Most women are candidates for some form of breast reconstruction. Our goal as plastic surgeons is to recreate a breast mound that is similar to your native breast. There are multiple ways to do so, but the overall goal is for you to have as natural a breast as possible and be balanced and symmetric in your clothing. Breast reconstruction is for three different categories of womenn1. Those having removal of their breast due to cancer (mastectomy)n2. Those having removal of a portion of their breast for cancer (lumpectomy ornpartial mastectomy)n3. Those having removal of their breasts for preventive purposes (prophylacticnmastectomy) usually due to a genetic mutation making them at higher risk fornbreast cancer (BRCA 1 and BRCA 2) reconstruction of your breast can often be done at the time of mastectomy, but other times reconstruction may have to be performed at a later time because of the need for other therapies such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy or due to patient preference.