Ill. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 175,000 women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999, and 43,300 died from the disease. Fortunately, improvements in post-surgical therapies are helping give more women the courage to get tested and get treated. All women are at risk when it comes to breast cancer, but reconstructive surgery is becoming a viable option for women who fear the possible disfigurement associated with a mastectomy procedure. In fact, post-mastectomy women made up 45 percent of the breast reconstruction procedures performed in 1999, up six percent from 1998.
Many women delay treatment out of fear of a mastectomy, or amputation of a breast.
Much of the fear a woman faces can be alleviated by learning the facts and options of breast reconstruction if she should become a breast cancer patient. As of 1998, insurance coverage for breast reconstruction for women who have undergone a mastectomy is mandated by the Women s Health and Cancer Rights Act.