When you’re facing a diagnosis of breast cancer, Central Maine Healthcare is here to guide you through the process of healing. Through our programs at The Sam and Jennie Bennett Breast Care Center, we offer the latest in surgical and reconstructive services to ensure you can kick your cancer in the smoothest way possible. Our team is multidisciplinary to make sure we offer comprehensive services and address all your needs, including compassionate support.
Your Experience Matters
Breast cancer patients meet with breast cancer surgeons to discuss the best treatment plans. Our surgeons are part of a team that includes radiologists, pathologists, and medical and radiation oncologists. Our team also includes plastic surgeons, who work with patients who choose to have reconstructive surgery following breast surgery.
As a team, healthcare providers communicate with each other to give each patient individualized, focused care. We also have a Nurse Navigator who an advocate for patients. This person is available to help patients with other parts of the process, such as understanding financial and health insurance requirements, the day-today-impact of treatments, and other needs as they arise.
Breast Cancer Surgery
Depending on what kind of cancer you’re dealing with, we will recommend various types of surgeries. The standard option for breast cancer is a mastectomy, or removal of the breast tissue. How extensive this surgery needs to be is individual and will be customized to your situation. We’ll walk you through the process of procedures and risks, ensuring that you feel supported the whole way.
Here are a few of the various types of mastectomy surgeries you might encounter in your conversations with your doctor:
- Lumpectomy (Partial Mastectomy): We’ll remove the tumor and just the immediately surrounding tissue. This will ensure you’re breast tissue is still mostly intact.
- Total (Simple) Mastectomy: For the serious cancer case, we’ll remove the whole breast including the nipple.
- Modified Radical Mastectomy: When the cancer has started to spread, we will remove the whole breast, nipple, and the lymph nodes under the arm.
- Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy: For this surgery, we’ll remove the breast tissue while preserving the nipple and areola, giving the breast a more natural look when surgery is completed.
- Skin-Sparing Mastectomy: This surgery option leaves the skin on the breast but removes the skin on the area where the tumor was removed as well as the nipple and areola.
