surgical training at the prestigious University of Washington Plastic Surgery Residency. She works with a group of five other surgeons performing various aesthetic and plastic surgery procedures including autologous breast reconstruction like DIEP flap.
Preoperative patient education and counseling is imperative to minimize fears about fat grafting. Dr. Williams discusses how a skilled surgeon minimizes the occurrence of fat necrosis for both implant-based and autologous breast reconstruction. She describes how fat is utilized to achieve symmetry but also signs and symptoms of fat necrosis and what can be done for patients who develop this after a fat grafting procedure.
Recent study from France: Oncological Safety of Autologous Fat Grafting in Breast Reconstruction after Mastectomy for Cancer: A Case-control Study
Article from the Cleveland Clinic: Autologous Fat Grafting For Breast Reconstruction: Safe but Worrisome to Patients
Social Media Links for Dr. Emily A. Williamson:
Facebook: Plastic Surgery Northwest
Instagram: emilywilliamsmd