Fw: PS *BS* PR in full swing

[Guest guest]

From: " yesiam (by way of ilena rose) " <yesiam@...>

Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 11:51 AM

Subject: PS *BS* PR in full swing

> Ilena,

>

> Please Post to list.

>

> Boy the PR is in full swing for lifting the moritorium wouldn't you say?

> Below is an article in one of my new magazines. Below that study is the

> study out of Minnesota discussing reconstruction. How timely, counter

> each release with more BS. Read it and shake your head. Maybe we should

> send " Health Magazine " the studies that shows the high complication rate

> in reconstruction? Of course they quickly make public comment on a study

> that has only followed women for a year post op, everyone is greatful

they

> have breasts at all! Of course they will continue to follow them, just

> like they did with the Mayo, New England, and all the other PR studies.

> Don't bet on it. Donna ------------------------------------ Health

> Magazine March 2001

>

> What's Best for Breast Reconstruction

>

> For women who lose a breast to cancer, recovery means more than healing

> from the surgery-it means learning to feel good about their bodies again.

> To that end, more and more mastectomy patients are having their breasts

> reconstructed. But the decision can bring an exhausting series of

> choices: Should it be done at the same time as the mastectomy or later?

> Should a woman use implants or her own tissue? Althugh all these options

> are considered safe, until now there has been little research on which

> contribute most to a woman's sense of well-being. To find out,

> researchers at the University of Michigan questioned 250 women who'd

opted

> for various forms of reconstruction. Just before each woman's surgery

and

> one year after it, they queried her about her physical and mental health.

>

> It turned out to matter little whether the patients got implants or not:

> After a year, most women were doing well either way. Timing made more

of

> a difference. On most measures, women who'd had reconstruction at the

> same time as their mastectomy had a slightly greater improvement than

> those who'd waited. The most striking finding was int he area of

> self-image: After a year, both groups felt just as good about their

> bodies after the surgery as they had before. But the " immedicate

> reconstruction " group avoided the dip in body image scores experienced by

> those who waited.

>

> " I'm amazed by that, " says Edwin Wilkins, a plastic surgeon at the

> University of Michigan, who led the study. " I'm amazed we could do any

> operation that could negate the devastating effects of mastectomy on a

> woman's body image. " Faith Fancher, a TV news reporter in Oakland,

> California, chose immediate reconstruction three years ago. " When I woke

> up I didn't have the breast I had before, but I did have something there, "

> she says. " I didn't have that feeling of loss. " Because some

> complications may take longer than a year to appear, Wilkins will

dontinue

> to evaluate the participants. He's also developed a Web site to help

> patients struggling to make decisions about reconstructive surgery. To

> learn more, go to www.surgery.med.umich.edu/breastrecon.htm. By, Maggie

> McKee Email for letters to the Editors (send letters, with address and

> daytime phone number to) editor@... Fax 415-248-2779 Here's

the

> study that disses reconstruction The New York

>

Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/reuters/health/health-breast.html?searchpv=reute

rsMa

> rch 30, 2001Breast Reconstruction May Not Improve Life QualityBy

> REUTERSFiled at 5:52 p.m. ET

> NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Though women with breast cancer often

> choosereconstructive surgery because they feel it will help them maintain

a

> goodbodyimage, the surgery is no guarantee of better long-term quality of

> life, newresearch indicates.The study, in the April 1st issue of Cancer,

> followed 198 women withearly-stagebreast cancer who received either

> breast-conserving surgery (52%),mastectomy withreconstruction (20%) or

> mastectomy alone (28%). Quality of life wasmonitored for2 years following

> surgery, looking at changes in mood and sense of well-being.Women who had

> a mastectomy with reconstruction had greater mooddisturbances anda poorer

> sense of well-being than those who received mastectomy alone,accordingto

> Dr. J. Nissen and co-authors >from the Park Nicollet Institute

> inMinneapolis, Minnesota.These differences may be due, in part, to the

> longer surgery,hospitalization andlength of stay due to the

reconstructive

> operation, as well as the greaterpostoperative pain, Nissen and

colleagues

> suggest.When the investigators compared mastectomy alone to

> breast-conservingsurgery withregard to long-term quality of life, no

> significant difference was found.``A woman shouldn't take it for granted

> that reconstruction is going toimprove herquality of life,'' Nissen told

> Reuters Health. ``She needs to consider all heroptions, talk it over it

> with (her) doctor, and make a decision on anindividual basis.''SOURCE:

> Cancer 2001;91:1238-1246.Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company

>

>