Straight Talk About Breast Cancer Reconstruction

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Christine Petti shares some information all women should know about her breasts and what actually happens if you have surgery

There are times in medicine that benefit the patient and the doctor when they are the same sex. Male patients often prefer male doctors in areas of prostate cancer, and the same can be said for women and breast cancer.

Breast cancer is one of those moments in a patient’s life where the comfort level is best served by seeing a female oncologist, and working with a female plastic surgeon together to restore what the cancer has taken away.

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October is Breast Cancer awareness month, female plastic surgeon’s unique perspective

Any woman who’s had a baby understands that there is no way to describe the experience to a man. Words cannot do it justice. This is why many of us prefer to go to a female gynecologist/obstetrician. This intimate process is often easier with a doctor of the same sex who can empathize.

This same level of comfort and confidence carries over when it comes to breast cancer. For many of us, it is hard to imagine that a male doctor can grasp the trauma of breast cancer; they can`t understand what it means, both emotionally and physically, for a woman to be faced with having all or part of a breast removed.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Dr. Christine Petti on Breast Cancer and Mastectomy Reconstruction

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES

In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Christine Petti details everything a woman should know about her breasts and what actually happens if you have surgery

Christine Petti, M.D., is a board-certified plastic surgeon with a private practice in the South Bay and Los Angeles area since 1988. She specializes in aesthetic plastic surgery, aesthetic laser surgery and non-invasive surgical cosmetic rejuvenation procedures and as the rare woman in a male-dominated filed, she offers a distinctive female perspective to cosmetic surgical procedures. She pioneered the concept 25 years ago of combining a plastic surgery practice with an on-site, full-service medical day spa, Spa Bella, which she serves as Medical Director.

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Tongue Patch given Tongue Lashing by Prominent Plastic Surgeon and Weight Loss Doctor

Board certified plastic surgeonis calling B.S. on a trendy way to surgically alter the tongue in the hope of weight loss.

ABC’s 20/20 reporter Cecilia Vega recently featured a segment where a new weight-loss method shocked two prominent Los Angeles based doctors who each had strong opinions about the procedure.

“20/20: The Naked Truth” featured two heavyset women who were about to have a hard plastic mesh sewn onto their tongues that would inflict pain if they tried to eat any solid food. Their goal was to lose 20 pounds in one month.

Cosmetic surgeon Dr. Nikolas Chugay, of Long Beach, Calif., introduced the procedure from Latin America and was effusive to ABC’s Vega about the efficacy.

When ABC asked if sewing a foreign object into somebody’s mouth was healthy, Chugay said, “Well, it’s not unhealthy.” “It’s a pattern interrupt,” he said. “When patients want to swallow food, they realize, ‘Hey, I cannot do that. That’s why I have this patch here.'”

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