Dr. Cynara Coomer

The most common surgery for breast cancer these days is a lumpectomy, which is considered breast-conserving therapy. If patients choose to undergo this surgery, it has to be combined with radiation therapy, which can be administered in the form of external radiation, where the whole breast is radiated, or partial breast radiation called brachytherapy.

Another option for surgically treating breast cancer is by mastectomy. Mastectomies remove all the breast tissue, but nowadays, most women are candidates for immediate breast reconstruction done during the same operation.

When reconstruction is used, women can have either a skin-sparing, areola-sparing, or nipple-sparing mastectomy. This is where the skin and/or the areola and nipple are preserved, which improves the cosmetic outcome dramatically. The type of breast cancer that a woman has will determine which of these procedures is appropriate.

Reconstruction can be performed by using implants or tissue transplanted from other areas of the body. Most commonly, abdominal fat is used, which results in a tummy tuck.

Some patients may need to have chemotherapy prior to surgery. Although this is not proven to improve the survival outcomes, it increases the surgical options and may potentially decrease the risk of local recurrence in the breast.

There are so many more options for women these days for surgically treating breast cancer, and they should be discussed with a breast surgeon.

Dr. Cynara Coomer is an assistant professor of surgery specializing in breast health and breast cancer surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. She is a FOX News Health contributor providing medical expertise on a variety of topics in cancer research with a focus on women’s health, breast diseases and tips for healthy breasts at any age.

Lasers can do great things. They can remove hair and reverse the signs of aging. They can also dissolve fat as part of a liposuction procedure. But when placed in the wrong hands, they can lead to severe damage.
 
You can liken lasers to heat weapons. If too much energy is applied, bad things like skin burns and scarring can happen. If you are going in for any type of laser procedure, you definitely want to be in trained hands.  You want a physician, a licensed physician assistant, a nurse practitioner or registered nurse doing your procedure. Also, don’t have laser treatments when you are tanned because the laser light is picked up by darker skin pigmentation. Lasers are much less effective on removing unwanted hair or diminishing wrinkles on tanned skin.

During the treatment, if the laser treatment is extremely painful, tell your doctor so he can lower the settings. If after the treatment, your skin is  persistently red or there is blistering, be sure to go right back to your doctor to be treated with the proper healing and lubricating agents to minimize the chance of scarring.

You can consult the American Society of Laser Medicine and Surgery , the American Academy of Dermatologic Surgery, American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery  or the American Society of Plastic Surgeons  to find a trained physician who can give you the best results.

Dr. Neil Sadick is one of the most renowned dermatologists and researchers whose multiple discoveries have strongly influenced and transformed the future of dermatology. He is a Professor of Dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College and President of the Cosmetic Surgery Foundation. Dr. Sadick is author, or co-author, of more than 500 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has contributed more than 75 chapters of medical books. Read more at www.sadickdermatology.com.

by Lori Lundin 

My husband Doug grew up in a very low income family in Washington State and didn’t get much dental care.  His teeth were also becoming very worn down as a result from grinding. 

He finally decided he had to do something, so he went for a consultation with a dentist in New York.

The diagnoses:  financially painful.

Doug would need a full mouth reconstruction, which would take about two years to complete and cost approximately $60,000.

However, if he didn’t have his teeth fixed, they would continue to deteriorate and he would continue to have problems.  

But we didn’t have $60,000 to make it happen.  I’d heard about medical tourism and started doing some online research.  From there I found a book called “Patients Beyond Borders.”  It was an eye-opening experience.  More and more people are traveling to places such as India, Thailand, Costa Rica and El Salvador to get health care. 

There are companies that specialize in facilitating all sorts of medical treatments overseas.  Not only are they getting great quality care and saving thousands of dollars, but they are making a vacation out of it.

And it’s not just small stuff.  Folks are going for heart surgery, plastic surgery, laparoscopic surgery, dental work, laser eye surgery…you name it.  The book showed price comparisons and recommended the top medical tourism companies.  After calling a few, I chose a company called Planet Hospital. 

The founder, Rudy Rupak began the journey toward medical tourism after his wife became sick in Thailand.  He was amazed at the quality of care, the compassionate treatment and how little it cost. After the initial phone call, we sent Doug’s treatment plan and x-rays from the American dentist.

Rudy put us in touch with one dentist in Costa Rica and one in El Salvador.   We immediately felt comfortable with Dr. Rafael Lorenzana, who was located in El Salvador. 

We were given an estimate for $18,000. Even with airfare and hotel, we would be saving about $40,000. But knowing so little about the country, we also felt cautious.  We called several people in the states who had gone to Dr. Lorenzana for similar procedures and they were thrilled.  Not only did they rave about the care and the quality of work, but they loved the country.

We decided to go for it.  Not only would Doug finally get his teeth fixed, but we would get a tropical vacation in the process.

Lori Lundin is a News Anchor/Reporter with Fox News Radio