All of our breast surgeons are board-certified by the American Board of Surgery and are members of the American Society of Breast Surgeons.

Surgical treatment options include:

• Lumpectomy – Also called breast-sparing surgery. During a lumpectomy, a surgeon removes the cancer and a margin of normal tissue surrounding the cancer.
• Mastectomy – This is complete removal of the breast tissue, including the nipple but not the muscle of the chest wall.
• Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy – This is a complete removal of the breast tissue, excluding the nipple and the muscle of the chest wall.
• Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy – This is a procedure in which the lymph nodes most likely containing cancer are removed.
• Axillary Node Dissection – In this procedure, the fat containing lymph nodes is removed to determine whether the lymph nodes contain cancer.

Also available are consultations with plastic surgeons for breast reconstruction and a Post-Breast Cancer Rehabilitation Program at the Lovelace Women's Hospital Outpatient Rehabilitation Clinic.

Lovelace Women's Hospital Now Offers Women More Choices for Breast Reconstruction

Lovelace Women's Hospital is the only hospital in New Mexico to offer mastectomy patients the full spectrum of breast reconstruction surgery. Lovelace Women's Hospital has just added DIEP flap reconstruction to the array of procedures available to breast cancer patients in New Mexico. Now New Mexican women have more options for their reconstructive surgery after mastectomy.

The DIEP flap uses fat and skin from the abdominal wall to form a new breast. The tissue is cut free from the donor site and moved to the chest where microsurgery is used to re-connect the tiny vessels for circulation. The DIEP flap spares the abdominal muscles, which results in less pain during recovery, less muscle weakness in the abdominal area and a lower risk of hernias in the future.

The procedure is being performed by Jennifer Chan, M.D., from Sandia Plastic Surgery and Gladys S. Tsao-Wu, M.D., from New Mexico Plastic Surgeons.

For more information call the Lovelace Women's Hospital Pre-Op Clinic, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 727-6742.

You can also find more information at www.plasticsurgery.org

To schedule an appointment at the Breast Care Center, please call 505.727.6700.