Plastic surgeon recommendation in the Philadelphia area

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Faithful-n-blessed
Faithful-n-blessed Member Posts: 8
edited April 2019 in Breast Reconstruction

Hello I was recently diagnosed with DCIS in both breasts and I will be having a double mx. I hope to have a nipple sparing diep surgery. I am currently receiving care at upenn. Has anyone received care there or does anyone have any recommendations for a ps in that area. Any assistance would be appreciated positive and negative feedback welcomed.

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited February 2016

    Hi Faithul and welcome to Breastcancer.org!

    We're sure you'll receive some wonderful feedback soon. Just wanted to say hi and to let you know we're all here when you need us. Keep us posted on your surgery and recovery!

    Looking forward to hearing more from you!

    --The Mods

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  • Warrior_Woman
    Warrior_Woman Member Posts: 1,274
    edited February 2016

    Faithful -

    I did my BMX at Penn. My surgeon is Carla Fisher. I like her a lot. I like Penn because they're strongly research based in treatment. I had very bad luck with their plastic surgery dept. I used two of the plastic surgeons there. I won't go into detail on a public forum. I switched to Steven Copit at Jefferson Plastic surgery. I am extremely happy with my results. I posted reconstruction pics here on page 184 of this thread - pics

    I didn't do diep as I don't have enough fat. I had the LD flap. My nipples were reconstructed and tattooed.

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  • Faithful-n-blessed
    Faithful-n-blessed Member Posts: 8
    edited February 2016

    Thank you so much warrior_woman for your reply. First, your results are amazing. You look great and I hope you and the hubbie enjoyed valentines day. I am really curious what went wrong at Penn. I am scheduled to meet with a Dr. Suhail Kanchwala. I really don't want to have to wait 2 years to complete my journey. Would you mind sending me a private message. I want to ask specific questions when I go. My surgeon also thinks I may not have enough stomach fat although I think I have plenty. I'm 5'8 150 lbs.

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  • Asante314
    Asante314 Member Posts: 54
    edited February 2016

    Faithful, sorry you have to join us on this thread, but welcome to BCO.

    I live in the area and have met with several BS/ PS. I am scheduled for my BMX, nipple sparing w recon, (tissue expanders) next month.

    Stephen Copit is also my PS. I have a few friends who have used him as well and have been thrilled with their results (both w tissue expanders and other w a flap). Friend w tattoos also had them completed w Dr. Copit's office. She looks amazing. My gyn was excited for me when she heard he was doing my recon. She said she sees a lot, and he is "a master in his field."

    Warrior Woman, you look incredible!

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  • Janetanned
    Janetanned Member Posts: 532
    edited February 2016

    Faithful - I had all of my treatment at Penn 4+ years ago. I had a BMX/DIEP and am very pleased with my results. While he was not my PS, I understand that Dr. Kanchwala has a very good reputation. My PS was Dr. Stephen Kovach. My BS (DR Brian Czerniecki) actually recommended him. I found him to be an excellent surgeon with a wonderful bedside manner. He always had time to see me or talk to me. It is a difficult surgery and he understood my concerns and fears along the way. I also had my areola tattoos done by a micro-pigmentation specialist (Mandy Sauler) who works out of the Penn PS office a few days a week. She did a wonderful job, adding color and dimension to my constructed (stage 2) nipples. They still look great 3 yrs later with no touch ups. I highly recommend Penn Plastic Surgery.

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  • craftysandy
    craftysandy Member Posts: 17
    edited March 2016

    Faithful - Dr. Kanchwala is performing DIEP surgery on me on April 1st. He's doing something a little different in that he is also inserting small implants behind the flaps because I don't have quite enough tummy fat to get me back to the C cup that I currently am. This is something he has only been doing since November but has had amazing results! I'm a little nervous but trust that he would not perform this particul surgery if he didn't believe it was the right thing for me. Fingers crossed that it all goes well! Dr. Ugras is my Breast Surgeon. Have you had your surgery yet?

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  • Ramonica60
    Ramonica60 Member Posts: 23
    edited May 2016

    I am pleased to hear that Mindy did a great job with the tattoo. I had bilateral nipple sparing and Dr. Czerniecki was the one who was responsible for the nipples. All things considered, I think he was pretty sloppy. He also did a procedure 2 months before my diep flap to ensure that the nipples survive. The purpose of nipple sparing is to not need a tattoo. I am now 5 months post diep flap and the 2 nipple/areola complexes are a different size and the right side lost pigmentation. I think he ruined the nipple/areola, particularly on the right side and I will be looking at a tattoo to fix things up. Glad to hear Mindy is good and will probably use her. My sister had the identical surgery at Sloan Kettering and her nipple/areola complex is perfect! The Plastic Surgeon did the work on hers, not the breast surgeon. Maybe that is what made the difference!

    The plastic surgeon who worked on me for breast reconstruction (Dr. Serletti) was no bargain either. He left me with a HUGE indentation near my sternum where he removed rib. They had to remove rib on my sister also, but she has no indentation and if it weren't for the incision you would never know she had surgery! I also have discoloration and spider veins now on the skin where he removed the rib. I also have a large indentation by my left axilla. To his credit, Dr. Serletti did an excellent job reshaping the umbilicus.

    I think I had 2 sloppy surgeons; I am very angry with myself because I originally scheduled this surgery with the same docs my sister used and cancelled in order to go to UPENN. I will say that the nursing care was EXCELLENT in the hospital. If I pressed the call bell, someone was in the room in less than a minute, whether it was day, evening or night. I was amazed at the quality of the nursing care.

    I am going elsewhere for my revision and am hoping my new surgeon can fix all of this. I am just relieved that he is willing to take on another doctor's mess.

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  • msarcich
    msarcich Member Posts: 33
    edited April 2019

    I love to hear more recommendations on the Philadelphia area surgeon who specializes in diep flap. I don't even know how to begin to research who are the experts in my area who do this. Any help would be so appreciated.



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