SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A new reconstructive breast surgery is now available at Avera, changing the game for cancer patients.
When Judy Bergeland isn’t riding her motorcycle, she’s a nurse who routinely gets her mammograms, with no worries. But in September of 2022, doctors found cancer.
“They called me to tell me that it showed something, which, of course, I didn’t believe them. I thought they had somebody else’s breasts, not mine, but it was what it was,” Judy Bergeland said.
Bergeland had to get a single mastectomy and is now in remission. However, having only one breast was hard on her.
“It’s not like you look at a woman and wonder if she’s got two breasts. But every time I went somewhere, I would think to myself, Oh, you know, I’m the only one here with just one breast,” Judy Bergeland said.
After one failed reconstruction, plastic surgeons recommended that Bergeland to be the first patient at Avera to receive Microvascular Breast Reconstruction.
“So the surgery that we’re performing here is a perforated flap reconstruction for breasts, or at least we do our best to do a perforated flap for breast reconstruction to help patients take another step in their breast reconstructive surgery journey. When a lot of other things have failed, or sometimes even as our primary procedure, if it’s the right thing to do for that patient,” MD Plastics and Reconstruction Surgeon Jay Fowler said.
The surgery takes skin from the legs or stomach and connects it to the chest.
“A lot of women, after they’ve had children, have a little bit of extra tummy tissue and they enjoy having that tissue removed. Sometimes we call that a tummy tuck and this isn’t quite a tummy tuck, but it does contour the abdomen,” MD Plastic Surgeon Laura Figura said.
“It’s a huge opportunity for females, especially younger women. It’s a great option to to have a breast put on a free flap like that– that is tremendous,” Bergeland said.
Three women have received the breast reconstruction surgery since January. Doctors say if you’re interested in the option to ask your surgeon if it’s right for you.