Margie Elkins never expected a breast cancer diagnosis.
“Breast cancer was not on my agenda,” she said.
Yet for those who receive a cancer diagnosis, making the best decisions about treatment and recovery for yourself can be confusing, disorienting and lonely.
Overwhelmed by her own cancer diagnosis, her husband, Karl, became Margie’s listening ears, taking in the information provided by his wife’s clinical oncology team about the life-saving services and treatment options available to her at Backus Hospital.
“(Carl) listened very intently, and then we would go home and talk about it,” Margie said. “We would cry about it.”
With her clinical team recommending a mastectomy, the couple considered a type of breast reconstructive surgery available at Backus Hospital — and very few other places in Connecticut — Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Flap (DIEP Flap). Rather than using implants filled with silicon or saline, doctors insert fat and skin from the abdominal area on top of the pectoral muscle. It’s a more complex surgery, but patients avoid implants and also benefit from the slimming effects of what is essentially a tummy tuck.
Learn more about Margie and DIEP Flap:
“Essentially it’s a form of using the patient’s own body’s tissues to reconstruct the breast after a mastectomy,” said Vinod Pathy, MD, FACS, Northeast Plastic Surgery Center.
For more information on cancer treatment and services available at Backus Hospital, call 1.855.HHC.HERE (1.855.442.4373)