Tag: shared decision making

How Digital Health Can Enhance your Breast Reconstruction Decision

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Patients become unintended experts on a topic they likely had no intention of being an authority on. When you receive a diagnosis of breast cancer one of the biggest challenges is understanding the medical information you have to digest and make sense of for your own future health. How will these decisions affect your body, lifestyle, and long-term survival? If you are facing loss of breast due to a mastectomy, things can become a step more complex when digesting and understanding your options. Luckily, we live in an era where we have access to digital tools to assist with these decision processes. Digital health can improve your breast reconstruction decision. Defining Digital Health First let’s define what digital health is. It encompasses many platforms. Digital health can but is not limited to entities such as virtual consultations via your computer or phone and apps specific to a topic you need Continue Reading →

DiepCJourney Private Facebook Group: A Safe Place to Land

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Social Media is a way for others to connect in communities to discuss like-minded topics. I began the private Facebook group, DiepCJourney: Breast Reconstruction after mastectomy, in May of 2015. The purpose of the group is to inform those who are facing or have had a mastectomy about all their breast reconstruction options and choices. This includes the surgical option for no reconstruction, aesthetic flat closure. We are a global community. We want DiepCJourney Facebook group to be your safe place to land. DiepCJourney Facebook Discusses all Options The chest wall is the scaffold of the surgeon. The decision to reconstruct after a mastectomy is supported  whether you choose implants, use your own tissue (autologous reconstruction), a combination of both, a lumpectomy, or no reconstruction, referred to as aesthetic flat closure. This requires decision making. On DiepCJourney and at the Founding organization, DiepCFoundation, we promote the idea of shared decision-making. Continue Reading →

Episode 1: Breast Reconstruction Advocacy

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Have you ever been excited and nervous at the same time? I was on January 3,2021. It was an exciting day to publish the first episode of the DiepCJourney Podcast with guest, Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo. A few days in advance of the first published episode, I sent a message telling him I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Hitting the published button felt scary and exhilarating at the same time. We hope you’ll follow and listen to Episode 1: Breast Reconstruction Advocacy. After a second breast cancer diagnosis in 2014, Dr. C performed my DIEPflap breast reconstruction in December after a double mastectomy in April of the same year. He not only was the microsurgeon I chose, but he has also become a mentor to me, the voice in the corner, always cheering me on to “keep the momentum going, Terri”. The Continue Reading →

Health Literacy Impact and What are we Doing to Improve It?

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Coauthored by Terri Coutee and Minas Chrysopoulo, MD 2020 has been a disruptive year in health care. We are learning a great deal from the avalanche of stresses put upon our health care during the global pandemic. One thing remains a constant and important cog in the wheel, the impact and importance of health literacy. I had an opportunity to engage in conversation recently with Gareth Presch and Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo, founder of – Toliman Health. Let’s look at the key elements. Access to information Understanding Information Using the Information These three basic components are what patients actively engage in to make the appropriate decisions for their health. Although looking at it on paper this seems simple enough, the act of engaging in health literacy becomes far more complex for a patient diagnosed with a any condition. It is the process patients must understand and actively take part in. Often Continue Reading →

WHISTalks Live: Shared Decision Making

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Gareth Presch is Founder and CEO of World Health Innovation Summit (WHIS). As part of his work he curates WHISTalks sharing a variety of topics to reach a global audience on various themes. He invited Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo, Founder of the Breast Advocate app, and me to the program for an interview.  The video can be viewed in this blog. Here is a summary and highlights of our WHISTalks Live on shared decision-making. The Importance of the Patient Voice in Shared Decision Making Dr. Chrysopoulo mentions that shared decision making provides opportunity across a variety of health specialties for patients to have a voice in their health care decisions. He points out that in breast cancer 40% of patients do not feel they have had a voice in their treatment decision making. In breast reconstruction 57% of patients do not feel they make a high-quality decision as they define it. Continue Reading →

Shared Decision-Making Is Your Surgeon Practicing it, and Why Should You Care?

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By Terri Coutee and Minas Chrysopoulo, MD FACS I feel very passionate about opportunities to educate others on the topic of shared decision-making. Shared decision-making is when the patient and physician work as collaborative partners. The purpose is deciding a treatment plan that is best for the patient. After recording a ZOOM interview with Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo recently, the topic came up as it often does. Dr. C said to me, “Let’s write about it together.” It took no time for me to agree to co-author this blog! What Shared Decision-Making is NOT… As a patient advocate for all options of breast reconstruction, I have the opportunity to speak to others who are planning or recovering from all types of reconstruction. I ask if they felt fully engaged in their decision process for their reconstruction. It is apparent to me they were NOT when they tell me they were not Continue Reading →

Breast Advocate App: An Interview with Founder Minas Chrysopoulo, MD

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We are fortunate to live in a time when apps on mobile devices become tools to help us with our treatment options for a number of health-related issues. The focus of my blog and mission of my nonprofit Foundation is to empower women and men with information to make an informed decision about options for breast reconstruction after mastectomy. I have the distinct pleasure to present the reader with a decision tool, the Breast Advocate App and an interview with Founder, Minas Chrysopoulo, MD, FACS. I began my work as a patient advocate in early 2015 shortly after having my successful DIEP flap breast reconstruction. At the time of my second diagnosis in April of 2014, I was given all my options for breast reconstruction by my breast surgeon. I am grateful to her. I was handed a packet of brochures from implant manufacturers, local support groups, photos and explanation Continue Reading →

Why I Can’t Wait for the New Decade in Breast Reconstruction

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We have sent best wishes for the New Year to our social media friends. This year ushered in a new decade. Many of us wonder how things will change in the next ten years. This blog may be my time capsule for the upcoming decade. I would like to check back in 2030 to see what items in this blog will change and improve and why I can’t wait for the new decade in Breast Reconstruction. A New Decade of Shared Decision Making in Breast Reconstruction The topic of shared decision-making is at the top of my list. The practice of shared decision-making with the plastic surgeon who performed my DIEP flap is what made my breast reconstruction so successful. I see progress! Dr. Chrysopoulo developed a decision making tool, the Breast Advocate app, this past decade to give patients a voice in their decision making with their health care Continue Reading →

What is Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day?

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Each year in October, a day is set aside to provide education to women and men about what options are available for breast reconstruction. Medical practices, plastic surgeons, and organization across the country host various events inviting those who need resources and information about breast reconstruction. Attendees to BRA Day events include those affected by breast cancer. Let’s take a closer look at topics covered and answer the question of what Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day is and the information it provides. Options for Breast Reconstruction Autologous breast reconstruction: Using the patient’s own tissue to reconstruction the breast. Implant-based reconstruction: Using an implant filled with silicon or gel to recreate the breast. Autologous tissue and implant combined I had autologous, DIEP flap breast reconstruction. The lower tummy tissue is disconnected along with the underlying blood vessels (deep inferior epigastric perforators). It is then reconnected to the breast area to create soft Continue Reading →

Interested in Breast Reconstruction but don’t want Implants? You have Other Options!

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I was given all my options for breast reconstruction the day my breast surgeon told me I would be facing a double mastectomy after my second breast cancer diagnosis. I was fortunate. However, I had to dig deep and spend hours of research to find the specifics of what type of reconstruction I felt was going to work best for me. At first, like many women, I thought implants were my only option. I ultimately decided I wanted to use my own tissue. But where could I find those alternative choices to implants for breast reconstruction? It took me time and asking a lot of questions. It was important to me to find medically backed information and evidence-based articles about alternatives to implants for breast reconstruction. I did not find all this information in one place nor did I have access to what many women have available today. What am Continue Reading →