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Ask The Doctor – Will My Medical Insurance Policy Cover My Procedure?

November 7, 2014 by

<alt="medical insurance coverage"/>This week , Gail Lanter, CPC, Practice Manager of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction answers your question.

QUESTION: I have Buckeye Medical Insurance and I wanted to know if it will cover reconstruction of my right breast after having a lumpectomy and radiation treatment. It left my right breast disfigured, so I need to have this surgery. Thanks!

ANSWER:  I’m happy to try to answer your question for you. Buckeye Medical Insurance looks like it offers a few different types of policies so without knowing which you have I can give you some general information. There are some payers who will not consider reconstruction of lumpectomy defects unless medical necessity has clearly been established. However, the majority of reputable insurers will allow for a reconstruction procedure if a medically necessary lumpectomy results in a significant deformity – as often happens with radiation treatment. Your surgeon’s office should be able to submit all of your documentation, including photos, demonstrating the problem you are having and ask that Buckeye pre-authorize the procedures necessary to reconstruct the area so you have a definitive answer prior to undertaking surgery.

There are many possibilities as far as what procedure to use according to what specific problem you are experiencing. It could be as simple as a scar revision procedure with fat grafting or as complex as the muscle sparing procedures in which we specialize according to how severe the defect. You would definitely want to consult with your plastic surgeon to get a plan as your next step.

Hope that information is useful, and please let us know what else we can do for you. We’re always happy to help!

— Gail Lanter, CPC, Practice Manager 

Have a question about breast reconstruction or post-surgical care you’d like answered from our surgical team? Just ask us!

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Ask The Doctor – I Have an Implant But Want Natural Reconstruction

October 31, 2014 by

<alt="natural breast reconstruction"/>This week, Dr. Richard M. Kline, Jr. of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction answers your question.

QUESTION: I had reconstructive surgery on my right breast in 2008. I have a silicone implant, but it feels like a hard lump on my chest. I’m 62 and healthy. I don’t know if my insurance will cover it if I decided to have the natural reconstruction.

ANSWER: Usually your insurance will cover conversion of an unsatisfactory implant reconstruction to a reconstruction using your own tissue with no problem, but we always check first to be sure. If you wish, we can give you a call to discuss your situation in more detail. Many, many people are or have been in your situation, and we are usually able to help.

— Richard M. Kline, Jr., M.D.    

Have a question about breast reconstruction or post-surgical care you’d like answered from our surgical team? Just ask us!

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Ask The Doctor – My reconstructed breasts are not well proportioned, can you help?

October 24, 2014 by

<alt=breast reconstruction"/>This week, Dr. Richard M. Kline, Jr. of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction answers your question.

QUESTION: I had a DIEP done at the same time of my mastectomy a few years back. My incisions opened up around both breasts one week after surgery. After about 3 months of my doctor telling me to put Vaseline on them and keep the areas covered, they became very infected. I then got a second opinion.

The next doctor had me on the operating table the next day and probably did a dozen surgeries on me over the next year to get me healed because I was so infected from being open for so long. I’m scared about this, and I’m very self-conscious about my breasts. One of my breasts was set lower on my chest than the other, making wearing bras difficult. The same breast that is positioned lower on my chest is also larger. It is impossible to wear bathing suits comfortably, too. I have to watch how tops are cut on me because they will show that my breasts are uneven. Is there anything your doctors can do to help with this?

ANSWER:  I’m terribly sorry about all the trouble you’ve had – it sounds like a real nightmare. I can’t, of course, guarantee you that we can make you good as new, but I strongly suspect that we can help, as we’ve seen plenty of other patients with similar stories. Probably the best place to start would be to have one of us call you to discuss your situation further, if that’s OK. It would be very helpful if we had some pictures to look at at the time of the conversation, but that’s not essential at this stage. I also suspect you will ultimately benefit from having an MRI at some point, as this is the best way to look for dead fat or other potential problems. Hang in there, no need to lose hope at this point.

— Richard M. Kline, Jr., M.D.    

Have a question about breast reconstruction or post-surgical care you’d like answered from our surgical team? Just ask us!

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How to Organize, Prepare, and Host a Breast Cancer Fundraising Event

October 21, 2014 by

October is all about pink
Breast cancer fundraising events are a fantastic way to show support for someone you know who has breast cancer, or support awareness breast cancer awareness and research. Like most events, fundraising for breast cancer requires these important event planning steps:

  1. Organizing
  2. Preparing
  3. Hosting

However, unlike most events, breast cancer fundraising requires a few key, specific steps for raising money and registering your event with the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

(By the way, if you’re looking for breast cancer fundraising ideas, we recently wrote 10 things you can do to fundraise for breast cancer.)

In this post, we’ll cover the event planning steps you need to follow for success, as well as what you must do to properly host a fun breast cancer fundraising event for your friends, family, colleagues, or community!

Organizing

Before you host your event, you should determine the details and tasks required, so you can assign responsibilities accordingly. Some of the questions to answer include:

  • Where will the event take place?
  • When will the event happen
  • Who will you invite?
  • What’s your budget?
  • How much do you plan to raise? (setting a goal provides a target number to work toward)
  • How many people can you accommodate at your event?

After you’ve outlined the specifics of your event, register your breast cancer fundraiser with the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). Registering your event as soon as possible allows the Community Fundraising Team have plenty of time to help you. This team is a free resource from the NBCF, so it would be smart to take advantage of it!

Before moving onto the next step, preparing for your event, make a checklist of all the things that need to be done. This way, you can mark off tasks as you complete them.

Preparing

Once you have all roles assigned, a clear vision of your event, and a list of tasks required, it’s time to prepare for your breast cancer fundraising event. During preparation, your role is to keep everything running smoothly. Make sure the people you choose to help you don’t have any problems with completing their duties.

Another major thing to considering during preparation of a breast cancer event is promotion. Tap into friends and family networks to get the word out. Call local media outlets and local businesses for free promotion. Many local businesses will support your event and give you free promotion in their newsletters or regularly scheduled announcements.

Lastly, you can make it easy for people to make a donation by setting up an online donation page. The National Breast Cancer Foundation provides instructions on how to set up a webpage for donations do so here.

Hosting

As the host of the event, people will look to you for information. This is why it’s important to educate yourself on breast cancer prior to your gathering. The NBCF site has everything you should know about breast cancer, including the latest research, statistics, and news.

Be sure to thank everyone who shows up in person. They’ve taken the time out of their day or evening to come to your event — let them know how much that means to you!

To collect donations, you may want to put a note near the donation area (or include something in the announcements) that says any donation over $2 is tax-deductible, and you will provide them a receipt upon request.

If you follow these guidelines, your event will be a success!

Let us know if you have any questions, or if you’d like us to promote your next Charleston area event in our newsletter!

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Ask The Doctor – What is the risk of keeping older saline implants in?

October 17, 2014 by

<alt="saline implants"/>This week, Dr. Richard M. Kline, Jr. of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction answers your question.

QUESTION: I had my breasts removed 25 years ago and I have saline implants in. I have discovered that one the right one has capsular constriction. It has become very hard, very round, very painful, and almost swollen under my armpit. If I let this go as is, what could happen? What are the risks involved?

ANSWER:  With saline implants, nothing much else is likely to happen, but the situation is not likely to improve on its own. If you had silicone gel implants, the gel could continue spreading through your tissue indefinitely. While this is not medically dangerous (doesn’t cause cancer or lupus or anything like that), it does “mess up” a lot of breast tissue, and I would encourage you to have it removed ASAP. With saline, there’s far less concern for ongoing damage. If you would like to have implant(s) removed and replace with your own tissue, that is our specialty, we do it routinely, and we would be glad to help you. But if you just wanted reassurance and can live with the present situation, you’ll be OK. Thanks for your question!

— Richard M. Kline, Jr., M.D.    

Have a question about breast reconstruction or post-surgical care you’d like answered from our surgical team? Just ask us!

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October 15: BRA Day USA

October 15, 2014 by
BRA day usa ribbon

BRA DAY USA
Closing the Loop on Breast Cancer

It’s a fact: many women eligible for breast reconstruction following cancer surgery are not being properly informed of their options.

The Breast Reconstruction Awareness Campaign–a collaborative effort between the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, The Plastic Surgery Foundation, plastic surgeons specializing in breast reconstruction, nurse navigators, corporate partners, and breast cancer support groups–hopes to change this.

Statistics show:

  • Eighty-nine percent of women want to see successful breast reconstruction surgery results before undergoing cancer treatment.
  • Less than a quarter (23 percent) of women know the wide range of breast reconstruction options available.
  • Only 22 percent of women are familiar with the quality of outcomes that can be expected.
  • Only 19 percent of women understand that the timing of their treatment for breast cancer and the timing of their decision to undergo reconstruction greatly impacts their options and results.

 

Breast cancer does not discriminate, and while every journey is unique, all breast cancer patients have the right to know their reconstruction options. Click here to meet our team and learn more about our practice, success stories, and natural reconstruction surgery.

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Ask The Doctor – Can the breast cancer gene develop cancer in fat tissue?

October 10, 2014 by

flower-197343_640 (1)This week, Dr. Richard M. Kline, Jr. of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction answers your question.

QUESTION: Can the breast cancer gene develop cancer in the resisted fat tissue? Is it best to not have any sort of tissue whatsoever in the breast area? I also know fat from the tummy area has been used in reconstructing breasts for 10 years with no known problems as yet, as another solution.

ANSWER:  There are two ways to transfer the fat – as a single large “flap” with its own blood supply, which has been done in one form or another since the 1980’s (most recently the DIEP), or as fat “grafts”, which means taking the small particles harvested during liposuction and injecting them into the breast area through a needle. “Flaps” are time-tested, and no ill effects have been observed. “Grafts” may well be just as safe when used in breast tissue, but don’t have the benefit of having been used for decades yet, so we’re not absolutely sure. For many years it was taboo to inject fat grafts into

For many years it was taboo to inject fat grafts into breasts, because people were afraid the fat would adversely affect the radiologists’ ability to interpret mammograms. A few years ago, a consensus was reached that there really wasn’t much impact on reading mammograms, so people began cautiously injecting fat into breasts for various reasons (reconstruction as well as cosmetic augmentation).

Since we began using fat grafts more, we have learned that it does some interesting things. Fat is potentially a rich source of stem cells, which can transform into different cell types under certain conditions. As one example, we have observed that fat grafts sometimes seem to produce remarkable beneficial changes in previously radiated skin, and this is thought to possibly be due to stem cell effects. On the other hand, there is at least one study purporting to show an increased risk of local recurrence when fat grafts are used to reconstruct partial breast defects after lumpectomy.

The study is controversial, but it has raised concerns among many surgeons about injecting fat into breast tissue in general. No one is quite sure what is potentially going on with stem cells in fat grafts, and no one is quite sure how they may affect residual malignant or pre-malignant cells in breast tissue. The potential ramifications are enormous, because while DIEP and other flaps are large, complicated procedures, fat grafting is extraordinarily easy, and a there is a lot of interest in it for that reason alone.

I haven’t read a good explanation of why fat transferred with its own blood supply (flaps) should behave differently than fat particles which induce a blood supply to grow into them (grafts), but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a difference. To complicate it further, when a flap is transferred (or even when a breast reduction is done), small particles of fat are de-vascularized initially but ultimately survive as grafts, yet no problems have been observed to date.

I realize now that you were probably just asking about flaps (maybe DIEP – of which we have done many hundreds). However, we do periodically get inquiries about fat grafting into breast tissue, and people sometimes want to know why we are so “behind the times” when I tell them we don’t do it.you were probably just asking about flaps (maybe DIEP – of which we have done many hundreds). However, we do periodically get inquiries about fat grafting into breast tissue, and people sometimes want to know why we are so “behind the times” when I tell them we don’t do it.

Hope this helps.

— Richard M. Kline, Jr., M.D.    

Have a question about breast reconstruction or post-surgical care you’d like answered from our surgical team? Just ask us!

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10 Important Breast Cancer Facts

October 7, 2014 by

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Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we want to highlight the significance of this serious illness. Below you’ll find a list of 10 facts about breast cancer.

This post pairs well with our 10 Breast Cancer Fundraising Ideas post. If you want to raise money for awareness, the ideas we shared in that post will help get you started.

Now let’s go over these very important facts:

1. About 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point. The bright side of this is women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early. How? With a mammogram — the best screening test to detect signs of breast cancer.

2. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. Each year it is estimated that over 220,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer.

3. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women. It is estimated that over 40,000 women will die from breast cancer every year.

4. Men get breast cancer, too. Although breast cancer in men is rare, an estimated 2,150 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 410 will die each year.

5. Breast cancer rates vary by ethnicity. Rates are highest in non-Hispanic white women, followed by African American women. They’re lowest among Asian/Pacific Islander women.

6. Genetics have a role in breast cancer. Breast cancer risk is approximately doubled among women who have one first-degree relative (mother, sister, or daughter) with the disease. On the other hand,more than 85 percent of women with breast cancer have no family history.

7. Breast cancer risk increases as you get older. Even though breast cancer can develop at any age, you’re at greater risk the older you get. For women 20 years of age, the rate is 1 in 1,760. At 30, it significantly jumps to 1 in 229. At 50, it’s 1 in 29.

8. It’s the most feared disease by women. Yet, breast cancer is not as harmful as heart disease, which kills 4 to 6 times the amount of woman than breast cancer.

9. The majority of breast lumps women discover are not cancer. But you should still visit your doctor anyway, even though 80% are benign.

10. There is so much HOPE! There are currently more than 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States alone — and this number continues to climb each year.

It’s important to understand the facts about breast cancer, and learn how you can support loved ones and friends who are suffering from this illness, or have been affected by it. To learn more about breast cancer, you can download a PDF about the last 2013-2014 breast cancer facts from cancer.org.

To learn more about our mission, our practice, and our team, start here and meet our doctors.

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Ask The Doctor – Recovery After a Failed Implant Reconstruction

October 3, 2014 by

<alt='failed implant reconstruction"/>This week, Dr. Richard M. Kline, Jr. of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction answers your question.

QUESTION: I had breast cancer twice, and one of my breast implants got a bad infection. My implants had to be removed, and I’ve left them that way since. Now I’m 58 years old, and I’d like to have reconstruction. Is this possible for me at my age and after an infection?

ANSWER: Thanks for your question. While I cannot obviously make precise predictions about our ability to help you without knowing a little more, I can tell you that your situation is actually a very common one. Fortunately, a history of failed implant reconstruction has very little impact on our ability to subsequently reconstruct you with your own tissue, and we have successfully reconstructed many, many women in your situation. If you wish, one of us can give you a call to discuss your situation further, and we can go from there. Have a great day!

— Richard M. Kline, Jr., M.D.    

Have a question about breast reconstruction or post-surgical care you’d like answered from our surgical team? Just ask us!

 

 

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Mammograms 101: What You Need to Know

September 30, 2014 by

<alt="Mammogram Images"/>

According to The United States Preventive Services Task Force, women aged 50 to 74 should get a mammogram every 2 years. As for women younger than age 50, they should talk to a doctor about when to start and how often to have a mammogram.

If you haven’t talked to your doctor about getting a mammogram, you should. When you get a mammogram, you’ll receive a low-dose x-ray that looks for irregularities in your breasts. Unlike a breast exam, an x-ray will uncover changes in breast tissue that cannot be felt or seen. All women have breast changes as they age. But without a mammogram, you don’t know if the differences in size, shape, and feeling is a natural occurrence or a result of something more serious.

 

How to Detect Breast Cancer ASAP

The best way to detect breast cancer is to get a mammogram and breast exam from a doctor. The earlier you take preventative measures, the better your chances of catching possible cancer and treating it. The faster your cancer is detected, the better your chances are of eliminating it.

 

What’s It Like to Have a Mammogram?

Mammograms are not an arduous process. Your doctor will place your breasts in a special x-ray machine. The machine will flatten your breast to get a clearer look at the tissue. The pressure may cause some discomfort, but any pinching that happens will only take place momentarily. Considering the alternative, a few seconds of minor soreness is worth it.

 

What Your Doctor Looks For

<alt="Mammogram Film Images"/>
Picture courtesy of the National Cancer Institute

If your mammogram is clear, then your doctor will let you know and you can breathe a sigh of relief. If you’re wondering what your doctor is looking for, here are some things she’ll look for:

  • Lumping of tissue. If you see a “building up” of tissue, this could be a sign that something’s irregular. If the lump has a clear edge, chances are it’s benign (at a very early stage). If the lump can’t be distinguished clearly, then it could be cancer.
  • White spots. There are two types of white spots you may see on your x-ray — one is normal and the other may be a sign of cancer.

 

How to Prepare for a Mammogram

Here are few things you can do to make your mammogram go smoothly:

  • Avoid unnatural products before your mammogram. The chemicals in deodorants and other hygienic products may disrupt the x-ray process. It’s best to not use any sort of make up, lotions, etc. when you proceed with your mammogram.
  • Schedule accordingly. The best time to make an appointment for a mammogram is one week after your menstrual cycle because this is when your breasts are the least tender.
  • Male or female. It’s okay to ask for a male or female doctor to conduct your exam if that’s what makes you most comfortable.
  • Don’t drink coffee. Also, skip the energy drinks or any other type of stimulant. Why? Because the caffeine my increase breast tenderness, which will make the x-ray process more painful.

 

Where to Get More Information

Contact the following organizations for more information about breast cancer and mammograms.

American Cancer Society

Phone: 800-227-2345 (TDD: 866-228-4327)

Breast Health Access for Women With Disabilities

Phone: 510-204-4866 (TDD: 510-204-4574)

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, HHS

Phone: 800-633-4227 (TDD: 877-486-2048)

National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program

Phone: 800-232-4636 (TDD: 888-232-6348)

National Cancer Institute, NIH, HHS

Phone: 800-422-6237

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Phone: 877-465-6636

 

Photo Credit: kristiewells

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