You are launching the first edition of “Bra Day”, an initiative focused on breast reconstruction. Why?
We talk a lot about breast cancer, and we make light of it, which is a very good thing because one in every seven or eight women will face it. But we also wanted to strike a more positive note by addressing the topic of reconstruction! Especially since we would like this to become the norm, not the exception.
Why does this topic seem so important to you?
There is a lack of reconstruction in France, because it does not seem necessary to us in direct physical health. This is true, but it allows women to reclaim their power and freedom in relation to what happened to them, which is not easy. However, it seems to us that the low rate of reconstruction – 3,000 cases out of 20,000 breast removal cases – is very directly related to the lack of information, while women cannot think about it without being properly informed.
What should they know?
They can benefit from personal information, even through video consultation! There are four techniques for breast reconstruction, each of which has advantages or disadvantages depending on the circumstances of the mastectomy, the treatments used, the person’s anatomy, and what he wants (foreign bodies or not, scars, breast firmness…). I'll give you a very simple example: A woman with a small belly could consider a completely normal reconstruction with a DIEP. But if the patient is very thin and the stomach skin is tight, something else must be taken into account. It's not very complicated, but you have to know it! Then we can decide freely.
A day of networking
This “Bra Day” will take place on October 16th. What will actually happen?
It is essentially a networking day: we have defined our operational programs to answer the questions asked by all those wishing to participate. The next day, October 17, we will organize a live broadcast on Instagram from 10 am to noon: all the surgeons from the Breast Institute will be available, as well as Professors Laurent Lantieri from the Georges Pompidou Hospital and Michael Atlan from the Tenon Hospital. . We do it together because we know that we are essential to each other and we have to work hand in hand.
