Lakeland, FL — Every year, over 100,000 women in the United States chose a mastectomy as their form of treatment following a breast cancer diagnosis.
During a mastectomy, all breast tissue is removed as a means of treating the disease and preventing reoccurrence. Many mastectomy patients investigate their options for breast reconstruction following the procedure. Reconstruction efforts can restore a natural appearance to the affected breast, and enhance a patient’s feeling of self-confidence.
“If a woman chooses to undergo reconstruction following a total mastectomy, there is a period of preparation involved,” says Faeza R. Kazmier, MD, a board-certified Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon at Watson Clinic’s Women’s Center. “One of these steps involves expansion of the remaining tissue in the affected breast, which creates the space needed to place an implant.”
Traditionally, surgeons have achieved this expansion by inserting a temporary implant into the breast, and injecting it with saline over the course of many weeks. This approach can prove uncomfortable and invasive for many patients, and requires multiple visits to the surgeon’s office prior to their reconstruction procedure.
Dr. Kazmier is pleased to offer a more convenient and effective solution: the AeroForm® Tissue Expander System, an FDA-approved needle-free solution that patients can operate from their comfort of their own home.
Here’s how it works: The surgeon inserts the Aeroform® device underneath the chest muscle following a mastectomy. The patient is then given a hand held controller from which she can release a physician-prescribed amount of tissue-expanding CO2 from the device on a daily basis from her home or office. Over a brief period of time, this CO2 creates the amount of space needed to begin the surgical procedure, and then the device is removed.
“The AeroForm® system puts control back into the patient’s hands,” says Dr. Kazmier. “There are no painful needle injections; the patient simply releases a small amount of CO2 for a few seconds at a time each day. Not only is it more convenient and less traumatic for the patient, but it can also cut the time it takes to expand the tissue by more than half and ultimately result in a more aesthetically balanced breast.”
For more information and to schedule a consultation with Dr. Kazmier, please call 863-680-7676.
About Watson Clinic LLP: As one of the largest multispecialty medical clinics in the southeast, Watson Clinic provides comprehensive healthcare services to residents of Lakeland and surrounding communities. First established in 1941, Watson Clinic has grown to include over 220 board-certified physicians representing more than 40 medical and surgical specialties. The Clinic is proud to deliver quality healthcare to every generation from our Main Clinic location at 1600 Lakeland Hills Boulevard in Lakeland, as well as at multiple convenient locations throughout Polk, Pasco and Hillsborough counties. More information is available at: www.WatsonClinic.com.
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