This episode of the DiepCJourney podcast is our final edition in 2024. I share a discussion across continents with two women leaders I admire who engage in patient advocacy and the patient story.

Marie Ennis O’Connor is well known for “Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer” a platform where she gathers writers and bloggers sharing their stories across social media platforms. Her journey in patient advocacy began twenty years ago with a diagnosis of breast cancer. Marie poignantly tells us in the interview that,

"We find when we are diagnosed with a serious illness, something is missing. We look around and see who can fix this. I discovered the person who could fix it was me."

Sue Robins , whose patient experience started with a breast cancer diagnosis, has focused her healthcare advocacy based on her son, Erin’s down syndrome. Like Marie, her healthcare advocacy began about twenty years ago. She is a Senior Partner and Patient Consultant at Bird Comm.

I call them both my friends and they grace us with rich information in the realm of storytelling and patient engagement. We take a deep dive and share firsthand experiences, good and bad, about conference attendance, invitations to speak, and how important we feel it is to pass on the wisdom we have learned to the next generation of advocates.

We are filled with nostalgic hope of meeting in person some day in Ireland, Marie’s home country, on the Wild Atlantic Way, the western side of Ireland. It was my favorite area when I visited there in the fall of 2023 and was able to meet Marie in person in Dublin.

Enjoy the final 2024 episode and I look forward to seeing you on the DiepCJourney podcast in 2025 with more exciting guests and topics!! 

Connect with Marie across these platforms:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marieennisoconnor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondbreastcancer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marie_ennis_oconnor/

Connect with Sue across these platforms:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue--6609147/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sue.squawk.9

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suework/

Books: Birds Eye View and Ducks in a Row

Ten years ago, on December 1, 2014, I was in the trusted hands of a skilled microsurgeon who took tissue from my tummy area along with the skin and blood vessels, and rebuilt what cancer had taken away from me. I lost my breasts to a double mastectomy. For those of us who have been affected by breast cancer, a mastectomy is an amputation. The skilled microsurgeon is my guest on this episode of the DiepCJourney podcast.

Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo, president of PRMA in San Antonio, Texas, reconstructed my breasts using the training, skill, and compassion that makes him who he is as a breast reconstruction surgeon and is one of the finest human beings I know.

This podcast is a celebration of our work together over the past ten years and the work we will continue to do for the breast cancer community.

This podcast is about mentorship, past, present, and future. Join us as we take a walk down memory lane to hear about his own journey becoming who he is today and those who inspired him to chose microsurgery. If you have been in plastic surgery for any time, many of the names he mentions as his own mentors will be familiar to you. 

This interview is quiet, thoughtful, and a couple of times catches me off guard emotionally with a mentor and friend. Thank you for listening with us.

Connect with Dr. Chrysopoulo on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrChrysopoulo/

Instagram and Threads: https://www.instagram.com/mchrysopoulo/

Twitter/X: https://x.com/drchrysopoulo

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drchrysopoulo/

Solutions often begin with a conversation. When faced with the task of planning your surgery, it is the goal of the DiepCJourney podcast to provide a pathway to workable solutions for those affected by breast cancer.

My guest is Dr. Andrew Elkwood, an international expert in advanced reconstruction and a highly skilled microsurgeon. Dr. Elkwood is the founder of The Plastic Surgery Center and Institute for Advanced Reconstruction (IFAR) in New Jersey.

You can also visit www.advancedreconstruction.com or call 954-218-5137 to schedule a consultation with a surgeon on these advanced and specialty conditions. The surgeons in the IFAR network perform breast reconstruction surgery due to loss of breast after mastectomy from breast cancer.

They also perform the following surgery addressing conditions that arise due to breast cancer treatment, many of which are nerve related.

·       Neuropathy

·       post mastectomy pain syndrome

·       lymphedema surgery

·       radiation-induced brachial plexopathy (numbness, tingling, weakness in the shoulder and/or arm

Watch the interview on YouTube:

Pathways to Care Due to Secondary Issues from Breast Cancer Treatment

Follow IFAR on Social Media:

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

What is it about social media that draws the breast cancer community together? We are going to explore this question with my guest, Dr. Tasha Gandamihardja, consultant breast cancer surgeon and medical educator on social media under the name, @DrTashaG.

We will look at the benefits, downfalls, information, and disinformation provided by various social media platforms on this episode of the DiepCJourney podcast. How can you find the right community that supports both your emotional and educational needs when each person is unique and there are distinct types of breast cancer?

Why is it important for physicians to interact and be active on social media? Is it necessary for them to be on social media?

I have the distinct honor of being listed as an author on a published paper with her that we will discuss in our conversation. The paper is open access and is entitled, “The Role of Social Media and Breast Cancer: How Does It Impact Patients?”  I acknowledge our fellow colleagues and authors on the paper:

·       Sara Liyanage, author, and patient advocate

·       Dr. Anne W. Peled, dual-trained breast cancer and plastic surgeon.

·       Yazan A. Masannat of the UK, consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon and host of the iBreast webinar series.

Patients who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer often absorb a small percentage of the information they are flooded with at their first consultation. Dr. Tasha tells us how she gently navigates patients through this journey by providing resources to explore while at home and making decisions about next steps.

Dr. Tasha tells us social media can provide a complementary resource for patients to feel connected to a like-minded community to share similar experiences. But there can be limitations and challenges finding the right community. We focus on exploring communities that provide evidence-based information, so patients get the right information and tamp down the misinformation that is found on social media.

Where is the future of information for the breast cancer community? We explore the value and impact of AI and how we feel it is our responsibility as curators of content to guide the breast cancer community in the use and value of AI in finding information.

Dr. Tasha social media accounts:

Instagram

TikTok

YouTube

My Breast My Health Podcast

LinkedIn

In this episode of the DiepCJourney podcast I interview April Johnson Stearns. She is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Wildfire Magazine & Writing Community. April has an extensive background in writing and landed her first memoir-based magazine cover story at 16.

She worked for her college newspaper and then the local newspaper in Santa Cruz, The Sentinel, following graduation. During the tech boom of the early 2000s April worked “over the hill” from Santa Cruz in Silicon Valley.

However, in 2012, in the midst of this career, April was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at age 35. Four years later, while struggling to “go back to normal” and find others in similar circumstances, April launched WILDFIRE Magazine & Writing Community as a way for younger people to tell and read breast cancer stories.

Since 2016, April has guided hundreds of writers through the Wildfire writing workshops and published more than forty-five issues of Wildfire Magazine.

April shares the passion behind the magazine and her work with the young breast cancer community inspiring them to share their stories. She hosts her own podcast The Burn where she interviews writers in the Wildfire community.

Connect with April and the Wildfire Community:

Wildfirecommunity.org

Facebook: facebook.com/wildfirecommunity

Instagram & Threads: @wildfire_bc_magazine

Twitter: @real_wildfire

Email: [email protected]

Are you aware of the value of the two-surgeon model in reconstructive microsurgery? Have you heard about the benefits to patients of ERAS (Enhanced Recovery after Surgery) protocol? I spoke with two board-certified plastic reconstructive surgeons who practice at Tucson Plastic Surgery to answer these questions and others on this episode of the DiepCJourney podcast.

My guests are Dr. Siliva Kurtovic and Dr. Raman Mahabir. They met at the Duke Flap Course, a well-known yearly gathering of microsurgical specialists from around the world who present the latest techniques in flap surgeries. Their combined training in breast reconstruction microsurgery and aesthetic plastic surgery offers their patients affected by breast cancer skilled and compassionate care.

We shared personal stories, our combined interested in the shared decision-making model in breast reconstruction, and how surgeons and patient advocates can work together to educate patients on all options and aspects of the breast reconstruction decision making process. Dr. Kurtovic gives us her personal approach to caring for patients before and after surgery in a holistic manner to enhance emotional and physical recovery from DIEP flap surgery.

This dynamic team in Tucson, Arizona, who started as surgical colleagues at Duke University, share their personal story from the start to their present-day life. Not only are they changing the lives of breast cancer patients in their region, but you will hear about the beautiful family life they have created in this desert landscape I called home at the time of my second diagnosis. Although they were not in Tucson at the time of my second diagnosis, I am happy for those patients who are there now for this access to care with Dr Kurtovic and Dr. Mahabir.

Be sure to watch our interview on the

DiepCFoundation Educational Channel

Connect with Dr. Mahabir and Dr. Kurtovic:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TucsonPlasticSurgery

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tucsonplasticsurgery/

LinkedIn:

Dr. Kurtovic: https://www.linkedin.com/in/silvia-kurtovic-md-b0491532/

Dr. Mahabir: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rcmahabir/

When you think about breast reconstruction do you only think about breast implants? If so, it is because many people are still choosing this option for reconstructing their breast after mastectomy. However, there are options. Using your own tissue is an option and the tissue, along with a blood source, can come from various parts of the body. Fat grafting to shape and form the breast is also an option many ask about but not all know about. This is our topic on this episode of the DiepCJourney podcast.

My guest, Dr. Eric Wimmers, is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon practicing in Hopewell, New Jersey at the Plastic Surgery Center. He is part of the Institute for Advanced Reconstruction (IFAR) network of surgeons across the U.S.

Dr. Wimmers has unique training in microsurgery and immunology. Although he operates on the entire body, his special interests are breast reconstruction, abdominal wall reconstruction, and peripheral nerve repair.

His pathway to his current practice as a microsurgeon developed over time. Dr. Wimmers shares his personal journey with us from beginning as an emergency room physician to a surgeon. Once he had exposure to the scope of plastic surgery, restoring form and function to the human body affected by trauma and disease he never looked back.

Dr. Wimmers shares the value of his surgical practice being part of the IFAR network. He points out that they are grouping up with other like-minded microsurgeons across the U.S. to tackle problems and issues patients face when they have been told there is no hope or fix. Combined resources and talent within the IFAR network are providing greater access to care for patients.

We continue our discussion with an explanation of the types of breast reconstruction available. Dr. Wimmers utilizes the tummy tissue most often to perform DIEP flap breast reconstruction. However, he points out not all patients have the excess tissue in their own body in the right places to do autologous reconstruction, meaning using the patients own tissue. He does get inquiries about fat grafting only.

Patients are interested in it for a variety of reasons. It might be that they have already had a tummy tuck. It may be that their fat distribution is in other places other than the abdomen. Most of his patients requesting fat grafting only tend to be on the smaller side and prefer a smaller size breast. He explains the fat grafting only procedure in detail in our interview. Dr. Wimmers tells us fat grafting only is a series of procedures done over time. Fat grafting is a very technique driven procedure.

Be sure to watch our interview on the DiepCFoundation Educational Channel

Connect with Dr. Eric Wimmers:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrEricWimmers/

Connect with The Institute for Advanced Reconstruction:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AdvancedReconstruction

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advancedreconstruction/

X/Twitter: https://x.com/AdvancedReconNJ

Breast sensation, “sensibility,” is a topic I personally cannot talk enough about. Breast cancer patients want to be protected from burns. They want to feel the hugs from their children, grandchildren, partners, friends, and family. Sensibility refers to awareness, emotional response, and feeling so it makes perfect sense to use this word in our conversation on this episode of the DiepCJourney podcast.

To be honest, the feeling of numbness that many feel after a mastectomy just feels odd. I speak from experience, and I listen to other survivors who tell me this. It felt odd for me, but I was fortunate to have nerve reconstruction at the time of my DIEP flap and now have sensate breasts, thankfully. I feel that my breasts are part of my body.

I feel so fortunate today to be speaking to a world leader in breast sensation/sensibility. You will learn so much from her in our discussion. I first met her at the London Breast Meeting in September of 2023. This is one of the leading breast meetings in the world. Her talk absolutely mesmerized me.

I saw her again in January of this year, 2024, at the microsurgery meeting and we said, this podcast needs to happen.

She is approachable, warm, and accessible.

Dr. Stefania Tuinder performs complex microsurgical breast reconstruction at the Maastricht hospital in the Netherlands.

Dr. Tuinder has published multiple papers on this topic.

I was inspired by a mutual friend, Mr. Vimal Gokani, who mentioned Dr. Tuinder and her work with sensibility and neurotized breasts on his podcast, PRS Global Open, DEEP cuts.

Sensation and sensibility are something women talk about and deal with after autologous breast reconstruction. I’m fascinated with neuroplasticity and how are brains can adjust to these new sensations.

Links to papers published by Dr. Tuinder:

What does a breast feel like? A qualitative study among healthy women

Sensory recovery and the role of innervated flaps in autologous breast reconstruction—a narrative review

Somatotopic mapping of the human breast using 7 T functional MRI

Connect with Dr. Tuinder:

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefania-tuinder-0440176b/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stefania_tuinder/

This edition of the DiepCJourney podcast highlights a recently published paper in JPRAS, an International Journal of Surgical Reconstruction. The title of the paper is:

Flap neurotization improves sensation outcomes in abdominally based autologous breast reconstruction: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

To our listeners, who may be patients, surgeons, or medical professionals we are going to explore the elements and details of this research paper and how it can be of benefit to you.

I am pleased to have two returning guests who have collaborated across continents from Australia to the U.S. sharing their combined microsurgical skills to improve patient outcomes in sensate breasts. Dr. Joe Dusseldorp is an author of the paper and an internationally trained microsurgeon who practices in Sydney, Australia. He works alongside oncologists to perform innovative treatments for breast reconstruction, which includes DIEP flap. He is a TEDx speaker, a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, Faculty of Medicine at University of Sydney, and affiliated with the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.

My second guest, Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo, is the current president of PRMA, Plastic Reconstructive Microsurgical Associates, in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. C is a board-certified plastic surgeon, breast reconstruction surgeon and microsurgeon who like Dr. Joe, performs autologous based breast reconstruction.

Raised and educated in London, England he has earned and received many academic achievements throughout his career. He continued his microsurgical training after moving to the U.S. and has authored and co-authored several book chapters and scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is the developer of the award-winning free Breast Advocate® app that provides anyone with breast cancer a much-needed voice in their breast cancer surgery decision making.

Connect with Dr. Joe Dusseldorp:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joedusseldorp/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjoedusseldorp/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joe.dusseldorp

X: https://x.com/drjoedusseldorp

Links to find the work of Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drchrysopoulo/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mchrysopoulo/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrChrysopoulo

X: https://x.com/drchrysopoulo

In this episode of the DiepCJourney podcast I am joined by another podcaster. What I am most excited about is that he is one of our international guests this year.

We have known each other for some time. Not trying to age either one of us but I have enjoyed knowing him, having robust conversations, and learning so much about the world of plastic surgery and microsurgery from him. We will talk about these topics in the podcast in a cross-continental discussion with my guest Mr. Vimal Gokani.

Notice I said, “Mister.” That is because he is a well-respected microsurgeon in the UK and rather than Dr. as we refer to physicians in the U.S. they are bestowed the honor and title “Mr..”

Mr. Gokani is a consultant plastic reconstructive surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust with expertise in:

• ·       Lymphoedema surgery
• ·       Skin cancer surgery
• ·       reconstructive surgery following breast cancer and other types of cancer.
• ·       body contouring following weight loss.
• ·       abdominal wall reconstruction and…
• ·       aesthetic surgery of the breast, body, and face.

We are going to find out in this interview how he became interested in plastic surgery, and we will discuss some of my preferred topics to talk about:

• ·       Diep Flap
• ·       Lymphedema treatment service and surgery
• ·       Neurotized breast… restoring sensation to the breast.
• ·       And robotics surgery… where are we and what does the future look like in robotics.

Please be sure to go to Spotify and check out his podcast: PRS GLOBAL OPEP DEEP CUTS where he interviews notable colleagues in his field.

Mr. Gokani Social Media Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vimal-gokani-251b3336/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vimal.gokani/