NDO - "We want to contribute to bringing confidence and quality of life to women who are unfortunate enough to have to have their breasts removed after being diagnosed with breast cancer," Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Ngoc Lam, Deputy Director of 108 Central Military Hospital shared on the first day of the free breast reconstruction surgery program.
On February 28, 108 Military Central Hospital launched a humanitarian program, screening and breast reconstruction surgery for breast cancer patients with the message "Breast regeneration, hope revival".
"Cancer treatment is stable before thinking about breast reconstruction"
Since 6am, nearly 100 women have been present at the Cosmetic Center waiting for screening. They all have breast defects and have gone through many tiring and exhausting months of breast cancer treatment. And today, they come here with a lot of hope.
Due to her genetic predisposition to having many fibrocystic breasts, Ms. H. (46 years old, Hanoi) regularly goes for regular health check-ups. In 2019, she discovered she had breast cancer. "I was devastated. But the doctor said I was lucky that the cancer was in the early stages and was tubular endocrine breast cancer, so I only needed surgery to remove one breast and axillary lymph nodes, without chemotherapy," Ms. H. confided.
At that time, the doctor advised her to get breast implants, but Ms. H. was so confused that she no longer thought about the need to be beautiful, she just needed to remove all the cancer cells. "At that time, I was very confused, but that was a big mistake. If I wanted to do it later, my finances would be very difficult. 50-80 million VND for a reconstruction surgery was too much for my family at that time," Ms. H. shared.
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Patient H. shares about her breast cancer treatment and hopes that this time she will be eligible for free breast reconstruction surgery. |
During the following period, she went back and forth between E Hospital and K3 Tan Trieu Hospital for endocrine treatment. Now that her health is stable and her child is grown, Ms. H. has begun to think more about having well-proportioned breasts.
Arriving at the Aesthetic Center, 108 Central Military Hospital early in the morning of February 28, Ms. H. hoped that she would be lucky enough to be chosen for free breast reconstruction surgery.
Like Ms. H., Ms. T. (31 years old, in Thai Binh) suddenly felt a lump in her breast. Unmarried, T. thought it was just a normal fibroid until the doctor suddenly informed her that she had stage 2 breast cancer. In 2021, T. became emaciated because of her thoughts, did not choose breast reconstruction, and had one breast removed because she was afraid that the cancer cells would spread.
T.'s surgery was successful, but the doctor had to take skin from another place to reconstruct her breasts. With this type of endocrine cancer, the best option for T. would be to remove her ovaries, but T. is not married yet.
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Ms. T. is only 31 years old and was diagnosed with breast cancer 3 years ago. |
In early 2022, T. experienced hair loss and fatigue due to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Six months later, T. finished the treatment and switched to endocrine therapy. "I don't have any problems with normal life, but I'm very afraid when I go to the beach," T. said.
Financially exhausted after years of breast cancer treatment, many women no longer think about the additional cost of breast reconstruction. Not to mention, when introducing a foreign substance into the body, will they adapt, will the cancer recur, and how to handle it then?
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Screened cases will be operated on as soon as possible. |
"We want to bring confidence to women"
On the morning of February 28 alone, there were nearly 60 cases of women who had breast cancer and were in stable condition coming for screening at the 108 Military Central Hospital. For these special patients, every stage of screening is very careful, requiring medical staff to have high expertise to advise the patients.
There were quite a few women who came for a check-up this morning who were not eligible and had to go home, such as those who had just undergone radiation therapy, and those whose health was poor and could not undergo surgery.
Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Ngoc Lam said that through screening, doctors will select about 30-50 patients for surgery this year. There are simple surgical cases, only needing to place breast implants, but there are cases that require deeper intervention due to defects in muscle flaps, cases that have been previously removed.
"We determine that there will be multiple surgeries for patients to have the same bust as before. We hope that after surgery, patients will have a balanced body, regain psychological confidence in daily life, and have a high quality of life," Dr. Lam shared.
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Associate Professor, Doctor Vu Ngoc Lam, Deputy Director of 108 Central Military Hospital, shared with patients during a professional sharing session on breast reconstruction surgery. |
On the afternoon of February 28, doctors at the Aesthetic Center, 108 Central Military Hospital performed surgery on two patients, one of whom had a normal implant placed and the other had to take skin and muscle from another place to create a breast.
According to Dr. Lam, patients after breast cancer treatment will have severe damage and structural defects, so breast reconstruction surgery will be more complicated than normal breast augmentation.
In response to the anxiety of many women who fear the recurrence of malignant cells after breast reconstruction and the fear of more dangerous sequelae, Dr. Lam said that the patients selected for surgery this time have all had successful cancer treatment and have had a relatively long follow-up period to determine that the cancer is stable. However, we cannot determine for sure whether the cancer will recur or not.
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Dr. Hoang Thanh Tuan consults patients for screening on February 28. |
Doctor Lam affirmed that with the techniques and materials used to reconstruct the patient's breasts this time, the diagnosis and treatment afterwards are not complicated or difficult.
Currently, Health Insurance only covers breast cancer patients, not breast reconstruction for patients after breast cancer. Therefore, the cost of a reconstruction is very expensive, in some cases up to hundreds of millions of VND. With the free breast reconstruction surgery program of 108 Military Central Hospital, many women will regain their body balance and confidence to integrate into life.
According to Dr. Lam, 108 Central Military Hospital tries to maintain annual humanitarian breast reconstruction surgery for breast cancer patients to bring confidence to women.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/mang-lai-su-tu-tin-cho-phu-nu-sau-mac-ung-thu-vu-post862210.html
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