Category: News

Why DIEP Flap is the Best Recommended Breast Reconstruction Option

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The focus of this blog is two-fold. I will provide information regarding an upcoming public hearing concerning recent changes to insurance coverage for DIEP flap breast reconstruction. It will be held on June 1, 2023. The hearing will allow patients affected by breast cancer to become involved. I share my personal feeling that it is important for readers to understand the magnitude of this hearing regarding access to and coverage for breast reconstruction. There are many medical reasons why DIEP flap is the best recommended breast reconstruction option. Information Regarding Public Hearing on Breast Reconstruction Over the past few months, there has been a lot of information sharing on social media regarding coding changes to DIEP flap surgery. The collective voices sharing this information in multiple formats, coalitions formed, and no matter what organization it is from, has resulted in the public hearing held by CMS. I want to share Continue Reading →

Volunteers Moving the Mission of DiepCFoundation Forward

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Since before opening DiepCFoundation.org in the summer of 2016 I have been surrounded by volunteers. Being part of a nonprofit organization requires time, talent, and passion. I could not do this without our volunteers. This blog is dedicated to those who have and continue to believe in the mission of the Foundation. Every day I see volunteers moving the mission of DiepCFoundation forward. The First Volunteers for DiepCFoundation It all began with a phone call. Late in the day in February of 2016 the surgeon who performed my DIEP flap breast reconstruction called encouraging me to open a nonprofit foundation. Thank you, Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo, for taking time, for volunteering to make that phone call after your workday in surgery on your way home. I promised him I would begin giving this consideration. A month passed and I was visiting our oldest son and daughter-in-law to help with the care Continue Reading →

Microsurgery and DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction and all it’s Worth

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I chose this topic for my weekly blog after doing a retrospective look at the writing, interviews, podcasts, and connections I have had over the past few years since having my own DIEP flap breast reconstruction. I love talking about DIEP flap. It is sophisticated and intricate surgery requiring great skill and expertise. I often refer to it as a profession of passion. Patients who choose to undergo this surgery spend long, often agonizing hours searching for a microsurgeon to perform their surgery. They spend equally long recovering from surgery. Thus the topic I have chosen to write about this week: Microsurgery and DIEP flap breast reconstruction and all it’s worth. Microsurgery: A Profession of Passion I am so fortunate that microsurgeons share the story of who inspired them to choose microsurgery. It is a glimpse into the human side of their lives and why they chose to do DIEP Continue Reading →

Robotic Assisted DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction in Australia

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Since I had my own DIEP flap breast reconstruction at PRMA in late 2014 performed by Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo I have been fascinated with this surgery. I feel one strong reason people choose the profession of microsurgery is out of passion. The satisfaction of what is accomplished each day must linger long after they leave work and in fact drive them to do better. I invite you to learn more from one such surgeon I met via social media, Dr. Joe Dusseldorp. Join me in learning more about robotic assisted DIEP flap breast reconstruction in Australia. The Progress of DIEP Flap and Value of Robotic Assisted DIEP Over time, I have seen so much progress in surgical procedures and robotic assisted DIEP is just one of them. Dr. Joe agrees and points out this is just ONE technique. His comment, “Surgery doesn’t change overnight. It’s lots of little incremental steps Continue Reading →

Dismayed at Coding Changes and What is Being Taken Away from the Breast Cancer Community

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I returned from the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgeons’ meeting late Tuesday this past week on January 24, 2023. What has been happening in the world of access to care and choice in breast reconstruction has shattered many of us in this community. There are many passionate surgeons who have dedicated their lives to performing the DIEP flap surgery. Patients affected are dismayed at coding changes and what is being taken away from the breast cancer community. The Coding Changes and What is Being Taken Away DIEP flap surgery is not going away. It is access to care thereby limiting our choice of what type of reconstructive surgery breast cancer patients can choose after mastectomy and loss of breast. The process of why these codes have been taken away, the S-code, is a complex system and decision process made by medical governing organizations. It involves evaluation of work hours spent Continue Reading →

Patient Advocacy in San Antonio

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I am sitting in my office looking out the window at softly falling snow. The cold temperatures of winter have settled in. It is a great day to reflect while sipping on a cup of warm tea after a week at the conference followed by a week spent with family. It is a strong finish wrapping up 2022 and patient advocacy in San Antonio. Patient Advocacy Focus at SABCS The hashtag #SABCS2022 was seen on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn during the first week of December. This was my third time attending the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium conference. I was an active part of the Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation (ABCF) Patient Advocacy Program this year. It required a great deal of planning and preparation. The first year I attended in 2016 I was a newbie. I wasn’t even sure if I should be attending after just opening my nonprofit organization, Continue Reading →

Ways of Giving Back

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There are many ways to give back to nonprofit organizations. Whether you are a patient, caregiver, surgeon, individual or corporate entity, or know someone who has been affected by breast cancer, at DiepCFoundation we want to share ways of giving back to the community we serve. Donate Your Time or Share a Testimonial There is nothing more rewarding than standing beside a volunteer at an event we are part of. These are patients who have been through this surgery and know first hand what to say to those who attend these events. We are grateful and will continue to reach out to our volunteers at these events. Writing a Testimonial and sharing it on our social media accounts is so appreciated. You can write it anonymously or we are happy to use your name and tag you on social media. Patients write testimonials telling us that viewing our DiepC Foundation Continue Reading →

Opportunities in Patient Advocacy

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I feel so lucky to meet patient advocates who are passionate about their work in various breast cancer communities. Whether we have met in person at a conference, in training, or online I feel the positive impact of their work daily in my work as a patient advocate. I sat down with two of those advocates in this DiepCFoundation educational channel interview to discuss opportunities in patient advocacy. Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation I met Denise Barlow and Sandra Stewart Stanford in December of 2016 at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium after opening DiepCFoundation earlier that year. They both welcomed me with opened arms and guided me through the full week of sessions inviting me to join the patient advocate meetings each evening. It was through them I learned about patient advocacy training at Project LEAD. The Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation was started by Dale Eastman in late 1992-93-time frame. Continue Reading →

Breast Cancer and Breast Reconstruction Awareness Year Round

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The month of October is coming to an end. I read many valuable posts across all social media accounts during breast cancer awareness month using the hashtag #BCAM. Some even called it breast cancer action month. I like that. One day out of this month was set aside for male breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer, and breast reconstruction awareness day. That is fantastic to bring this awareness but, my tag line during October, “No Pink Today” simply means I feel we need have breast cancer and breast reconstruction awareness year round. Why Breast Cancer Awareness is Important Year-Round Statistics do not lie. This is taken from The American Cancer Society Cancer Facts and Figures 2022. In the US in 2022, invasive breast cancer will be newly diagnosed in an estimated 287,850 women and 2,710 men, with an additional 51,400 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) diagnosed Continue Reading →

The Power of Education, Connections, and Giving

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I moved back to Seattle in late 2018 to be near family. The following year, in October of 2019 I met with a team at Microsoft for the first time to present my story as a patient advocate, nonprofit leader, and two-time breast cancer survivor. Each October since then, I speak to teams at Microsoft providing information and education on the topic of breast reconstruction during their Microsoft Give Day. Each year I do these presentations I am inspired by the power of education, connections, and giving. How is the Power of Education Spreading? I often discuss this with my life-long friend, Thomas, who so generously sets these meetings up for me each year along with his Microsoft colleagues. We know, according to statistic from The National Breast Cancer Foundation, that one in eight women in the United States alone will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. The United States! Continue Reading →