Breast Cancer Treatment


Many woman these days are opting for bilateral mastectomies when faced with breast cancer. Giuliana Rancic of E! Television has opted to proceed with bilateral mastectomies for her treatment of her breast cancer. Both my wife and I have enjoyed watching her show and watching her struggle with having children has shown a side of her not often seen with celebrities. I am happy that she has decided to also share withher audience her strggle with Breast Cancer. I believe that bilateral mastectomies with bilateral reconstruction is an excellent choice for women that do not want to deal with the risk of cancer in the other breast and are concerned with cosmetic appearances after, as bilateral reconstruction often gives a much better results. I have partnered with Dr. Ben Boudreaux to offer all types of Breast Cancer reconstruction to residents of Slidell, Mandeville, Covington, Hammond and Baton Rouge. We specialize in using your bodies own natural tissue and promarily use a Flap called the DIEP. This flap takes your excess skin and fat of your tummy and we use it to create your new breasts. 
I beleive that all women that have been diagnsed should explore their options for treatment and for reconstruction, and should discuss all options with their cancer surgeon and with their plastic surgeon. Below is a copy of the article




Giuliana Rancic has announced she will undergo a double mastectomy, a surgical operation to remove both her breasts, in attempt to beat breast cancer. 

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"Well last time I was here, I told you that I was getting the double lumpectomy [a lump-removal surgery in both breasts] and radiation, but now instead of radiation, I'm going to go ahead and move forward with a double mastectomy," the Giuliana & Bill star told Ann Curry during a Monday morning appearance with husband Bill Rancic on NBC's Today show. 

Bill, the original The Apprentice winner, told Curry the lumpectomy failed to remove the entire cancer mass in one breast, which left the couple with a big decision to make -- whether Giuliana should undergo an additional lumpectomy in an attempt to clean it out, or a more drastic medical procedure. 

RELATED LINKS Reality TV World: Giuliana & Bill More Giuliana & Bill News

Giuliana said she decided upon the double mastectomy after much thought, admitting the surgery would still allow her to try to have children sooner. 

"That was actually a big part of it, not all of it, but a big part. If I had chosen to just do another lumpectomy and then do radiation and then do anti-estrogen therapy -- which means 2-5 years of medication -- that basically puts me into early menopause and I would have to put off having a baby for several years," Giuliana explained. 

"So that was something we took into account. But to be honest, at the end, all it came down to was just choosing to live and not looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. That's really what it came down to." 

Bill told Curry he and Giuliana received numerous expert opinions and information when determining what would be the best form of surgery for Giuliana, but in the end, the couple said they believed removing both breasts would ultimately give Giuliana a better chance at defeating the cancer and having a more normal life. 

"I think one of the other factors that came into play was quality of life. If she would have gone with the lumpectomy and the radiation, then you have to go in every six months for the rest of your life getting mammograms," Bill explained, adding that Giuliana would be constantly worried before the mammograms and after while waiting for the results. 

"And it could have come back more aggressively next time. So for me, it was just very important to get the cancer out. That's what I wanted to do -- just get it out. With the double mastectomy, I have less than a 1% percent chance of getting it back. With another lumpectomy and radiation and medication, I could have seen a 20, 30 or 40 percent chance in my lifetime. And for me, it just wasn't worth it," Giuliana told Curry. 

While Giuliana noted she could undergo reconstructive surgery almost immediately after the mastectomies, she said the posing changes in her physical appearance would be insignificant if it meant getting healthy again. 

"In the end, Bill said to me -- I think this definitely got to me -- Bill said to me, 'I just need you around for the next 50 years, kid.' That's what he said. He said, 'I don't care what you look like. I don't care about the physical portion of this. I just need you around for the next 50 years, so let's just get you healthy,'" Giuliana explained. 

"That certainly helped me come to the decision... I couldn't be more at peace with the decision, but it's hard. I still break down some nights when it's quiet in bed. It's easy to just start crying and be very sad, but I'm okay." 

Giuliana revealed she had breast cancer in October. She learned of the bad news after she had received a mammogram when her in vitro fertilization doctor demanded -- over her objections -- she do so before beginning her third attempt at a fertility treatment.  

"I sadly found out that I have the early stages of breast cancer," Giuliana told Curry on Today at the time. "It's been a shock because I recently found this out, and a lot of people have been asking, 'We saw in the season finale of your show that you went and got IVF, so what happened? Are you pregnant?' But sadly, we've had to put that off because of the news." 

Make Sure to research your Surgeon!!

A 30-year-old transgender woman with no apparent medical training was arrested in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Nov. 18 - after a year of eluding authorities - for practicing medicine without a license with serious bodily injury. In May 2010,

Oneal Ron Morris (pictured) allegedly injected substances including cement, glue and tire sealant into a woman as part of a buttocks enhancement "procedure" that landed the victim in Tampa General Hospital, according to the Nov. 22 online edition of USA Today.

The victim, who says she was referred to Morris by a friend, reportedly paid $700 for the series of injections. Additional medical bills are accumulating due to ongoing health issues that also prevent the victim from working. No other information on the victim was available.

Medical personnel in the Miami suburb alerted authorities after speaking with the victim about her experience. "The doctors knew no licensed physician in his right mind would ever do this," Miami Gardens Police Sgt. Bill Bamford told the newspaper.

Sgt. Bamford said Morris told the woman, "`Oh don't worry, you'll be fine. We just keep injecting you with the stuff and it all works itself out.'"

Morris regularly moved locations in south Florida to avoid arrest after an investigation by the Florida Department of Health, USA Today reported. An investigator with knowledge of Morris' addresses found his auto outside one of them during a routine drive-by and subsequently arrested the suspect.

Additional possible victims are beginning to come forward, the New York Daily News reported on Nov. 23.

Although this story is extreme and most patients realize to avoid these types of "practicioners" this illustrates the point that patients must know the credentials and training their plastic surgeon has! anotherwords make sure your surgeon is really a surgeon and skilled and trained in plastic surgery. There are lots of different injectables out there and I do specialize in a procedure to enhance the buttocks, called a Brazilian Butt Lift, but I use your bodies own fat to augment your buttocks and this will give you long lasting safe! results, please call either office if you are intereseted in buttock enhancement by a board certified plastic surgeon.

Plastic Surgery Obsession

I recently came across a very interesting article related to obsession with Plastic surgery. I rarely come across individuals with this obsession but have in the past. the far majority of my patient's are men or woman that are looking for self improvement for there own benefit, not for an individual or society. This is an often discussed topic but plastic surgery obsession is rarely seen. I always ask patients why they are seeking a surgery to improve their appearance if there are not obvious reasons readible visible.
I also perform lots of reconstructive procedures and there is a striking similarity to patients that are going thru the reconstructive process and those that are seeking surgery to improve their appearnce, i.e. cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive patients have had there body changed by a disease process or trauma, cosmetic surgery patient's bodies have been altered by time or pregnancies or weight gains or multiple other causes and wish to restore their previous appearance. Very similar desires in my eyes.

The Fine Line Between Self-Improvement and Obsession

By Chelsea Mize



The term addiction has become applicable to numerous habits and vices these days. Sex addiction, Internet addiction, plastic surgery addiction. But how can you define addiction when applied to a behavior that in moderation is acceptable, even encouraged? As Marcel Daniels, MD, a Long Beach, Calif-based board-certified plastic surgeon, says, “Calling any repetitive behavior an ‘addiction’ has become fashionable. Notice how we suddenly have all these sexual addicts when previously it was merely felt to be an expression of Darwinian behavior.”



Sex, as opposed to, say, heroin, is a normal, healthy practice—in fact, if you’re not having sex, people tend to think there’s something amok. So, when is someone addicted to sex? The same goes for the Internet. The only people not spending many, many hours on the Internet in our society are considered backwards. How much is too much?



This question is particularly apropos when considering plastic surgery. Daniels says, “The subject of addiction in and of itself and with regards to plastic surgery is controversial.”



With celebrities like Heidi Montag, Joan Rivers, Cher, and Jocelyn Wildenstein making headlines by eliminating fine lines and wrinkles (and maybe getting a breast augmentation, some lipo…and some other nips and tucks), it’s easy to believe that Botox and boob jobs have some seriously addictive properties. After all, why else would an already attractive person like Montag go through so much to change herself into some kind of distorted Barbie? Then again, what if Heidi were totally happy with her new self? Would the media and her family be so quick to condemn her surgical alterations if she herself weren’t so clearly dissatisfied? Can you classify a habit as an addiction if it genuinely results in self-improvement?



Take, for instance, someone like Cher. She’s had some plastic surgery, which nobody can deny. But, she still looks pretty darn good for her age, and nobody’s really calling her an addict. Maybe part of what makes Montag "an addict" is that she’s young and she had so many procedures in such a short time. But why does age have an impact on addiction? And for that matter, why does someone who crams all their doses into one day have any more of a problem that somebody who has the same amount of surgery over a span of years?



Shervin Naderi, MD, a Washington, DC-area facial plastic surgeon, suggests, “There is no ‘number’ that signifies a threshold for becoming addicted to plastic surgery. A person who has never had a single procedure but constantly obsesses about his or her face and is constantly on chat rooms and spends an excessive amount of daily time thinking about his or her face is more concerning than the person who has had four successful cosmetic surgeries with nice and natural results.”



With this in mind, it would seem that the psychological concerns associated with plastic surgery are not so much its potential addictiveness, but rather insecurities with body image that go far below the surface. Excessive amounts of plastic surgery might just be a manifestation of a mental disease such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder. In this case, it seems that the procedures themselves have no addictive quality.